Gearing Up

Posted On Jan 10 2007 by

Seattle will be my 6th ALA conference as an American Libraries columnist, and my 2nd since the summer 2006 launch of Hectic Pace. It’s part of my duty to cover the exhibit floor for the magazine, and here I will admit it for the first time–it is my favorite part of the job. There’s something one cannot get from press releases, phone calls, e-mails, and webinars. This is not to say that one can get a whole lot more from a scripted demo by someone who has worked for a company for 2 weeks, but there’s something about walking the …


The Grump Who Stole Libraries

Posted On Dec 22 2006 by

Every librarian Down in Dew-ey-ville liked computers a lot… But the Grump Who lived just north of Dew-ey-ville, Did NOT! The grump hated computers! The whole campus network. Now please don’t ask why. He could be quite a big jerk. It could be his own system wasn’t running just right. It could be, perhaps, that his earbuds were too tight. But I think that the most most likely reason of all May have been that his library was two sizes too small. But, Whatever the reason, His buds or his OPAC, He stood there on ALA-eve, hating those in the …


On the Catalog

Posted On Dec 6 2006 by

It probably would not surprise anyone to know that I have given quite a bit of thought to the library catalog. While I (and others) have been taking NCSU’s story on the road quite a bit lately, I have not participated very actively in the professional discussion since I uttered those four seemingly innocent little words at LITA’s Top Technology Trends almost two years ago: “The OPAC still sucks.” The fuller context of the quote had to do with newer technologies and trends distracting us from this inescapable fact; nevertheless, I will be remembered in some circles for adding a word …