QQ*librarian

Last Post

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:30:00 +0000

At number 412, this shall be the last posting for this blog.

I started this blog in September 2004 and the past 5 years contained the most illustrious moments for me in my area of work; I was also able to travel extensively in the past few years, hence, providing the interesting fodder for library and travel stories here in this blog.

Now that I am embarking on another phase of my life, my focus and priorities will no longer be the same. I forsee that I will no longer be blogging much about libraries, reading and travels, hence there is not much point in maintaining this blog, whose primary focus is to share about my library, reading and travel experiences.

Therefore, if you have been RSS feeding this blog, you can remove this URL from your feeds.

Thank you for reading. This blog will be available for a little longer and then I will remove it from the blogosphere.

Best wishes from the QQ*librarian.

10 years later, and 1 baby

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:09:00 +0000

As CH and I celebrate 10 years of marital bliss, we also give thanks to God for the most precious gift He gave us to commemorate our happiness - the gift of a child.

I am glad to announce here to friends and all who care that after 5 years of trying, I am finally pregnant and we are expecting our first child next year, who will be born in the year of the tiger, just like me and CH.

On this day, God also gave me what I prayed for - a bigger home for a growing family. Today, we receive the keys to our new home, a dream home that is located in the neighbourhood that we love.

I am a truly blessed person, and I give all glory to God who loves us so.

Looking back, what an amazing 10 years it was. I am so glad to have CH walked this journey with me as my soul mate, husband, best friend and father of my child.

I also thank God that despite the difficulties in trying to conceive, my pregnancy has been nothing but enjoyment so far. I watch with pride as my belly swells little by little, and anticipate with joy as I hear the baby's strong heartbeat at the doctor's. I thank God that I have not experienced morning sickness or any pregnancy discomfort, instead, I am happily piling on the pounds from constant eating. Honestly, my enjoyment of food has never been so intense until pregnancy. I think it made my tastebuds more sensitive and my appetite more keen.

The best thing about pregnancy is the discovery of humanity once again. People around me have shown me nothing but kindness. I am grateful to all my friends, colleagues and relatives who encouraged me and prayed for me. Small acts like covering my counter duties, helping to carry heavy stuff, gifts of snacks and tonics... all touch my heart deeply. Especially heartwarming were the friends who prayed for me to conceive and have a healthy pregnancy. Perhaps this is unique to Singapore, my Muslim friends prayed to Allah for me; my Taoist friends prayed to their deities, my Buddhist mother prayed to Buddha and of course, my church brothers and sisters prayed for me too - I feel so overwhelmed by the faith and love of these kind people. I do not deserve such kindness and devotion from them, but they gave it to me nevertheless. I have nothing to repay them except to pay it forward and show others the same compassion and kindness that they have given me, and the promise to raise my child to honour God and love mankind.

Who is the typical Singaporean?

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

There are many blogs out there who like to stereotype Singaporeans and criticize the notorious negative traits of Singaporeans - like kiasu, kancheong, materialistic, complaining, selfish, cowardly, ungracious, shallow...

The comments to the blog postings are even more interesting, as they fan each other with more examples of how ugly Singaporeans are. There's one thing about blogs, it's a great social media tool and it enables like-minded people to congregate and share their thoughts. But it's also a social phenomenon now that like-minded people can find each other in the blogosphere, find support and "evidences" for their negative thoughts and post comments to egg each other on, agreeing with each other and dismissing comments who put in alternative views. In their own small world, sometimes these vocal people make it look as if the whole world thinks like them.

The way they're written, I've got to assume that the authors themselves are not the "typical Singaporeans" themselves.

Often, people I know also point out the negative characteristics of the "typical Singaporeans" that they are unhappy with, clearly, nobody thinks they themselves carry any of the "typical Singaporeans" traits that they were griping about.

I think you can ask any Singaporean, and they will tell you the negative traits of the "typical Singaporean" easily, but they will never admit that they themselves are guilty of these characteristics too.

So then, who is the "typical Singaporean"? Everybody points finger to others, but nobody thinks they are like that at all. Apparently, "typical Singaporeans" are all over the place, but nobody is one. Isn't it interesting?

Over time, I feel that it is quite pointless to congregate with complaining people and gripe about the state of the typical ugly Singaporeans. Instead of agreeing with the rest, I made up my mind that I can change this negative image in my own small way.

For example, the "typical Singaporean" is known to like to complain. Then I will learn not to complain about anything. I will give thanks to God for everything, and believe that even in negative situations, He will make a way for me.

For example, the "typical Singaporean" is known to be selfish and unhelpful. Then I will purposefully look for people whom I can help and do my small part to make that person's day. I can purposefully look for a person who needs the seat on the MRT more than me. I always stop on the street and make it a point to approach and help tourists poring over the map to get to their destination. If I achieved nothing, I showed the tourists that a Singaporean can be helpful too. I stop buying tissue paper from supermarkets and only buy them from old people who sell tissue paper at hawker centres. If I achieved nothing, I at least put a smile for 3 seconds on the old person's face.

We may be individuals with very little influence or authority to change things on a large scale. But we need not follow the crowd and lament that because many people in the society behaves in a certain way, then we cannot do anything about it. If you don't think you are a "typical Singaporean", then try to behave in a non-typical way that makes yours and others' day.

Quiet beach restaurant

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 10:45:00 +0000

Told you before CH and I are beach people.

So here's another beach place that I recommend.

The food is edible, but we didn't go there for the food. The restaurant is a little bit run-down and tired looking, but heck, there's no crowd and it's one of those cheaper restaurants that are genuinely near the beach - like next to it.

This is the Shore Restaurant at NSRCC Sea Sports Centre at Changi Coast Walk.

How the librarian knows there is a property boom

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:55:00 +0000

There's a property boom in Singapore, for sure.

Apart from the news, here's how librarians know there is a sudden surge in interest - a spike in the number of enquiries on how to use the REALIS (Real Estate Information System) database at the library and enquiries related to real estate in Singapore.

At the information desk today, there is an unusual number of people interested in using the REALIS database to check out transaction prices and other condominium information. Well, all the best to these folks. I hope it's not a bubble they're heading for.

Hakka Beef Balls

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 07:45:00 +0000

These 大埔 handmade Hakka beef and beef tendon balls from The Beef House at 97 Joo Chiat Road are awesome.

