Even a parent's sick of you people.

This one was found on Jennifer's blog: http://fullmoon.typepad.com/chaos/2007/11/even-a-parents.html

And you know, I've seen the same thing in Dreary Olde Melbourne Towne. Carlos not happy.

Is it christmas?

This one
(http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheSocialCustomerManifesto/~3/190988047/is-it-christmas.html) found
through the Social Customer Manifesto.

I dig.

What do conservatives spend their time thinking about?

Laugh? I nearly disgraced myself (in public too).

[please note: I'm sending this from my Google Reader account, so I don't really know how it will appear.

 

 

Sent to you by hermitcl via Google Reader:

 

 

What do conservatives spend their time thinking about?

via Feministe by Jill on 11/26/07

Amanda sends on this post, which provides Conservapedia's most-viewed articles list:

1. Main Page‎ [1,897,388]
2. Homosexuality‎ [1,488,013]
3. Homosexuality and Hepatitis‎ [516,193]
4. Homosexuality and Promiscuity‎ [416,767]
5. Homosexuality and Parasites‎ [387,438]
6. Homosexuality and Gonorrhea‎ [328,045]
7. Homosexuality and Domestic Violence‎ [325,547]
8. Gay Bowel Syndrome‎ [314,076]
9. Homosexuality and Syphilis‎ [262,015]
10. Homosexuality and Mental Health‎ [249,14]

And just when I thought I couldn't laugh any harder, I find this gem in the comments:

I don't want to stand in denial of equal rights and all of that PC stuff but then again I do object to enrolling my five year old in the gay straight alliance. If you are going to promote something as beneficial to all of mankind than you best not attempt to shove it up my ass like it or not. That kind of thing sort of like, well, breeds contempt and reactionary behaviors.

And here I thought shoving things up my ass would breed Gay Bowel Syndrome,* not contempt and reactionary behaviors. If only my mandatory pre-school GSA had set me straight!

 

 

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Ouch! More! Ouch! More!...

This one's in the "huh?" category: A vest that causes pain when it detects a WIFI network. The idea, supposedly, is that this would cause a pain-map that would make it easier for the wearer to remember where he or she might get good reception.

I don't really think it'll be too popular (except maybe with the Venus in Furs set).

WorldCat Identities

I don't always like OCLC initiatives, but this one seems like a good idea; a WorldCat 'Identity' page for each author, with lots of useful details and access points to that author's works. I must have spent a good couple of hours just playing with it. Good one!

I hope they integrate it into WorldCat proper soon!

Library Juice Press, LLC : Ethay Ookbay ofway Almspsay andway ethay Ookbay ofway Overbspray

you may remember I posted about a project to translate the Bible into Lolcats: Well, do I hear Pig Latin anyone?

Library Software Manifesto

This one was found through Meredith's blog: She points to a post by Roy Tennant in which Roy proposes a set of points as a possible ILS customer Bill of Rights.

Now, Roy didn't make himself too popular with certain folks in the cataloguing community a few months ago (I won't go into that: If you're interested, check out the AUTOCAT archives), but as a [default] system administrator, this so-called Bill of Rights makes a lot of sense to me. Read. Absorb. Comment.

Ding, dong....

Well, after what seems to have been the longest election campaign ever, it looks as though the Little Man has lost government, and looks like losing his own seat to Maxine McKew. I'm glad and relieved. Especially relieved. Now we will see just what the Rudd government will be all about.

Automatic propagation of updated authority records?

[originally posted late on 24th November 2007, updated late on 26th November 2007]

An idea. For a while now I've been thinking it would be a good thing to have automatic propagation of updated authority records: We would need to have a central repository, and a system whereby records from that central repository could be spread to library systems everywhere.

Of course, NACO members currently have access to the NAF by FTP, but I'm talking about a system that would distribute individual records as they are changed and as they are requested, rather than the whole (5.5 million record) file.

Ideally, this would be an international (universal?) system, catering for libraries in all countries and languages (that is, not just the NAF). But how could it work?

Originally I though a system much like DNS could be put into place: A hierarchy of servers or repositories placed around the world, with changes moving from individual "host" nodes up the hierarchy to the 'top' level and then spreading to all nodes as requested. But recently I've been thinking more along the lines of package repositories.

Many Linux distributions use package management systems, going to a set of package repositories (often simply a set of mirror servers), in order to ease the installation and maintenance of software packages. Why couldn't a similar system work with authority records? Apt (or Yum or Slapt-get) for authorities!

So how would this work? Well, the authotity management system would keep a database holding information about authority records held by a particular library system. This authority management system would periodically (daily? once a week? once a month?) compare its database to an authorities server (or mirror thereof). If the local system had any new or updated authorities, these could be sent up the line for approval. Any local authorities that had become superceded by more up-to-date versions on the remote server, could be downloaded and imported into the library system; or perhaps a report could be prepared for the cataloguer or system administrator to accept before downloading and importing the new authorities.

