Monday, February 26, 2007
in which i realize that los angeles is big
Sometimes I really cannot believe how gigantic Los Angeles is. I had assumed that Sylmar, where the juvenile hall I visit is located, was its own city. Why might I assume this? Oh, only because it's 22 miles north of me. I realized that it was, in fact, just a NEIGHBORHOOD of Los Angeles when I saw that they have a Los Angeles Public Library branch, the city library. It makes me feel slightly better to find out (via Wikipedia) that it is Los Angeles's northernmost neighborhood. But still! 22 miles north! And I only live in the middle of the western side of Los Angeles!
Friday, February 23, 2007
those were the days
This comic is mostly just funny to me because the "culture jamming" reference takes me back to my mildly torturous days in my "Information in Society" class last quarter. I'm just warning those with fragile constitutions that there is a non-scientifically correct term for a part of male anatomy in that cartoon, unlike the word used in Susan Patron's book.
it's kind of all libraries all the time around here
I just read the number one most e-mailed article on nytimes.com, which is about how the history department at Middlebury is banning the citation of Wikipedia, both in papers and tests. My librarian brain reacts to this by thinking, hello, information literacy! The department is missing a huge opportunity to teach kids about authority, reliability, etc., etc.--all the good things a reference librarian could come in and talk about.
I went to a talk yesterday by one of the candidates for the ALA presidency, the university librarian at the University of Richmond. He said that someone had described Wikipedia as "good when it's good and bad when it's bad." He noted that the page for hurricanes was something any other encyclopedia would be glad to have, but the page for the author Ian McEwan was shamefully tabloidesque. I personally use Wikipedia if I just want to get an idea about a topic; then I move on to other sources that I know have gone through a reasonably stringent review process to get information that I personally consider more reliable. I also love Wikipedia for finding general information when I just want a quick summary for my own edification. I know that there is a lot of good info on Wikipedia, but I am not comfortable enough with it to see it as a really reliable source of information.
I think a lot of people really do not know what Wikipedia even is. I can recall hearing people who were surprised to find out it was user-contributed information--they thought it was a traditional encyclopedia. As for students who are using it as a source in their papers and tests, I think a lot of that is just not knowing about other online resources that their libraries probably subscribe to and that they can access right in their very rooms. The rest of them are just being lazy, frankly. We are used to quickly finding information online, but a lot of people are missing the information literacy to determine if the information they are using is really what they want to be citing. Librarians to the rescue!
I went to a talk yesterday by one of the candidates for the ALA presidency, the university librarian at the University of Richmond. He said that someone had described Wikipedia as "good when it's good and bad when it's bad." He noted that the page for hurricanes was something any other encyclopedia would be glad to have, but the page for the author Ian McEwan was shamefully tabloidesque. I personally use Wikipedia if I just want to get an idea about a topic; then I move on to other sources that I know have gone through a reasonably stringent review process to get information that I personally consider more reliable. I also love Wikipedia for finding general information when I just want a quick summary for my own edification. I know that there is a lot of good info on Wikipedia, but I am not comfortable enough with it to see it as a really reliable source of information.
I think a lot of people really do not know what Wikipedia even is. I can recall hearing people who were surprised to find out it was user-contributed information--they thought it was a traditional encyclopedia. As for students who are using it as a source in their papers and tests, I think a lot of that is just not knowing about other online resources that their libraries probably subscribe to and that they can access right in their very rooms. The rest of them are just being lazy, frankly. We are used to quickly finding information online, but a lot of people are missing the information literacy to determine if the information they are using is really what they want to be citing. Librarians to the rescue!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
proof!
Susan Patron came and spoke to my class today and here's my proof! I got her card because I told her about the site that listed the other books with the word scrotum in them and she wanted me to email her the link. She seemed pretty tired of all the negative media attention and more than a little heartsick that her wonderful book was only being noticed for one word contained in it.
Now that I know more about the book's plot I am even more unhappy at the negativity surrounding it. Apparently the scrotum story is integral to the growing up of the little girl and the development of her relationship with her guardian. It sounds very appropriate to the story to me.
