Fredagsmys: Horoskop

OK, det är långfredag i morgon så det kan vara lämpligt med lite fredagsmys.

Bloggen Hack Library School presenterar Words of Wisdom: Hack Library School Horoscopes

Råd t ex till oss födda i Jungfruns tecken:

Virgo (August 20-September 21)
Key concepts: relax, breathe, personal happiness, prepare, expansion, inner peace

If you have a specific passion or interest in the field, follow it and take the courses that fulfill this. Listen to yourself and trust yourself.
Work experience is always more impressive than the MLIS degree. Make sure you’re taking every internship, practicum, or volunteer opportunity that you can. Be a sponge! Ask lots of questions!

If you are feeling overwhelmed in school, remember it’s okay to say “no” to some opportunities; better things often come around again, at a time that may be more convenient to you.

For academics or those who may be interested, turn class projects into research opportunities. If your school offers a research methods class, take it. This will be the foundation for your work. If your school doesn’t offer one, make the suggestion for the future and take methods in another graduate program like Education or Sociology. Every large-scale project you do for course credit has the potential to be research. You can talk to your instructors about how to go about doing that. Partner up with someone if you are not comfortable going it alone. Research is one feature that tends to separate candidates from their peers in the job search process.

Try to take out the least amount of loans possible.  Everyone’s situation is different, but many schools have a flat rate for credits above a certain limit.  If you can even do one semester making the most of that flat rate, it could save you thousands of dollars.  Use your school’s writing center at least once. Try to get teaching experience of any kind, as well as course/workshop design and leadership.  Take a research course in quantitative & qualitative methods. Think about how you can turn your course work (i.e. papers/projects) into potential articles for publication.  Computer literacy skills (data manipulation, programming, data visualization, etc.) are useful. People skills are useful. When it comes time to interview:

  • Restate question to make sure you understand it/buy yourself some quick thinking time;
  • Make your points using transition/sign-posting words such as first, second, next, finally; and end with a brief summation of main points or takeaways.  This pattern is useful because it makes it easy on your interviewers to capture your important points, it makes you sound put together, and it indicates when you are done speaking.
  • Have more questions prepared than you think you need.
  • Remember, you are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you.

 

Dagens bibliotekslänk: The First Machine-Generated Book by a Scholarly Publisher Is a Boring Read

Andrew Liszewski: The First Machine-Generated Book by a Scholarly Publisher Is a Boring Read

”The algorithm, which was developed by AI researchers at the Applied Computational Linguistics (ACoLi) lab at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, was not designed to replace authors like John Grisham or J. K. Rowling. As is probably evident by its title, Lithium-Ion Batteries: A Machine-Generated Summary of Current Research (which can be freely downloaded here) doesn’t feature interesting characters, snappy dialogue, or a thrilling plot. As far as we know, Hollywood studios have no plans to option it as next summer’s blockbuster. Instead, it’s an attempt to distill and condense the extensive research being done on lithium-ion batteries.”

Nåja, detta är bara början! Sen kommer frågan hur upphovspersonen ska beskrivas i katalogen. Den där Beta Writer, när kommer hens nästa bok? Kan Beta Writer få Nobelpriset i litteratur. Om upphovspersonen är en algoritm . hur fungerar upphovsrätten?

 

Dagens bibliotekslänk: Wash & Learn

Libraries Without Borders (BSF) launched “Wash & Learn,” a summer learning program that creates pop-up library spaces in laundromats throughout Detroit. In partnership with the Knight Foundation, the United Way of Southeast Michigan, Brilliant Detroit, the Parkman Branch of the Detroit Public Library, the Mayor’s Office of the City of Detroit, and the LaundryCares Foundation, this program transformed laundromats into informal learning spaces where patrons could access high-quality early learning and literacy materials while waiting for their clothes to wash and dry.

 

Dagens bibliotekslänk: In a world of Google and Amazon, libraries rethink their role

Abrar Al Heeti: In a world of Google and Amazon, libraries rethink their role

”The NYPL is far from the only library rethinking its role in the digital age. Around the globe, libraries are repositioning themselves to meet the needs of a world where almost everything on the shelves can be found online. Many see themselves as centers of digital culture offering classes in the latest tech, such as 3D printing and digital video editing. Key to that mission is helping patrons who can’t afford internet service…”

 

Färre bibliotekarier – men fler med annan högre utbildning på bibliotek i Oslo

Erling Bergan: Det store personalskiftet på Deichman (Bibliotekarforbundet)

Andelen bibliotekarier bland de anställda på Deichmanske i Oslo har minskat dramatisk de siste åren. 2014 var 60 % av de anställda fackutbildade bibliotekarier. 2017 har detta minskat till 39 %. Under samma period har andelen anställda med annan högre utbildning ökat från 22 % till 48 %.

Trenden gäller dock inte resten av Norge, utan är en storstadsföreteelse vad det verkar.

Dagens bibliotekslänk: The Library as a Third Place

Joe Hardenbrook (Mr Library Dude): The Library as a Third Place

Lite funderingar om bibliotek som ”tredje plats”: ”For me, a comfortable and inviting third space is open and airy, with natural light. I also want to be able to move around from spaces to collaborate, to those that offer more privacy. Sometimes I need to concentrate and focus, but at other times I like to daydream. A library generally fits the bill for my needs.”

En utmärkt länklista för den som vill fördjupa sig.

Dagens bibliotekslänk: The bias hiding in your library

Amanda Ros: The bias hiding in your library

Det handlar iofs om klassificering i Library of Congress, men kan kan få en att fundera på hur det är med neutraliteten i svenska klassifikationssystem.

”Without gender, race or geographic qualifications, “Astronauts” can be assumed to mean white American men in terms of library subjects.”

och

”However, under “Prostitutes,” there was only a “Male prostitute” subject heading, revealing the generic assumption that most prostitutes are female.”

 

Biblioteksturism

Dags att börja planera sommarsemestern? BBC väljer nio fantastiska bibliotek att besöka för biblioteksturisten.

De nio är

Malmö stadsbibliotek tar bort kontroversiell e-bok

Den kontroversiella bok som hävdar att autism går att bota med klordioxid plockas nu bort ur Malmö stadsbiblioteks e-boksbestånd enligt SvT:s Kulturnyheterna.

”Orsaken är att den är ovetenskaplig, farlig för hälsan men också att den kan upplevas som kränkande för personer med autism och personer i dess närhet”, skriver stadsbibliotekarien Torbjörn Nilsson i ett sms till Kulturnyheterna.”

Testa samma argumentering i ett annat sammanhang med en annan bok (min kursiv): ”Orsaken är att den är ovetenskaplig, farlig för hälsan men också att den kan upplevas som kränkande för invandrare och personer i dess närhet” – och du få JO på dig  (t ex Falköping och Botkyrka).

– Det mesta måste finnas, men det finns en gräns säger Torbjörn Nilsson till SVT. I bibliotekens hylluppställning finns avdelning Bl – Omstridda fenomen och företeelser – och där kan ju den här typen av böcker att placeras, iaf de fysiska – med e-böcker blir det nog som sagt lite mer komplicerat. Å andra sidan har jag förstått att många bibliotek redan nu rensar ut i de olika e-böcker som t ex Axiell erbjuder.