EricTheLibrarian.com: Eric at Random

Promoting SLA's Business & Finance Division, and Oh Yeah, Me, Too

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 02:39:00 +0000

Kyle Naff, the Webmaster for the Business & Finance Division of SLA*, was kind enough to ask me about my career and my work with the division as Membership Chair. You can read the result of the interview here.

* Special Libraries Association

Loving Lucy: Centennial Celebrations

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 02:15:00 +0000

Lucy loving is breaking out all over! August 6 will be Lucille Ball's 100th birthday, and October 15 will be the 60th anniversary of the first airing of I Love Lucy.

Here's a calendar of upcoming events and celebrations. I’ll be in New York City for the Paley Center screenings, and I hope to get to D.C. for the Library of Congress exhibition. Unfortunately, I won't be in
Jamestown (Lucy’s birthplace) for its centennial Lucy Fest.

Jamestown, N.Y., Aug. 3-7, 2011: Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy Lucy Fest. Lucy's birthplace celebrates her 100th birthday, returning to a festival format that started in 1991. The headliners are Joan Rivers and Paula Poundstone. "Be a Lucy" by dressing as Lucy Ricardo for a Guinness World
Record event, and attend a recreation of Lucy radio shows. There will also big a parade, baseball game and other family-friendly events. For the full schedule and more information see http://www.lucycomedyfest.com/. The Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz Center, 2 W. Third St., Jamestown, NY 14701. Phone 716-484-0800. Email info@lucy-desi.com.

Also see the articles Love Lucy? and Celebrating the world's most famous redhead, from The Morning Call of Allentown, Penn.
Los Angeles (Hollywood), Calif., Aug. 3 through Nov. 30, 2011: The Hollywood Museum presents Lucille Ball at 100 and I Love Lucy at 60, showcasing memorabilia saluting the careers and romance of Hollywood's most famous lovebirds. On Aug. 4, the museum and CBS DVD Paramount Home Entertainment are paying tribute to Lucy in a gala reception.
Washington, D.C., Aug. 4, 2011, through Jan. 28, 2012: I Love Lucy: An American Legend, exhibit at the Library of Congress. Free and open to the public, I Love Lucy: An American Legend explores the show’s history through the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz family scrapbooks as well as photographs, scripts, printed and manuscript music and other documents from the library. Location: Library of Congress James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. 20540. Phone 202-707-2905. Email pao@loc.gov.
New York, N.Y., Aug. 5 through Sept. 3, 2011: We Love Lucy: Screenings at the Paley Center. The Paley Center Celebrates Lucille Ball’s Centennial: A look at Ball’s unparalleled work in the medium of television. Compilation screenings: “A Variety of Lucy” and “Lucy Rarities.” Location: Paley Center for Media (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio), 25 W. 52nd St., New York, NY 10019. Contact information is online.
New York, N.Y., Sept. 28 through Oct. 30, 2011: The Paley Center Celebrates I Love Lucy’s 60th Anniversary. Compilation screenings: “Classic Lucy and Desi” and “Eventful Lucy Moments.” Location and contact information under previous Paley Center listing.
Washington, D.C., Oct. 15, 2011, Lucie Arnaz at the Library of Congress. (That’s all the information available now at LucieArnaz.com.)

Shout-outs (just because) to Lucy fans:

Remembering Shirley Bookey, 1926-2011

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 15:08:00 +0000

My partner Seth's mother, Shirley Bookey, passed away Friday. I knew her for several years before her stroke in 2008, as she welcomed me into her home in Great Neck for frequent visits. Now that I live in the same home I see and feel her influence every day. She was always kind to me, and she continued to be as she lived her final years. Her senses of creativity and justice live on in her sons, Seth and Sandy. I am grateful to have known her.

Read Seth's tribute: Remembering Shirley Bookey, 1926-2011.

(I'll pass along to Seth any pertinent messages; my email address is here.)

Promoting Libraries at Breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 04:26:00 +0000

I was surprised to see, on the back of a cereal box, a full-panel promotion for libraries, including exhortations to use the library for:

Reference services
Business services
Internet access
Books-by-mail
Interlibrary loan
Literacy services

There's a lot of copy promoting the use of the library for kids with a boy (or a girl with a pageboy haircut) behind books and two hip teen girls in front of some stacks. "Consider the library next time you are looking for a place to hang out." (Should we hang out at the abandoned factory? No, let's try the library instead, since ShopRite says so.)

Anyway, the cereal box was a nice surprise for a library fan/librarian like me.

See a bigger (PDF) copy of the box in Google Docs.

