what i talk about when i talk about running

 
now that summer is approaching and im not scared of stepping outside anymore, ive decided that i really need to get my shit together and start running again. to help me overcome this fear i have enlisted the best writer in the world haruki murakami.  his latest english translation is a series of journal entries as [...]

hobbies?

first day back and the ridiculous reference questions still continue:
suntanned librarian (ST): hi xxxxx library how can I help you?
caller (C): yes, do you have a book about hobbies?’
ST: there are many hobbies, do you have any idea about what you are looking for?
C: no i don’t, which is why i want a book about hobbies?
ST: [...]

library in the new age

The never ending discourse about physical library v the internet generally bores me. However I found this article in the NY review of books to be quite informative, citing through the ages examples of distrust in the print medium such as this bit:
Le Courrier de l’Europe, a French newspaper produced in London, printed a translated [...]

the librarians ultimate guide to search engines

you dont have to be a librarian to find that  the librarians ultimate guide to search engines might be quite useful to you.  particularly if you use the net for research. the ultimate guide contains some easy to understand descriptions of internet and search terminology which, if used correctly, could possibly make you sound like you know [...]

nagambie

nagambie is a country town in the goulburn valley. it is famous for fruit and also for a lake by the side of the highway. 
one of the joys of my job is getting to travel to different parts of victoria to attend meetings at different library services. it was nagambie library this week to discuss our library [...]

does nancy pearl’s rule of 50 apply to book groups?

as the sole librarian representative on our city council book group i was quite embarrassed to rock up to our book club meeting yesterday and say i hadn’t read the designated book (the bell by iris murdoch). we were given 6 weeks to read it, but every time i started it i got bored and couldnt [...]

wifi, and rocking

our library finally went wireless last week, which was quite cool.  and no delinquent child has since tried to steal the box which houses all the wireless technologies.  yet.
since it’s a trial we havent gone all out to promote it, but gradually people are discovering the library hotspot as an alternative to the cafes in the [...]

the virtual library stalker

there is a library patron who has recently taken to spamming the virtual library service staff with questions about how the library catalogue search functionality works.
we give him an answer and he replies immediately with search and item scenarios that don’t fit our answers.  it’s as if he’s constantly sitting at his computer waiting for [...]

breath

 
tim winton’s latest book, breath, is finally here. it’s not available in bookstores until next week, but it arrived at the library a week early. needless to say i have read it. 
its set in a fictionional town in the south west coast of wa – somewhere near margaret river – in the 70s. being chicken enough to [...]

library war 図書館戦争

Put my two favourite things together and this is what you get – TOSHOkAN SENSOU. The action comedy anime adapts Hiro Arikawa’s popular novel about battles fought to preserve libraries when a new law threatens to clamp down on freedom of expression in 2019.
See the trailer here.
I hope they translate this into english.