The Longest URL I've Seen So Far

The following URL is genuine, although it might be relatively temporary as it relates to pictures of a property listed in an Estonian Real Estate web site (a farm house that could definitely be described as a "fixer-upper"). I didn't know it was possible to have URLs this long (884 characters), but clearly the sky's the limit...

http://www.kv.ee/?act=object.show_in_popup&object_id=942283&search_id=0&nr=64&search_url=act%3Dsearch.simple%26company_id%3D%26broker_id%3D%26recent%3D0%26agent%3D0%26deal_type%3D3%26county%3D0%26page_size%3D25%26price_min%3D0%26price_max%3D100000.00%26keyword%3D%26price_type%3D1%26orderby%3Dch%26search%3DSearch%26building_type%3D%26building_status%3D%26floors_min%3D%26floors_max%3D%26area_total_min%3D%26area_total_max%3D%26area_ground_min%3D%26area_ground_max%3D%26start%3D3%26fuseaction%3Dsearch.simple%26search_id%3D0%26object_type%3D2%26price%3D%26price_field%3Dprice%26rooms_min%3D%26rooms_max%3D%26area_min%3D%26area_max%3D%26floor_min%3D%26floor_max%3D%26not_last%3D%26images_only%3D0%26date_created%3D%26ad_home_page%3D0%26country_id%3D1%26parish%3D0%26city%3D0%26detail_plan%3D%26structure%3D%26land_purpose%3D%26purpose%3D%26withlimit%3D0%26debug%3D%26lng%3D&popup=true

Computers

People have strange ideas about computers.

Some people seem to regard them as these magic boxes that should be able to do anything and everything they want - and do it instantly. I have found this is rarely the case, but they still expect it. Oh, and they take it as a personal affront when the computer

a) doesn't do everything they want
and/or

b) takes longer than a few seconds to do it.

You would think actual experience with computers would encourage them to see the beasts differently, but they don't. Go figure.

Then there are the people who are in awe of computers, and regard them as some minor deity with an uncharitable disposition. They're almost afraid to touch them for fear of angering the gods, and they always work on the assumption that whatever doesn't work is their fault, not the computer's.

These people are quite easy to please, actually, because all you have to do is tell them that they didn't do anything wrong and they're happy. It's amazing how much joy the words "No, it's not you, the system is having problems" can bring to some people.

Then there are the tech guys. They know it is neither a magic box, nor a minor deity, but rather a tool. Sadly, however, they seem to think it's a universal tool, and if it can't be done using that tool, then it can't be done at all.

Me, I see them as like a species of some musteline-type animal. Cunning, clever on a basic level, capable of being trained - but moody, and as likely to bite you as not. Nasty little beasts, they are, happy to gull you into a false sense of security before completely wiping whatever memory device you happen to be using at the time...

I may have spent too much time with computers. I may have spent far too much time helping people with their computing problems, seeing as I'm a librarian, not tech support. I may still have a bit of the drama teacher floating around in my psyche somewhere...

The Students Are Back

Ah, the pitter patter of not-so-tiny feet...

The students are back, and we have that lovely first-week-of-second-semester buzz where you have a combination of people who don't know what they're doing and are wondering around wide-eyed and slightly daunted and those who know exactly what they're in for and feel like they've got this whole "university thing" well in hand.

Plus, everyone seems to want answers to things. Sure, at this point most of the questions are "where can I find building DB42" and the like, but it still gives us something to answer. Librarians love to answer things.

The strange, unlikely joy of being busy...

Heading into exams, etc

Ah, the life of a librarian is not for the faint of heart.

There are periods where one is rushed off one's feet with various projects coming out of one's ears and questions coming thick and fast from students in the middle of assignments and faculty in the middle of their own projects...

And then there's the exam period, when our "home" suddenly turns into a gigantic study room and we are surrounded by people who don't want to talk to us, but still want us to be here.

It's boring.

Boring, I say! Sure, there are still the projects, but they're mostly gearing down as well, seeing as our main clientèle is going to be leaving town for a month or so. Students rarely come visit the university library during their intersemester vacation.

For the next six-to-eight weeks we deal with less than half the number of people who normally come through our doors. This, supposedly, frees us up to do other things (such as, complete the dreaded CMS conversion) - but the joy of being a reference librarian is the thrill of the chase. The answering of questions. The new and wonderful things you learn when trying to connect someone with the information they need.

During the week it's not so bad, but the weekend and evening shifts are the very doldrums. For some reason, this is when they decide to extend the library opening hours. After all, we have all of these eager little students cramming for their exams.

