what's wrong in higher ed?

here's a great example. how is this any better than a basketball coach coercing passing grades of failing athletes out of teachers? i can't believe this kind of attitude from administration exists at the University level. and we wonder why the value of a B.A. keeps plummeting! a college education is a huge investment, one that not everyone should be making. but how is passing students who clearly are not willing to do the work, or even go to class- how is this helping them? how is this helping them to succeed in their future careers? how is the preparing them for the world of work? this is a system which only works to set kids up for failure, to create the idea in them that they don't need to work for anything. what is the value of an education if it is not earned? there are plenty of diploma mills out there who will give you a certificate in exchange for funds if that is what is wanted.

geekery

so Giles is apparently both inept, and a hero. of course, the library was their hideout because no one else ever used it. ahh! that was the point of the joke. the show was making fun of itself, of Giles, because no one ever seemed to need him in his official capacity as school librarian.
anyway, check out this article from the Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, Old Maids, Policeman, and Social Rejects: Mass Media Representations and Public Perceptions of Librarians. this is kind of awesome.

"free, fair, open, unifying"...will we remain any of these?

here's another great Florida library tale. this one is from Clearwater.
cutting hours is not the way to go! i hope they realize this in time. people work, and most work during the day. being closed on evenings and weekends cuts off a huge number of people. if you can only be open 40 hours a week, what about Tuesday-Saturday, with some combination of 10-6 and 12-8?
here's what I suggest:
cut branches that don't get used.
consolidate staff and materials.
take advantage of open source software.
promote and encourage shared learning among staff! let people know that their ideas and input are valued and you will have people who are eager to teach others and to learn from colleagues.
we need to be pooling our resources and coming together to fight for our constituents!

not that there's anything wrong with that...

this story came up last week, and I wasn't going to mention it, but then it appeared in the biblioblogosphere. basically, the equity officer for the University of Toledo was interviewed saying that she felt that homosexuality was a choice. (I don't think that my gut rebuttal would be welcomed in an interview situation. friends, I think you could guess approximately what I would say.)
but here's what I have to say to you about it:
there is one big detail here- she was the equity officer! people are entitled to their own opinions and views, however, it would be irresponsible of the university to assume that her view, once they found out about it, would not affect her work. as the equity officer, it is her job to make sure there are no biases in hiring decisions. given what we know now, i definitely wouldn't trust her in that regard. universities need to make sure that they stay very clear about these things, and an "i'm not racist, but-" or "i'm not homophobic, but-" attitude just isn't going to cut it.
here's the original article from Inside Higher Ed. and here's the University of Toledo's policy statement on equity.

CamStudio, anyone?

CamStudio has been on my list to check out for a while now. it is a free program which allows you to make screencasts. I'm thinking that I could use it to make training videos to teach users how to search our library catalog and databases. it could also be used for software training or communicating between offices. "we're doing it this way," etc. I'm wondering, have any of you used this program before? did you find it useful? tips? suggestions? insights?

subverting the RIAA

hmm, the RIAA explains how it catches students in illegal downloading activities. here's the lesson kiddos: A.1. do not use the campus network. this is important. even if it is provided to you, if you think you are going to be downloading these kinds of materials- pay for a commercial ISP! B.2. do not use Lime Wire. i'm sure there are plenty of other programs out there. pick a good one that's not as popular. the RIAA is casting a wide net. you want to make sure you fit through the holes.

a journey in tones of graphite

Shenzhen: A travelogue from China, by Guy Delisle, is a memoir of living in Shenzhen for three months while directing a team of animators. this graphic novel, Guy Delisle's second, is also a Drawn & Quarterly publication. (the first is Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea.)
being a fish out of water myself, it is interesting to see how someone learns to live in a new culture. it is at times a very lonely story. his pictures are drawn in pencils, with shades of gray. there are always shadows, never a clean, clear line- unless it is a flashback. the present is never that simple. he creates atmosphere and mood with shading. he manages to convey a subtlety, a certain timbre of emotion that makes we want to know more.
if you like this one, you may like the six volume series Love as a Foreign Language, an Oni Press title. It is a fictional story of a Canadian living in Korea, where he teaches English as a second language and bumps up against Korean culture.