Gleeson Gleanings

The deadline to register for the AJCU 2008 Joint Conference on Information Technology Management, Libraries and Educational Technology has been extended to March 14.

Gleeson Library installed a new LCD in the library a few weeks back and a number of questions have come up about how we got it (thanks Dean Cannon!), how it works and how we decide what content is displayed.

Dean Cannon charged the Gleeson Public Services Council with the project in 2007. After much deliberation and consideration of the possible impacts to service, locations, atmosphere (a TV in the library? sacrilege!!), possible content, costs etc. etc., the council chose a location near the main entrance to the library in the Geschke Learning Resource Center.

Once we had a location and ideas for content, we selected a 46” Sony Bravia. If you are considering an LCD for your department/library, there are many good sources for info on hardware out there – a good place to start with product reviews is CNET and they have tips on the LCD vs. Plasma issues we found very helpful. The Sony Bravia was also recommended by folks in the USF Classroom Technology department.

Content (a Keynote slideshow) is stored and accessed via a Mac we have attached to the LCD via HDMI. The Mac is on the USF ITS network, so content can be managed from just about anywhere.

We also pulled coax (USF cable TV signal) to the LCD and we have shown a very limited amount of broadcast content (e.g. 2008 Presidential candidate debates with the audio off and closed-captioning on). We are considering broadcasting graduation ceremonies for folks who can’t get a seat in Saint Ignatius Church.

Content is focused on library events and programming and has been selected informally by the council with input from Dean Cannon and the Library Leadership Team. Examples include a summary of the library instruction courses being taught for a given week, updates on exhibitions in the Thacher Gallery and other library events/updates. All of the content was created by Randy Souther in Gleeson’s Reference and Research Services department.

Randy, you rock!

At the moment, Public Services Council does not have a formal process to chose content – but we will. If you are on campus and would like something added, you can start with an email the any of the librarians currently serving on the Public Services Council.

Shawn P. Calhoun – Access Services
John Hawk – Rare Book Room
Karen Johnson – Systems and Reference & Research Services
Locke Morrisey – Reference and Research Services
Vicki Rosen – Distance Learning and Reference

Thanks for all the feedback so far and please keep the ideas and comments coming!

Faculty and Staff: Please join the USF Book Club for a lively discussion of Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants.

We will meet on Tuesday March 25 from 12 noon – 1 pm in the Seminar Room (2nd Floor) of Gleeson Library | Geschke Center. Bring your lunch!

Although the library’s affiliated libraries in the Link+ system have many copies of this book, it’s in high demand and may not be available to be sent here for you. Please check Link+ to see if you can order it through the library. It takes 3-4 business days and is free!

Dean Cannon formed the Public Services Council in 2007 and gave the group the following charge:

The Gleeson Library-Geschke Learning Resource Center Public Services Council is charged to review new and existing policies, programs, and services that are provided to the University of San Francisco community. The Council will work to ensure coordination, explication, and when appropriate marketing of all activities that directly interface with our users. New programs, policies, services, and any corresponding implementation issues shall be brought to the Library Leadership Team for review, and as appropriate approval. The Gleeson Library-Geschke Learning Resource Center Public Services Council shall meet at a minimum once a month and shall report to the Library Dean. Membership shall include the following departments: Reference, Research Services and Collections, Access, Systems, Rare Books, and Regional and Distance Learning Services. These areas will be represented by Locke Morrisey, Shawn Calhoun, Karen Johnson, John Hawk, and Vicki Rosen. Resource individuals with meet with the Council as needed. Presentations on Council activities may be given at Town Hall. The chair person will serve for one academic year and will rotate among the membership. The first chair, for the 2006-2007 academic year, will be Vicki Rosen.

The only change for the 2007-2008 academic year is that Shawn P. Calhoun is the Chair.

As the council moves into its second year, please continue to keep the comments and suggestions coming!

The Bookseller magazine has announced the shortlist for the Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year, and invited the public to vote.

Unfortunately my choice Cheese Problems Solved is currently lagging in third place behind If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs and I Was Tortured By the Pygmy Love Queen. Also-rans — so far anyway — are How to Write a How to Write Book; Are Women Human? And Other International Dialogues; and People who Mattered in Southend and Beyond: From King Canute to Dr Feelgood.

Also nominated was Squid Recruitment Dynamics but alas, it was ruled out of the running on a technicality.

For more about the prize and a description of the nominees see here. Then cast your vote! The winner will be announced on March 28. At some point there will be a public vote for the “Diagram of Diagrams” – the oddest book title ever.

Thanks to American Libraries Direct for letting us know about the contest.

Register for the AJCU 2008 Joint Conference on Information Technology Management, Libraries and Educational Technology, a joint conference including librarians and leaders in technology management and educational technologies, hosted by USF.

