Library tour video

My library has had a wonderful summer student working with us this year.  One project she took on was to create a “library tour video” for us.  Prior to this summer she had not worked in a library, but she just “gets it”. So, we let her decide on the content, direct us, and produce the video. She did a wonderful job!  Yes, we are not all great in front of the camera, but I think we did ok … and we certainly tried hard.

As the Yukon Energy, Mines and Resources Library is hidden away on the third floor of a government building in Whitehorse, we are hoping that this video helps potential clients feel more comfortable about coming to the library.  EMR Library tour page can be found here, with the video and a brief photographic tour.  The icing on the cake is that a local band, Soir de Semaine (thanks again!!), permitted us to use one of their songs in the video!

Librarians and the X.0 (2.0, 3.0) world

It is interesting to me that so many librarians are fearful of and/or avoiding the x.0 world.   I also find it very odd.  Librarians have historically been early adopters of technology … though I am now seeing that it is truly only some librarians who fit this bill.  So many won’t explore or try out new tools – tools that would be very useful to them in their professional and/or home lives — and sometimes are fun to use!

I have been thinking about this because I am simply baffled by the negativity with which some librarians are approaching the wide variety of new and practical tools that are now freely available to us.  The irony is that some of the very same people who I find are now using all the excuses they can imagine to avoid new technologies are the very same librarians were the first to embrace the possibilities that past new technologies provided! Librarians imagined then created online catalogues (OPACs) before the days of commercially available catalogue databases.  From variable-length data fields (in MARC records) to sharing of bibliographic data online, librarians were using the internet and e-mail extensively and efficiently even before the days when the average techno-savvy person could access online bulletin boards … before the days of gopher and Lynx!

What does this mean? I guess it is a reminder to me that while many librarians are early adopters of new tools, not all librarians are.  And, just because historically particular librarians may have been early adopters of some technologies doesn’t mean they objectively analyze new technologies … perhaps they were just early adopters of a particular technology.  And, this isn’t limited to the more experienced librarians, there seem to be many librarians of all stripes who avoid new technologies.  No judgement here, just an observation.

As for me, I have always been an early adopter … though I don’t adopt technologies just because they are new.  I had my first cell phone (a bag phone, powered via 12V cigarette lighter plug in my car) in the early 1990’s (kinda funny as I haven’t owned a cell phone for over 10 years now), I began using the internet in 1990 while studying for my undergrad (when a forward-thinking English prof , C. Stuart Hunter, insisted that his students complete short quizzes online at the University of Guelph), and I am always thinking about how I can use new tools (both in my work as a librarian and at home).  I don’t believe new technologies are good simply because they are new … they must meet some need (efficiency, entertainment, communication, …) or be useful tools, I don’t jump on all bandwagons.

Follow-up: Yukon library and mould

More details.  The village wanted the Teslin Public Library to leave the building so the village could demolish the building, but … the plot thickens … the library board, the Yukon government, the village, and occupational health and safety are all trying to figure this out. See CBC for more details.

Yukon library and mould

Controversy for the Teslin Public Library in Yukon.  Mould (or “mold” for my American neighbours) is living in the basement of the building that houses the public library in the hamlet of Teslin.  While 2 other businesses have left the building to escape the mould, the public library is still open in the mould affected building.  CBC has more. The librarian has complained of ongoing headaches and fatigue.  And, on the radio this morning I heard that the Yukon Legislature was discussing this issue yesterday, and there is talk of temporarily closing the library down.  Looks like there will be updates to this story….

Yukon Library Association (YLA)

YLA has been trying out a wiki, an e-mail list, and a facebook group for our communication needs, and it looks like the wiki is the preferred method for YLA members.  I am very happy YLA is becoming more active.  As Yukon has such a small population (approx. 33,000) and is geographically remote (approx. 2000 km from Edmonton, AB), it is important that we work together and share resources and knowledge with each other.

Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute (NELI 10)

“The tenth Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute (NELI) will be held in Emerald Lake, British Columbia, from  February 26 – March 3, 2009.

The Institute’s mission is to assist professional librarians to develop, strengthen, and exercise their leadership skills so that they may be better equipped to formulate, articulate, and achieve the future changes required by libraries into the 21st century.”

