Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Library Video
Here is a link to my library video project for 511. It's supposed to answer the question You Need a master's Degree to be a librarian? It's just a short, hopefully funny video that should answer that question if I did the project right. Short thanks to my family who helped me with the acting and filming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcmfBZ6o1yM. You can also search youtube using 511 Fall Why Librarians Need a Masters Degree Jessica Parsons
Reflections on Class (October 25)
Instead of a regular class we toured the special collections, preservation, and conservation areas of Bird Library. Ken Lavender showed us some amazing things including:
-Cuneiform tablets (4,000 years old)
-Papyrus from the time of Cleopatra (sad it won't last another 2,000 years)
-Book of Hours- beautiful illustrations, the blues and reds were still so vivid. Very interesting to learn that the greens have faded because they contained iron and that shade was actually damaging to the pages
-A page from a Gutenberg Bible
-Laws of the Sea- (1633?)- interesting to note that this was bound in pigskin, which lasts longer than calfskin, or sheepskin
-Gulliver's Travels (1725)
-Collected Work of Thomas Paine (1792)- this edition was owned by John Madison
-Origin of Species (1859)- first edition- did not realize that this book was still banned in Kansas
-Alice in Wonderland-first edition
-William Morris published book covered in jewels- never seen a book covered in gems that was definitely a first. If only they could find the book bound in diamonds that was made for the Titanic.
-An artist book created as a work of art in 1992 to house the diary of the artist's grandparents who survived Auschwitz. There are two books entitled 71125 and 71126 in this work.
(As a quick note sorry if not all of these information is correct, I might have missed some of the dates and names while drooling over these priceless bits of history)
The tour also included a look at preservation. This part of the tour was also very interesting. I was especially interested to learn about the shrink wrapping of volumes that don't circulate. I had come across some on the shelves before and wondered how that worked. It was also interesting to learn about the different kinds of binding and restoration that go on in the library. Sorry, I'm not providing more details here I was able to take notes during Ken Lavender's' presentation, but it was harder to during the other presentations because we were standing. I think one of my favorite parts of the lecture was seeing the re-creation of Byzantine book binding. The creativity and work that went into it was so fascinating. Overall the tour was vastly interesting and even unforgettable in some ways.
-Cuneiform tablets (4,000 years old)
-Papyrus from the time of Cleopatra (sad it won't last another 2,000 years)
-Book of Hours- beautiful illustrations, the blues and reds were still so vivid. Very interesting to learn that the greens have faded because they contained iron and that shade was actually damaging to the pages
-A page from a Gutenberg Bible
-Laws of the Sea- (1633?)- interesting to note that this was bound in pigskin, which lasts longer than calfskin, or sheepskin
-Gulliver's Travels (1725)
-Collected Work of Thomas Paine (1792)- this edition was owned by John Madison
-Origin of Species (1859)- first edition- did not realize that this book was still banned in Kansas
-Alice in Wonderland-first edition
-William Morris published book covered in jewels- never seen a book covered in gems that was definitely a first. If only they could find the book bound in diamonds that was made for the Titanic.
-An artist book created as a work of art in 1992 to house the diary of the artist's grandparents who survived Auschwitz. There are two books entitled 71125 and 71126 in this work.
(As a quick note sorry if not all of these information is correct, I might have missed some of the dates and names while drooling over these priceless bits of history)
The tour also included a look at preservation. This part of the tour was also very interesting. I was especially interested to learn about the shrink wrapping of volumes that don't circulate. I had come across some on the shelves before and wondered how that worked. It was also interesting to learn about the different kinds of binding and restoration that go on in the library. Sorry, I'm not providing more details here I was able to take notes during Ken Lavender's' presentation, but it was harder to during the other presentations because we were standing. I think one of my favorite parts of the lecture was seeing the re-creation of Byzantine book binding. The creativity and work that went into it was so fascinating. Overall the tour was vastly interesting and even unforgettable in some ways.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Reflections on Class (October 18)
No formal class this week. Instead, we were asked to to learn HTML. Forgot how many parts go into building a successful website. Professor Lankes directed us to the website www.w3schools.com- which gives step by step instructions about the different aspects of HTML. I really liked how they set up this website. It was very clear and gave good examples, as well as let the user try out some of the ideas as well. In addition, the user can also take a quiz at the end of the tutorial to see how much information was actually absorbed during the lessons. Looking forward to next week and the library tour, nice to do something different in class.