The Gleeson Library/ Geschke Learning Resource Center is now lending laptops to students. Laptops are available to check out from the Circulation desk. The laptops circulate for a four hour period and are for use inside the library only. There are only ten laptops currently in circulation so students may want to book them in advance for a specific time. If there are no bookings on a laptop, students may renew a laptop for an additional four hours by bringing it to the Circulation desk.

Some other elements to keep in mind when borrowing a laptop:

• Anything you want to keep should be saved to USF files or a thumb drive.
• Fines are $1.00 an hour so make sure you return the laptop on time.
• The replacement cost for loss or damage is $1,600 so do not leave the laptop unattended.

Check out the new look: Ignacio

Librarians from Gleeson and Law have been collaborating with Innovative Interfaces to bring an updated look to the online catalog. It’s not only cosmetic. Updated coding provides better functionality to integrate existing services and to offer new ones. Log in to your library record to see what you can do now. You can rate and review the books you check out. You can save preferred searches and get an email notice when new books come in on your favorite topics. You can maintain your reading history if you want to track what you have read.–this feature is completely optional and no one else can see this information–not even library staff.

Event: Davies Forum Speaker: Brewster Kahle  “Founder of the Internet Archive (with the Wayback Machine!)”

What: Lecture
When: Thursday, February 21 at 6:30pm
Where: Cowell 113, University of San Francisco

The Facebook invite reads “Brewster Kahle serves as founder and digital librarian at the non-profit Internet Archive and helps direct the Open Content Alliance. Brewster’s stated goal is “Universal Access to all Knowledge.”

My, that is quite a goal. I cant wait to hear how he will accomplish it.

From the Chronicle of Higher Education Feb 15, 2008:

David Parry, an assistant professor of emerging media and communications at the university, writes that students need to become familiar with new and non-static forms of communication. He encourages his students to read Wikipedia’s “history” and “discussion” pages, saying they explain how articles were produced. And he says the online encyclopedia’s entry on global warming does a good job of explaining both the controversy and the science surrounding the issue.

I use Wikipedia regularly and have few complaints. In general, I think its a great resource. While I would not end my research there (or any other single resource), I don’t have a problem starting there for quick facts. And I agree with Parry, that the discussions regarding articles can be very illuminating.

I confess to being a lazy reader. When I’m reading for fun I don’t like to work hard. I like a nice linear plot and a good story. Aside from professional literature I read a lot of mysteries. I have bouts with science fiction too.

I just finished Jasper Fforde’s latest literary-fantasy-mystery romp, First Among Sequels. I love Fforde’s books because they’re lighthearted, witty, and full of his love of books and reading. This one’s fifth in the adventures of Thursday Next, the Special Operations Network, Literary Detective. It’s especially fun because it also makes use of my favorite science fiction sendup, the time travel paradox. (If you like this sort of thing don’t miss the classic Star Diaries by Stanislaw Lem. Hilarious.)

Now I’m reading Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. This book is haunting, lyrical, funny and fantastic — sometimes all at once. It’s much better than the movie, which left out more than half the book and added elements from another of his novels (go figure.) I highly recommend it.

What are you reading?

Read the Blog!

I am very pleased with the interest that Gleeson Gleanings has generated. Way to go Bloggers!

Recently we had a faculty member who was looking for an attribution to a quote of Kierkegaard. We could find the quote in many places on the web, but couldn’t verify where it was coming from.

The quote was “There are two ways to be fooled: one is to believe what isn’t true, the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”

Another translation says:”There are two ways to be fooled: one is to believe what isn’t so; the other is to refuse to believe what is so.

“Thanks to St. Olaf librarian Cynthia Lund for referring us to Kierkegaard scholar, Søren Landkildehus, for the answer: I can inform you that it is from Works of Love the very first deliberation on ‘Love’s hidden life and its recognisability.’

“The Hongs translate the Danish this way: ‘Indeed, one can be deceived in many ways; one can be deceived in believing what is untrue, but on the other hand, one is also deceived in not believing what is true;’ (Works of Love, 1962 Haper Perennial, p.23)”

“For good order this is the Danish original: ‘Man kan jo bedrages paa mange Maader; man kan bedrages ved at troe det Usande, men man bedrages dog vel ogsaa ved ikke at troe det Sande;’ (Kjerlighedens Gjerninger, SKS vol.9 Gad & Søren Kierkegaard Forskningscentret 2004 [1847], p.13)”

Gleeson Library is sad to note the passing of Elizabeth Reynolds, a librarian and former director of the Gleeson Library Associates. Rare Book Room librarian John Hawk said “she was a wonderful person who had a very kind spirit. I always remember how warmly she welcomed me when I arrived at USF.”