As a past NELI participant, I know first-had what a wonderful experiential learning experience NELI provides for newish Canadian librarians (2-7 years of professional experience).   If you know an early career Canadian librarian who is enthusiastic, passionate, and knowledgeable about librarianship, please consider nominating him/her for NELI 10.  I credit NELI for keeping my enthusiasm for librarianship alive and well, despite my remote location and minimal professional colleagues in the Yukon (so few people in the Yukon, it is no surprise that there aren’t many librarians here).

For full details, go to: http://www.ls.ualberta.ca/neli/index.html

Details: “Hollywood Librarian” film screening in Whitehorse, Yukon

October is dedicated to library and information services in Canada and this year’s Canadian Library Month theme is “Your Library Your World”.

The Yukon Library Association (YLA) in cooperation with the Yukon Film Society (YFS) is hosting the Yukon release of Ann Seidl’s “Hollywood Librarian: A Look at Librarians Through Film” on Saturday October 11th at The Fire Hall in downtown Whitehorse.

Written and directed by Ann Seidl based on the true story of America’s Librarians and proudly presented by Overdue Productions, this 95 minute feature length film had its red-carpet premiere at the American Library Association annual conference in Washington, DC on June 22, 2007 to over 4,000 librarians and friends.

Hollywood Librarian is the first movie ever on the subject of the real lives and actual work of U.S. librarians.  Using the “hook” of Hollywood motion picture clips, it introduces the audience to all kinds of librarians: school and children’s librarians, special librarians (medical and corporate), academic librarians, library educators and graduate students, a cataloger, and public librarians.  Beginning with the history of information organization – Hypatia and the Library of Alexandria – it then touches on Andrew Carnegie, Melvil Dewey, and early women library professionals. Moving on into the 21st century, the documentary gives audiences the chance to peer into the world of librarians: the skills and passion it takes, the challenges of book censorship, the themes of censorship, intellectual freedom, children and librarians, pay equity and funding issues, declining library funding and the value of reading.

Where: The Fire Hall (1st and Main, Whitehorse)

Tickets at the door: $6 ($5 YFS members)

Film showing at 7:00 pm,  Saturday October 11th

Reception at 6:00 pm: Your chance to meet Yukon librarians, past and present. Photos of early and current-day Yukon libraries will be on display and librarians and library staff from various Yukon libraries will be on hand to meet you. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact me via this website. Thanks!

Roller derby librarian

While I know most of us have at least 2 lives (our “at work” lives and our “outside of work” lives), Yvette Ipsaralexi’s outside of work life is as a roller derby girl!  Pretty cool!  The Globe and Mail has a video-documentary up (dated Sept 15, 2008) at: Dewey by day, derby by night, and it is very interesting to watch. As most of us know, appearances can be deceiving.  Yvette may not look like a roller derby girl when she is at work, but she enjoys the sport of roller derby immensely … and enjoys the hitting of the sport.  Looks like a lot of fun to me, but I will stick with simple roller-skating, not roller derby.

“Hollywood Librarian” is coming to Whitehorse

In celebration of Canadian Library Month, the documentary “Hollywood Librarian” will be screened in Whitehorse by the Yukon Library Association and the Yukon Film Society.

When: Saturday October 11th, 7pm (reception at 6pm)

More details to follow!

Not enough time in a day …

… which explains the inactivity of this blog.

I went to IFLA’s World Library and Information Congress in Quebec City in August, and it was amazing.  The most interesting thing I came away with is that all libraries truly are the same … I should have remembered this, as I had this realization last year too.  But, I guess I needed to be reminded.  It doesn’t matter if we are academic, public, special, legislative or government libraries, the issues and challenges we face are very similar.  Since IFLA I have been letting this thought simmer at the back of my mind.  We divide and consider our libraries in these very specific categories, and for the most part this serves the libraries and our clients well.  But, what are we missing out on?  What can the small government library learn from the large legal library?  What can the large academic library learn from the tiny volunteer-run public library?  I am convinced we can all learn more from each other if we just took the time to talk to each other more.

Thinking about this reminded me of my experiences last November when I participated in the Manitoba Public Libraries Conference.  As I work in a small government library I wasn’t expecting to find that so many of the issues we face in our very different libraries would be so similar … from marketing services to teaching clients how to use our resources to the pace of technological change to budget issues, I discovered that while our libraries may serve different clientele and be managed very differently (boards for public libraries, managers/directors who report to ADM’s for gov’t libraries), at our core we are the same.

And, “the same” means we are all in the business of providing relevant and accurate information to our clients while dealing with all of those same issues.

So, it isn’t like this should be news to me. But somehow I need regular reminders about it.