Monthly Archives: February 2007

This is LIS

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A friend of mine, Richard (blogging at Inherent Vice) is asking for help in showing just what it is that we do in LIS for an upcoming presentation.

Often people are confused about what it means to be a graduate of a Library and Information Science program. The common stereotype is that we are all gray-haired bun-wearing shushers, when in fact LIS is an extremely interdisciplinary and varied discipline.

For an upcoming presentation to high school students I am charged with putting together a poster that illustrates just what LIS is.

I’m asking for your help. Please submit photos (preferably with a CC license) to this Flickr group that illustrates what we do as LIS professionals and researchers.

This is LIS Flickr Group.

Please help him out if you can. I should assume that since he is primarily asking for photos with a CC license (by which I am assuming he means some form of ShareAlike) that this pool of photos would be usable by all of us.

If anyone is familiar with already extant pools of photos that would fit this (or similar) purposes, please go comment on Richard’s blog post.

Thanks in advance, from both of us.

Some things read this week, 18 – 24 Feb 2007

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Sunday, 18 Feb

Section 5, “Review of current terminology service activity,” in Tudhope, Douglas, Traugott Koch and Rachel Heery. Terminology Services and Technology: JISC State of the Art Review [pdf version] Read for Independent Study.

Henson, Jim, The Muppets and Friends. It’s not easy being green and other things to consider. Reviewed by The Gypsy Librarian.

Don’t care what they say, ’cause I know where to find my way,
It won’t be the way they said to go.

But I’m not like they say, I just want to find my way,
I’m goin’ the way I’ve got to go.

So show me a way to go and I’ll go free, I hope you’ll see
That I’m goin’ the way I’ve got to go.

Cotterpin Doozer (56)

Well, when the path is steep and stony and the night is all around
And the way that you must take is far away
When your heart is lost and lonely and the map cannot be found
Here’s a simple little spell that you can say:

You’ve got to face facts, act fast on your own
Preparation, perspiration, dynamite determination
Pack snacks, make tracks all alone
Don’t be cute. Time to scoot. Head out to your destination.

Chase the future, face the great unknown.

Gobo Fraggle (63)

Monday, 18 Feb

Lakoff, George. Women, fire and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Began reading.

Monday – Wednesday, 18 – 21 Feb

Harley, Heidi. Chapter 6 “Lexical semantics” in A Linguistic introduction to English words. Not sure exactly why I had this. I had recorded that on 9 Feb 2006 a search on my blog had me at #1 and this at #2; but a search on what terms is the open question. Oh well; at least I recorded the URL.

Tuesday, 20 Feb (my birthday)

Crawford, Walt. Cites & Insights 7 (3): March 2007. I wasn’t feeling so hot come evening, so I curled up with the newest issue of C&I and read it. It was a nice”birthday present” to find myself quoted in this issue.

Wednesday, 21 Feb

Sections 6 & 7, “Standards” and “Conclusion,” in Tudhope, Douglas, Traugott Koch and Rachel Heery. Terminology Services and Technology: JISC State of the Art Review [pdf version] Read for Independent Study.

Wednesday – Thursday, 21 – 22 Feb

Original Penguin Classics Introduction by Q. D. Leavis to Silas Marner. Seems I was confused last week about the intro and the original Penguin intro is hidden away as an appendix. So, both the current and the original intros are very good.

Thursday, 22 Feb

Finished Chap. 2 and read chap. 3-5 of Women, fire, and dangerous things.

Willpower Information. Thesaurus principles and practice. Very basic description of the use of thesauri for the museum field. Read for Oranization and Representation.

Mai, Jens-Erik. “Contextual analysis for the design of controlled vocabularies.” ASIST Bulletin Oct/Nov 2006. Read for Oranization and Representation. Did not find the slightest bit useful; sort of like “feeding” a starving man a savory aroma—no real substance.

Friday – Saturday, 23 – 24 Feb

Chapters 5 and 6 of Svenonius, Elaine. (2000) The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization. These are for Representation & Organization this week.

Saturday, 24 Feb

Olson, Hope A. The Power to name: Locating the limits of subject representation in libraries. Began this; read Preface and Chapters 1 and 2. For fun.

See. This is exactly the crap I’ve been complaining about! I might like to buy this book for myself, but it is $103.00! One hundred + three dollars! That is so freaking wrong.

And please spare me the lectures on supply and demand. I do get it; I truly do. And if I didn’t, I’d ask either my sister or her husband (both Econ PhDs working at the Federal Reserve).

It’s still wrong.

Unfortunately no decision to be made

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Last weekend I heard that the 24th Annual Insect Fear Film Festival is tonight. I did not go the last 2 years because I was in no mood to go by myself, but I promised myself that I was going this year.