In addition, to looking forward to the tour am also glad to be trying out my research skills with some research questions in #605. Will be interested to compare the answers I get with the other students in the class. Furthermore, I know that while we may get mostly the same answers a lot of the sources will be varied. That's what I really find fascinating, the way certain peoples minds work when they are looking for answers. For example, the different and varied answers to the question- What was your first thought when you were asked this question?
In addition, to looking forward to the tour am also glad to be trying out my research skills with some research questions in #605. Will be interested to compare the answers I get with the other students in the class. Furthermore, I know that while we may get mostly the same answers a lot of the sources will be varied. That's what I really find fascinating, the way certain peoples minds work when they are looking for answers. For example, the different and varied answers to the question- What was your first thought when you were asked this question?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Reflections on Class (October 11)
Overview of Class:
Policy vs Ethics
-One of the questions that came up in class was should we inform parents about what their kids are looking at? What if you (the librarian) feel that the child has a right to the information while the parents don't in other words, what if policy and ethics clash?
- There is not right answer to this question. The only real answer that came up in class was that the world is so ethically complex that sometimes the right thing to do doesn't exist, and that every instance depends on the situation's context.
-This discussion led to a debate on whether kids can handle more information or whether children's minds are pristine and should be protected. Some parents even believe that libraries are pandering smut to children within the framework of the idea of the freedom of information. Personally, I hated when my parents told me I shouldn't read something, it only peaked my curiosity. I always found this interesting, because I didn't really care if my parents told me that I couldn't watch a movie (for some reason I trusted their judgements when it came to film), but when it came to books I wanted control over what I read and if I was told no that I was definitely going to read it sooner or later (for example, this led to reading Like Water For Chocolate at age twelve)
-We also discussed the difference between equal access and equitable access- equal- everyone can get to it- equitable- maybe not everyone but its justifiable access ex adults can access it but children can't
-This brings up an important question- Should we (librarians) automatically process requests, in a rote style- where is the human factor? Where does the librarian end and the person begin? We are not automatons so can we be expected to act that way? On the other hand, we have to respect the judgments and opinions of different people- when do children become viable people with their own rights- for me eighteen seems a little old when it comes to control over personal reading materials.
-One of the more important things that we discussed is the only way to move forward is to be innovative and not afraid to fail. Failure is inevitable in order to see what new ideas will be successful and what won't. People who allow failure to rule will never succeed.
Policy vs Ethics
-One of the questions that came up in class was should we inform parents about what their kids are looking at? What if you (the librarian) feel that the child has a right to the information while the parents don't in other words, what if policy and ethics clash?
- There is not right answer to this question. The only real answer that came up in class was that the world is so ethically complex that sometimes the right thing to do doesn't exist, and that every instance depends on the situation's context.
-This discussion led to a debate on whether kids can handle more information or whether children's minds are pristine and should be protected. Some parents even believe that libraries are pandering smut to children within the framework of the idea of the freedom of information. Personally, I hated when my parents told me I shouldn't read something, it only peaked my curiosity. I always found this interesting, because I didn't really care if my parents told me that I couldn't watch a movie (for some reason I trusted their judgements when it came to film), but when it came to books I wanted control over what I read and if I was told no that I was definitely going to read it sooner or later (for example, this led to reading Like Water For Chocolate at age twelve)
-We also discussed the difference between equal access and equitable access- equal- everyone can get to it- equitable- maybe not everyone but its justifiable access ex adults can access it but children can't
-This brings up an important question- Should we (librarians) automatically process requests, in a rote style- where is the human factor? Where does the librarian end and the person begin? We are not automatons so can we be expected to act that way? On the other hand, we have to respect the judgments and opinions of different people- when do children become viable people with their own rights- for me eighteen seems a little old when it comes to control over personal reading materials.
-One of the more important things that we discussed is the only way to move forward is to be innovative and not afraid to fail. Failure is inevitable in order to see what new ideas will be successful and what won't. People who allow failure to rule will never succeed.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Some Great Librarian Movies...