The meaning of value-added research, from some top info pros

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:08:00 +0000

The students in our Principles of Searching class are studying the effective presentation of search results this week, as they prepare their final term reports for their clients. So it was timely that one of my favorite info pros (Mary Ellen Bates, via her Librarian of Fortune blog) reminded me that we should strive to provide insight, not just information, and that Colorado is home to some of the best independent researchers around.

These include Bates Information Services, Phelps Research (Marcy Phelps) and the team from Access/Information (Wanda McDavid, Judy Goater and Marcy Dunning).

In addition to their own consulting services, all offer free newsletters with tips on effective searching and presentation skills. The April 2010 Access/Information newsletter provides "a great summary of what 'value added research' means," Bates writes.

Here are links to the newsletters offered by these great Centennial State info pros:

Nearsighted No Longer

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:44:00 +0000

Yesterday's laser eye surgery was a success, and I now have 20/20 vision without glasses. My eyes are still dry and red (I have to take extra care for the next week), and I'll need to keep wearing sunglasses as usual. It's a big adjustment after 25+ years of wearing glasses all the time.

My new profile photo on Blogger, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., was taken in March by Nat Clymer for my part-time job at Rutgers' School of Communication and Information. If I appear a little nearsighted in the picture, it's because I was.

Seth has been there the whole way to support me. Thanks, Honey!

Betty Turock Kicks Off ALA Scholarship Fund-Raising With $100K Donation

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:51:00 +0000

Betty Turock, past president of the American Library Association and a professor and dean emerita at Rutgers, has donated $100,000 to provide scholarships to MLS candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups. She made the donation as a challenge toward a $1 million goal.

For more information please see the news article.

For more about Betty please see her Friends of Rutgers School of Communication and Information entry and a 2001 ALA news release about a scholarship in her name funded by her family.

Erik the Librarian Mysteries on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:11:00 +0000

Ego-surfing led me to the Erik the Librarian channel on YouTube (also on Blip.tv). There is a slight physical resemblance between the actor Erik Charles Neilson and me (and we share first and middle names, too, with just one letter's difference!). I just hope I'm a little less insane than the character.

Erik the Librarian is a 60Frames original series, but you'll notice that the 60Frames site is down. The OfficeTally blog tells us that Brent Forrester from NBC-TV's The Office writes and directs Erik the Librarian. And the lovely and talented Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor on The Office) plays a patron who suffers through Erik's rants.

It looks like there's just the four Erik episodes, uploaded about a year ago.

— Eric Charles Schwarz
(another Eric the Librarian but no relation to Erik)

85 Reasons to be Thankful for Librarians (via Zen College Life)

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:24:00 +0000

(Twitter: @staceygreenwell) I'm not sure who Jonathan is, or which college he's at, but I'm thankful that he's posted 85 Reasons to be Thankful for Librarians.

Of course, not every reason applies to every library, but some do because they focus on the skills librarians (or information professionals) bring to the table, no matter what the setting. Here are three of my favorites from Jonathan's list:

32. Libraries have much better quality control than the vast majority of websites.
49. Unlike the internet, libraries are careful that the information they contain is checked for usefulness before being included.
85. Regardless of what form a library takes, a librarian will always be ready to guide you to the information you need.

P.S. Thanks, for alerting me, Stacey!

Details on New CD: Latin Roots by Lucie Arnaz

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:18:00 +0000

Lucie Arnaz's new CD, Latin Roots, is scheduled for release Feb. 9, 2010, on the LML Music label. From Talkin' Broadway: You can preorder the CD via CD Universe (where you can see the cover art and a track listing) or via Amazon.com.

Please also see my post about Lucie's Jan. 9, 2010, performance and discussion at New York's 92nd Street Y, Babalu: The American Songbook Goes Latin.

An Appreciation for (Musical) Archives ... and a New Lucie Arnaz CD Coming Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 16:29:00 +0000

Lucie Arnaz and her musical director, Ron Abel, spent three days at the Library of Congress, researching material for her upcoming participation in the Lyric and Lyricists series at New York's 92nd Street Y (Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010).

In interviews with the San Francisco Sentinel and the Bay Area Reporter, Lucie talks about the work of Edward Maffei, a San Francisco archivist and discographer who had preserved music from the Desi Arnaz Orchestra on cassette tape, and Lucie and Ron's recent visit to her parents' archive at the Library of Congress, where they reviewed Desi Arnaz's orchestrations.

Also exciting: Lucie is preparing to release a new CD, Latin Roots, on the LML Music label!

