Library Skills for the Masses?

"To imagine yourself as someone else is to waste who you are." -- Anonymous

Yesterday, while waiting in line at the grocery store, a new periodical caught my eye. Strategical placed amidst the latest sensational celebrity "news" (Spears--an unfit mother?! Pregnant Nichole's boyfriend cheats?! Angie, pregnant again?!) the cover's softly muted tones (& demure looking anonymous blonde) all but promised an oasis of calm...

Called, simply, "Organize," it's a magazine "dedicated to solely help people solve their organizational needs," the articles & advertisements offering an assortment of tools to help each of us evolve into the organized person we've long dreamed to be. A few highlights from this month's issue include a two page article on "Navigating the Superhighway of information,"(lots of links), tips on how to clean out that garage (should be lucky enough to have one), as well as a blurb that advocates the perks of subscribing to an RSS feed. (I've been meaning to get around to it...). Oh, and lest I forget, there's also a handy-dandy discussion of "A+" study spaces. Should anyone take a peek at either my work desk or home office they'd realize that I ought to subscribe indeed.

My first thought? Corny as all get out! I was, however, attempted to purchase one for curiousities sake--if not posterities, given the demise reate of new publications--but at $3.99 a pop, I'm inclined to spend my dollars elsewhere. Still, the idea's growing on me...As a woman with a solid track record for losing both her mental notes and hand-written ones (marbles?) I'm a poster child for the scatter-brained, but well-intentioned audience their aiming for.

(Note: The desks of my co-workers are as haphazard as mine. A sign that there's an awful lot of information out there to know for those of us who are supposed to be-in-the-know?).

My apologies...

Shouldn't have messed with the color on that last post. A little hard to read. Sorry! :)

Random Factness (Inquisitive Minds Want to Know?)

Inspired by a book I became privvy to this week, I'm compelled to begin with a few thoughts by persons far wiser than...

"The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for us to grow sharper."

-- Eden Phillpotts

"It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry."

-- Albert Einstein

"The dumbest people I know are the people who know it all." -- Malcolm Forbes

Yet, despite all evidence to the contrary, I remain avidly enamoured with the pursuit of knowledge. Nothing beats the feeling of learning something new, no matter how seemingly trivial. So, because I'm feeling generous, thought I'd toss a few bits of random factness your way...

• It's against the law to drive a motorboat down the street in Breton, Alabama.
• The longest word in the English language to be typed solely with the left hand? Stewardesses
• Coke (the soft drink) was initially green.
• Struggling to come up with a word that rhymes with purple? Well, don't strain you're brain--you can't!
• By the time we die, each of us has ingested approximately 8 spiders (ok, so we've heard this one before, but it's just disgusting enough to warrant further mention).
• And, since we're on the subject of nutrition, swallowed gum does not sit in your stomach for seven long years--doing so, however, does feel a little weird.

Granted, I learn a lot more about life, the library, library life (and my role in it) while on the job and at school; so much so, in fact, that it sometimes feels as though I've got information bursting forth from the ears, and I can't be sure that I'm processing it all in equal measure. Still, it's pretty cool. Would I soon come to understand the nature of cataloging (the details! the details!) I'd be one happy camper. Alas, both the dewey decimal system and the construction MARC coding remain as elusive as algebra. Concrete thinking, it seems, defies me, and thus far (to borrow from Ophrah) the one thing that I know for sure is that I'm ardently anti-acronym.

Recommended Reading: The World As I See It by Albert Einstein. Cool hair. Cool dude.

Belated Addendum

"It's a small world after all..." -- Walt Disney (or some other fellow in that camp)

Kikuyu (or Gikuyu)
Kenya's largest ethnic group, a traditionally agricultural people which, at present, has many members that contribute to an active online community, accessible via the worldwide web.

(It seems the spaces between us truly are shrinking--at least in some ways. An aspect of too-much-technology I can wholeheartedly appreciate).

Egads! Exhaustion, & Elephants, of course.

"When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers." -- Kikuyu Proverb

I've never heard of the Kikuyu until now (I like the ring of the name though, & no doubt I'll be polishing those old reference skills by looking into shortly) nor does the aforementioned quote have anything to do what's on my mind; however, when I came across it today, I found it enticing enough to share. It's kind of funny--until you think about what it really means...

And, speaking of grass, the grass truly is greener on the other side. Over the summer, I managed to keep myself busy with busy work (& rather successfully I might add) while secretly longing to be forced to consistently use my brain again. (aka: school). It's a little too easy to be slack in an apt. that's 100+ degrees. I mean, I knew I'd be busy trying to juggle four grad classes and work, but it didn't sound too bad. It's not. Not bad that is. That much I admist, lest I prove myself the whiner that I am. There's just so much--so much to learn--and seemingly not enough time. The world of information is just too darn big. Better than small, true enough. Take, for example, my current endeavor at work. I'm in the midst of designing our library's first ever Teen Advisory Board, brainstorm feasible programs, & manage the YA collection while overseeing the reference desk, all of which is absolutely new to me. I revel in it, love it all (& readily admit that it has the potential to detract from homework); I'm also full of admiration for the people out there who manage to do so with gusto everyday. Thus, I must ask: Any tips on how as to get my bearings, manage one's time in order to achieve "mission accomplished," at least for the moment, and still step outside for a whiff of fresh air? Words of wisdom would be most appreciated.

Please forgive the many probable typos. The advanced hour of the day has dispelled any desire to proof. Ahh...the beauty of a blog...a person's own little realm of the world; so long as they momentarily pretend there's not a professor out somewhere out there reading this. :)

Greetings & Salutations

Quote of the Day:

"Let us read and let us dance--two amusements that will never harm the world." - Voltaire



I begin with a confession...



This is my first blog--ever. Most people refer to my by my given name, Anna, (though, no doubt, I've been referred to by others a time or two), & I'm currently in the process of wrapping up what my parents hope will be my final degree/year of graduate school. This particular endeavor is an offshoot of that--an optional requirement for reference course before I'll be awarded that sought after MLS degree--I figured there's no time like the present to teach myself the ropes. In lifetimes past, I've embarked on various other professions, but always returned to college with no clear view of the future truly in mind. Finally, a few friends said, "Enough already, become a professor--or a librarian. (Sidenote: Apparently, I look like one, courtesy of one beaded glasses chain). Thus, as the saying goes, a light clicked on, and here I am--a newly minted teen librarian who totally digs her new digs at the refernce desk. Turns out, it is possible to earn a living (however humble) while endlessly educating oneself.



Who woulda thunk? :)



As decreed, future posts shall be more (or less) related to the field of librarianship. However, a disclaimer: I'm bound to stray off topic, so consider yourself forewarned. That said, you can also expect the ocassional titlating quote, along with not so subtle suggestions pertaining to titles that you simply must, must read. :)