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Just shelved my first cart of books! The verdict: deeply satisfying & enjoyable; also, didn't take as long as people warned me it would.
Pete #TeamMonique, Derrick, Yo. Shark Dog. and 3 other people liked this
It's amazing how quickly one can get through a cart of books when one doesn't worry too much about the call numbers.
- DJF
Shelve 'em by color!
- LB: #TeamMonique
One of my first library jobs was in an undergraduate library where everyone, from the director on down, shelved a cart of books each day. I learned the entire LC classification system (first letters, and some second letters) in that job.
- Catherine Pellegrino
I got really into it and was somewhat alarmed when a human being addressed me. There are PEOPLE in the library?!? I was just having a party with the books.
- Molly Westerman
Wait til you DUMP your first cart of books. Then you'll really be in the club. It happens to everyone. Well. Except me
- Chelle Chelle Ro Ro
I used to shelve more during the summers, when our aides would get overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of picture book circulation. I liked sorting too--I did a lot of cart sorting at CPL so the aides could quickly get things out and I could still run the circ desk.
- Hedgehog
Shelve them by where you FEEL they should go. It keeps librarians on their toes to look for books in and around where it should be.
- Andy
Make it challenging for the students. Pretend that the zero is an O (and vice-versa), and that the 1 is actually an L....
- Yo. Shark Dog.
Catherine: I have this image of the director of the library, back when I was a pager/shelver, actually shelving books... Actually, Dick Dougherty would have gone for it on the right occasion. Most UC Berkeley Univ. Librarians, probably not so much.
- Walt Crawford
Favorite science writing for pop audiences / 'the public'? Any area of science is fair game. (It's for a class I'll be teaching next year for science students--I just need lots of cool ideas at this point.)
Jenica liked this
Amy Stewart's Wicked Plants
- Katy S
Stiff by Mary Roach
- Katy S
Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynmann
- Steele Lawman
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- Katy S
I discovered Mary Roach's Bonk yesterday--also sounds interesting ...
- Molly Westerman
Ooh Wicked Plants looks cool.
- Molly Westerman
Science Verse by John Sciezka - I'm serious. I know someone who, after I introduced this book to her, started using it in writing center classes for writing for nurses.
- Katy S
I like Wicked Plants a lot. She has a new book called Wicked Bugs, but I haven't seen it yet.
- Katy S
Some cookbooks have some food science writing in them. Part of the front third or so of The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart discusses the science of bread baking.
- Katy S
I wouldn't have thought of that, Katy--what a great idea. We have The Bread Baker's apprentice at home ... also Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking. Sadly, I am now hungry and want bread but don't have any.
- Molly Westerman
There's Best American Science Writing of 2010 - with handy links to mostly free versions posted to Metafilter - http://www.metafilter.com/95996...
- barbara fister
Currently reading _How to Dunk a Doughnut_, which explains aspects of "everyday science."
- LB: #TeamMonique
from YouFeed
Also Mary Roach's _Packing for Mars_ is great, and I would guess Alton Brown's cookbooks might talk about science since he does on his show.
- LB: #TeamMonique
from YouFeed
And the only time my schoolteacher mom had to teach middle school science to a group of alternative school kids, she got a lot of mileage out of Bill Nye videos. :)
- LB: #TeamMonique
from YouFeed
Picking up on barbara's suggesion, there's also the Open Lab series of science blogging collections that are available via Lulu. The list of posts in the 2010 edition is here: http://scienceblogs.com/thought... and Lulu info here: http://www.lulu.com/product...
- John Dupuis
Maggie Koerth-Baker's stuff on BoingBoing - exemplified by http://boingboing.net/2011..., but it's all good. Also, Ed Yong. http://flavors.me/edyong And MythBusters.
- N. Ansi
David Quammen's The Song of the Dodo, or any of his collections of short essays.
- Marianne
There's a neurologist who writes pop books on science, like The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat. He has a few books on similar subjects: http://www.amazon.com/Man-Who...
- ωαřмaiden ❤Marrit Woman❤
I've always loved the science articles in the New Yorker.
- lris
Just abt every year has a best science and nature writing, not just 2010, too.
- Yo. Shark Dog.
from iPod
I'm reading this right now, Is the Internet changing the way you think? Lots of scientist have essays, 150 total. Blog piece one, more to come, http://www.nuthingbut.net/2011...
- Yo. Shark Dog.
from iPod
check out all the books by Dr Karl K ... Very accessible .... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki...
- Kathryn is Blake in Hindi
I'm definitely doing Best American Science Writing of ... (the class has been taught a couple times before and has always used that text + some others). I also plan to include Sandra Steingraber's Having Faith: An Ecologist's Journey to Motherhood, and you have provided fantastic stuff to explore here! Thank you, everybody! (Keep 'em coming ...)