Of course, getting something like a global authority file up and running would need a concerted effort by libraries world-wide (probably through IFLA), it would need the cooperation of ILS vendors, and it would have to be funded by someone! So it probably wouldn't happen any time soon.

Obsidian Wings: Surprise! Vagina Dentata!

This one reminds me of of Snow crash by Neal Stephenson.

librarian.net » Why isn’t your headline “why the hell are women still earning less than men?!?!”

This one's from Jessamyn; She comments on a Library Journal article on the value of an MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science, I think), and asks why women are still earning less than men.

I also seem to recall some figures from years ago that stated that, though women made up something like 75% of library staff (I think it was an Australian study, so I'll say "In Australia", though it could have well been a study from the States), they earned something like 10% than men in the same or similar positions, and that only 45%(ish) of management positions went to women.

WHY?

LibraryThing for Libraries

this is one of the posts that should have gone out weeks ago, but procrastination is a harsh taskmistress. Anyway, here it is.

_________________________________

I've been a fan of LibraryThing for a while now: What could be better than cataloguing your own books?

Well, LibraryThing now has a service for libraries. I haven't had a chance to have much of a look at it yet, but it looks as though it's potentially a great service. Anyway, have a look.

On the death penalty

This one's from a few weeks ago: It's am extract from Julian Burnside's Watching Brief: Reflections On Human Rights Law And Justice.

Now, I don't normally have much time for layer-type folk, but I could read Burnside all the time.

Linux.conf.au

Well, i've just paid up my fees for Linux.conf.au in Dreary Olde Mel8ourne Towne early next year.

I'll tell you ALL about it. Actually, I'm really looking forward to it; especially the mini-confs on the Monday and Tuesday. So if you're thinking of going to either the Fedora mini-conf or the SysAdmin mini-conf, watch out for the idiot in black in the back row.

more on the LC Working Group ...

Updates updates updates:

Karen Coyle posted this

The session webcast is here (I hope to get to it today, but we'll see)

Enjoy.

Obama for President

Some of you may be wondering "Why does he talk about U.S. politics when he's supposed to be voting
in a week and a half?" Well, some of it has to do with the fact that I don't trust any Australian
politicians (or at least none of the ones I know of). Some of it has to do with what they're talking
about, and what they're avoiding talking about. Some of it has to do with the way the mass media
cover politics (and not just at election time). So basically I feel politically disenfranchised.
Then again, I often think of myself as an anarchist, so that should be nothing new.

The American presidential race, though, often draws my attention. Specifically, the progress of one
Barack Obama: A few weeks ago he discussed nuclear disarmament (as in GLOBAL nuclear disarmament,
not just North Korea or Iran or Pakistan). He also doesn't seem to rise (or should that be "lower
himself") to the typical political mudslinging we've all come to expect.

Now, he's proposed a Presidential Chief Technology Officer
(http://venturebeat.com/2007/11/13/exclusive-barack-obama-to-name-a-chief-technology-officer/ --
found through Meredith's blog:

http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2007/11/14/cto-of-america/) to "ensure government
officials holds open meetings, broadcast live webcasts of those meetings, and use blogging software,
wikis and open comments to communicate policies with Americans, according to the plan."

Fancy that! Transparent government! Just as it should be (isn't is supposed to be government of the
people, for the people, and by the people? So why isn't anyone else saying stuff like this? Or is
this another quaint 18th Century concept we need to do away with?).

the Library of Congress’s Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control webcast

well, there was confusion, frustration, and from some quarters even what seemed like glee, when the
Library of Congress's Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control webcast failed yesterday.
Cataloguers everywhere tried to get a look, with no success.

Chris (http://www.catalogingfutures.com/catalogingfutures/2007/11/the-webcast-tha.html) reported on
the 10 minutes of footage she was able to see. No real surprises there: LC wants to cut costs, and
it's picked the cataloguing sections bear some of the cuts: CIP input will be completely automated
with no human input; LC doesn't get enough (or even any) money from libraries that use its records;
PCC doesn't have enough contributors, etc. Also, more positively, authority control, though thought
by some to be less important, is becoming more important.

Dianne Hillmann also commented (http://litablog.org/2007/11/13/success-and-failure/), but more on
LC's seeming new transparency:
"LC is attempting to keep people involved in the process, and webcasting is a good way to do that"

The report itself is scheduled to be released on the 30th November.

change of plan

okay folks -- change of plan

until now, i've been in the habit of sending interesting URLs to the blog as drafts, to review,
write up, and publish later. But later never seems to arrive (there are currently 18 items needing
attention in my "to publish" list, with more to come).

So I've decided to email item as posts directly, and polish them up (if necessary) later on. Expect
poorer posts. You've been warned.

