Bava, continued.

Dear friends, I'm not here anymore, but if you're looking for me, here's where to find me. ------------ The Dancing Librarian - http://exlibrius.org Where I blog about libraries, technology, art, the internet, and everything in the world that fascinates me (which is everything). Dance in the Library - http://ahniwa.livejournal.com Personal ramblings not fit for universal consumption. Readers should have an urge for personal interaction beyond professional considerations, or just an interest in my personal life will do, I suppose. Everything that needs to spill out that doesn't go to The Dancing Librarian will go here. La Casa Comics - http://lacasacomics.com Finally at its own home, and happy to be there, the comic is thriving (or, at the least, maintaining a consistent schedule for the most part), and we're still having a good time with it. Updates Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, in full color (which is much better than 1/2 color, or even 9/10 color). MySpace (personal) - http://www.myspace.com/ahniwa MySpace (lacasa) - http://www.myspace.com/lacasacomics Friendster (rarely used) - http://www.friendster.com/profiles/ahniwa Email - bavaenfin (gmail) -- also works for finding me on google talk World of Warcraft - Server: Dark Iron - Characters: Bahlyn (main), Vaenu, Meluen There you go. Come and find me, it's not hard. :)

Holy Minima Black, Blogman!

Transition, revolution, rinky-dinky blah blah blah. For now I need something simple and black. Seriously though, my personal blogging has moved elsewhere. I'm happy to give the link out to people I know. Contact me and I'll hook you up.

"Well, he's no Clark Gable."

Two men whisper on the back roads, shoulders hunched; their collars are up around their necks and their dogs drawn in on a short leash. In the frigid dawn their breath draws clouds against the gray horizon. Their eyes scan the trees, above the hills, and they are wary. Their dogs are restless and completely silent. ---- Did you ever hear that Postal Service song? How did it go? Right. I want so badly to believe that "there is truth, that love is real" And I want life in every word to the extent that it's absurd I know you're wise beyond your years, but do you ever get the fear That your perfect verse is just a lie you tell yourself to help you get by? When I think of "the fear", I think of this and I think of "fear and loathing in las vegas", not the title but a line from the movie, damned if I can remember it. When I think of the fear. No, when I get the fear, like I can feel creeping up sometimes still, like today, my eyes feel too far back in my head. My pant legs feel too short and my shoes ridiculous. All these things that I want to do, but none of them energize me. The thought of these actions inexplicibly turns from exciting to draining, and I'd just like to lay down and sleep for a long, long time. I make poor decisions when I get the fear. I quit dancing. I stay in more often than not. I start to judge the world, and worse, myself, with a scale that nothing can stand up to. Indécise - Coralie Clément Peut-être oui, peut-être non Ca m'est égal de toute façon À gauche, à droite, ça, je n'sais pas De haut en bas, oui, pourquoi pas Un jour où l'autre, on verra bien. Toujours remettre au lendemain Ce que je peux faire ce matin Je ne sais pas me prendre en main... Sometimes I know where the fear comes from, and why it comes, and what it wants. Sometimes it's so simple. Today, the fear is a fucking ninja. It's sneaky and black and pointy, but I've seen its traces. Fuck you, the fear. Come back some other day. Today. Today I don't want you.

It's not you, it's me.

I'm making something of a break from blogger. Personal stuff will be filtered to a different and perhaps more secure location. Intellectual and link-posts will, eventually, earn their own site with a domain and web page built around them. In my head, this seems like the way that things should be done. I'll still be poking around here, but if you consider yourself a friend, feel free to get in touch with me and I'll give you directions to the new sites as they develop.