It's true, the library building does get used. The library resources also get used. It's just the librarians who don't. Our statistics look horrible - and libraries live and die by statistics.

Should you find yourself near an academic library during this period, please, come in and ask a question. Preferably a question we have to look up somewhere ("where are the toilets" type questions do not fill us with joy). You'll make some poor librarian feel useful and happy.

Print vs Digital?

Well, I was privileged to be part of a discussion this afternoon that involved one of Australia's leading feminist/education/academic theorists, dale spender (she insists on spelling her name in lowercase - probably an indication of how much she values the constraints of conventional written language), in which the topic up for grabs was the inherent obsolescence of print (and why everyone teaching students is being too stubborn to accept it and move on).

Her professed point of view was that print had no place in the future, and barely had a place in the present, and we should just embrace the wonder that is the digital age and accept whatever is created within it.

As an XY Cusper (born on the cusp between Generations X and Y), I've had to listen to this twaddle my entire life. Theorists keep saying digital literacy is more important than any other form of literacy, and most of my peers and successors have either bought into the theory or have been taught by people who have bought into it hook line and sinker. At the heart of the theory is a fundamental flaw:

Everything worth doing is digital, so we don't need print or anything to do with print any more.

There is this fundamental, basic concept at the core of the 'digital movement' that says "print is dead - linear thinking is dead. Let us speak of it no more."

To me, that's a bit like saying "we have elevators and escalators - you no longer need to climb stairs so stop doing it". For one thing, the stairs are still very much all around us regardless of how many buildings are now using elevators. For another thing, periodically, escalators and elevators have been known to stop working. Then the escalators mysteriously turn into stairs, and the elevators turn into pointless boxes taking up space in the building.

When such things happen, the ability to find and use stairs becomes handy.

This is where I sit on the whole 'print vs digital' debate: We need to be literate in both, in equal measure. We need to be able to create both comfortably and with some degree of skill. We can't just (dare I say it?) toss out the baby with the bathwater. Heck, in these drought stricken times we can't even afford to toss out the bathwater - not when it could be put to use somewhere else.

Sure, it's a great thing to be able to think and create in a non-linear fashion. It's also important to be able to think and create in a linear fashion. Sure, it's great to be able to jump from A to T without feeling bogged down by all the bits in between. It's just as important to be able to go right through the whole sequence from start to finish and be able to appreciate what effect that sequence has on the world around it. It's also good to be able to know where to find F without a computer just in case (heaven forbid!) you find yourself without one on occasion.

You see, my big beef with the 'digital age' is that our new tools are not infallible, and we need to have a Plan B that can work when the lights go out. You always have candles in the house in case the electricity fails. You should keep books and dictionaries on hand for the same reason.

I'm a big believer in not being deskilled or unskilled - especially if it involves basic things like being able to read a book or write a letter. However, too many people have bought into the idea that digital has done away with the need for print related skills. As a result, I'm surrounded by students my age and younger who simply cannot 'climb stairs'. More than that, they get highly offended if you imply it's something they should be able to do - that they're lacking a basic skill by not being able to do it. They have been actively deskilled (or allowed to remain unskilled) and they have been led to believe it is their God given right to remain so.

They try to tell me the future belongs to these people. I believe, in a world where the non-linear is being celebrated at the expense of the linear, the future belongs to whoever can read more than three paragraphs at a time without getting bored and loosing the plot. We'll see who's right.

I'm on a break

I've been on holidays for a week, and I will be for another week yet. I'll start updating when I come back.

You have to study for that?

I was talking to someone the other day about how I worked as a supply teacher while I was studying for my library qualifications.

For some reason he found it surprising that someone would have to study to be a librarian.

This from someone completing a Bachelor of Sports Science. I managed to refrain from asking him how long he had to study at a university level to throw a ball, but it was tempting.

Next time you feel compelled to think the person sitting at the reference desk just wandered off the street and got a job, you should keep in mind that most librarians have post-graduate qualifications. Not only do they have at least one degree in a different field of study (I have degrees in Education and English Literature), but they also have a Graduate Diploma, Masters or even a PhD in Information Management (or something similar).

And yet, in spite of the fact that we've spent about six years of our lives in some form of academic study and dedicated at least a year or two to learning how to find and organise information on a level you might never personally encounter, we are still more than happy to print out a copy of the street map and tell you how to get to the mall, or simply tell you where the toilets are located in the building.

Why? Because librarians are not only smart and well educated, we're also helpful.

That's why we do this job - we just love helping you find what you're looking for.