I like the clear soup and the bouncy beef and beef tendon balls. Skip the bee hoon though. It tastes better with just the soup. The chilli that goes with the beef balls is superb.

Experience at an online conference

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:55:00 +0000

Attended an online conference for the first time.

It's cool. I think more conferences should be conducted online, so we don't have to fly overseas anymore for them. It's economical, practical, and the learning element is good enough for me.

The online conference that I signed up for was the "Handheld Librarian Online Conference" that took place last night (11pm Singapore time). It costs only US$49, and for that you get to listen to good speakers, participate in discussion forums, get to know new people and download the notes too.

There was a major glitch last night when I tried to access the website. I managed to set up my PC and logged into the keynote speaker - Gerry McKiernan's presentation by 10.45pm Singapore time. But there was some problem with my audio, so I logged off and restarted again. But by then, it was 11pm Singapore time and I could no longer access the website. I tried repeatedly until around 11.30pm, gave up and went to bed. I thought I would access the presentation slides the next day then.

The next morning, my colleague Aaron who also signed up for the programme, informed me that he too had problems accessing the website at 11pm. But he hung around and was given an alternative URL by the organizers later via email and managed to attend the keynote presentation. He said he found the panel session on "Kindle Loan Program" awesome.

I managed to access the website again this morning and finally got to listen to the keynote speaker. Gerry McKiernan has always been sending updates about mobile technologies via his blog and listserv to the library community. His presentation provided a detailed summary of current mobile trends in libraries.

Then, I listened to a presentation by Charlotte Johnson on "A Quick Review of ebook devices: Are they ready for library use yet?" The is a good presentation where she showed us how she uses LibGuides to promote ebooks and introduced the various types of ebook devices and their emerging technologies. I thought I am quite in touch with ebook technology, until she pointed out stuff I've never heard before like "plastic logic", "holograms" and "augmented reality books".

Tomorrow, I will go and listen to the other presentations.

What I like about online conferences are:
1) Its simplicity. You only need to register, run a guided test to make sure your PC has the right programmes. If not, you simply download the Adobe Connect Pro.
2) You know who are the participants. Their names and organizations/countries appear when they log in to attend the presentation.
3) There is an instant chat function that allows participants to comment and ask questions in the background.
4) There is a discussion forum for every presentation.
5) All presentations and discussions are recorded, so you never have to miss concurrent sessions (which happens so often in face-to-face conferences). In my case, this is the best feature because the conference was conducted live in the US time zone, so I would have to stay up until 5am Singapore time if I wanted to attend all the programmes. Because presentations are recorded, you can playback at your own time and even fast forward those bits that you want to skip.

This is so good, I think big library should consider organizing future conferences online. Many more people can register and benefit from it, especially countries where the libraries have smaller budgets for its librarians attending overseas conferences. Also, it will benefit librarians who are disabled or who are not able to travel.

Michael Jackson "extremely well-read"

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:51:00 +0000

Picture: MJ (?) in a bookstore
Source URL: http://www.thisisjuststupid.com/stupid-celebrities/michael-jackson-at-barnes-noble/

Now, here's some little-known information about the king of pop that pleases me, the librarian.

MJ - the reader!

Of course, I don't know for sure how true this one is, since MJ had always been a bit of mystery. But assuming the 10,000 books in his Neverland home were not trophies for show, it's nice to know that MJ was also a voracious reader.

Article: Michael Jackson "extremely well-read", had 10,000 books
Source: Seattlepi.com
Author: Stephen J. Gertz

Excerpt from the article:

In the midst of a lengthy interview in the L.A. Weekly, Jackson attorney Bob Sanger revealed the following as his last of three golden attributes that defined the Gloved One.

"Michael was extremely well-read…I knew Michael, but I got to know him a lot better at the trial. The judge was doing jury selection, and it was time for break. Judge Melville said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I want you to know that jury service is very, very important.' He's trying to convince people not to have stupid excuses to get out of jury service. All judges do this. He says, 'The jury system is a very time-honored system. It's been around for 200 years. We're going to take a break and come back in 15 minutes.'

"We stand up and the judge leaves, and Michael turns to me and says, 'Bob, the jury system is much older than 200 years, isn't it?' I said, 'Well, yeah, it goes back to the Greeks.' He says, 'Oh yeah, Socrates had a jury trial, didn't he?' I said, 'Yeah, well, you know how it turned out for him.' Michael says, 'Yeah, he had to drink the hemlock.' That's just one little tidbit. We talked about psychology, Freud and Jung, Hawthorne, sociology, black history and sociology dealing with race issues. But he was very well read in the classics of psychology and history and literature.

"He loved to read. He had over 10,000 books at his house. And I know that because - and I hate to keep referring to the case, because I don't want the case - the case should not define him. But one of the things that we learned - the DA went through his entire library and found, for instance, a German art book from 1930-something. And it turned out that the guy who was the artist behind the book had been prosecuted by the Nazis. Nobody knew that, but then the cops get up there and say, 'We found this book with pictures of nude people in it.' But it was art, with a lot of text. It was art. And they found some other things, a briefcase that didn't belong to him that had some Playboys in it or something. But they went through the guy's entire house, 10,000 books. And it caused us to do the same thing, and look at it."

"And there were places that he liked to sit, and you could see the books with his bookmarks in it, with notes and everything in it where he liked to sit and read. And I can tell you from talking to him that he had a very - especially for someone who was self-taught, as it were, and had his own reading list - he was very well-read. And I don't want to say that I'm well-read, but I've certainly read a lot, let's put it that way, and I enjoy philosophy and history and everything myself, and it was very nice to talk to him, because he was very intellectual, and he liked to talk about those things. But he didn't flaunt it, and it was very seldom that he would initiate the conversation like that, but if you got into a conversation like that with him, he was there."

[snip]

Turns out that Michael Jackson was a sort of Johnny Appleseed of reading, spreading books to all children. Former Los Angeles resident Cynde Moya remembers that "back when I worked at the Bookstar in Culver City, his people would have us keep the store open after hours, and he'd come in with a vanload of kids, who could buy whatever books they wanted."