The other part of the debacle that was so upsetting to my professor was the fact that it wasn't parents or children or teachers or anyone else who was making a stink about the books--it was librarians, who are supposed to be intellectual freedom defenders.
We discussed the actual critical question: what do children think about the book? No one actually seemed to have any first hand experience with children and the book, but there was some anecdotal evidence that they didn't care one bit about the word scrotum as long as the teacher/librarian/parent acted like it was no big deal.
I just ordered it from Powells after deciding I didn't want to sit on the holds list at LAPL for five hundred years. I can't wait to read it!
Now that I know more about the book's plot I am even more unhappy at the negativity surrounding it. Apparently the scrotum story is integral to the growing up of the little girl and the development of her relationship with her guardian. It sounds very appropriate to the story to me.
The other part of the debacle that was so upsetting to my professor was the fact that it wasn't parents or children or teachers or anyone else who was making a stink about the books--it was librarians, who are supposed to be intellectual freedom defenders.
We discussed the actual critical question: what do children think about the book? No one actually seemed to have any first hand experience with children and the book, but there was some anecdotal evidence that they didn't care one bit about the word scrotum as long as the teacher/librarian/parent acted like it was no big deal.
I just ordered it from Powells after deciding I didn't want to sit on the holds list at LAPL for five hundred years. I can't wait to read it!
amusing sidenote
Bookslut just clued me into this list of other kid's books with the word "scrotum" in them.
since you asked
Lori brought up this kerfuffle, which is over the recent Newbery award winner. The Newbery is the top award for children's literature (the Caldecott is the other top award, but it goes to illustrations, not text). Books like The Giver, Number the Stars, Dear Mr. Henshaw, and A Wrinkle in Time have all won Newbery awards. Anyway, the winner this year apparently contains the word "scrotum" in relation to a snake biting a dog. Some school librarians thought that this word was too offensive to their communities and decided they wouldn't buy the book for their collections.
School librarians operate on a bit of a different track than public librarians because they can't take the "we have books for all kinds of people" defense. Their schools or school boards can very easily force them to remove books from their collections. One of their main jobs is really to support teachers and curriculum, so they don't even necessarily have to buy a book just because it's a Newbery (which pretty much all public librarians would do, at least with recent Newbery winners).
I do, however, think it's pretty ridiculous to self-censor (that would be when you decide to not buy it in the first place, as opposed to removing it from a collection) just because a book contains a word that is just part of male anatomy (and a dog's at that!). I've read some comments from elementary school librarians saying that they thought the book was a little "old" for most of their kids (ie, most of the kids just wouldn't want to read it because it's a little advanced in terms of reading level), which is slightly more justifiable, but I wonder about the kids who do want to read it. They could always get it from the public library, but considering the fact that they spend most of their time in school and may be more likely to go to their school library, I think it's pretty wrong for the school librarians to not buy it for their collections. A whole big group of librarians (the Newbery committee) concluded that this work was the best of the year and that counts for something.
My least favorite part of the whole thing is the defense of some of the school librarians that basically goes, "I don't want to have to explain to a child what a scrotum is." Aren't we supposed to be librarians? If we really didn't want to embarrass ourselves so much as to explain such a thing, couldn't we say, "Let's go look it up in the dictionary."? Isn't it our job to help people (even children, who some apparently think of as not-people) get information?
Lastly I would just like to point out that I'm sure a good portion of most kids in elementary school know what a scrotum is, and if the target audience for the book (probably 4th grade and up) doesn't already know, I think there needs to be some discussion at school/home.
Susan Patron, the author of the offending book, just happens to be speaking to my children's services class today on the topic of collection development. She's a good friend of my professor's, and a librarian at LAPL, and was on the docket long before she even won the Newbery. It will be interesting to hear her talk about the very subject of choosing books for a collection!