P.S. Thanks to the Everything Lucy blog for alerting me to Lucie's interview with the SF Sentinel.

Introducing NJ/NY Librarians to SLA's GLBT Issues Caucus

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:33:00 +0000

The posting of presentations from the great Oct. 14 conference, Serving New Jersey's GLBT Community, gives me the excuse to post on the event, albeit a month later. The conference gave me a chance to meet and reconnect with some wonderful New Jersey (and New York) librarians who are keenly interested in serving GLBT people with the best resources available, along with understanding and respect for all. For more details, please see my post on the SLA's GLitter BiTs blog.

Philadelphia Library System Pairs Branches to Remain Open Six Days a Week

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:03:00 +0000

The Free Library of Philadelphia didn't in fact have to close up shop. Almost a month ago, on Sept. 17, the Pennsylvania State Senate passed a measure that allowed the library to remain open. The library's "closing page" was changed to a "thank you for your support page."

In fact, the library system was able to keep Monday through Saturday service by pairing nearby libraries, which started Oct. 5.

For Public Libraries, Great News in New York and Horrible in Philadelphia

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 15:59:00 +0000

Some branches of the New York Public Library are expanding hours from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., starting today.

But in Philadelphia, almost the whole system could shut down, at least temporarily, starting Oct. 2. It's interesting that in Philly, patrons will still be able to use the library's Web site and databases. Will the powers that be see electronic access as "good enough"? I doubt it, but it's good that the Free Library is keeping some services available during the possible shutdown anyway. It's interesting that the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at 919 Walnut St. will remain open weekdays from 9-5. Here's why.

He Once Lit Up a Kid's Life

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:31:00 +0000

Seen on the streets of Somerville: A poor little lamp bear was left out with the trash on the curb, along with some toys! I resisted the urge to adopt him!

Interview Essay Featured on GLitter BiTs blog

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:33:00 +0000

Gregory Horvitz was kind enough to feature me as part of the "member interviews" on the SLA's GLBT Issues blog, GLitter BiTs. If you haven't read Mary Ellen Bates' interview already, you might find that even more interesting!

Eric Schwarz Honored as SLA Diversity Leader

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:04:00 +0000

I'm pleased to announce that at the Special Libraries Association conference (SLA 2009, to be held June 14-17), I will be recognized as one of five winners of the 2009 Diversity Leadership Development Program Award for "up and coming information professionals."

In addition to my professional work, I've been fortunate to participate in two wonderful groups within SLA: the New Jersey Chapter (NJSLA) and the GLBT Issues Caucus.

In particular, I'm grateful to Barbara Burton, NJSLA immediate past president, for sponsoring my nomination for the award and for asking me to serve as chapter president. I'm sure the leadership skills I've learned serving members of both the chapter and the caucus were a key factor in my selection for the award.

I also extend my congratulations to my fellow awardees: Regina Beard, Julia Leggett, Nora Martin and Nedelina Tchangalova. I'm honored to be considered with these women who have accomplished so much in their careers.

A press release on this program soon will be posted on the SLA site.

Photos from Rutgers ReUnion 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 28 May 2009 04:53:00 +0000

Photos from Rutgers ReUnion events from Saturday, May 16, are posted in the Picasa album below.

The photos are from three events: the All-Alumni Parade and Block Party on College Avenue and Voorhees Mall; the Rutgers Gardens tour; and the Livingston Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Awards at the Douglass Campus Center.

Additional photos are in an online gallery and on the Rutgers University Alumni Association Facebook page.

Seth and Eric's Hot Ag Field Day

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:49:00 +0000

Seth and I enjoyed Rutgers and the Garden State's agricultural bounty on Saturday, April 25, at the annual Ag Field Day on the Cook/Douglass campus. It was a beautiful but very hot day, with a long walk over from the Bristol-Myers Squibb parking lot on Route 1. The campus was full of adults, college kids, young kids, and lots of dogs. We sampled the homemade ice cream (chocolate for me; and a rainbow of fruit flavors for Seth). The ice cream was served outdoors in foam cups, so we didn't get to see the students merrily churning.

The photos in the slideshow below are from the Scarlet Chef demonstration, with the chef showing us how to prepare healthful foods (a salad and a chutney) with Jersey Fresh ingredients. We picked up the recipe cards and free RU Express bags but mostly hung out by the ice sculptures. We skipped the samples because we had "all we cared to eat" for $6 apiece at Neilson Dining Hall.