As MJ's life got stranger over time, so did his book buying habits. He would wear a surgical mask during his book shop visits, and in a video of him from New Year's Eve 2008, he's at Hennessey + Ingalls browsing for books, a black umbrella, held by an assistant, shielding him from the unflattering glare of florescent lighting.

Or, maybe to prevent his love for books from being exposed.

The New Asian Hemisphere

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Image Source: East versus West by Derrick Sobodash in Flickr. Used under CC licence Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivative works 2.0 Generic.

I read another good book recently - The New Asian Hemisphere: The Irresistible Shift of Global Power to the East by Kishore Mahbubani.

This is considered a controversial book because it revealed the shortcomings of the West in international policies making while exhorting the East. I was deeply suspicious of the intent of the author initially, knowing the background of the author is Professor in Practice of Public Policy of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Now I think everybody knows that our MM has made no apologies about pointing out the errors of the Western countries in the past.

However, after reading the book, I feel that the author has presented a lucid argument for where the West has gone wrong in foreign policies and where Asian countries have done right. He has also substantiated his case on the hypocrisy of Western countries when implementing economic policies and twisting international laws in their favour.

One poignant illustration that I read of is the problem of greenhouse gas emissions.

"Put yourself in China's shoes: 500 years ago, average incomes in Europe, India and China were about the same. Then the Europeans got the jump on everybody else technologically, grew unimaginably rich and powerful, and conquered almost the whole world. They also industrialized, and for 200 years it was their industries, their cities, their vehicles that emitted excess greenhouse gases. Now the rich countries are concerned about the consequences, some are even willing to curb their emissions - but they can afford to, because they are already rich and bound to remain so. But if China imposes the same kind of curbs on its emissions, it will not become a country where most people are prosperous and secure in the generation, or perhaps ever. The same goes for all the other once-poor countries that are now experiencing very rapid economic growht. So the deal must be that they get to keep on growing fast, and the rich countries take the strain. .." - Gwynne Dyer

"Instead, many citizens in the Western societies are led to believe that global warming is a result of the recent decisions of China and India to industrialize. Their greenhouse gas emissions are pushing our earth to the "tipping point"...

Some book reviewers (that I read in Amazon.com and Facebook reviews) have pointed out that this book has its merits in presenting the author's big idea for the world, but while pointing out the mistakes in Western foreign policies and international decisions, the author has failed to highlight equally poor decisions made by Asian countries. That may be true. Overall, I felt that this book is quite well-researched and it has painted a realistic picture of how Asians view the West in its role as global leader. I recommend this book if you want to have a general understanding of the current world political situation written from an Asian perspective.

Reading by Paperback, ipod, Kindle or iphone

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:37:00 +0000

I've always wondered about this: what is the reading experience like when comparing the ubiquitous paperback, the ipod (audio books), Kindle and iphone? If and when the print books fade away, how will they be replaced?

I have never had a chance to test since I don't own a Kindle and iphone yet.

Thankfully, someone put these formats to the test and shared about her experience here:

Reading Dickens Four Ways /Ann Kirschner, The Chronicle Review, 12 June 2009

The writer tried to read Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit" in paperback, ipod, Kindle and iphone. We are all familiar with the ups and downs of reading via paperback, so she didn't need to explain more. The writer liked the audio books because it allowed her to multi-task. She could listen to the story being narrated while she was driving, putting on her makeup or jogging. I agree audio books are a great way to get through the contents of a book for busy people who enjoy listening to narration. Unfortunately, I am not such a person. It is important for me to pause and think whenever I come across some useful/meaningful information in a book, and make notes in the book itself, so audiobooks never appealed to my personality very much.

The writer compared Kindle and iphone and found that apart from a longer battery life, the iphone can easily replace Kindle because the iphone can perform so many other functions beside ebooks, hence its overlapping ereading function can render the Kindle redundant.

If iphone is going to become the ubiquitous mobile equipment, libraries will need to look into how to exist in this space. Thankfully, there are already plenty of examples in libraries locally and overseas that are extending their services as well as putting their contents into mobile applications.

The writer also pointed out something that I wasn't aware of. She mentioned that the Amazon's business model for Kindle is not selling the Kindle readers, but "that Amazon cares less about our choice of screen than our choice of store. Amazon wants Kindle to be a verb, not a noun, as in "I Kindled that book," which could mean that I read it on a smartphone, computer, or dedicated electronic-book device." Now that is the right way to sell technology in today's world.

Geography of Bliss

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:33:00 +0000

Image Source: Ignorance is Bliss Road by Parl from Flickr. Used under CC licence 2.0 Generic.

I read an excellent book by Eric Weiner (interestingly, he calls himself a 'whiner' in the book too) - The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's search for the happiest places in the world.

Have you ever travelled with the thought 'If I can only get out of this country, I'm sure people must be happier elsewhere'?

This book that manages to be funny and profound at the same time attempts to answer that question - are people who live in "happy" countries happier, and what are the causes for their sense of happiness?

Weiner travelled to countries that score high on the World Database of Happiness (based in Netherlands, which is by the way, one of the top happiest countries in the world) as well as countries that scored low on the WDH, to investigate and interview natives why they are/are not happy. And in case you are curious, for your information, the author did not appear to be impressed with Netherlands (free drugs) and Switzerland (boring). [But I think he meant it in the humourous way, otherwise that would be too much stereotyping]

In one of his interviews, he visited Bhutan, a country known for its measurement of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as opposed to GDP. He interviewed a Bhutanese who said "I have achieved happiness because I don't have unrealistic expectations...basically, I find that living itself is a struggle, and if I'm satisfied, if I have just done that, lived well, in the evening I sigh and say it was okay." I thought this statement sounded rather fatalistic. Basically, if you have low expectations of life, you can be happy. But it didn't come as a surprise to me because this seems to correlate to Buddhist beliefs as well, and Bhutan is a Buddhist country. In fact, it seems that the less you talk about happiness, the happier you are. Weiner mentioned this in "In America, few people are happy, but everyone talks about happiness constantly. In Bhutan, most people are happy, but no one talks about it. This is a land devoid of introspection, bereft of self-help books, and woefully lacking in existential angst" It is also true in his visit to Thailand where people don't think too much but just be.