Then on Monday I got an email that my friend, Eva Hunter, and her band are playing in Bloomington tonight after a several month hiatus.

Damn! What to do? I’ve been torn all week.

Well, the weather has answered for me. Neither, is the answer. [Power just popped off and back on. Glad I have the stereo and computers on UPSs!]

It’s been precipitating all day—freezing rain and sleet. So with Ice Storm Warnings and Flood Watches in effect until midnight I’m not going anywhere; even “just” to campus.

I guess I ought to be happy that I don’t have to choose, but still, “Damn!”

Enquiring minds … could probably care less

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but I’m going to tell you anyway how I’m spending my birthday.

Last night I gave a presentation (simultaneously local and distant) to our ASIST student chapter on the biblioblogosphere. It was titled, “What LIS Blogs Should Could I Be Reading?: Or how to keep your finger on the pulse of the library world, how best to keep yourself sane while doing so, and how you can contribute.”

I compiled a listing of blogs and related RSSy things that might be of interest to LIS students, especially students of an ASIST bent. If you do not find yourself on my list please don’t take it personal. I offered several caveats at the beginning of my hour talk, along with a few more throughout. For instance, notice the change in Should to Could in the title. The title was suggested to me and I kept it except for the modal change. I’m not about to tell other students what they should read, at least not without some personal context first. For instance, for the cataloging types I highly suggested Catalogablog, and for those interested in FRBR I strongly suggested The FRBR Blog. Other than that there was little proselytizing on my part.

To give folks a broader idea of what’s out there I linked to Walt Crawford’s two studies of portions of the biblioblogsphere in Cites & Insights.

Even if you do find yourself on the list, don’t get too excited. I did not have time to discuss every blog individually and some got barely mentioned. We certainly did not click through to all of them.

We spent very little time talking about aggregators and RSS for several reasons. I did include a few links for people to get started, although I think most in attendance at least know what blogs, RSS and aggregators are. I did spend a few minutes talking about becoming involved in the “conversation,” though.

I guess the main reason I’m even mentioning this is in case anyone sees my presentation page in their referrer stats, since that page isn’t “public” in any explicit way. Anyone’s free to link to it or even outright “steal” it.

After our meeting, my friends Jenn and Richard took me to Crane Alley and bought me dinner and 2 pints. That was, in effect, my “party.”

This morning I woke up to find this from my friend, jennimi. Simply. Wow. With friends like this, who even cares how many enemies they might have? Quite probably the best birthday present I have ever received.

Throughout the day I have been receiving well wishes via Facebook, MySpace, email and in person. [And now via phone and mail.]

I have Ontologies class with Allen Renear in a bit. I have an offer to go out this evening, but think I may just take myself home and relax some.

Tomorrow I will lead discussion at Metadata Roundtable (rescheduled due to the snow last week) on the proposed revisions to the DCMI Element set definitions.

I did get a couple of CDs from my Mom via Amazon last week. I got the Wailin’ Jennys latest, Firecracker, and Lambchop’s The Decline of Country & Western Civilization, Pt. 2: The Woodwind Years. They are both quite good, although the Lambchop is really for folks who are already fans, being mostly outtakes and such.

I’m starting not to feel so hot again, no sure why. Started this afternoon at some point. Part of it may be that Allen has a bad cold and it’s just psychosomatic, but it started before class. Oh well. Been this way on and off for weeks now.

I did treat myself to a nice chocolatey coffee beverage from Moonstruck Cafe and 2 chocolate chip and walnut cookies from Ed at The Cookie Jar this afternoon. Now I should go eat dinner, which will be leftover Guinness and butter basted roast pork loin that I made Sunday.

Thanks all for the kind words and well wishes!

Some things read this week, 11 – 17 Feb 2007

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Sunday, 11 Feb

Henricus Cornelius Agrippa. Declamation on the nobility and preeminence of the female sex. Translated and edited by Albert Rabil, Jr. The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe series. Read pp. 13-65.

The resemblance [of sons to mothers] is often evident in their physical appearance but it is always present in their character: if the mothers are stupid, the sons are stupid; if the mothers are wise, the sons breathe wisdom. It happens otherwise with fathers, who, even if intelligent, very often beget stupid sons or who, stupid themselves, produce wise sons, provided that their mother is wise (57).

