I am a Librarian: March 2006

Does your library have an Instant Messaging service?

If you are a librarian and your library has the IM service please let me know. I am currently compiling a list of libraries that have an IM service so they can get to your library from www.imalibrarian.com.

Note: Currently I have redirected this address to my www.iamalibrarian.com site. I will probably start with a section of the existing site for IM. If it grows to be too much, I will have them as two separate sites.

I was inspired to do this from a session at CIL 2006. There was a great presentation yesterday by the following presenters that helped spawn this idea:

Aaron Schmidt, Thomas Ford Memorial Library
Amanda Etches-Johnson, Reference Librarian, McMaster University
Michael Stephens, St. Joseph County Public Library

You can IM me on AOL: iamalibrariantoo (I have no plans to be on 24/7, but if you see me feel free to send me a message.)
E:mail cynthia@iamalibrarian.com

Conan...A realistic stereotype???

While reading over surveys today, I was reminded of the Conan the Librarian Cartoon and that variable image of the librarian.

http://www.eso.org/gen-fac/libraries/images/conan.jpg.

I have only have a few librarians that might fit this image. I think the closest is Chad Eng. Isn't it great that we have this type of diversity in the profession? Chad definitely defies the view of the librarians that I have seen in the surveys and that in most media.

Chad is a great librarian and a really interesting guy. I think that it is wonderful to see that people can stay true to themselves in our profession. How many librarians that you know are in hard rock bands?

Imagination and some reality of OCLC

Here is my friend Ed's take on my trip to OCLC in Ohio...

Hope Ohio is fun, I would ask what you do out there, but I want my imagination to run wild. I picture you walking up some huge staircase to the castle of the supreme library wizard to gain wisdom from his teachings. There are books everywhere, but in Ohio, the books are magical and instead of reading them, all you have to do is touch them and you gain all of their knowledge. I think I am pretty close on this one. - Ed

I'll let Ed's imagination continue to show the greatness of libraries around the world and acquiring knowledge in whatever form works, but I'll show some pictures of plants and people who joined me at OCLC.

Hanging out at OCLC after the meetings...

Plants at OCLC