I recently noticed in our Reference collection one of the quirks of the Dewey Decimal System that people often refer to as “serendipitous” - but look at the picture below to see if you also see a problem:
The books that caught my eye are these (biggify the photo to see the Dewey numbers):
809 - History, description, critical appraisal of more than two literatures 809.91-.92 - Literature displaying specific qualities and elements 809.933 - Literature dealing with specific themes and subjects
And so, I get that these books are each about specific kinds of literature. But come on - a book about the Holocaust shelved between two books about imaginary things? It really is like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other fool Holocaust deniers got into OCLC and caused this to happen - a cataloger sleeper cell.
I’m going to talk with my Head of Technical Services to see how we can fix this.
It looks like Alikewise.com has been around all year, but I only heard about it this weekend - it’s a dating website that matches people based on the books they like.
This is a great idea for a dating website - it seems a much better way to get at someone’s true nature than filling out a profile by guessing what will make you attractive. I checked around the site a bit (without creating a profile), and wonder if there’s a way to tie-in with sites like LibraryThing and Good Reads to capitalize on peoples’ full libraries. LibraryThing sort of already does this, with their You and None Other meme.
But here’s something funny: at my first library, we toyed with the idea of a “singles night” book group. We thought it’d be a perfect program for Friday nights, after work, to come and meet other single people interested in books. It never happened, but I always liked the idea. Maybe that’ll eventually manifest in Alikewise meetups.
And wouldn’t this be a heck of a social networking widget to add to a library catalog? “Like this book? Click here to meet other patrons that do, too.”
Kurt Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors, and I first read many of his books at a time when my personality and outlook on life were still impressionable as wet cement. His writing style, and both of us being from the Midwest, played a large part in my love of reading and writing.
It is fitting to call it a library, because he was certainly a prolific writer and a great supporter of libraries. However, the description on the website makes it sound more like a museum, community center and art gallery. It’s collection will house many of his letters and works and so will be a research center, and they also plan to publish a literary magazine and sponsor writers workshops.
They have a newsletter and are on Facebook, and all of it makes me really look forward to visiting.
But this does puzzle me: if the point is to look fashionable, wouldn’t it make more sense to make a clutch that looks like an iPad or Kindle? Or maybe retrointellectuaistas just have far better fashion taste than I. Well, yes, of course they do. It is creative and well-done, but I still need to cue Flight of the Conchords:
I might sound critical, but you know if they designed a man-purse based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I would want it.
I enjoy being a librarian, and working with the public. But it can be challenging, and sometimes you just need to vent.
No matter what people ask me, I make sure the words that come out of my mouth are helpful and positive - however, those aren’t always the first words that spring to mind.
In the anti-spirit of my post from Thursday, here are some answers I have not given to questions patrons have asked me. You’ve heard of FAQs - now here are some ALUs (”answers left unsaid”):
Patron: The book isn’t on the shelf, on a cart, or behind the desk - where else could it be? Answer: In someone else’s home.
Patron: This computer is loading slowly - should I just sit here and wait? Answer: You could stand.
Patron: All the bathrooms are in use, where else can I go? Answer: There are bushes outside.
[five computers in a row rebooted while a particular patron was using them because she keeps pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL, after I showed her that CTRL-ALT-DEL reboots computers] Patron: I’m sure it’s not something I’m doing. Answer: Hmm, then maybe they just sense danger.
Patron: The computer said the book I want is “Checked out.” Does that mean it’s checked out? Answer: No, that’s just our way of deterring patrons who aren’t pushy enough.
Patron: The museum pass I want is already reserved for the day I want to go - can you cancel that person and give it to me? Answer: Actually, you don’t need the pass at all - just go to the museum and they’ll let you in free if you tell them the secret code; it’s “I need to plan ahead.”
[patron on the phone] Patron: Can you speak up, why are you speaking so softly? Answer: Because I’m in a library.
Patron: Can I ask you a question? Answer: You mean, another one?
[patron brings in a broken playaway, and I offer to request one from another library or to show him where the book is on the shelf] Patron: You think I want to *read* this book? Answer: You’re right, that might be asking too much.
Patron: I love Michael Savage - do you think he’s got just the best website? Answer: No, in fact, his site is so bad that one of his fans set up a separate website just to make finding his information easier. [note: this is from awhile ago, and apparently thesavagearchive.com is no more. But read the little "About" box on the archived version of that site - it's a polite way of saying a site is annoyingly difficult]
Sigh, I hate speaking ill of people who come into the library and ask for help, but I’m sure we’ve all been there. The good news is that questions like the above are few and far between (but they’ll never be few and far between enough).
