The Liminal Librarian

If all goes well, I'm moving this blog over to WordPress today. Please update your bookmarks and subscriptions; this URL will no longer be updated after Nov. 8 2007.

New blog: http://www.lisjobs.com/blog/
New feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LiminalLibrarian

Labels: migration, wordpress

* Please distribute widely *

Info Career Trends has MOVED:

Just a note that Info Career Trends, LISjobs.com’s free electronic professional development newsletter, is winding down the year and celebrating the season with a few changes:

First, individual articles are now online at the new Info Career Trends blog. This means a new RSS feed: feeds.feedburner.com/InfoCareerTrends, so please update your subscriptions. But also, and more importantly, it means YOU now have the ability to comment on articles and add your own ideas and input.

The Library Career People column you know and love is also changing over to a blog format in order to facilitate communication and to provide more timely answers to questions. Q&A columns will no longer appear in their entirety in this newsletter, but will be replaced by highlights from recent blog posts and conversations. Subscribe to the Library Career People blog separately at feeds.feedburner.com/CareerQaWithTheLibraryCareerPeople.

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Call for Papers:

Why not think about writing for Info Career Trends? I’m currently seeking queries for the May 2008 issue, for which the theme is “Show me the money!” Potential topics for this issue include: finding and landing personal grants, awards, and scholarships; getting funding for conferences, workshops, and other continuing education opportunities; financing an MLS, Ph.D., or LTA degree; strategies for earning a raise or promotion at work; negotiating starting salaries.

E-mail queries outlining your proposed article to editor@lisjobs.com, and see ICT’s contributor guidelines at: http://lisjobs.com/career_trends/?page_id=3.

Labels: cfp, ict

Speaking of LJ, why not apply for my old gig?

Library Journal is seeking a librarian with knowledge of computer books and technology to manage and write Computer Book Prepub Alert, a quarterly, online-only column that forecasts what will be big three to four months in advance. Interested persons should email a resume and writing sample to Heather McCormack, Managing Editor, LJ Book Review, at hmccormack@reedbusiness.com.

Labels: computerbooks, lj, prepub

The editors of Library Journal need your help in identifying the emerging leaders in the library world. Our seventh annual Movers & Shakers supplement will profile 50-plus up-and-coming individuals from across the United States and Canada who are innovative, creative, and making a difference. From librarians to vendors to others who work in the library field, Movers & Shakers 2008 will celebrate the new professionals who are moving our libraries ahead. Movers & Shakers 2008 will be distributed with the March 15 issue of Library Journal.

Deadline for submissions is extended to November 15, 2007! You can nominate someone here (scroll down the page).

Labels: lj, movers, shakers

Beyond the Job can now be found at its own URL: www.beyondthejob.org.

New RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/beyondthejob/HAwA

Please update your bookmarks and subscriptions. While old content will still be found at the old Blogger blog for some time, it will no longer be updated.

Labels: blogger, btj, wordpress

Hey -- do Laura Savastinuk a favor and fill out her survey for middle managers in libraries.

(Laura is, of course, the fabulous coauthor of Library 2.0 -- help her make her new book just as good!)

Labels: library20, middlemanagers, savastinuk

I'm sure someone at ALA will clean this up soon, so hurry if you'd like to see what can happen when an unmonitored wiki meets a disgruntled poster.

Labels: ala, recruitment, wikis

A couple of things over the past week made me revisit the perennial issue of unattended children in libraries. First, my son had to have minor surgery. In two preoperative phone calls from the surgical center, they stressed that a parent had to stay in the building the entire time. "Of course!" said I. "You'd be surprised," said they. And you think libraries have problems...

Then, we visited IKEA this weekend. A main reason we chose IKEA? Smalland, their free drop-off childcare service. Your (toilet trained) kid can stay up to an hour in a wonderland of ballpits, toys, and Disney movies while you shop in peace; my son begs to go to IKEA.

This got me thinking: I'd drive miles out of my way to go to a library that offered a similar service. I'd pay for this service! (Logistical issues aside), how many parents would appreciate a quiet hour to study, use the Internet, or just browse the stacks?

Labels: childcare, children, ikea, libraries, smalland, unattended

So I'm planning to convert this blog to Wordpress. It's installed on my ISP's server, and the test blog is up and running. However, the Wordpress import function doesn't work on Blogger FTP blogs, only on Blogspot.com blogs. The only advice I can find online is to first convert this blog to a Blogger-hosted blog on Blogspot.com, then to import it into Wordpress.

My thought is, if I do this, I lose the current URL and it will be very difficult to point people to the new blog. Anyone have suggestions on how I can import to Wordpress with minimal disruption?

Labels: blogger, blogs, wordpress

So is it hypocritical not to get all up in arms about Wyoming's mudflap "girl" image, yet to think that this cartoon simply rocks?

I wasn't going to write about the mudflap flap (and at this point, it's pretty much flapped out), but, let's just be brief: I'm not particularly offended. When I first saw this image, I laughed. I think that reclaiming historically sexist images in a way that makes people take a step back and think can be positive. I think this is pretty clearly a parody and that it pretty clearly does its job in getting people's attention. And, I think I'm still a feminist.

Labels: mudflap, wyoming, xkcd