“The library is the parts bin of scholarship.”

Paul N Courant today at the Triangle Research Librararies Network annual meeting.

Brandi pointed out an article on Kiplinger, 7 Great Careers for 2007, that lists librarian as a great job. Of course I’m biased, but I wouldn’t want any of the other jobs on the list. Considering library schools? Have a look at the rankings.

This is a conference week. I’m at DigCCurr, an International Symposium on Digital Content Curation today and I leave for Digital Library Federation Spring Forum 2007 on Sunday. I’ve been awarded a Fellowship for Librarians New to the Profession to defray the high cost of travel to Pasadena, luckily.

I got a tip of the hat from the Libraries, I just noticed. Coincidentally, one of the other fellows, Matt Cordial, took my job at Prairienet when I left.

Update: I just uploaded some photos of DLF in Pasadena.

This article describes the migration of public library computers to Linux. It has long bothered me that libraries, whose professional values and stated code of ethics clearly call for open source software, have been subverted by donations from the Gates Foundation into using a closed, proprietary platform. The foundation of the profession is open access and a commitment to fight the comodification of information and, by extension, information systems. Every library should be using open source software. See also the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Initiative.

After reading Dismantling the Public Sphere: Situating and Sustaining Librarianship in the Age of the New Public Philosophy” and this recent NY Times article on the Gates Foundation I’ve really started to develop concrete reasons for worrying about technology in libraries. While posting this I happened to see this article concerning laptops replacing books in elementary school. I doubt that anyone without a serious vested interest would posit that contemporary US education does NOT pale in comparison to public education prior to the Vietnam war. I have some theories about why that is, but this is all heretical thought in a library school. Read the articles I’ve mentioned here.

Time for “Ironic Moments” with your host, Jim. Exactly one person showed up for the workshop at the library and that person wasn’t there to learn about buying a new computer, but rather to learn how to use the one she has. The next one is on secure computering. I’m not sure how much preparation I’ll be putting into that one. My cat has taken to sneaking into the room and attacking my feet as I type. How cute.

I went home for the weekend and had a great visit with family. It’s such a hike to Macomb and back. I spent all this week doing an inordinate amount of homework only to discover that not one bit of it was due this week. It’s kind of funny-usually I’d make the opposite mistake and not realize the homework was due until very late. Woo-hoo. If you live in CU you might find this interesting. The IMC. in cooperation with others want to build a citywide free, highspeed wireless network. See their website. A couple of people have expressed their misunderstanding of the current state of the Linux desktop so I’ve taken some screenshots that I’ll post on Tuesday that they may see it’s modernity.

I’m hosting a workshop on buying a new computer at the Helen Matthes Library tomorrow. The jist of it is you probably don’t need it and if you do, you probably need a lot less of it than you’re going to buy. The handout is here (pdf). Today I turned in all the homework that I thought was due last Friday. While dumb, it was nice to have all of my stuff done early. I also think I got the intro to linux security doc (pdf) done. Brandi’s coming up tonight to go out with me and Dennis and Chu.

I just returned from a wonderful visit home. All is well in the universe at least as far as friends and family are concerned. Time to get back to work. I’m writing this in the reference library. Woo-hoo.