Comments for Free Range Librarian

Comment on I have measured out my life in Doodle polls by K.G. Schneider

K.G. Schneider — Sun, 28 Apr 2019 14:16:56 +0000

In reply to Thomas Dowling. Doodle within an enterprise system is an abomination. But I understand why people across institutions use it for meetings (for example, for the organization that rhymes with May Bell Day). It's the misuse that gives me a sad.

Comment on I have measured out my life in Doodle polls by Thomas Dowling

Thomas Dowling — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 15:41:14 +0000

If you have an enterprise calendaring system that finds meeting times, use it. “But Prof. Smith doesn’t like to use XYZ Calendar” doesn’t cut it any more. And for heaven’s sake, enable the “if need be” option when you do set up a Doodle poll. There’s stuff I can move, but only if necessary.

Comment on I have measured out my life in Doodle polls by Chad

Chad — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 11:56:34 +0000

My favorite is when faculty or staff use a Doodle Poll to schedule a meeting with other employees even though we have a university-wide Office 365 subscription. #headdesk

Comment on I have measured out my life in Doodle polls by Dale McNeill

Dale McNeill — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 02:10:37 +0000

I try not to use the Doodle poll approach too often. When I do, I use no more than 4 options.

I ask people in advance if there are days/times that are impossible, including before and after normal work hours. Not taking even that simple thing for granted can save a lot of time going back and forth.

And, if the poll is for a conference call, I do everything in my power to be *certain* that the call is necessary and could not be replaced with a few emails.

Comment on An Old-Skool Blog Post by Walter Underwood

Walter Underwood — Sat, 30 Mar 2019 04:50:52 +0000

I was awarded a Red Pen Merit Badge for helpful editing comments on a Scouting blog post. That was probably the most pleasant response to criticism I’ve ever received.

Comment on Keeping Council by Sue Kamm

Sue Kamm — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 17:49:52 +0000

Hi, Karen — you may remember that I resigned from Council because I can no longer afford to travel. (Virtual Council, anyone?) I miss ALA! Keep the MLS as a requirement for the ED!

Comment on Keeping Council by Walter Underwood

Walter Underwood — Sun, 21 Jan 2018 21:25:30 +0000

1983? Safely after one of my benchmark dates, September 1981. That was when the specifications for TCP and IP were finished and published. They’d been working before that, of course.

https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc791.txt
https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc793.txt

wunder

Comment on Neutrality is anything but by Jamie LaRue

Jamie LaRue — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 16:16:20 +0000

Thanks for your usual probity, Karen. Here I am at the Office for Intellectual Freedom, so of course want to, and do, defend the right of even profoundly mistaken people to speak. Sometimes, learning begins with the airing of our ignorance. On the one hand, the First Amendment is not absolute, and showing up with guns and a message of ugly hatred starts to look a lot like shouting fire in a crowded theater. On the other hand, civil rights protests were once opposed on similar grounds — too likely to be inflammatory, disruptive, just stirring up trouble. (I don’t equate white supremacism with civil rights protests, but believe that even good motives, like assuring public safety, can be twisted to bad purposes. Once we go down the road of suppression, the slope really does get slippery.) I continue to believe that the right response to bad speech is better speech. In response to hate groups (or, to a lesser extent, the scourge of internet trolls) I begin to think that there needs to be a coordinated response. A flood of inward-looking statements won’t help much. Meeting speech with violence is worse. I’m intrigued by the “outing” of some of the hatemongers; showing that free speech has consequences. We need a moral center, and humans seem to be wired to look up to leadership for an example. Right now, that’s not working. So we need to find it in ourselves, and model it outward.

Comment on Neutrality is anything but by Paulsignorelli

Paulsignorelli — Sat, 19 Aug 2017 18:39:26 +0000

Wonderfully written.

Thanks.

Comment on MPOW in the here and now by Walter Underwood

Walter Underwood — Mon, 10 Apr 2017 04:43:04 +0000

At another time in my life, I should have applied for the collections position. After I was working on search engines for a few years, I finally realized I was an amateur librarian.

The slatwall? That is what we call the *:* search result page. That is what we show people before they enter a query. It is our best guess at what might help them. Crucial to helping our customers get what they need. It is hard to get right, it needs a balance of the most popular with breadth. It doesn’t help to put up all eight volumes of Harry Potter plus all of Twilight.