Small addition- some of my favorite movies with librarian characters:
The Mummy (1999)
Desk Set (1957) Good movie to watch to see how technology can change librarianship
The Music Man (1962)
Foul Play (1972)
Party Girl (1999)
I know there are many more movies portraying some great libraries/ librarianship these are just some of my favorites. Also of course love the more recent Librarian movies starring Noah Wyle although of course they have little to do with real librarianship.
The Mummy (1999)
Desk Set (1957) Good movie to watch to see how technology can change librarianship
The Music Man (1962)
Foul Play (1972)
Party Girl (1999)
I know there are many more movies portraying some great libraries/ librarianship these are just some of my favorites. Also of course love the more recent Librarian movies starring Noah Wyle although of course they have little to do with real librarianship.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Reflections on Class (October 4)
Started class with discussion of our two page quick responses which centered on piracy and its affect on the music industry. Very interesting discussion with many different opinions, however, after the class the consensus seemed to be that piracy was a known fact and not likely to change. Instead, industries in danger of losing money to increased piracy such as the music, film, and book publishing industries, should instead focus on making their products easy to access and download and as cheap as possible so that customers won't mind paying for their products. Another idea is that they should make their products free and instead make profits through such means as advertising.
For example, we again discussed the company Pandora, which makes its money either through subscriptions or advertisements. What makes Pandora so special is that it attempts to attune itself to the user's tastes. We also discussed the government is having a hard time deciding how much to charge these new radio companies for song rights because they are so different than all previously known radio companies.
Also discussed how, due to the internet, most people don't even own what they buy any more. Instead, they lease it. Because of that when is it all right to do what is called jail breaking, where you break the encryptions on what you buy? Technically, jail breaking is illegal, but is it really fair, especially due to the prices that you are paying for what you are leasing. At $1.29 a song, shouldn't you be able to do whatever you want with that song as long as you aren't making a profit on it? There doesn't seem to be any sure answers to any of these questions.
All I can agree on right now is that libraries have to become active participants in their communities because the world is rapidly changing and if libraries don't change they are going to be left behind in the wake of technological advancement.
Also practiced our classification skills. We split into groups and each group received an envelope, picture of Bob Barker, two pennies, three paper clips, a nerf dart, sugar packet, and a golf pencil. My group chose to classify these things using a hierarchal system. Initially, we grouped our objects under the heading Things Found In Desk, we then subcategorized our objects further using the subheadings, Office Supplies, Entertainment, Food, and Money. We then further subcategorized the objects to more readily specify the objects in our care. Each group chose to classify their objects differently, and it was interesting to see the variety of ways in which the same objects can be classified.
Highlight of the class Big Bang reference Penny, Penny, Penny!
For example, we again discussed the company Pandora, which makes its money either through subscriptions or advertisements. What makes Pandora so special is that it attempts to attune itself to the user's tastes. We also discussed the government is having a hard time deciding how much to charge these new radio companies for song rights because they are so different than all previously known radio companies.
Also discussed how, due to the internet, most people don't even own what they buy any more. Instead, they lease it. Because of that when is it all right to do what is called jail breaking, where you break the encryptions on what you buy? Technically, jail breaking is illegal, but is it really fair, especially due to the prices that you are paying for what you are leasing. At $1.29 a song, shouldn't you be able to do whatever you want with that song as long as you aren't making a profit on it? There doesn't seem to be any sure answers to any of these questions.
All I can agree on right now is that libraries have to become active participants in their communities because the world is rapidly changing and if libraries don't change they are going to be left behind in the wake of technological advancement.
Also practiced our classification skills. We split into groups and each group received an envelope, picture of Bob Barker, two pennies, three paper clips, a nerf dart, sugar packet, and a golf pencil. My group chose to classify these things using a hierarchal system. Initially, we grouped our objects under the heading Things Found In Desk, we then subcategorized our objects further using the subheadings, Office Supplies, Entertainment, Food, and Money. We then further subcategorized the objects to more readily specify the objects in our care. Each group chose to classify their objects differently, and it was interesting to see the variety of ways in which the same objects can be classified.
Highlight of the class Big Bang reference Penny, Penny, Penny!
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