However, I had a conversation with my friend Cleopt recently about Bhutan and GNH and we both agreed that no matter how much Bhutan has been painted as the romanticized Shangri-la, we wouldn't want to be born there as access to good education is limited. Sure there are plenty of uneducated people in the world who seem happy with their lot, but I wouldn't want to be them. No, I'd rather be a thinking, unhappy person than an uneducated happy one. My existence would be a very dull one indeed if I did not have the opportunity to receive education and the environment that encouraged thinking, reflecting and the pursuance of knowledge and understanding of the world around me.

Weiner mentioned a finding in his book that I thought interesting.

"In 1978, psychologist Philip Brickman studied two groups of people. One group had just won the lottery...another group had been in accidents and was now paralyzed. Not surprisingly, shortly after these events, the lottery winners reported increased happiness, while the accident victims were less happy. But as Brickman tracked the groups, something wholly unexpected happened. The lottery winners soon returned to the same happiness levels as before they struck it rich. The paralyzed accident victims, meanwhile, rebounded to happiness levels only slightly lower than before their accident." This shows that an extensive amount of money cannot sustain the feeling of happiness while misfortune, if accepted and gotten used to, will not cause everlasting unhappiness either. I call the first scenario the law of diminishing returns, a term that we learnt in Economics lessons. I remember the first time I bought a car. It was a small 1.5L Japanese car, but I was so happy to upgrade from a car-less person to one with a vehicle of my own that I drove it happily to many places. I loved it, took pictures with it and even gave it a nickname called "Bluey". When we upgraded to a 2L German car a few years later, I was happy but my happiness level was not the same as when I got the small Japanese car. I didn't drive it often and I didn't give it a nickname. The law of diminishing returns have kicked in. We could continue to upgrade to better cars but the level of happiness would never be the same as when we went from car-less to small car owner. So money cannot sustain a continuous emotional high.

Now, has the thought "if I could stop working, I will be happy" ever crossed your mind? Weiner's book mentioned that several studies have found that "unemployed people in Europe are significantly less happy than people with jobs, even though the laid-off workers still receive the equivalent of a full salary, thanks to the generous welfare system. This inconvenient fact pokes holes at notions that the good life is a languid one. In fact, researchers have found that people who are too busy are happier than those who are not busy enough."

Weiner also visited Iceland, a country "at the edge of the world" with rather extreme living conditions. But Iceland ranks as one of the happiest countries in the world. He interviewed an Icelander who said he "cherishes his melancholia" because "it's like a buzz that makes you feel alive". In Iceland, happiness is a choice. Inspite of extreme climatic conditions and isolation from the rest of the world, Icelanders chose to be happy.

Weiner also visited an unhappy country - Moldova, a country between Romania and Ukraine. In Moldova, people don't trust anything - the system, neighbours and even friends. This results in corruption and inefficiency. The recipe for such unhappiness, Weiner discovered is "Moldovans derive more pleasure from their neighbour's failure than their own success. I can't imagine anything less happy".

Now, if you think happiness is the ultimate goal for all men, Weiner's investigation also proves otherwise. "Some people don't want to be happy, and that's okay. They want meaningful lives, and those are not always the same as happy lives." So that explains martyrs, war heroes and other great people in history books.

Another finding which is so utterly simple but wise. He interviewed people who chose to remain in a certain country despite its ups and downs - "you come home because this is where you live". In relation to space and happiness, Home is where the heart is. So if you want to find your home, ask yourself, where is your heart?

In his epilogue, Weiner's summary says: "Money matters, but less than we think and not in the way that we think. Family is important. So are friends. Envy is toxic. So is excessive thinking. Beaches are optional. Trust is not. Neither is gratitude. To venture any further, though, is to enter treacherous waters. A slippery seal, happiness is." and "Our happiness is completely and utterly intertwined with other people: family and friends and neighbours and the woman you hardly notice who cleans your office. Happiness is not a noun or verb. It's a conjunction. Connective tissue."

This is a wonderful book to read, I highly recommend it.

Random Shelving

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:06:00 +0000

Image source: Bookshelf by CarbonNYC. Used under CC licence 2.0.

Recently, I posed a question to my FB friends as I wondered aloud.

"What will happen if we don't shelve books according to subjects in the library? What if you find a gardening book next to economics? Will that lead to a serendipitous encounter with books that you will never think of reading, if not for random shelving? Can this be an experiment at the library?"

A friend RDR tagged this and fielded it to her friends as well.

From the responses, it is clear that

1) Everybody preferred libraries to be shelved precisely for practical reasons of finding the book title that they want, in other words, serendipity is very low priority for library users.

2) Some librarians felt that the libraries do practise random shelving to a certain extent e.g. new arrivals book display.

3) Librarian friends also felt that such a shelving method will invite 50/50 reactions. Some browsers may be pleased but most readers will not. To a large extent, even browsers will prefer to browse within a subject category.

I then suggested random shelving for second-hand bookstores. I always felt that if I am not a librarian, I may work in a bookstore and preferably a second-hand one. I am very neat and organized in person, but when it comes to second-hand bookstores, I like those that are overflowing with books and generally disorganized. I think it heightens the sense of adventure and treasure-hunting for the gems within.

Of course friends have interesting things to say about this suggestion as well.

1) A number of them felt that some second-hand bookstores are already practitioners of the random shelving method (whether intentional or not). Someone mentioned Sultan Books at Selegie (no idea whether it still exists) and another recommended GOHD Books at Serangoon Road. (I must remember to check out this store)

2) Someone recommended a book that we should read: The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry Petroski. The recommender said the author did fantastic research about books and how in the old days, books did not have spines but were written on scrolls, or they had spines with no titles so they shelve the books with spines inwards.

3) An ingenious person even suggested "six degrees of separation shelving". I quote her example, "a novel which mentions mining, leads to a gems and mineral book". (This would be tedious work for the librarian though! But what an idea!)

I did not continue the discussion, although I really enjoyed the contributions from friends from all walks of life. What I would like to ask is what about digital books? Do digital books encourage greater serendipitous encounters with books, especially with links and recommendations of read-alikes?

Yu Hua 余华 remembers 4 June Tiananmen

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:45:00 +0000

One of my favourite Chinese writers Yu Hua 余华 remembers the Tiananmen Square incident on 4 June 1989 on its 20 years anniversary.

