Knowledge Management [view: normal]

The new link:

http://www.libraryjournal.com/annoyedlibrarian

And finally, the new feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/LibraryJournal-AnnoyedLibrarian

For those of you who've been missing me while I've been goofing off, you're in luck. For those of you hoping the AL would die off, you'll just have to keep hope alive against the odds. Perhaps there's some medication for you.

A couple of weeks ago, I said I'd be moving, and I am. From now on (or at least until the editor realizes what a troublemaker I can be and fires me), the Annoyed Librarian wil...

"Banned" Books Week, or BBW, is upon us once again. Since the ALA has nothing new to say on the matter, I don't either. So read the old stuff; it's still better than the nonsense emanating from the ALA. Take a look at the books shown in the first link. Yeah, it's hard for people to get hold of a Harry Potter book, and I'm pretty sure Catcher in the Rye isn't available , either. And forget Hucklebe...

As Tony Bennett sings, I'm gonna change my way of livin', and if that ain't enough, I'm gonna change the way I strut my stuff.

Things have been slowing down here, but they're about to speed back up. Last spring my personal life sort of took control of a lot of my time, but let's just say I'm settling down now. Also, I've had some added responsibility at work. These libraries can be so demanding.

Al...

What in the hell happened to the comments section on the last post? I know I'm not posting much these days, but how did a comment on the mindless lists become an argument about Palin? I wasn't even paying attention to the comments until today.

Anyway, it just goes to show that one of the functions of the AL is to provide a forum for anonymous librarians to complain about things. For that function, ...

Once again some place called Beloit College has released a new Mindless List for the class of 2012. According to the hype the Beloit College Mindless people put out, the list "provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college." Hmm, we'll see about that. They also say that the "List is shared with faculty and with thousands who request it each year as th...

Many of you have possibly already read about The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones, a novel about one of Muhammad's wives that was to be published by Random House and had already been chosen as a Book of the Month Club selection. Alas, we'll probably not be able to read the novel. I wouldn't have read it anyway, because Muhammad's romantic life or Muslim views of women hold no interest for me whatso...

Those of you who keep track of library news, or who read the comments to my post last week, probably know about The Library Diaries, by "Ann Meketa." "Ann Meketa" turns out to be "Sally Stern-Hamilton," who worked at the public library in "Luddington, Michigan" for fifteen years until being fired for publishing the book. (You might have to register to view the news story.) It seems The Library Di...

According to the AL Direct, "Mean librarian salaries [are] up 2% in 2008." Supposedly the mean librarian salary is now $57,809. Those mean librarians should try to be a little nicer, like I am, because you attract higher salaries with honey than with vinegar.

I've been glancing at a few of the comments. Sheesh, some people sure want me to die off. Oh well. Takes all kinds to make a world.

Someone sent this job ad to me today. I'm not sure what to say. At least they're honest about the requirements. Check out the title: Male Librarian. They don't want any stinkin' female librarians over there in Saudi Arabia, that's for sure. At least in this country whe...

Occasionally I think about the purpose of this blog, and based on the last couple of posts, I'm pretty sure I know. One purpose of the AL is to let librarians vent in the comments, to provide a forum for open discussion and argument. This is of course one of the things that has always bothered my critics. For people who claim not to take anyone seriously who writes anonymously, some of my critics ...

I've been meaning to post here for the past couple of weeks. Really, I have. Instead I've been lounging. I even have a couple of topics. There's that million dollar Verizon grant for the gamey librarians, for example. I get suspicious anytime big corporations want to give grants for things, but then I'm just a cynic. Still, it's better than fleecing the taxpayers to fund the gamey librarians and m...

If your idea of fun at a professional conference is walking through a suburban shopping mall watching sweaty fat people with mouse ears eat ice cream, then Anaheim is the place for you!

But let us ignore for the moment your contemptible tastes and objectively judge Anaheim as a conference venue. I don't know what ALA idiots chose that miserable location for a conference, but I assume, as with so ma...

