Off the Mark

Thursday, 27 Oct 2005
Library History Seminar XI: Libraries in Times of War, Revolution & Social Change
This seminar honors Professor Emeritus Donald G. Davis, Jr., School of Information, University of Texas and former editor of Libraries & Culture
Libraries & Culture becoming Libraries & the Cultural Record, to be edited by David B. Gracy II.
Disclaimer:  All [...]

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First off, let me say that I pretty much despise Postmodernism.  For one, it only really means anything specific in architecture.  Otherwise, it is a very loose, and often conflicting, amalgamation of views that if those proffering it as a serious view were philosophically and historically educated enough would realize were all recorded over 2000 [...]

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I’m back home from the library history conference I was attending and helping at.  It was wonderful!  I met so many incredible and warm people from all over the world, and across the entire range of their careers—other students, new librarians, mid-career librarians, a retiring professor and editor of a prestigious journal to whom the [...]

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You fit in with:
HumanismYour ideals mostly resemble that of a Humanist. Although you do not have a lot of faith, you are devoted to making this world better, in the short time that you have to live. Humanists do not generally believe in an afterlife, and therefore, are committed to making the world [...]

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I am going to be attending Library History Seminar XI over the next few days.  I will have very limited connectivity, but I will be taking my laptop nonetheless.  That said, feel free to comment here while I’m away and I’ll happily catch up when I can.
I have received some feedback on my (virtual) journal [...]

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There was an excellent article in C&RL News recently, entitled "A librarians journal club: A forum for sharing ideas and experiences."
Theodore Hickman and Lisa Allen. College & Research Libraries News, 66 (9), October 2005, pp. 642-644.
When I read it I immediately thought, "Yes, that is what I was talking about," when I wrote "Articles I’ve [...]

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Attack of the Zombie Copy by Erin Kissane at A List Apart is an excellent and humorous take on editing those sentences that don’t really mean anything.
Come on.  You’ve all seen them in business, on the web, and heaven forbid, even in our libraries and universities.  Mission statements are particularly prone to spontaneous zombie spawning.
Leveraging [...]

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Carnival of the Infosciences #12 is on the midway over at Frequently Answered Questions. Rebecca Hedreen has done a wonderful job on this week’s Carnival!
Next week’s Carnival is at Tinfoil + Raccoon and submission guidelines are here.
And speaking of wonderful jobs, I have to admit that I’ve been seriously remiss in not mentioning a [...]

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Jakob Nielsen of usability fame recently posted his comments on weblog usability.
Disclosure:  I subscribe to his Alertbox newsletter.  I used to diligently read what he put out.  Then I started reading a bit more widely and found that much of the design community and some of the usability community think he is wrong and/or a [...]

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For any of you who wonder why I get so vexed around issues of "my voice" please see this about military blogger Daniel Goetz via Sivacracy.
It is too late because Daniel has been silenced, against his will. And not only has he been silenced — he has been forced to publicly declare himself “a supporter [...]

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