China's Forgotten Revolution / Yu Hua, translated by Allan Barr
The New York Times: Opinion

Excerpt: "I realize now that the spring of 1989 was the only time I fully understood the words “the people.” Those words have little meaning in China today."

[snip]

"Although unarmed, they stood steadfast, confident that their bodies alone could block soldiers and ward off tanks. Packed together, they gave off a blast of heat, as though every one of them was a blazing torch.

That night I realized that when the people stand as one, their voices carry farther than light and their heat is carried farther still. That, I discovered, is what “the people” means."

The Comparing Reader

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:56:00 +0000

I would never dream of walking into another country's library and make comments like "why aren't you doing things the same way as my/other countries".

I find it terribly rude, imperialistic and condescending to make such statements on the host country's soil. Yet, this is precisely the thing that people here at my library do all the time. And surprise... it's not even always Singaporeans. You would think that readers from Western countries may not act this way, because the statement above sounds like it comes from spoilt brats right? But it's so not true. A fair portion of readers who like to demand why our library doesn't do things the way their countries do are people who hail from Western countries. With their beautiful English, they eloquently condemn our library's policies ("this is so stupid") or our country's wireless network ("this is so dumb") for instance as compared to their developed Western country's system.

I wonder if these people will go to a less developed country and make the same remarks. Perhaps, they will be more forgiving, because they have lesser expectations on them. Singapore's efficient and modern city image sometimes act like a double-edged sword. Visitors may have unrealistic expectations on public service. Nevertheless, I still find it very rude to make such comments in someone else's country. Even if I were in a more developed country, I would never tell the people there "your system is so stupid, why didn't you do it like country X? What's wrong with people here that you have to do things this way?" for instance. I feel that when I am in other people's land, I should respect them and their way of doing things. There may be cultural reasons why they don't do things in a certain way which might appear more efficient, and being a visitor, I cannot possibly understand the country enough to question why they do things in a certain way.

I read a book recently. "The White Tiger" by Aravind Adiga. The book won the Man Booker prize in 2008. There's a character inside who is a rich man who just returned to India from the United States after studying there for years. He was aghast of the way how India works (instances in the book include bribing officials, caste system etc). The way India worked in the book may not be one that appeals to the "righteous" mindset of the man who was educated in the West, but that was how India worked.

In another country, you may feel that the system is "wrong" only because it does not meet your value system, moral criteria or your own righteous mindset that again comes from a totally different cultural and educational background.

Perhaps, the system in question may change for the better over time. But in the meantime, while we are still merely visitors to the host country, better to keep criticisms to ourselves and not act all self-righteous, demanding the country to do things according to our value system and moral criteria.

If one have not love...

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Mon, 25 May 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Even amongst Christians, there will be people who behave in an "un-loveable" manner. It's just like the Pharisees in the bible, they know the laws, but they have no love in their hearts.

Perhaps it is because I am also a Christian, it especially pains me to see Christian readers fighting over - you won't believe it - bibles.

I have regular readers whom I know to be Christians who come to big library to use certain bibles and bible references. They are nice enough when they talk to me. But they seem to become different people when they don't get the books that they want. Reader X will complain to me about how Reader Y hoards the bible he wants to use; while Reader Y will complain about how Reader X gives him nasty looks when he asks to share the bible. I am sandwiched in between them. They expect me to tell the other party off, but I can't side with any of them. Oh God, I cringe when I see their faces as they remark that the other party is behaving in an "un-Christianly" manner! How I wish I could say to them: before you criticize your brother, have you seen yourself? (Reference to the Bible, Matthew 7:4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?)

One especially self-righteous reader likes to complain to me about other readers' behaviour in big library. I appreciate his sense of civic mindedness and perhaps helpfulness in "patrolling" the library on my behalf, but I don't like the tone of his voice when he makes caustic remarks about other readers.

I am no bible scholar, because I don't study the bible or use bible references. But I know I am righteous only because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. It is not by my works that I am righteous, so I am nothing without Christ. And if Christ resides in you, how can you not have love?

If one can study the bible in-depth, yet have not love, of what use is it to have so much head knowledge and be known as a bible scholar?

1 Corinthians 13:1 - 3
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Experimenting with Wolfram Alpha

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Tue, 19 May 2009 08:12:00 +0000

Wolfram Alpha, the much anticipated search engine was launched recently.

I tried "Singapore" - WA gave factual information similar to CIA factbook, but with no citation of sources. So I suppose I am to say "Source: Wolfram Alpha" if I need to cite?

Tried "Singaporean" - WA doesn't know what I was talking about.

Tried "Singapore history" - WA gave me Singtel shares closing price.

Um...so far not impressed. But I reserve comments until I have experimented further.

Articles on Wolfram Alpha:
1) CNET - http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-10242353-76.html

2) READWRITEWEB- http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/wolfram_alpha_launch_starts_tonight.php

3) TECHCRUNCH - http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/08/wolfram-alpha-computes-answers-to-factual-questions-this-is-going-to-be-big/

**Correction to screen shot 1: A tiny text that reads "Source Information" is available at the bottom of the page and user can click on it to see where WA got its information from. However, in order to cite, user needs to go to the original source to verify if the data is located there first. And I was right, CIA factbook is one of the original sources.

Ebrary's Text-to-Speech feature

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:06:00 +0000

I learnt that ebrary, an e-book content provider that big library subscribes to, offers a text-to-speech feature in their Unity Reader.

Basically, you highlight the passages that you want to be read and the text will be converted to audio automatically. Users have a choice of male (Bob) or female (Alice) reader and reading pitch and speed can be adjusted. At the demo, "Bob" reading sounds quite audible.

At first glance, this function appears to be useful for visually handicapped users. But I wonder how independent the blind or low-vision user can be since prior to reaching the stage where the user can access the text-to-speech feature, there will be plenty of steps that require the user to have vision. In addition, a blind user will not be able to highlight the passages that they need to be read. Hence, even though this feature is a bonus, the blind user still needs someone with vision to assist them to search, download the reader and highlight the text for reading.

However, this feature might benefit users who have reading disabilities associated with reading words in print, such as Dyslexia. They may prefer information in audio form and this feature would be useful.