- Molly Westerman
Oh, with Iris's New Yorker prompt - Atul Gawande. Damn good medical writing.
- N. Ansi
Weekday bump--other ideas? And thanks so much, everybody! This has been really helpful.
- Molly Westerman
For evolution and statistics, I recommend Stephen J Gould. His "Mismeasure of Man" is a wonderful in-depth exploration of the history of intelligence testings, and his collections of essays include a lot of different fields including baseball and the changing appearance of Mickey Mouse.
- DJF
James Gleick's The Information blew my mind in every chapter.
- Stephen le Francoeur
Yup - me too Stephen. Bit too highbrow to be "popular"? If not, then I would also suggest Kevin Kelly's "What Technology Wants" .. not exactly science, but the bit on the Amish as tech users is very entertaining
- Kathryn is Blake in Hindi
didn't read through what everyone else wrote but Open Lab and also The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks
- Christina Pikas
Rats...now I want to put all of these on hold.
- Hedgehog
Abigail just reminded me that Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan is good.
- Katy S
Stranger at the next table at a coffee shop showed me a QR code and asked if I have any idea what those things are. I never used to know the answers to random people's questions in public. *so proud*
bibliotecaria, Mary Beth Sancomb Moran, Marianne and 6 other people liked this
Anyone else going to THATCamp (liberal arts college edition) at St. Norbert? I'm all excited--it will be my first unconference, plus my first conferencey (for lack of a better term) thing I'm attending as (at least in part) a library-type person. Yay!
Claire Dooey, LB: #TeamMonique, Yo. Shark Dog. and Steele Lawman liked this
Ooh, I was looking at that. I hope I'm going but I have no idea whatever. :-)
- lris
I went to one earlier this spring. It was great! And I got a tshirt.
- Jason P
Me, I think. Have to work out teleportion since I have something that runs awfully close.
- barbara fister
from iPhone
Jason, I only knew THATCamp existed because you talked it up in one of the AiLI podcasts--so thanks! Also: wow, Barbara, I knew you were talented, but I am deeply impressed about potential teleporting.
- Molly Westerman
My four-year-old asked to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas a few days ago because A) apparently we forgot this year and B) it's Christmas-y outside. You know, because of the snow. Six months after our first snow of the winter-that-will-not-die. What have we done to you, universe? (Still, Max the dog is amusing.)
Kirsten liked this
J (Mr. 3.5) was singing "We Three Kings" last weekend.
- Catherine Pellegrino
Boy howdy do I ever resent ACRL 2011, which has abducted all my beloved reference colleagues (ALL OF THEM) and then taunted me from the LSW room. Ooh, all the friendliness and learning at the ACRL! Look, there's Iris! And Joan! And the friggin' Easter Bunny!
[No, seriously, I'm glad you're all having fun and demand a series of thought-provoking blog posts in the wake of this, er, traumatic experience.]
- Molly Westerman
*hug*
- lris
Thanks, Iris; that helps. *sniff*
- Molly Westerman
Am getting a little slap-happy with how I'm logging questions. One more hour at the ref desk ... and getting sillier by the moment. (Also, this chair is absurdly uncomfortable--I may have to have my back removed somehow.)
In LibGuides, is it possible to have a search box that searches a set of keywords (or a chunk of text) and then displays the results in a box or page *within LibGuides*? We're trying to figure out what's (im)possible if we transition our databases list to that universe.
The more specific goal is to allow a user to search the database descriptions (or keywords we've pulled) for, like, "poetry" or "maps" or "Africa" or whatever.
- Molly Westerman
You guys. On a much-needed coffee break, I just sat OUTSIDE in the sun without a jacket, shoes off, no gloves/hat/etc. in sight, for like fifteen minutes (and didn't want to come back in). It is 45 degrees and sunny! Swoon.
I am married to someone who not only knows the difference between "compliment" and "complement" but, when asked to proofread a document for me, does so closely enough to notice a typo at that level. After solo parenting our child all week. Three cheers for Eric!
Kirsten, Elena, Morton Fox and 5 other people liked this
I just learned that there were two different versions of that word about two years ago.
- Steele Lawman
He's a man, a gentleman, and a Father. You have won.
- Le Slip Anglais
Don't understand quite why, but when I CANNOT wake up pre-work, listening to "Birdhouse in Your Soul" (as in, They Might Be Giants) does the trick every time. Suddenly I'm bopping around in my chair, smiling, and singing along. Not my favorite song, but my most wakeful? A nice surreal bridge from my dreamlike state, perhaps?
LB: #TeamMonique, Headless Gnad Kicker and Kirsten liked this
Indigo Girls' Hammer and a Nail is the song that does it for me.
- Kirsten
I suspect "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong) might also do the trick in a pinch.