School librarians operate on a bit of a different track than public librarians because they can't take the "we have books for all kinds of people" defense. Their schools or school boards can very easily force them to remove books from their collections. One of their main jobs is really to support teachers and curriculum, so they don't even necessarily have to buy a book just because it's a Newbery (which pretty much all public librarians would do, at least with recent Newbery winners).
I do, however, think it's pretty ridiculous to self-censor (that would be when you decide to not buy it in the first place, as opposed to removing it from a collection) just because a book contains a word that is just part of male anatomy (and a dog's at that!). I've read some comments from elementary school librarians saying that they thought the book was a little "old" for most of their kids (ie, most of the kids just wouldn't want to read it because it's a little advanced in terms of reading level), which is slightly more justifiable, but I wonder about the kids who do want to read it. They could always get it from the public library, but considering the fact that they spend most of their time in school and may be more likely to go to their school library, I think it's pretty wrong for the school librarians to not buy it for their collections. A whole big group of librarians (the Newbery committee) concluded that this work was the best of the year and that counts for something.
My least favorite part of the whole thing is the defense of some of the school librarians that basically goes, "I don't want to have to explain to a child what a scrotum is." Aren't we supposed to be librarians? If we really didn't want to embarrass ourselves so much as to explain such a thing, couldn't we say, "Let's go look it up in the dictionary."? Isn't it our job to help people (even children, who some apparently think of as not-people) get information?
Lastly I would just like to point out that I'm sure a good portion of most kids in elementary school know what a scrotum is, and if the target audience for the book (probably 4th grade and up) doesn't already know, I think there needs to be some discussion at school/home.
Susan Patron, the author of the offending book, just happens to be speaking to my children's services class today on the topic of collection development. She's a good friend of my professor's, and a librarian at LAPL, and was on the docket long before she even won the Newbery. It will be interesting to hear her talk about the very subject of choosing books for a collection!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
break from my usual blather about libraries
I was just rewarding myself for being about halfway done with my midterm paper (due on Friday) by doing some important internet searching (what else?) and I remembered that my extremely talented neighbor Sally has a beautiful website. She started out making quilts and now she classifies her work as "textiles" because it doesn't always fit into the quilt category. Anyway, I don't really know why I'm posting about this except to tell you that I love going through the pictures of her work and trying to decide which my favorite one is. I'm currently leaning towards "When We Think About Spring" in the "House" section, with second favorite going to "I'm Not Sorry" or "Approximating Pi." I'm also just kind of partial to her and her family in general--they're pretty cool people.
ha HA
That's a little extra emphasis on the last ha. From librarian.net: what librarians wish they could (and, apparently, do) say to some library users.
Friday, February 09, 2007
being lazy, posting a video from youtube
In case you a) usually get bored with YouTube and don't really spend much time watching anything on it, like me, or b) somehow managed to miss this even though you do spend copious amounts of time on YouTube, AND were c) lying awake at night wondering what kinds of things we talk about in library school, besides the best kind of fabric to use for flannel story board stories, here is a video for you:
About the last part ("we have to rethink xyz") my professor sarcastically exclaimed, wow, someone should tell the Information Studies people about this! He also thought that the whole idea that the Internet was connecting people was not exactly a new one. But anyway, some of the things in there are things that they try to get us to read/think about.
About the last part ("we have to rethink xyz") my professor sarcastically exclaimed, wow, someone should tell the Information Studies people about this! He also thought that the whole idea that the Internet was connecting people was not exactly a new one. But anyway, some of the things in there are things that they try to get us to read/think about.
Monday, February 05, 2007
public radio in la
It's pledge drive time at my favorite public radio station, KCRW, and they just announced a few people who gave them money this morning: among them, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, renewing from NYC.
Friday, February 02, 2007
i'm back!
I know you were all missing me greatly. Well, since I last posted, my sister visited me for eleven days, my mean graduate program made me do work, and I got my computer back.
Lynne and I had a fun time together. Since I was so danged busy the entire week, we mainly spent our time together sitting around in my living room watching tv and chatting. We did manage to make it out to the Getty one day, went to two movies, took a little trip to the grocery store (woo hoo!), and toured around UCLA for an hour. Then she left me and I no longer had anyone around to wash my dishes. Wahhh.
