It's That Time Again

Time to head off to that bi-annual Bacchanalia for Librarians, otherwise known as ALA. A time for fun, learning, and lots and lots of working. I both look forward to and dread this event twice every year. So, here are lists for the reasons behind both.

What I'm looking forward to in DC:

• The Hollywood Librarian
• The OCLC Blog Salon -- even though I work for OCLC, I've never been. I'm going this time. I don't expect anyone to have read my blog, but I'm legit now baby
• Going to the Nationals vs Indians game on Saturday night with about 30 of my work friends
• The OCLC Symposium: Is the Library Open? Another work plug, but these symposiums are always so good
• "The Ultimate Debate: Do Libraries Innovate"; Saturday, June 23, 2007 ~ 1:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.; Renaissance Mayflower (MAY) Grand Ballroom

What I'm not looking forward to in DC:

• Humidity
• Walking a lot in humidity
• All the last minute appointments I know I'll have to make and keep
• Not having a night where I can stay in my room and order room service until Monday night-- I'll be so ready for that
• Missing my favorite weekend in Columbus OH which includes Comfest and the Pride Celebration-- this is the weekend every year that I need to experience to remind me that I can live here happily

So, I'm off in the morning for the joy and the agony of ALA Annual 2007.


And, in unrelated news...
She had me
(click to play the video when you follow the link)
She lost me
Celine Dion, really? Good Lord!

You're a Librarian?

If you read my first post, you know that technically the answer to that, for me, is "no." But I've been in the "biz" for years now, and have had people say that to me more times than I can count. The first time I heard this was actually my first time in library school. And it just went on from there.

So-- what does that mean? I think it means that I don't fit the stereotype. I think what it also means is that the stereotype is still so pervasive that people are surprised when people don't fit into it. And that's sad.

Within the profession we are definitely changing the way we think about ourselves. This is evident with The Lipstick Librarian, You Don't Look Like a Librarian, and other web sites and blogs dedicated to breaking down the stereotype. It's also recognized in the new names we are giving things and people. Now we say things like "metadata", "resource sharing and fulfillment", "information professional", and "How very 2.0 of you."

Outside the profession is where we could still use some help in marketing and branding ourselves. In the spirit of the list, here are some things you could do to help people realize that we aren't just a bunch of old women waiting to chastise you for your overdue books:

• Get a "Metadata Rules" tattoo. Tattoos are cool. Everyone knows it. Everyone will know you are hip if you have a tattoo.

• Next time you are doing karaoke, just introduce yourself as a librarian before you launch into your number. Karaoke is even cooler than tattoos.

• Tell people that your inspiration for getting into the field was Parker Posey in Party Girl.

• Challenge people to a "search-off." Tell them you can beat them without Google.
  

• Go see The Hollywood Librarian at ALA. Then recommend it to all your non-librarian friends. With enough word-of-mouth, it could be this year's An Inconvenient Truth.
  

I really don't have all the answers, but I'm willing to do my part out there. I'm going to get that tattoo tomorrow.

What do you think about at 5AM?

My husband took my 9 month old out of town yesterday. This is the first time since he was born that I have been in my house without him. I've left them several times, traveling to library conferences and other places related to work, but I've never been the one left at home alone. OK-- not technically alone, but now that Teenage Daughter is out of school, do you really think she's home?

So, what do I do with all my free time? I eat a pimento cheese sandwich and oatmeal for supper, watch AMC and The Starter Wife and fall asleep by 10:00 with the knowledge that I can sleep until the alarm goes off.

At 5 AM I wake up and can't go back to sleep because I can't stop thinking about what I should post next. This is big-- this could set the stage for me. This could determine my future. I could be discovered. I could be the next Tame the Web or Free Range Librarian or Libraryman or one of the many blogging librarians out there whom I read and admire.

Too much pressure. Here are the things I thought about at 5AM as appropriate for a second post:

Libraries and politics and whining-- this involves Al Gore's recent appearance at SLA and why I wasn't smart enough to go to SLA so that I could see him and beg him in person to get into the presidential race.

Millenials in the workforce-- which would have involved a link to the NPR story I heard this week about what Millenials want in the workforce, and how this is really what I want too, even though I'm not a Millenial but a Gen X'er. It's good stuff.

Twitter-- and why I can't seem to get into it even though it's tailor-made for people like me who have the attention span of a gnat. I really want to try again for ALA since it seems like a great way to keep up with what's happening and where people are at any given time.

So maybe my blog is a blog of lists. It seems to be shaping up that way. Stay tuned to find out if I can find one thing that I feel strongly enough about to dedicate an entire post to it.

My Virgin Post

I know-- I'm at least 8 years late to this blogging thing. I've been wanting to do it for a while now, but am generally all talk and no action. I was going to just go straight to vlogging-- but that would require me to do way too much work.

Why "Don't Shush Me?" Because that sums me up in a nutshell. I have lots of thoughts and ideas and opinions and I want people to hear them. With this blog, I can give you all of them and you can even respond if you're so inclined.

I started an "About" me for the blog and it seems that it really should be my first post. So it will be. Here it is:

I'm a mildly amusing, highly cynical almost-librarian. I live in the Mid-West (not by choice but by job) with my family which includes my husband, my teenage daughter, my infant son, two cats and two dogs.

Here are 10 things about me that are important and figure into why I write this blog:

1) I am from the South. I love the South. There is nothing better than being a born and bred left-wing Southerner. I am my own worst enemy.

2)I am almost a librarian. I have twice started and not finished my MLS. I have been in the library world for over 15 years and have worked for academic and school libraries as well as library vendors and a library membership organization. Don't try to convince me to finish my MLS-- I don't wanna.

3)I have children but they do not define me. Neither does my job nor my husband.

4)I'm a Rolling Stones girl-- not a Beatles girl

5)If I had any talent-- I'd be a rock star-- alas I have none-- but that doesn't stop me from doing karaoke.

6)I love to read but I never do it anymore. I wish that I did and I keep buying books. Yes-- I like to BUY them and not borrow them.

7) I'm interested in technology and how it can help libraries, but I am not a geek. I don't know enough to be a geek and I don't care enough to become one. I think technology is great as long as it's actually helping people to get things done.

8) I love politics.

9) I have watched the soap opera"All My Children" since I was 10 and I'm not ashamed to say that I still watch it almost every day.

10) I love to talk and give my opinion, but with age is coming the wisdom that if you talk all the time about everything that no one listens anymore.

That's it. I hope that you'll consider coming back for my first real posting. I'll try to make it interesting and thought-provoking. The possibility of an ABBA reunion satisfies both those criteria, right?