A failure of imagination - the problem with format neutrality

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Reblogged from It's Not About the Books:

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Photo care of Adelaide Archivist (Flickr)

I often hear librarians promoting their ‘modern librarian’ credentials by saying “it’s about the information, not the container”.  By this they tend to mean that librarians in a world of instantly downloadable ebooks, subscription journal databases and multiple other formats for audio, visual and written works should be format-neutral.  That we should not be concerned about in which formats information is available, as long as it is available somehow.

Read more… 1,365 more words

Brilliant assessment of our information paradigm. A crux of imagination ( or cash flow) as much as technology. The container does matter when the reader is blocked whether it be mobile access or Flash or pricey subscriptions. Thanks. Reusing the old warn out hardcover still has its limits- you may now only own one copy. Challenging times if getting the story out is still the central goal.

I promise I will never join another social network…

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“HAT – Someone write this down and hold me to it: I promise that I will never, ever join another new social network ever again. Ever. God knows I’ve joined enough of them. I joined CyWorld in 2004. I joined MySpace two years later. And then Facebook. And then Twitter. And then Linkedin. And then Google Buzz. And then Quora. Quora, for fuck’s sake. I haven’t even looked at that since the day I signed up, largely because it sounds like the sort of thing a rich hippy would name their dreadlocked, pony-riding trustfund arsehole of a six-year-old daughter. And now there’s Google+, which is different because, um…

Well, it must be different somehow. All social networks have a unique selling point. Facebook is for keeping in touch with illiterate former schoolmates who have gone a bit racist in the last decade. Twitter is for people who hate The Daily Mail but can’t stop reading The Daily Mail. Linkedin is for people who wrongly believe that being on Linkedin will somehow get them a better job. So Google+ must be for…”

— Luvandhat.tumblr.com.

http://luvandhat.tumblr.com/post/8508493541/google

20120524-090120.jpg -good luck with that….

B.C. Labour Relations Board asked to end teachers’ withdrawal of extracurricular activities

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.. I’m sorry but this is insane… I disapproved of BCTF adding volunteer tasks as part of protest action plans, yet it also shows how much teachers free time is taken for granted. How is it that the Gov. LRB is being asked to tell citizens what they can or cannot do on their own time? Would lawyers be harassed for withdrawing po bono work? Would nurses be hassled for not volunteering at church camps for free? WTF is it in our time where teachers are expected to deliver free services…. If coaching basketball is so friggin important then pay the guy! If I choose to volunteer time for KSS or club soccer, no government, parent, or LABOUR relations Board should Be able to force me, either way! Now I’m just pussed off!

On Wednesday, May 9, 2012, ?…..

I want to share a story with you from Vancouver Sun: By Janet Steffenhagen, Public school employers are seeking an order that would end a B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) protest that has disrupted after-hours activities, including field trips, parent- (See the full text at http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Labour+Relations+Board+asked+teachers+withdrawal+extracurricular+activities/6593824/story.html)

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Return to the left?

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Return to the left? German Pirate Party? Occupy? Canada NDP? I just don’t see it yet. The willingness of people to accept autocratic corporate sponsored control of the economy and social contract leads me to think less capitalistic rule global wide is a decade away at least-

http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/13/zakaria-the-return-of-the-left/

Do I Really Have to Leave the Role of School Librarian?

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Do I Really Have to Leave the Role of School Librarian To Do the Work of a School Librarian? | The Unquiet Librarian

via Do I Really Have to Leave the Role of School Librarian To Do the Work of a School Librarian? | The Unquiet Librarian.

Thanks to strong progressive teacher-librarians from the past and from our current staffing, we have tried hard to develop and secure instructional services and nurture participation and collaboration for my large (1800 gr10-12) high school.  We have become a valid vibrant learning commons that students, teachers and admin all support but we have a culture to build on that made the library program important. We have 1.6 TL and 1.0 Clerical and ongoing budgeting and engagement but the landscape of the school library is changing so fast we cannot keep pace. Policy, pedagogy , demographics and much more have changed beyond our ability to lead. We do our best and we are strong but change outstrips our abilities and energies.  Therefore, when I read in SLJ the role as technology coordinator I rather snickered with cynical zest because that is a role I have evolved into from the start. We are the technology, information AND pedagogy hub. That said, we are given less influence and participation in the policy making and decision-making than we once had. As the demands and needs changed we responded but now the system is too fast and too top heavy to truly DESIGN  process or practice.  We have become a digital triage center. The irony is that our community still SEES us as a content place. We have not reduced or slashed any sector of our school library anatomy but rather have tried to cope by adding on more limbs and bionic parts. Like HAL we may be losing our sanity. thanks BJH, Al Smith

@buffyjhamilton writes…

“…The new issue of School Library Journal features a cover story called, “Next Year’s Model: Sarah Ludwig left the library, became a tech coordinator, and forged a path to the future.”  Unless I have misinterpreted the article, author Linda Braun wonders if school librarians have to leave the library and take on a completely different job title to do the work of a modern school librarian.  The thesis seems to be that school librarians taking on job titles other than school librarian, like “technology coordinator”, might be the future of the profession.  While I’ve  had my own misgivings about the future of  the profession, I respectfully disagree with Linda Braun and would argue that such a path will only lead to the demise, not the flowering, of our profession’s future.”…….”We’ve wondered about the future of the profession and the challenges of becoming more immersed as an instructional leader and pedagogy specialist in a current model of school librarianship that is physically limiting in the sense that one person, two at best in most places, is expected to excel in multiple roles for student populations that might vary from 850 to 2500 students and up to 100+ faculty in a building; in some cases, school librarians are being asked to be a teacher, program administrator, information specialist, leader, and instructional partner with no planning period and no clerical assistance.

(unquietlibrarian)

Clark Morphs in one year – The Globe and Mail

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British Columbia – The Globe and Mail   via British Columbia – The Globe and Mail.

From routinely taking potshots at Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his party while a Liberal-friendly radio host, Ms. Clark has turned to the Conservative Leader and his acolytes in a painfully obvious attempt to reverse her dreary political fortunes.

Not since David Emerson crossed the floor in 2006 to sit in Mr. Harper’s cabinet have federal Liberals in B.C. been so mystified, and angry, with a politician’s philosophical change of heart.

Today, instead of deriding the views of Christian fundamentalists and hard-line conservatives such as Preston Manning, Ms. Clark seeks their blessings. Only last week, she was in Ottawa to attend Mr. Manning’s annual conference of conservative politicians and strategists – an event at which the B.C. Premier wouldn’t have been caught dead not that long ago. Instead, she left with an enthusiastic endorsement from Mr. Manning, who even compared Ms. Clark to former British PM Margaret Thatcher.

These days that’s pure gold for the Premier….(Globe,)