Tuesday, 12 Feb

Finished the above book. It is actually pretty good, although I have 2 small complaints. First, is the that translator/editor claims that the book is primarily for undergraduates. Maybe. It is extemely heavily footnoted; thankfully. But if we are to believe any of the stories told about people’s reading habits that will be a definite turnoff. I am certainly not saying it is above undergraduates; that is far from the truth. I am only wondering about whether they would engage with it. It is actually a fast read, especially if you avoid the footnotes, unlike me. Second, it is heavily biased towards beautiful, upper class, European, white women, and not necessarily all women. But considering it was delivered as a speech in 1509 and first published in 1529, it is a master work and an extremely important early work on “the querelle des femmes, the “Woman Question.”" Some more quotes:

Women, to the contrary, have invented all the liberal arts, every virtue and benefit, which the very names of the arts and virtues—being feminine in gender—show better than anything. Another remarkable fact is that even the terrestrial globe itself is called by women’s names, the nymph Asia, Agenor’s daughter Europa, Epaphys’s daughter Libya, also called Africa (76).

But in order that no one doubt that women can do everything men do, let us show it by examples; we shall discover that there has never been any exceptional or virtuous deed of any kind performed by men that has not been executed by women with equal brilliance (79).

Are not philosophers, mathematicians, and astrologers quite often inferior to country women in their predictions and diagnoses? Is it not often the case that a small, aging midwife outstrips a doctor (84)?

But since the excessive tyranny of men prevails over divine right and natural laws, the freedom that was once accorded to women is in our day obstructed by unjust laws, suppressed by custom and usage, reduced to nothing by education. … And so these laws compel women to submit to men, as conquered before conquerors, and that without reason or necessity natural or divine, but under the pressure of custom, education, chance, or some occasion favorable to tyranny (94-5).

And from the conclusion:

I have shown the preeminence of the female sex according to her name, order, place, and material of her creation, and the status superior to man she has received from God. Moreover, I have demonstrated this with respect to religion, nature, and human laws, and [in each case] through diverse authorities, reasons, and examples (96).

Amen, brother. “Down with the patriarchy!”

Neelameghan, A. “Lateral relationships in multicultural, multilingual databases in the spiritual and religious domains: The OM Information Service.” In Bean & Green, Relationships in the Organization of Knowledge. 185-198.

More Foucault.

Eliot, George. Silas Marner: Weaver of Raveloe. Read all introductory matter and first two chapters.

Wed-Thursday, 14-15 Feb

Finished Foucault. The Archaeology of Knowledge. Thankfully! I’m sure there was something of value in there; but I’m damned if I know what it was.

More Eliot.

Friday, 16 Feb.

Finished Silas Marner. An excellent book. I am definitely going to have to read more Eliot having only read Middlemarch and now this. The Introduction by Q. D. Leavis was also quite good. Eliot’s psychological insights are no less insightful here than in Middlemarch.

His life had reduced itself to the functions of weaving and hoarding, without any contemplation of an end towards which the functions tended. The same sort of process has perhaps been undergone by wiser men, when they have been cut off from faith and love — only, instead of a loom and a heap of guineas, they have had some erudite reasearch, some ingenious project, or some well-knit theory (20).

Hmmm…?

A dull mind, once arriving at an inference that flatters a desire, is rarely able to retain the impression that the notion from which the inference started was purely problematic (39).

And I dare say, quite a few not-so-dull minds also.

Satija, M. P. “Relationships in Ranganathan’s Colon Classification.” In Bean & Green, Relationships in the Organization of Knowledge. 199-210.

Saturday, 17 Feb

Mitchell, Joan S. “Relationships in the Dewey Decimal Classification System.” In Bean & Green, Relationships in the Organization of Knowledge. 211-226. Which also means I have now finished reading this book. I will have more to say about it in the future, as this is the book that I am reviewing for Representation & Organization this semester.

Garsol, Lars Marius. “What are topic maps.” For Representation & Organization.

Durusau, Patrick. “Babel and topic maps.” [pdf] For Representation & Organization.

Pepper, Steve. “The TAO of topic maps: Finding the way in the age of infoglut.” For Representation & Organization.

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Started on Read this novel, which my friend, Mo, gave me last October. Pretty good so far, but no George Eliot. Holy crap! I just read a whole book in one day, and all those other things, too.

Holy balls! I’ve read 8 books already this year. This is absolutely incredible for me. I guess it’s time to turn to the 400-600 page books at this point; those will properly slow me down, no doubt. Or I could actually start producing for my classes instead of just reading.

Chief Illiniwek retired. Finally.

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Yesterday, the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign announced that Chief Illiniwek will perform for the last time on February 21st at the last men’s home basketball game of this season.

The campus-wide email was short and completely vague. We were asked that if we received any questions or had any concerns to quote the following:

Thank you for your comments about the recently announced decision on Chief Illiniwek. For more information, please refer to this web page: www.uillinois.edu/chief

You can email comments by clicking on Contact/Feedback link
[InfoSource@uillinois.edu] in the top section of the web page.

