Comments on: The best laid plans of mice and Meredith http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/ A librarian, writer and educator reflecting on the profession and the tools we use to serve our patrons Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:11:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 By: valerie http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186966 valerie Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:08:55 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186966 Any chance that you might share some of that 'instruction menu and learning activities for English 101'? It also sounds like it may work for other faculty ... valerie Any chance that you might share some of that ‘instruction menu and learning activities for English 101′? It also sounds like it may work for other faculty … valerie

]]> By: Meredith Farkas http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186953 Meredith Farkas Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:38:17 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186953 Robert, as you guessed, my comment on Google Books did not mean that I was using that as a weeding criterion. However, having something in Google Books is fantastic for our distance learners when some of these older books are in special collections and can't circulate. It allows them access to something they'd not have been able to read otherwise. For someone who serves students of History, Google Books is a brilliant tool -- though no replacement for one's print (or purchased/leased online) collection. We definitely can't keep everything that has been purchased in the past, particularly if it does not serve the students and faculty of today. When one sees a book that is over 100 years old, has perhaps circulated once (or less) in that time period, is brittle, is not a candidate for special collections, really wouldn't serve students doing research today, and isn't a key text from the period, then it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep it. Robert, as you guessed, my comment on Google Books did not mean that I was using that as a weeding criterion. However, having something in Google Books is fantastic for our distance learners when some of these older books are in special collections and can’t circulate. It allows them access to something they’d not have been able to read otherwise. For someone who serves students of History, Google Books is a brilliant tool — though no replacement for one’s print (or purchased/leased online) collection.

We definitely can’t keep everything that has been purchased in the past, particularly if it does not serve the students and faculty of today. When one sees a book that is over 100 years old, has perhaps circulated once (or less) in that time period, is brittle, is not a candidate for special collections, really wouldn’t serve students doing research today, and isn’t a key text from the period, then it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep it.

]]> By: Laura H. http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186952 Laura H. Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:03:39 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186952 I don't have very much to add - I just wanted to say that I can sympathize! There's so much more that I wanted to get done, and there are only about 3 weeks until classes start. I don’t have very much to add – I just wanted to say that I can sympathize! There’s so much more that I wanted to get done, and there are only about 3 weeks until classes start.

]]> By: Robert Teeter http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186951 Robert Teeter Fri, 08 Aug 2008 05:47:57 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186951 Meredith, Don't beat yourself up. It sounds as if you got a lot accomplished this summer. I sat up when I ran across your reference to Google Books in your discussion of weeding/archiving the 100-year-old books. I may be a bit sensitive at the moment, since I'm reading Radical Cataloging, which includes Dr. Thomas Mann's essay, "What is Going on at the Library of Congress" (available online at http://www.guild2910.org/AFSCMEWhatIsGoingOn.pdf) I've been reading your blog for a while now (and I've seen you speak at a conference), so I trust your good sense enough to believe that you are not making weeding/archiving decisions based solely on whether something is available on Google Books. Having something on Google Books is not a substitute for having it on the shelf, where it can be found with other works on the same subject (serendipity) and browsed in ways a PDF cannot. (See Mann's essay if you have not read it already.) On the other hand, I realize that: Meredith,

Don’t beat yourself up. It sounds as if you got a lot accomplished this summer.

I sat up when I ran across your reference to Google Books in your discussion of weeding/archiving the 100-year-old books. I may be a bit sensitive at the moment, since I’m reading Radical Cataloging, which includes Dr. Thomas Mann’s essay, “What is Going on at the Library of Congress” (available online at http://www.guild2910.org/AFSCMEWhatIsGoingOn.pdf)

I’ve been reading your blog for a while now (and I’ve seen you speak at a conference), so I trust your good sense enough to believe that you are not making weeding/archiving decisions based solely on whether something is available on Google Books. Having something on Google Books is not a substitute for having it on the shelf, where it can be found with other works on the same subject (serendipity) and browsed in ways a PDF cannot. (See Mann’s essay if you have not read it already.)