We also walked over to Woodlawn for the New Jersey Folk Festival, but we didn't get a chance to see any of the performances. Seth got to ride for the first time on a Rutgers bus, a non-air-conditioned one at that, as we rode across Route 1 to the Rutgers Gardens. There were lots of young smiling faces in the official Rutgers Day shirts guiding people on College Farm Road, but not over at the Gardens. A Farmers Market over at the Gardens turned out to be a market of breads, pickles, sandwiches and kielbasa -- nary a vegetable in sight. We learned from the nice ladies over there that the season really kicks off with the Spring Flower Fair, Mothers Day Weekend (May 8-10). The Gardens will have a real Farmers Market on Friday afternoons, starting May 1.

At the end of the day, Seth got some bargain plants, including some catnip that Nero went over the moon for, and now Seth is hiding in the basement, and a hanging plant that's not safe for kitties, so he may do a neighborly plant exchange.

Rutgers Day seemed to be a great showcase for the university, which added events on College Avenue and Busch campuses to the traditional events on Cook/Douglass. Many of the events were for prospective students on college tours; they couldn't go very far without seeing a "Did you know?" sign with a Rutgers factoid. Hopefully, they'll join Mr. Magoo, me and hundreds of thousands of others as students and then alumni at New Jersey's State U.

Honoring Rutgers' Loyal Sons and Daughters

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 05:26:00 +0000

The Rutgers Alumni Association honored 11 Loyal Sons and Daughters of Rutgers, at the 51st Annual Awards Dinner Saturday night, April 4, 2009. Livingston Alumni Association Executive Council members came together to honor Marty Siederer (LC '77), the LAA President, and the other 10 honorees. Since 1958, more than 500 men and women have been honored for their volunteer service to the university, by prior recipients, at the annual awards event. (To see and download the photos from the slideshow, click the Picasa logo in the lower right corner, then the album name.)

Happy New Year -- Seth and Eric's 2008 in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 21:07:00 +0000

Happy New Year, plus a belated Happy Chanukah and Merry Christmas

Hi everyone! We hope you have enjoyed the holidays are all enjoying the holidays. Despite the ups and downs of the year, it is finally ending on a nice note. The Bookey Family gathered in Great Neck for our annual consumption of Aunt Elaine's latkes and pot roast, and on Christmas Day, Eric and I made our annual pilgrimage to visit his parents and brother, and to celebrate the holiday by gorging ourselves on the bounty of the Borgata Buffet.

But it wasn't all just overeating in 2008! Let's look at the Year in Eric and Seth...

The biggest news of the year was Ma Bookey's stroke, which has caused her left side to be permanently paralyzed. Luckily, she is not in any pain and she can talk, and her dementia keeps her from fully realizing how horrible her physical situation is. She is at Sands Point Nursing Home and has had several trips to the hospital. Her underlying health is pretty good, so she has gotten out of the hospital without getting worse each time. Her sense of humor is also sort of there. She was saying that Seth's father was a great guy. When Seth asked, "What about me?" She said, "You're nice too, to some extent." She does think Eric is terrific.

HOME

The other big news is that Seth moved into his childhood home in Great Neck, due to his Mom moving into a nursing home. The home will soon enjoy Mom's income, so two incomes cannot support three homes. Seth is currently subletting his flat to a fellow genealogist. Eric and Seth spent many weekends packing boxes and moving things to Great Neck. It is amazing how much stuff one can accumulate in 19 years.

The house in Great Neck is about 80 years old and needed a lot of work. Between January and June, the gutters were replaced, the rotting garage extension was fixed, the sagging, cracked support beam was jacked up and the floor is level again.

The house now has modern, water- and energy-efficient appliances the likes of which Mom never would have been able to figger out.

Seth also discovered just how lucky he and his Mom have been to have good neighbors, who helped look after the house a bit between Mom's stroke in January and the time Seth moved into it in September.

WORK

Seth's Library at the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society closed and gave its collection to the New York Public Library. While he was supposed to be laid off in September, he is still there, indexing a 7000-page manuscript. Things could be worse. He has also been working part time at ABC News, working on a fact-checking project for a video-on-the-Web project.

Seth was able to help a lot of people find a lot of genealogical data before the NYG&B shut down the databases. It's amazing what's out there.

Seth has also been job hunting and interviewing since March. It has not been easy.

Eric is still working at Dow Jones Customer Service, and he is working from home. Sometimes, he works from Seth's home in Great Neck. Eric is also going to be working alternate Sundays as a reference librarian for the Clarence Dillon Public Library in Bedminster (NJ) starting Jan. 4. Thanks to Google Calendars, we can keep everything straight.

Seth and Eric also worked together on a project for Newsweek.com earlier in the year.