Foodie Weekend at East Coast Road

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Sun, 17 May 2009 14:04:00 +0000

This weekend, we gave in to our gastronomical desires and binged a little bit. Not that we Singaporeans need much persuasion.

Yesterday, my aunt and uncle had dinner with us at Glory Catering. There are plenty of yummy eateries at East Coast Road, and I recommend Glory Catering if you are looking for something spicy and delicious. The Asam Fish has the right amount of tanginess, and the Popiah is soft and "juicy" - if you can use the word "juicy" to describe the fillings (I apologise for my limited vocabulary). I really like the Chendol, which has a generous amount of coconut milk and palm sugar. I have tried a number of Chendol from various stalls in Singapore, but this one tops all that I have tried. It's simply SEDAP! According to my father who is a self-professed Teh Tarik aficionado, the Teh Tarik at Glory is also the best. Most importantly, the price is reasonable.

Today, I had a craving for prawn mee. I remember a friend told me that a very famous prawn mee shop is available at East Coast Road. We braved the hot sun and walked to the shop, knowing that parking lots are scarce commodities at popular eating places in Singapore. When we reached the Beach Road Prawn Noodles Shop slightly before lunch time, a huge crowd was already there and almost every seat taken.

We found a seat at the back lane and I ordered the prawn and pig's tail bee hoon noodle. Oh my, this is really delicious! The broth is rich and the prawns are big and fresh; the pig's tail soft and tender. I walloped up everything. The other prawn mee that is good is the Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee located at Kallang. But I'm not sure if it's still there because last I went past that place, I don't see the shop anymore. My friends the Kaffeins love the Jalan Sultan Prawn Mee. When I was walloping the prawn noodles, I thought of them and wished Mrs Kaffein, the real foodie amongst us, was here. You know, food is best enjoyed with good company, otherwise it wouldn't taste as good.

In the afternoon, we went driving round the island a bit just for fun. Then I remembered my sister-in-law mentioned a very nice cafe at East Coast Road recently. The Cheesecake Cafe near Siglap Centre is quite unique because of its ambience and decorations. The walls are covered with reprints of portraits by famous European artists; lamp stands, chandeliers, mirrors and flower pots reminisque of the Baroque period are placed eclectically all over the cafe. The cheesecake is good - I'm not a pastry fan so I can't really tell what is considered a genuinely good cheesecake, but it was good enough for me. If nothing else, this place is suitable for hanging out.

We ended the foodie weekend with groceries shopping and CH attempting to cook braised duck with spices for me, which turned out quite well actually. Good job, my love.

The Day the Enemy turned to "Friend"

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:54:00 +0000

Image source: Bulldog Mafia by Prettygreenbag, used under Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic.

This year, a certain man whom I shall call "Man in the Net" (MIN) for the way he dresses (in a netted T-shirt - everyday!) started visiting the library everyday. Quite often, he is the first to walk in and last to walk out.

He has a face that seems to suggest a Tibetan lineage, but he speaks fairly good English except that it is cloaked in a thick accent that could be hard to decipher. As mentioned earlier, he is always in a black netted T-shirt, black jeans and slippers. He also wears a growl on his face, his eyes often glaring in anger and his body language often intimidating.

Initially, MIN did not bother us at the Information Desk much. In my earlier encounters with him, he would ask questions in an unstructured manner but he was not fussy with our responses. Usually, a direction to the DDC range of the subject matter for him to browse would suffice.

MIN's favourite section seems to be the encyclopedia shelf. Often, I see him sitting nearby, reading the encyclopedia intensely. This is a scene that seldom happens in today's libraries since the encyclopedia has more or less lost their attraction in the wired age.

MIN's darker side only started to surface one day when I noticed him lying on the floor between two bookshelves in a spread-eagle position. I motioned for him to get up and he did, looking a little bit sheepish. This was a rather out-of-the-ordinary action, so from then on, I began to think maybe MIN is mentally disturbed.

One day, MIN wanted to borrow some stationery from the Information Desk. Just so happened we did not have that particular stationery, so he shouted at me and said what kind of lousy counter we have if we did not even have that piece of stationery. I was defiant and told him that under no circumstances were we obliged to lend him any stationery in the first place, especially since we did not have it.

MIN's darker side started to manifest further on another occasion when he needed help at the photocopy machine. As the photocopiers are not under our jurisdiction in big library, I told him I was not able to assist and asked him to wait for the photocopy vendor to return to his desk. But he insisted and threw a tantrum, so I tried to assist. But there seemed to be some problem with the photocopier, twice the printout didn't turn out well, so he shouted at me again, "You! You wasted 20 cents of my money! You don't know why you say you know? Get out! Get out of here!" I was stunned by his accusation, and as it was the end of a long day, I too lost my patience and scolded him sharply. "I told you already that you should wait for the photocopy vendor but you insisted that I help. You are very rude. Please do not ask me for help in future, and even if you ask me, I will not help you."

Lo and behold, the very next day, MIN turned up at the library again and asked me for help at the Information Desk! He was still very rude. He called me by yelling, "Eh, you!" and when I told him I am standing by my word and will not help him, he yelled again "You! You work here so it's your job to help me!" I was so angry after this third incident that I griped about this nasty reader to my FB friends and I even joked about "going home to consult my Master Wugui so that I can poke his eyes with my heels and kick his ass back to whatever asshole he came from."

So there you are. My encounters with MIN has not been all that pleasant. I am no pushover either, so we ended up quarreling thrice in a row. Friends even advised me to keep a record of my encounters with this reader just in case he decides to complain about me to management one day. But I believe that the management will stand by me even if he does complain, for I am sure that my actions can be justified in those circumstances.

One afternoon, while I was out for lunch, I noticed MIN hovering near a dustbin at the shopping mall nearby. He was picking out food from the bin to eat. At that instant, I felt sorry for him. Maybe that's why he wears the same T-shirt everyday, and maybe that's why he is so bitter, a poor and hungry person cannot be happy - I thought. I felt like giving him a few dollars to get a proper meal. But at that instant he looked up from the bin and glared at me when he saw me watching him. His antagonism gave me a shock, so I turned around and walked away.

Meantime, not knowing how else to handle this bizarre reader, I do what I usually do when I don't know what to do - I pray and let things take its natural course.

Prayer must work, for MIN really did stop bothering me for weeks after our third quarrel.