OCD, minus C

I can be compulsive, but usually not in a manic fashion. Obsessive? Absolutely. The subjects vary, but the ones that come to mind immediately are: - Webcomics. - Ideas for websites. - Ideas for La Casa. - Swing Dancing. - Librarianism. - Webcomics. You'll notice that, sadly, blogging is not on that list. I'd love to be obsessed with blogging, but I'm not sure if it will happen in this current format. My idea, currently (and this does fall into the "Ideas for websites" obsession), is to create a seperate space for purely personal, day-to-day things (probably on livejournal, which seems to cater to the format), and another space for something more of a professional (meaning, subject-oriented) blog. I have some fun ideas for what I'd like to write about, mostly technology, information science, design, librarianism, and webcomics. It would be a fun cross-spectrum for fun people, I think. I have two other ideas for what I think would be good websites. The nice part is that once set-up they would, for the most part, run themselves. The not-so-nice part is that I really have no clue how to set them up. The ideas and the execution, I think, would be fairly simple. Unfortunately, fairly simple is generally beyond me at the moment when it comes to web design. I'm decent with CSS and for the most part I "understand" things. Understanding does not a good web designer make. Not by itself, in any case. The point? The point is, if you're good with web design, and might be interested in collaborating with me to get this stuff going, I'm happy to pitch my ideas to you. Understand, they're not "exciting". I don't have the next MySpace lurking in my brain. They're simple, but I think they'll work. Tonight I'm going dancing in Portland. Tomorrow night, to a party in Seattle. Sunday night I may go dancing in Seattle. Monday night, more dancing. Tuesday and Wednesday: dancing. Thursday? Thursdays I crawl into a hole and sleep, or sometimes I go play poker and drink beer. And I wonder why time seems to slip by so quickly ... oh wait, no I don't. The answer is dancing. Dancing and webcomics. The two best answers out there.

Questionably Content

Everything changed today. You'd think I was overreacting, that the sky had fallen, or that I'd kissed a chicken. The sea isn't boiling, not yet, but even so, everything changed today. Tomorrow, it will likely change again.

When haiku have kids.

I don't know what the plural of "haiku" is, but I refuse to say "haikus". I imagine, like geese, it could be "heeku", or perhaps "haaku" or "hiiku" (but absolutely not "hooku", which is obviously the plural for "hookah"). However, I'm going to go with the "moose" methodology instead, which remains "moose", and which stands as a testiment, when combined with "goose" and its plural, that the English language really doesn't put forth a whole lot of effort towards being consistent. And that's exactly why I love it. In any case, here are two haiku that I wrote. Afterwards, I decided I didn't like them in haiku form (it was actually their choice and not mine), so from their loins sprung (that's a really ghastly image) the poem underneath. Actually, haiku are hermaphroditic, but will rarely spawn anything but more haiku when left on their own. When two haiku spawn together, you'll often get a poem. Haiku orgies often result in odes, ballads, sonnets in iambic pentameter, and children's songs. Don't look at me. It's the natural order! Without further ado ... one it's not too late yet; i want conversation past midnight and to fulfill your smile's promise. two you smile like moonlight. fingers brush fingers. your cheek is smudged with stardust. it's not too late yet it's not too late yet; minds wrapped around distant angles, long exposures drawn out and sometimes so long that I become aware of nothing but your presence beside me. it's not too late yet; stepping back into the night's artificial flicker. stars make wishes on our cities. we hazard fingertips brushing, too hot to be a holy palmer's kiss. it's not too late yet; as you smile like moonlight, your cheek is smudged with stardust and there's so much time left to go. it's not too late yet; i want conversation past midnight, and to fulfill your smile's promise.

In the end, I couldn't bear it.

Perhaps I'll watch that show. After the city has turned its lights off and the pre-midnight rainbow has become a sea of flashing yellow down State street, I'll huddle quietly and try to dissolve the mystery surrounding musical and television pop culture. Reality TV? Maybe, but you know it can only be real when people don't know they're being filmed, and some of these people are really, very obviously, aware of the cameras. I'll watch it though not on TV and I won't vote, but part of me is curious about this pervasive pop phenomenon. It's interesting, but I can't get past a skeptical detachment (nor do I want to). Some people spend more time communicating with this show, about this show, than they do with their children, their spouses, their books or their dreams. Once, when we were all in black and white, television seemed so wholesome. It was a reasonable extension from the family sitting around the radio, listening to the Little Orphan Annie show, news radio, or dramatic productions of great (by "great" I mean pulp) mystery stories. Then we had Bewitched, Leave it to Beaver, I Dream of Jeanie, etc etc. The shows were limited and wholesome, the time spent in front of the television set was balanced by time reading, talking about the news, playing chess, checkers, cribbage, bridge, being a family. [long rant deleted] Now, huddled in the blackness as my screen flashes lightning and laugh tracks guide me, sometimes I shiver quietly, and wonder how television could have been so subtle in devouring my integrity.

One, please.

an anti v-day haiku. lip-locked lovers at the movie; while you made kissy face, I ate all your popcorn.

VD.

Happy Valentine's.

Alone and listening

The first thing these days after I get home: a cup of tea (mint please). I set the cup near the plants to watch the steam caress their leaves. I think they find it erotic. I watch the sky redden, then darken against the sloping horizon, and the city becomes a sea of flickering lights dancing outside my window. By now I've moved on from tea; something with a kick, and while Miles takes five I close my eyes and lean back. Sometimes, alone and listening, staring out into the black and the ground littered with stars; sometimes every night is perfect.