Marion Scrymgour: Intervention is a weapon we know of old

Those of you in the land down under may well remember a National Sorry Day a few years ago (was it 2004? 2003?) when absolutely EVERYONE marched. Except for the Little Man, of course.

Well, here's a lecture worth reading, from Marion Scrymgour (whose father was part of the Stolen Generation).

Read. Digest. Comment.

"four concrete ways the OPAC can NOT suck, and you can help"

This one's from the Disruptive Library Technology Jester (found through Librarian.net)


It's a discussion of four schemes to enhance OPACs (for non-library folk, that stands for Online Public Access Catalogue; it's what you use to find books in a library).

It's about making the OPAC NOT-suck. All good.

you know you're in trouble when . . .

Time for a sex joke. From xkcd.

Fast Fictions!?!

Just discovered a podcast (dating back to 2005) of Fast Fictions, the pseudo-legendary 3RRR radio show. "The Bod and the Dog go Pod."

Scary stuff. Just hearing the theme brought memories of many a wasted Monday night. Ah, them were the days . . . It was definitely weird to hear David the Body and James the Hound Dog once more.

There seem to be 6 episodes available from Roocast, the most recent recorded some time in mid-2006, at a guess.

Of rabbits and Prime Ministers

I know I said I wouldn't be posting much on the Austalian federal election campaign, but I couldn't help myself. This one was found through Chaos Theory. Read.

Incidentally, there was an article on todays Age about the lack of humour (well, wit really) in the current crop of Asutralian politicians.

How the West got lost

I never thought much of Malcolm Fraser until well after he stopped being Prime Minister (look at his hair! He looks like an earlier incarnation of Jeff Kennett). However, he's proven to be a person of unusual worth and humanity (in my opinion).

Here's part of a lecture he recently gave at the University of Melbourne Law School. Read. Digest. Comment.

Melbourne in the rain

Water from the sky,
dripping down my umbrella.
Melbourne in the rain.

We've had a glorious amount of rain over the last day or two in Dreary Olde Melbourne Towne. Parts of Gippsland report 100 mm. Carlos happy.

Cars on Hoddle Street,
spray rises from their tyres.
Carlos getting soaked.

New OCLC Report about Sharing Online

The Shifted Librarian reports that OCLC (in their wisdom) have released the results of a survey on Sharing, Privacy and Trust in Our Networked World. Read. Digest. Comment.

[some time later]

And here are Karen Schneider's comments on the survey.

libraries, Google, OCA and the New York Times

This one's been waiting in my To-do pile for a couple of weeks: The other week I posted this one, and a coincidentally the New York Times published an article (front page, no less) on several research libraries' decision to reject offers by Google to scan their collections (for the article and comment go here and here and here)

[some time later]

And here.

Books from the Espresso Machine

Interesting post from Nicole: Publishing (well, okay; printing) and scanning on demand!

dis/integrated library systems

I found this intriguing; we've been using integrated library systems (ILSs) for years, but what is a disintegrated library system (DLS), and what does one look like?

Read with me: This one from Lorcan Dempsey, and this one from the Panlibus (Talis) blog.

A thought on the library literature

Angel comments on the idea that most library literature is written by individuals to gain or maintain tenure. Actually, that's probably the case for most professions or disciplines. Academics write the articles while everyone gets on with the job. We thereby lose out on others' valuable and unique experiences and insights.

To some extent the blogosphere is helping to spread that experience around.

ALA President-Elect and the Future of LC Cataloging

Chris from Cataloging Futures reports on testimony before the US Congress (PDF) by Jim Rettig (ALA president-elect) on the declining quality of Library of Congress cataloguing:

Traditionally, the Library of Congress has served as a de facto national library, upon which thousands of libraries across the country rely for bibliographic records and services to the blind and physically handicapped, among other things. Countless users rely on the Library's records every day to find the books and materials they need.

And we should say libraries worldwide: LC is the largest and most influential library in the Anglo-American library world.

Unfortunately, LC is not the US's national library; its mandate is first and foremost to serve Congress. And we forget that in the library world at our own peril.

on the upcoming Australian federal election

I haven't yet posted on the upcoming (24th November 2007) Australian federal elections for 2 reasons:

1. Back in 1999 the Kennett government was set to be returned for another term in Victoria. All the polls agreed. It was even likely that the government might be returned with a greater majority. Except The Kennett Liberal/National government did not win the elections (much to my relief). And so, I now find it difficult to take the current poling seriously.
2. I do not believe a Rudd federal government would necessarily be any better than a Howard government: As I see it, politicians (regardless of nominal party ideologies) are interested in only two things; gaining power, and staying in power.

Basically, the choices are these:

1. vote Howard back into office, or
2. get rid of him

I do not see Rudd as any sort of saviour (though I'm sure many Labor pundits do), but ANY change must be seen as a good thing, in this case.