That URL goes to a page titled, Announcement Concerning the Chief Illiniwek Tradition. It, too, is extremely vague and consists entirely of links to other resources. If one reads the first item, Press Release, February 16, 2007, it only says that Chief Illiniwek will no longer perform. Pretty damn vague for the official press release. If you make your way to the 2nd item, FAQ, one can finally get to something resembling details.

Q What does this mean?
A It means the Chief Illiniwek tradition will be discontinued at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:
No connection of Chief Illiniwek to Illini athletics or the Marching Band.
No selection of a student to portray Chief Illiniwek.
No performance by Chief Illiniwek at Urbana athletic events, or other University events.
No use of the name Chief Illiniwek in connection with the University.

Both of those documents are pdf, by the way.

Well, it’s about damn time! I had given up on trying to sort this issue out. There really was no middle ground allowed by the groups at the two poles. There was also hyperbole, overemphasis, and quite possibly outright lies on both sides. I have no real doubt that this clearly was a case of racism, at least by some. It was certainly not that for others, either. But the fact that the decision took so long to make because of money and in the end was motivated by money (but from a different angle) is what makes it evil for me. It also was a major distraction from the educational mission of the University.

It was racist (to and for some), it was rude, inconsiderate, and completely uncalled for in this day and age, and it distracted from the mission of the University. This should have been an easy decision (morally) years ago. It is shameful that it has taken this long. And I wish I could say that it is finally over, but it will, unfortunately, be at least a couple years before it is truly over.

May we get there quickly and peaceably.

Update 19 May 2007: I reluctantly allowed the below comment because I wanted to address it. Unfortunately I am having trouble commenting on some of my own posts. Thus, I am adding my reply here and then turning off comments.

I almost did not approve your comment, but as I have been know to make a fool of myself in public I feel others ought to be given the same chance.

Anonymity is so very interesting and, while sometimes called for, is simply cowardly in this circumstance.

It’s not shameful or racist because YOU say so? Interesting how often that statement is made. Notice I did not claim that it was either of those things because I said so.

As for authentic … well, that’s just so wrong that it’s funny, in the sad way. The regalia may be; the “dance” is not; and (almost) anytime a white boy is dressed up as and supposedly representing another ethnicity is an issue.

The Seminole’s point of view is completely irrelevant in central Illinois. I wonder how “they” (that is, the corporate entity) might feel if they had no casinos or other corporate, money-making entities to support. Brands are powerful thing. I also find it ironic that the only Native American peoples not to sign a formal peace treaty with the US are now supporting the use of their name and image as a brand.

And while I, may perhaps, be stupid, I at least am respectful enough to know that a proper noun is capitalized.

Clearly, you are a troll. And not even a timely troll, seeing as this was written 3 months ago.

Thank you for your concern about my stupidity, and for demonstrating your own.

I will, now, finally turn off commenting on a post. I think this is the 1st one I have done so for.  If anyone really has anything serious to add to this they can contact me via other means. Honestly, though, re-read the post and you’ll see that it is not really something I care to discuss.

Illinois State Normal University Sesquicentennial, Old Main Building

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IMG_1720.JPG

Originally uploaded by broken thoughts.

It’s been a long day, but I made it to Normal and back for ISU’s Sesquicentennial. The roads weren’t too bad but I didn’t even attempt my normal route home; took the interstate. I have a lot more pictures but it’s after 9 PM and I have to work first thing in the morning … so all that metadata and uploading can wait.

It was a nice day and I got to see several of the most important people in the world to me; certainly the closest who aren’t flesh and blood kin. But it really sucks to only see these folks for 20 minutes to an hour or so at a time and try to get caught up.

[And Mo and/or Katie if/when you stumble over this ... I lucked into Gina for about 30 minutes before I left. She's good but busy.]

I left ISU around 5:30 and stopped at the exes for dinner and a while. Got to say “Hi” to the dog (Hap) and cat (Prancer) and Terry and Mary.

Again, good seeing people (and animals) but sucky being so infrequent.

Fools In Love

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From the Crown Prince of late 70s – early 80s pop, Joe Jackson:

fools in love

well are there any other kind of lovers?

fools in love

is there any other kind of pain?

…

fools in love

are there any creatures more pathetic?

…

fools in love

they think they’re heros

cause they get to feel no pain

i say fools in love are zeros

i should know

i should know because this fool’s in love again

Joe Jackson, “Fools In Love” Look Sharp!

And, no I’m not, but the song is just mean without the touch of bittersweet irony.