Keirsey's Rational Ravenclaws

So I took this Keirsey personality type test, which gave me the same results pretty much every other personality test I've ever taken says. And which, according to this Keirsey version of the sorting hat, makes me a Ravenclaw. This, as well, is nothing new. The test describes me thusly:

Rationals, are the problem solving temperament, particularly if the problem has to do with the many complex systems that make up the world around us. Rationals might tackle problems in organic systems such as plants and animals, or in mechanical systems such as railroads and computers, or in social systems such as families and companies and governments. But whatever systems fire their curiosity, Rationals will analyze them to understand how they work, so they can figure out how to make them work better. In working with problems, Rationals try to find solutions that have application in the real world, but they are even more interested in the abstract concepts involved, the fundamental principles or natural laws that underlie the particular case. And they are completely pragmatic about their ways and means of achieving their ends. Rationals don't care about being politically correct. They are interested in the most efficient solutions possible, and will listen to anyone who has something useful to teach them, while disregarding any authority or customary procedure that wastes time and resources. Rationals have an insatiable hunger to accomplish their goals and will work tirelessly on any project they have set their mind to. They are rigorously logical and fiercely independent in their thinking--are indeed skeptical of all ideas, even their own--and they believe they can overcome any obstacle with their will power. Often they are seen as cold and distant, but this is really the absorbed concentration they give to whatever problem they're working on. Whether designing a skyscraper or an experiment, developing a theory or a prototype technology, building an aircraft, a corporation, or a strategic alliance, Rationals value intelligence, in themselves and others, and they pride themselves on the ingenuity they bring to their problem solving. Rationals are very scarce, comprising as little as 5 to 10 percent of the population. But because of their drive to unlock the secrets of nature, and to develop new technologies, they have done much to shape our world.

This, in turn, seems to match fairly well with my monkey traits, and perhaps my ram traits as well. I feel like I know myself pretty well, and I know how I feel about these results. I'm curious to hear from those who know me, and those who don't know me but through my writing here, how well YOU feel these traits fit me. I know other Aries, and other Monkeys, but I don't know if I know any other Aries Monkey Rational Ravenclaw types, so I don't have a very good mirror in that respect, and chances are if I met one I'd hate them. Which leads me to another question. If you met someone exactly like you (a veritable, or perhaps literal, clone), would you enjoy their company?

Implications of changing names in changing times.

I came across an interesting paper written as a masters thesis (around 2000, I think), that addresses this topic pretty well. "The implications of name changes for library and information science schools" - JULIA ANNE MURPHY the link is: http://www.crowbold.com/homepage/topic4.htm Of particular interest concerning this topic:

Positive and Negative Aspects of Name Changes Most proponents of library school name changes agree that the changes are important in recruiting a new type of student. Changing librarianships' negative stereotypical image is cited as an important reason. Maurita Holland of the University of Michigan says that the term "library" conjures up archaic images (Davis, 1998) and Jose-Marie Griffiths, Director of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Tennessee agrees. "We are striving to recruit students of a different type who wouldn't think about entering a library and information science program because they have the traditional view of what it's all about" (Dean's list, 1994, p. 60). Another important factor is psychological. Name changes show academe and potential students that the field of information science is not limited to librarianship, and that information science education can lead to non-traditional, higher paying jobs (once again, usually in the corporate world). Library schools today are adamant about divorcing librarianship from the physical institution of the library. "Information science" connotes that information is everywhere and that therefore graduates of a program can work just about anywhere, whether that is in a library, corporate setting, or as a freelance information broker. Nancy Van House, former Dean of the now-defunct School of Library and Information Science at the University of California at Berkeley agrees. "If we focus as 'library schools', on the library, then we are tied to an institution that is changing and that could disappear"(Dean's list, 1994, p.62). Naturally, others disagree heartily with the name changes, finding them superficial at best and an utter betrayal of the profession at worst. While proponents of the changes believe the name changes will improve relations with the rest of academe, critics feel that universities will see the new titles as simply another attempt by a low-ranking discipline to manipulate words in order to raise its status (Crowley, 1998). And while name changes may appear to be a token effort to address the reality of the information paradigm shift, it takes time and strategic planning to develop a corresponding curriculum that is properly balanced between theoretical and practical education. In this sense, name changes, especially with the plethora of permutations of the word "information", can be evidence again of the identity crisis within which library schools are involved (Bohannan, 1991). What are such schools, really? More library school than information science school? Or vice versa? These questions lead one directly back to the definitions described above -- definitions that provide few answers except to show that as a profession, librarianship is still struggling to define itself and its schools.