Today, MIN approached me at the Information Desk again, asking to borrow a stapler in his muffled English. Out of the blue, he started to tell me why he needed to come to the library everyday and why he was always in a frustrated mood. He was gentle, nice and polite to me, for once. I asked him which country he came from (since he said he is a tourist), and he said "Sweden". Then, he smiled at me, the first time I see him smile. And I smiled at him too.

I guess we have made peace with each other.

Maybe, we can be friends. Maybe, I can even buy him a proper meal one day.

天冷就回来 If There're Seasons

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Thu, 07 May 2009 11:41:00 +0000

去年错过了实践剧场的音乐剧<<天冷就回来>>, 所以今年七早八早就冲去买票. 尤其今年老友Cleopt已从英国回新, 能与这位与我一块儿度过青春岁月的老友一起去观看这部全剧使用梁文福作品的音乐剧, 觉得特别有意义. 当然还有我一生的挚爱与挚友，陪我走过半个人生的CH。

老实说, 对我们这些梁文福音乐支持者而言, 管他剧情如何, 我们都很愿意去看. 我当然不能算专家, 不过Cleopt在英国出色的音乐剧看多了, 自然觉得<<天冷>>剧情只是一般水准. 我本身呢, 倒觉得还不错, 也算看得津津乐道, 回味无穷.

一晃眼, 过了20年, 如今再听梁文福的歌曲依然是那么地熟悉, 温馨. 少年时期的往事又一幕幕重现脑海. 20年了, 怎么歌词都还记得牢? 有些歌曲是CH在校园里拨着吉他, 与我哼唱过的, 感觉是如此的窝心. 他记得, 听到我们的歌时, 温暖的手会伸过来与我紧紧握着.

<<天冷>>所有演员都演得出色, 歌声也都很不错. 我相当喜欢他们重新改编,处理的音乐; 就比如说 "水的话" 这首歌, 重新编排用在主角演"水"的那一幕, 她悬挂在半空中 - 那身段, 那有点诡异的音乐, 那身红衣, 表达了为什么演导演的Robert为她着迷.

剧团也尝试用很有女人味的潘盈的歌曲"让夜轻轻落下", 突破让男同性恋来诠释. 本来这首歌是形容一个失恋女子的心情, 变成一个男同志来演唱, 一开始有点大跌眼镜, 但后来想想觉得这大胆的尝试真的满特别的, 觉得剧团真的很用心.

还有一幕我特别要提, 董资彦遇见田伟鸿时演的"猫", 觉得演得真的蛮像的. 田伟鸿歌声出色.

希望实践继续推出更出色的音乐剧! 我很期待!

Old Road Numbers at National Library vicinity 小坡旧路名

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:22:00 +0000

**Image of North Bridge Road taken by Reggie Wan, used under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic licence.**

I am asked about this occasionally.

Since my family used to live in this area, I got this piece of information from my father.

Here are how the roads are numbered in the National Library vicinity in the past. According to my father, people don't call the road names here by their names, they know it by their numbers.

Big Road (Tua Beh Loh) 小坡大马路- North Bridge Road 桥北路
Second Road (Ji Beh Loh) 二马路 - Victoria Street 维多利亚街
Third Road (Sar Beh Loh) 三马路 - Queen Street 奎因街
Fourth Road (Si Beh Loh) 四马路 - Waterloo Street 滑铁卢街
Fifth Road (Goh Beh Loh) 五马路 - Bencoolen Street 明古莲街
Sixth Road (Luck Beh Loh) 六马路 - Prinsep Street 布连实街
Seventh Road (Chit Beh Loh) 七马路 - Selegie Road 实礼基路

Another piece of information which I know. Back in the 1950s or possibly even earlier, until the shophouses were torn down in early 1990s, majority of the people who lived in the shophouses along North Bridge Road or the Big Road are Hakkas, my clan.

Holy Communion in the times of H1N1 Flu

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:20:00 +0000

The church took an intelligent precaution during Holy Communion on Sunday in response to the H1N1 (Swine Flu).

Pre-packed bread (representing body of Christ) and pre-sealed Ribena (representing blood of Christ) distributed before the church service.

These replaced the old practice where the bread and recyclable plastic cups were passed around in stainless steel trays, which of course meant that everybody's fingers were possibly touching the bread and cups circulating around.

Toponymics Public Lecture

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:25:00 +0000

Some colleagues and I attended a public lecture held at the National Museum tonight. The speaker was Dr. Victor Savage, Associate Professor from the Department of Geography at NUS, and also author of Toponymics, a popular reference book that we use regularly at the library to answer enquiries about street names in Singapore, which happens rather frequently.

The talk was fascinating. Dr Savage was a lively and energetic speaker who added colour to the history of Singapore with his wonderful stories behind the street names on our little island. He made Singapore sounded like a place with so much history, which is true actually, except that much of it is largely neglected in our country that is focused on economic development.

I tried to take down the notes that he shared on his slides, but there was not enough time and he did have so information and photographs to share. Here are the ones that I found interesting and have managed to jot down quickly.

Post-independent Singapore went through 3 phases of name change:

1) Boring numbered streets: e.g. Lorong 1, 2, 3

2) Pinyinized names: e.g Nee Soon > Yishun, Tekka > Zhujiao, Bukit Panjang . Zhenhua

3) Using the same name for a large estate for different streets: e.g. Ang Mo Kio has 46 streets all named Ang Mo Kio

Names that come from mythology: e.g. Kusu Island. Every year, 300,000 people visit Kusu Island in September to pray during the “Kiu Ong Ya” (九皇爷) festive period when people will rush to pray to the Keramat Kusu.

Names that have been “westernized” from local language: e.g. Pedra Branca, a Portuguese variation of the Malay name “Pulau Batu Putih” which means White Rock. According to Dr. Savage, the rocks are not white, but the island is so named because when sea waves hit against the rocks, white froth is created and when seen from afar, they appear to look like white rocks.

Names that come from physical geographical terms / cardinal directions: e.g Bukit Timah (Tin Hill), Reservoir Road, North & South Bridge Road(Singapore River flows from an east-west axis when viewed on a map, so the land above the river is called the North, while the one below is South. North and South Bridge Roads are linked by Elgin Bridge. In the olden days, North of the river is the European district, hence today one can still find European design architecture in this area. South of the river is the Asian district, and national monuments like Singapore's oldest Hindu temple, the Sri Mariamman Temple still stands in today’s Chinatown.)