- Molly Westerman
In high school, it was Why Can't This Be Love by Van Halen and Wild Hearted Son by The Cult that always got me going in the mornings :o)
- Headless Gnad Kicker
Library user just called me honey at least five times and then asked whether I'm a student here. Grr.
:(
- LB: #TeamMonique
I don't get the "honey" myself, but I still do get the "do you go to school here?" thing. I am 40. I have a GRAY BEARD.
- Steele Lawman
I prefer "Dui," but thanks regardless.
- Steele Lawman
>:{ "Honey" to someone you don't know, especially at their work, is inappropriate, even if you are older than them. "Do you go to school here" is slightly different, but still annoying.
- N. Ansi
Hrm. Annoying? Sure. Inappropriate? Might depend more on context. "Honey" and "sweetie" are pretty common here in Oklahoma--from women, anyway.
- Kirsten
My coworker's conversation with a kid: Kid: How old do I have to be to get a card here? Coworker: 14, unless you get a parent to come with you. Kid: How old do I have to be to date you? Coworker: MUCH MUCH MUCH OLDER THAN THAT.
- laura x
+1 to laura's coworker
- Soup in a TARDIS
It's less problematic to me from women, and more forgiveable from older people, but my northern self does think it's inappropriate to call someone you don't know by a diminutive like that. It's often an exertion of power, in very real ways (even from women to women).
- N. Ansi
It really makes me feel yucky and vaguely disempowered, the way Extreme Close-Talkers do--or people who touch me familiarly when I don't know them. The unlikelihood of these things happening here endears Minnesota to me.
- Molly Westerman
Hello, last reference shift on the Friday before spring break. You sure are quiet ... and slow ...
Kathy liked this
(psst: http://www.flickr.com/photos... and also http://www.flickr.com/photos... Just sayin'.)
- Catherine Pellegrino
A) Wearing skirt; B) can't do a cartwheel. Feeling sad about that--here we have the perfect opportunity ... In my defense, I did demonstrate a back bend at the ref desk a couple weeks ago.
- Molly Westerman
I move that back bends be acceptable cartwheel substitutes. All in favor?
- lris
Seconded. *thwacks Iris with Stringer's Rules of Order*
- Steele Lawman
Hello Sunday reference! Just responded simultaneously to two IM and one in-person ref questions. The in-person person was amused. Then I logged five questions all at once and am sort of proud of myself for remembering all of them. (Unless, of course, I'm actually forgetting one.)
LB: #TeamMonique, Kirsten, lris and 2 other people liked this
Two things: 1) I'm going back in for day 2 of my monthly Weekend Reference Extravaganza! Have decided that an invigorating name might help. 2) I met Catherine, Martha, and Sarah last night, and squee! Just squee.
LB: #TeamMonique, Kirsten, Catherine Pellegrino and 4 other people liked this
It was totally fun, Molly :)
- maʀtha
Um, Iris's illuminating suggestion that "the National Weather Service says to take food & water in your car if you drive in today's snow" is not very comforting, as I am supposed to be working until 10PM today. Not sure how to determine when to bail, especially as the reference desk is isolated from all windows. What are you doing, outside world?
I just walked my dog without a coat, boots, gloves, scarf, or hat. That sounds ordinary, but I seriously do not even know how to process walking in the sunshine in a long-sleeved t-shirt and being comfortable. BLISS.
I detest wrapping my mind around new work schedules. One wonders, then, why I've worked at colleges my whole adult life, in roles that involve new schedules each term ... Arg. (Hello, spring semester! Nice to meet you.)
Interesting call from home. Our kitchen sink erupted this weekend, gushing onto the floor; we eventually stabilized the situation. Plumber came today to replace basically the whole sink. Late in the process: "Crap; I think I made a mistake." So he goes into what my husband describes as "a sort of kickstand" and GIVES THE SINK MOUTH-TO-MOUTH. Whoa.
Many happy returns to, er, myself! (Am turning 30 today and advertising widely in hopes of real and virtual cake, parties, drinks, well-wishing, etc. Shamelessly.)
Marianne liked this
Happy happy birthday. :-)
- lris
happy b-day!
- Sir Shuping is just sir
and *sends virtual cake of your choice...and balloons or saloons*
- Sir Shuping is just sir
... mmm tasty virtual cake: I choose my runner-up this year (red velvet--chocolate lava cakes won out--oddly, both are totally kitschy) so I can have BOTH.
- Molly Westerman
My four-year-old son, with regard to his bedtime story about volcanoes (which he wanted to show me, newly borrowed from the public library): "I LOVE information. It helps us KNOW stuff." Swoon.
Steele Lawman and Marianne liked this
Last night's reference shift was an unsettling mixture of deep boredom and stress. During nine hours in the library, I got six questions, three of which made me want to hide under the desk from the international-and-historical-economic-indicators-seeking student (or the recent-scholarly-information-about-an-old-fad-diet student). Blah.
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