I still don't know how I feel about getting rid of the word "Library" from graduate programs. Perhaps I'm biased because I do want the degree to pursue work IN libraries, which I realize isn't the case for everyone. Here are some more links I've run across that seem relevant. There's a lot to read, just thought I'd throw it out there. http://www.si.umich.edu/cristaled/postings/V52.html http://walt.lishost.org/?p=231 http://www.slis.ualberta.ca/cap03/regan/unitedstates.htm

In addition, library schools are choosing to drop the word 'library' from their faculty names in order to disassociate themselves with the low status occupation of librarian. Farley suggests that librarians can improve their status and pay by: 1) standing firm on wage negotiations despite economic downturns, 2) disseminating information on fair pay, 3) embracing the title of librarian instead of information specialist. She generally recommends marketing the librarian as important to society and refute the common misconceptions of the librarian.

The idea of "library" and the importance of a name.

McGill's Graduate School of Library and Information Studies is evidently considering dropped the words "Graduate" and "Library", which has some students up in arms. School of Information Studies? I don't think it sounds as nice, or fits as well the role of the school, which just added three specializations this year: Knowledge Management, Archival Studies, and Librarianship. If you're going to offer a specialization in "librarianship", wouldn't it make sense to keep "library" in the name? The crux is this, what does the word "library" mean in the 21st century, and how is it viewed outside of the library community? Removing the word would likely be based on the idea that "library science" has fallen far enough out of its specialization in libraries and into a more general idea of information management. Is there an viable instance where "library studies" are outside of and distinct from "information studies"? If you do a wikipedia search for library science it automatically brings up the entry for LIS (Library and Information Science). For wikipedia, library science automatically incorporates information science, but the reverse does not seem to be true.

Library and information science (LIS) is the study of issues related to libraries and the information fields. This includes academic studies regarding how library resources are used and how people interact with library systems. These studies tend to be specific to certain libraries at certain times. The organization of knowledge for efficient retrieval of relevant information is also a major research goal of LIS. Basic topics in LIS include the acquisition, cataloging, classification, and preservation of library materials. In a more present-day view, a fervent outgrowth of LIS is information architecture. LIS should not be confused with information theory, the mathematical study of the concept of information or information science a field related to computer science and cognitive science. Programs in LIS are interdisciplinary, overlapping with the fields of computer science, various social sciences, statistics, and systems analysis.

Doing a search for "information science" points you to informatics, where the language points much more into the realm of computer science and information management via databases and software engineering.

Informatics or information science is the study of information. It is often, though not exclusively, studied as a branch of computer science and information technology and is related to database, ontology and software engineering. Informatics is primarily concerned with the structure, creation, management, storage, retrieval, dissemination and transfer of information. Informatics also includes studying the application of information in organizations, on its usage and the interaction between people, organizations and information systems. Within information science attention has been given in recent years to human computer interaction (HCI) and to the ways people generate, use and find information.

In the academic world, it's easy to think that being a librarian is all about creating databases, utilizing new software, being technologically innovative, and so-on and so-forth, ad technologicum. However, many LIS graduates find work in small public libraries, where you still find a lot of patrons who don't want to use computers or databases, and who want to ask the librarian anytime they have a question. For a lot of librarians, patron interaction and reference work are what make their jobs worthwhile, and while younger library users will likely jump on the technology bandwagon, utilizing the software and databases created by the librarian instead of the librarian directly, we have a more conventional generation, who having grown up with card catalogs and print indexes, aren't keen on skipping the middleman and jumping straight into information overload. Day by day the line is blurring between LIS and Informatics. We, as librarians and library students, are at a point where we need to try and straddle the gap between the two, and eventually build a bridge. I think that it is important to maintain the distinction between information study as a librarian to information study as a computer science student or software engineer. Yes, as "librarians" we want to be able to branch out. We are versatile, and can offer many skills outside of the library setting. But if that is our explicit goal, then the field of library science will decline, and the importance of the library as place will eventually be swallowed by technology, computer science, and the internet. The library can always expand its purview, and incorporate innovation and technology to its heart's content. We can make the words "library science" mean "information expert", rather than letting "information expert" destroy the word "librarian".