It looks like the Cuban librarian (or "librarian," depending on your point of view) issue is rearing its shaggy head again. Just after I wrote that the regressive librarians are keeping quiet just now, I stumbled onto a blog post engaging the issue from the regressive side while somehow also claiming that the regressive position is the "middle" position. I guess all groups see themselves as the id...

My old friends Anonymous have been commenting lately that they don't love me anymore, or something like that. I haven't been paying that much attention, to be honest. But I get the comments via email, and every couple of days take a look at them. And so I hear that "this blog is dying." Well, that may be. I'm not sure what makes a blog living or dying. I'm not posting much lately, and don't know w...

A couple of people emailed me things today I just had to share.

If you think you're bitter about librarianship, check out Dr. Tim's comments on a Chronicle article about a librarian holding office hours in an academic department. The comments begin at #8 and veer just a bit off topic. Dr. Tim, according to him, is a failed professor turned failed academic librarian turned successful psychiatrist. O...

Somebody left a comment on the Boomers post about the lack of job security in special libraries. Here's the end of the quote:

"They are downsized because a know-nothing consultant thinks they can save money but making all the staff part-time (librarians are all doing this for pin money, of course, and that single mother doesn't really need to support her child on a fulltime job) and firing the head...

The twopointopians are always wetting their knickers over Facebook and other "social networking" sites. They want to stick their smiley librarian faces all over the Internet in the hope that some teen desperate for a "friend" will give them a super poke. The question, though, is how do these smiley librarians measure success? How do they know when their Facebook antics have worked? Maybe the answe...

If you're looking for a reason to feel good about your job, just be grateful you don't work at the Hartford Public Library.

However, today's post is addressed to some of you who don't have jobs, or at least the cushy library jobs you'd like to have.

I think I can claim truthfully that this blog has done a lot to call attention to the lies that the ALA and library schools have propagated about librar...

A kind reader sent this in a couple of weeks ago, but I'm just getting around to it. My more relaxed approach to the AL hasn't slowed down the email any, so I'm even more behind than usual. Still, I wanted to post it before the application deadline so everyone would be able to apply for it.

This was forwarded to me from some ALA listserv, and I just had to post because it had all the requisite elem...

The lovely and talented AL Direct tumbled into my mailbox yesterday chock full of fascinating tidbits, but none more fascinating than this. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has joined the READ poster campaign. That in itself isn't the exciting part. The exciting part is the quote from what is obviously an ALA press release:

"The Celebrity READ poster campaign is one of the most effective ways to encourage peopl...

The AL has always been something of a controversial blog. Oh, it's so funny! Oh, it's so mean! Oh, it's anonymous! Oh, who cares! Now that I'm slowing down and reflecting a bit and don't really care that much anymore, suddenly the critics are coming out again, the sad, humorless gits who comment or blog about the Annoyed Librarian with serious words in earnest tones. A couple of such things have c...

As a rule, I don't do "memes." The AL, as you know, is a free spirit. She doesn't follow rules or trends. She marches to the beat of her own drummer, baby. But now I've been "tagged," as the children say, and by no less than Stephen Abrams, who no doubt gets a perverse pleasure out of the AL. Since I'm in holiday spirits lately, I'll play along.

Here are the rules:

"1. Post a picture from a source l...

I got to work this morning and realized that I haven't posted all week. I did my normal Sunday-before-bedtime piece, and then nothing. I didn't pay attention to what was happening this week. I didn't even read the comments to the last post until this morning. The AL has been far from my mind. I just ranted about a trend I saw as a sign of the end times and then went about my life. Only this mornin...

I'm terribly excited, and I bet you know what about. Yes, that's right. Flickr is now adding video content! Yay!! The site where the self-obsessed post pictures of themselves but also where serious photographers actually post good photographs will now be open to the gits who post their inane antics on Youtube. Yay!! The videos, however, will be limited to 90 seconds, which should be within the att...