On the other hand, I realize that:

]]> By: shinylib http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186937 shinylib Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:02:15 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186937 Holy cow, Meredith! That list of things you accomplished so far this summer is fairly impressive. This summer I've managed to accomplish daily bike riding and 4 hours of reference a week. :D I'm glad to hear you've found an able and tech-savvy recruit for the DL position. I know what you mean about tutorials, etc. Ownership is a natural impulse, but it's great that you're self-aware enough not to sabotage the great work I'm sure she'll do! Holy cow, Meredith! That list of things you accomplished so far this summer is fairly impressive. This summer I’ve managed to accomplish daily bike riding and 4 hours of reference a week. :D

I’m glad to hear you’ve found an able and tech-savvy recruit for the DL position. I know what you mean about tutorials, etc. Ownership is a natural impulse, but it’s great that you’re self-aware enough not to sabotage the great work I’m sure she’ll do!

]]> By: Genevieve Williams http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186929 Genevieve Williams Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:42:20 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186929 I hear ya on trying to get way more accomplished than is feasible. My summer project list looks more like what one could expect to accomplish in a year, I went out of the country for two weeks in June (plus ALA), and I'm getting married a week before the students return to campus! At some point one has to be realistic about what one can accomplish in a given amount of time... On the marketing/PR front, I really am liking the How-to-Do-It Manual on library PR, from Neal-Schumann. Some of it's repetitive if you've worked in public relations before, which I have, but I'm getting a lot of use out of it as I plant seeds for better promotions at my library. I hear ya on trying to get way more accomplished than is feasible. My summer project list looks more like what one could expect to accomplish in a year, I went out of the country for two weeks in June (plus ALA), and I’m getting married a week before the students return to campus! At some point one has to be realistic about what one can accomplish in a given amount of time…

On the marketing/PR front, I really am liking the How-to-Do-It Manual on library PR, from Neal-Schumann. Some of it’s repetitive if you’ve worked in public relations before, which I have, but I’m getting a lot of use out of it as I plant seeds for better promotions at my library.

]]> By: Alison http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186928 Alison Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:16:44 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186928 If your library is anything like mine, every sign that goes up looks different, depending on who makes it and how much time they have. One thing that I have done (I'm the PR librarian at MPOW) is to try to make sure that the signs I put up have a consistent look to them. Getting someone to make a quick, elegant template in Word that can be passed around might help in a small way. At the very least "template" discourages the application of random clip art. ;) If your library is anything like mine, every sign that goes up looks different, depending on who makes it and how much time they have. One thing that I have done (I’m the PR librarian at MPOW) is to try to make sure that the signs I put up have a consistent look to them. Getting someone to make a quick, elegant template in Word that can be passed around might help in a small way. At the very least “template” discourages the application of random clip art. ;)

]]> By: Meredith Farkas http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186920 Meredith Farkas Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:08:17 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186920 Good to hear that, Amelia! I'm really looking forward to giving it a try this year and will definitely be prepared for students to make a mess of things. :) Good to hear that, Amelia! I’m really looking forward to giving it a try this year and will definitely be prepared for students to make a mess of things. :)

]]> By: Amelia Luzzi http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186918 Amelia Luzzi Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:09:07 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186918 I had a scavenger hunt as a part of one of my library inductions at Uni (I say "one of" because my university had about 100 libraries). It was surprisingly fun, and I took inspiration from it for a series of inductions I delivered for a high school library. One word of advice - be prepared for the students to make a complete mess of the sections they have to scavenge in. Other than that, as far as I could tell it was a really successful introduction to the library, and way less boring than what we had done previously. I had a scavenger hunt as a part of one of my library inductions at Uni (I say “one of” because my university had about 100 libraries). It was surprisingly fun, and I took inspiration from it for a series of inductions I delivered for a high school library. One word of advice – be prepared for the students to make a complete mess of the sections they have to scavenge in. Other than that, as far as I could tell it was a really successful introduction to the library, and way less boring than what we had done previously.

]]> By: moonflowerdragon http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/comment-page-1/#comment-186914 moonflowerdragon Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:10:46 +0000 http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php/2008/08/05/the-best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-meredith/#comment-186914 I look forward to hearing how the revamped “Rook Tours” pan out. I look forward to hearing how the revamped “Rook Tours” pan out.

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