Names that come from economics activities: e.g Sago Lane, Market Street, Cha Chun Tau (柴船头)

Names that come from vegetation: e.g. Changi (Changi Ular, a climbing shrub), Kampong Glam (Glam trees)

Names that come from ethnic / religious communities: e.g Arab Street, Armenian Street, Chulia Street

Names of people residents: e.g. Pearl’s Hill (Captain Pearl from Indiana), Read Bridge, McCallum Street, Keong Saik Road, Boon Tat Street, Teck Lim Road

Names from military defence relationship: e,g Battery Road, Fort Canning

One of the stories that Dr. Savage shared which I found memorable was the one about Telok Ayer. In the past, the Thian Hock Keng Temple was located right off the Singapore River. It was common practice for new immigrants to embark from the boats that carried them to Nanyang (old Chinese name for Singapore) to make offerings to the Ma Cho deity (Chinese Goddess of the Sea) to thank her for the safe journey, and then proceeded to enter Kreta Ayer (Chinatown, or 牛车水 as commonly known to Chinese) from there. I thought this story demonstrated the cultural meaning and geographical convenience for the way land was used in early Singapore.

Dr. Savage ended the lecture with three questions for us to think about:
1) Why does Singapore retain a high proportion of colonial names?
2) Why did we not go through the same nationalization phase as the other third world countries? (to change colonial names to indigenous ones)
3) Why do some names persist and others expunged: e.g Kreta Ayer for Chinatown and no reference to Farquhar at all.

Dr. Savage said that MM Lee Kuan Yew has said in an interview (I have paraphrased what he said), the gist is that there is no need to be ashamed of our history. Changing street names will not make us more important, or change our colonial history. It is more important for us to do better, to change how people see us. So this answers the questions why Singapore did not change it's colonial street names. Dr. Savage did discuss question 3, but I couldn't jot it down in time.

This is such a good talk I hope Dr. Savage will give another public lecture soon with another angle to street names and places in Singapore.

Volunteering Holidays

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:58:00 +0000

I saw this list from an interesting book, and subsequently found the information on the wonderful internet. I am sharing here as well as use this posting as a bookmark to remind myself where to look when I want to attempt volunteering holidays.

Source
Title: The Big Trip
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd
Publication Date: November 2008

Web Source
Volunteer: A Traveller's Guide to making a difference around the world
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/volunteer/who_offers.cfm

Where to get library qualifications in Singapore & Australia

cloudbliss@gmail.com (QQ*librarian) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:20:00 +0000

I received an email enquiry from a young person after reading my blog. I'm thinking there might be other young people out there who share the same queries, so I have decided to post my responses to this young person about library qualifications here, with some modifications to his email to protect his identity. I hope this will help young people out there interested in a library career.

==================================================
Dear QQ* Librarian,

I came across your blog from a link in Rambling Librarian. I must say that your candid "Librarian Tales" got me completely hooked. It is nice to know that librarians hardly fit the negative stereotypes constantly perpetuated about them.

I am currently a student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I have always had a great interest in reading and was a member of the library club in school. I am considering a career as a librarian. Therefore, I am writing to seek your answers to these queries.

1. What is Masters in Information Science?
2. Which universities (eg. in Singapore or Australia) offer this qualification?
3. Is there a required Bachelor's degree that needs to be obtained beforehand?

***************************************************************
My response to the young person.

Dear XX

Thanks for the compliments, I am very happy to know that there are people who enjoyed my stories. It is highly unusual for non-librarians to write to me, so, thanks for writing.

To answer your questions:

1) What is Masters in Information Science?
Masters in Information Studies is a course offered by NTU that is targeted at training information professionals. The courses cover subjects and skills that a librarian requires such as cataloging, reference and research as well as new media technology. NLB offers scholarships to its graduate employees to study this course in order to be equipped as a professional librarian. In the library industry, if you do not possess a Masters in Information Studies or its equivalent obtained overseas (commonly known as the Masters in Library and Information Science or MLIS for short), you are considered as a para-professional. Most, if not all, qualified librarians in the world possess a basic degree and a MLIS.

To find out more about the course in NTU, visit this website: http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/sci/graduate/information_studies.html

More information about library qualification: http://www.careeroverview.com/librarian-careers.html

2) Which universities (eg. in Singapore or Australia) offer this qualification?
As this is a Masters programme, you would need to obtain a basic degree first before you can embark on this post-graduate programme. Hence, I suggest you complete your diploma first and proceed to get a degree in a subject area of your interest before considering a Masters degree. There are universities offering bachelor's degree in library science, but honestly, I feel that it won't be very useful, because the librarian job requires a lot of critical thinking skills which you need to hone at the basic degree level, and such skills are often acquired at non-skill based subjects such as Social Sciences and Arts. Besides, many librarians tend to have a subject specialisation and this is normally based on the subect they studied at the basic degree level. E.g A graduate with a business degree can be a business librarian.

I don't know if this will be of some encouragement to you, but I was a diploma graduate from Ngee Ann Poly too (many years ago). I went on to obtain a business degree in Australia. I only proceed to obtain the MSc from NTU under the sponsorship of NLB after joining the company. And I did all these by the age of 27, in between, I worked, got married and travelled - rather hectic but fun. You are still very young, there is no hurry to rush to get a Masters degree. I have found it to be much more relevant to get the Masters degree after I have accumulated some years of working experience.

In Singapore, only NTU offers the MSc in Information Studies, which is recognised by NLB and major academic libraries as the de facto library science qualification. In Australia, you can visit the Australian Library Association website for a list of undergrad and postgrad courses for librarianship: http://www.alia.org.au/education/courses/librarianship.html

Personally, if you don't mind New Zealand, I have also done a summer exchange programme with the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand and I think their MLIS course is quite good.

3) Is there a required Bachelor's degree that needs to be obtained beforehand?
This question is answered above.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and writing me. I hope my response is useful for you in your career planning. I am always very happy to hear of young people interested to join us in the library industry. I also take the opportunity to wish you the very best in your future and do feel free to email me again.

Best Regards
Q