Work-related, but not work: Seth and Eric have been getting involved with the Special Libraries Association (SLA). Eric is the co-convener of the GLBT Caucus, and is President of the SLA New Jersey Chapter. Seth has been going to some of the networking events held by the SLA NY chapter.

PLAY

Seth and Eric went to Seattle in June for SLA 2008, staying in a very nice suite at a hotel near the convention center. We got to see a lot of people we know in the information world, and meet new people. We also visited with cousins in Seattle, and we met Eric's Aunt Dorothy and cousin Barbara and her family in Portland, Oregon. The Cascades train from Seattle to Portland and back was quite lovely, with views of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Saint Helens and Mt. Hood on one side, and Puget Sound on the other.

Eric and Seth have also criss-crossed the tri-state region, and in keeping with the Depression 2.0 times, we have been turning the basement into a canned-goods warehouse and having fun doing more cooking at home. Thanksgiving in Great Neck turned out pretty well.

REUNIONS

Eric went to his 20th high school reunion on Black Friday and had a great time, once he found the Greate Bay Country Club and later, Stumpo's bar and karaoke hangout, both in Somers Point, N.J.

You can see him cutting a rug with his Holy Spirit classmates on Facebook and here with his lovely dance partner, Lesley Mottola.

Speaking of Facebook, both of us have had online reunions with a variety of people, from old classmates to hitherto unmet cousins. It's all sort of amazing.

THE YEAR IN NERO

For the first time in years, Nero has had to learn to use the stairs. The old boy is 14 and has enjoyed a year of perfect health, tolerating the daily insulin shot around which Seth's whole world now revolves.

In June, Nero flipped out on a visit to the vet, so for the move to Great Neck, he was tranquilized, and eventually wobbled around to discover that life is now bigger than a studio apartment on the Upper East Side. He has a new routine to wake Seth up at ungodly hours to get fed.

Nero got into the basement only once and freaked out. He also is skittish when it comes to visits from Theo and Melody. But he has his special snoozing spots and remains ever-loving. However, he now has a Facebook page and seems quite sassy there.

FESTIVE HOLIDAYS!

We celebrated both Chanukah and the birthday of Sandy (Seth's brother) on Dec. 21. In one photo Sandy is cutting his cake while Aunt Elaine and the kids look on.

The other photo shows the fully lit menorah on the eighth day of the Festival of Lights, Dec. 28.

In the middle of Chanukah this year was Christmas. Seth and Eric and the Schwarzes (parents Claire and Eddie, and Eric's brother, Frankie) celebrated with a feast at the Borgata and a visit to the home of Gigi and Frankie in Brigantine. (Gigi is Frankie's canine friend.)

And that's the year that was. We're not sure what 2009 will bring, but having President Obama's inauguration ahead is a bright spot. Until then, we're following Suze Orman's advice and stockpiling canned goods.

Philly-nomenal Library News

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 20:58:00 +0000

Eleven libraries in Philadelphia will not have to close starting Jan. 1 after all. Mayor Michael Nutter had proposed the closings because of budget reasons, but the Court of Common Pleas overruled the decision.

Read the WCAU-TV 10 report. Or the story, legal analysis and editorial from Philly.com.

Even More on Lucie Arnaz

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:25:00 +0000

I didn't mean for this to be the Lucie Arnaz blog, but the Paley Center has posted two nice articles on her career, including YouTube clips:

It's Not Where You Start - It's Where You Finish

Lucie Arnaz: The Lucy Years

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend Lucie's talk at the Paley Center on Tuesday evening.

More Lucy/Lucie at the Paley Center

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 03:25:00 +0000

Lucie Arnaz will visit New York City's Paley Center (formerly the Museum of Television and Radio) Oct. 28 to "share memories and screen clips" of performances of her and her mom from the 1970s.

I don't think I'll be able to go, but I am really happy to hear that many more Lucie and Lucy performances will be available for public viewing at the center's locations in NYC and Beverly Hills.

More great news from the center: The catalog of the center's TV, radio and advertising collection is finally online! So if you want to screen a Lucy program (or any other), you can plan your trip beforehand. (There is a limit on how much time you can spend per day on personal screenings. It's been a while since I've been there, so you should check with the center before visiting.)

Birdland Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Eric) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:10:00 +0000

Seth and I got a nice photo with Lucie at her Birdland show Saturday, July 19. Photographer Duane Menor was kind enough to take it:

And überfan Glen Charlow has posted photos from Lucie's show on her birthday, including a nice group shot of the Luckinbills (Joe, Lucie, Kate and Larry).