I've been busy busy with school and work since the quarter started up. Last semester I was in all these classes where we did somewhat minimal (or no) reading, and occasionally had a little writing to do. This quarter they actually expect me to do work and write things! Geez. In one of my classes (Intro to Information Technology) we do 700-800 word write-ups pretty much every week. Each of them is a small part of our major paper, so it will be nice at the end of the quarter not to be frantically researching and writing everything up at the last minute. But still. I'm also taking a class that is basically about classification and cataloging and such; we are also expected to read and do work in that class. Do these people think I'm in school or something?
My children's class is a little more laid back so far, although we do have a major paper for that one. The best part of that class is our mini-storytime we have to present to the class. We have to read a story, do a finger play (the Itsy Bitsy Spider is an example of a finger play, get your minds out of the gutter), and do a flannel board story (remember? the things where the librarian/teacher sticks felt cut-outs on a board and tells a story with them?). Anyway, I'm thinking of going with a bird theme. I already have a story and a finger play, which could end up turning into a flannel board story. I just need to find a new finger play then. So exciting! In addition, I'm thinking of doing my major paper on using the library to increase children's awareness of multiculturalism/social justice/diversity/people who aren't just like them. I'm looking to move beyond the usual "festivals around the world" or "here's a folktale from India!" things. You can bet Beautiful Blackbird will be included. I admit I might have been inspired to do this anyway, but I'm particularly fired up thanks to Lauren and her social justice teaching program.
Last, but not least, I got my computer back. The Apple people fixed it all up and I went in and picked it up on Wednesday morning. It has been very exhilarating to just turn on the computer and check my email. I don't have to beg Lauren for the use of her computer, or walk twenty minutes to school or anything. Now you can look forward to many more of my brilliant insights, lucky you!
Lynne and I had a fun time together. Since I was so danged busy the entire week, we mainly spent our time together sitting around in my living room watching tv and chatting. We did manage to make it out to the Getty one day, went to two movies, took a little trip to the grocery store (woo hoo!), and toured around UCLA for an hour. Then she left me and I no longer had anyone around to wash my dishes. Wahhh.
I've been busy busy with school and work since the quarter started up. Last semester I was in all these classes where we did somewhat minimal (or no) reading, and occasionally had a little writing to do. This quarter they actually expect me to do work and write things! Geez. In one of my classes (Intro to Information Technology) we do 700-800 word write-ups pretty much every week. Each of them is a small part of our major paper, so it will be nice at the end of the quarter not to be frantically researching and writing everything up at the last minute. But still. I'm also taking a class that is basically about classification and cataloging and such; we are also expected to read and do work in that class. Do these people think I'm in school or something?
My children's class is a little more laid back so far, although we do have a major paper for that one. The best part of that class is our mini-storytime we have to present to the class. We have to read a story, do a finger play (the Itsy Bitsy Spider is an example of a finger play, get your minds out of the gutter), and do a flannel board story (remember? the things where the librarian/teacher sticks felt cut-outs on a board and tells a story with them?). Anyway, I'm thinking of going with a bird theme. I already have a story and a finger play, which could end up turning into a flannel board story. I just need to find a new finger play then. So exciting! In addition, I'm thinking of doing my major paper on using the library to increase children's awareness of multiculturalism/social justice/diversity/people who aren't just like them. I'm looking to move beyond the usual "festivals around the world" or "here's a folktale from India!" things. You can bet Beautiful Blackbird will be included. I admit I might have been inspired to do this anyway, but I'm particularly fired up thanks to Lauren and her social justice teaching program.
Last, but not least, I got my computer back. The Apple people fixed it all up and I went in and picked it up on Wednesday morning. It has been very exhilarating to just turn on the computer and check my email. I don't have to beg Lauren for the use of her computer, or walk twenty minutes to school or anything. Now you can look forward to many more of my brilliant insights, lucky you!
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