My friends in Melbourne often say to me, "Oh, I could never live in Darwin - it must be so hot up there."
Not so.
It is true that it is rarely cold in Darwin - the locals start complaining when the overnight temperature drops below 20 degrees in the dry season. So if you are, like me, one of those people who are immune to the cold, and see a cold wintery day as a good opportunity to don one's finest op-shop suits and knitwear, then Darwin isn't the most stylistically convenient place to live.
But, we aren't talking about an absense of cold - we're talking about the presence of heat.
Today, when I peruse the Bureau of Meteorology, I see that in Darwin it is currently 28 degrees, and we'll be enjoying a particularly mild maximum temperature of 31 degrees, with monsoonal showers which are quite refreshing, so long as you have an umbrella and sensible shoes.
Now, let's look at Melbourne. Maximum 38 degree and fine. Definitely much hotter there.
Looking at the next three days:
Darwin: Sunday - 31 degrees, Monday - 31 degrees, Tuesday - 31 degrees.
Melbourne: Sunday - 30 degrees, Monday - 41 degrees, Tuesday - 37 degrees.
So, next time you feel like escaping the extreme scorching dry heat of Melbourne, why not consider the far more temperate destination of Darwin for a holiday? Air fares are cheap, and I'd be happy to show you the sights.
Disclaimer: I have, of course, neglected to mention other factors, such as higher temperatures overnight, prohibitive humidity, the increased likelihood of being eaten by a crocodile, and, oh yeah, that tropical cyclone over there off the North-West Coast of Australia.
But my point remains - it's not as hot as Melbourne. :-P
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Turning a new leaf in this blog...
Warning: This is a post about blogging. Turn away now if such things breed your contempt.
Over this festive season, I've been reassessing many aspects of my life. I've been trying to achieve too much lately, but haven't necessarily been smart about it, and end up suffering for it.
So, I'm making a few changes. Most of these are personal and professional commitments which I won't outline here. However, my blog will also be undergoing some change.
When I first started blogging here, I said that:
And I tried to pursue this through my writing, getting fired up on issues of social inequality and information literacy, trying to highlight the value that public libraries strive to bring to every single person, regardless of education, or race, or social status, and help bridge those divides in society by building information literate communities. Basically - it's important to be active in the community, and make people see the vital work that librarians do in trying to improve everybody's quality of living.
But, you know what? I don't think that blogging about it achieves anything. I'm not contributing anything new to the blogosphere. There are far more eloquent and widely-published experts who blog on these subjects, and I'm overly self-aware that my perspective as a public librarian is a lot less "academic" than other librarians who work in highly specialised sectors.
The other thing that I'm also aware of is that every librarian out there knows the shortcomings of the industry. Blogging about it doesn't help - it just cultivates an atmosphere of frustration and hopelessness.
So...
Things you won't read anymore:
- Reiteration of what somebody else has already blogged about.
- Negative posts about why the industry/country/world is screwed.
- Pontification on things that I'm no expert on.
- Judgemental attitudes
- Sarcasm
Because I don't have time for these things, and I suspect that nobody else does either.
What you can expect:
- Stories. Lots of stories.
- Things that make being a librarian the best profession in the world.
- Plenty of whimsy.
- Impulsive bursts of creativity.
Because that's what I do best. I can either bang my head against a brick wall trying to achieve the improbable, or I can focus my efforts on celebrating the positive aspects, and build from there. Besides, it's more fun that way.
post scriptum: I'm not 100% sure that this is the right course of action, and there's a little voice in my head that's screaming at me for being a cop-out, but I haven't really been getting anywhere with my previous frame of mind, and need a new strategy.
Over this festive season, I've been reassessing many aspects of my life. I've been trying to achieve too much lately, but haven't necessarily been smart about it, and end up suffering for it.
So, I'm making a few changes. Most of these are personal and professional commitments which I won't outline here. However, my blog will also be undergoing some change.
The original aim of this blog.
When I first started blogging here, I said that:
"I want to elevate the status of the librarian in society so that it takes its proper place as a recognised profession in information science, both within the wider information industry as well as within popular culture. We need our Librarian Idols."
And I tried to pursue this through my writing, getting fired up on issues of social inequality and information literacy, trying to highlight the value that public libraries strive to bring to every single person, regardless of education, or race, or social status, and help bridge those divides in society by building information literate communities. Basically - it's important to be active in the community, and make people see the vital work that librarians do in trying to improve everybody's quality of living.
But, you know what? I don't think that blogging about it achieves anything. I'm not contributing anything new to the blogosphere. There are far more eloquent and widely-published experts who blog on these subjects, and I'm overly self-aware that my perspective as a public librarian is a lot less "academic" than other librarians who work in highly specialised sectors.
The other thing that I'm also aware of is that every librarian out there knows the shortcomings of the industry. Blogging about it doesn't help - it just cultivates an atmosphere of frustration and hopelessness.
So...
Librarian Idol 2008
Things you won't read anymore:
- Reiteration of what somebody else has already blogged about.
- Negative posts about why the industry/country/world is screwed.
- Pontification on things that I'm no expert on.
- Judgemental attitudes
- Sarcasm
Because I don't have time for these things, and I suspect that nobody else does either.
What you can expect:
- Stories. Lots of stories.
- Things that make being a librarian the best profession in the world.
- Plenty of whimsy.
- Impulsive bursts of creativity.
Because that's what I do best. I can either bang my head against a brick wall trying to achieve the improbable, or I can focus my efforts on celebrating the positive aspects, and build from there. Besides, it's more fun that way.
post scriptum: I'm not 100% sure that this is the right course of action, and there's a little voice in my head that's screaming at me for being a cop-out, but I haven't really been getting anywhere with my previous frame of mind, and need a new strategy.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Why Web 2.0 is dangerous...
Web usability expert Jakob Neilson recently posted about why Web 2.0 is dangerous.
From a practical point of view, I quite agree with a lot of what he says. I mean, when you design a library website, you're not trying to create the next facebook. It's hard enough just to get users to use public library OPACs and online databases, let along start generating user-created content!
That said, usability is *always* going to be an issue, as long as technology changes. I often end up helping 30-something year old adults, who have little to no computer literacy skills, just read their email.
Which is where libraries step in.
My understanding of Neilson is that he'd have sites connect information with users by having the web content as simple as possible.
However, what I'd like to see is for libraries to be connecting users with information through creating users that have the skills to engage with Web 2.0 technology. Instead of saying "it's too complicated, make it simpler" we should be saying "our users have new things to learn, and we're going to find ways to help them learn so that they can get more out of our services."
After all, libraries are about challenging people to regularly learn something new, so that their lives can be enriched. And you're never too old - that's why it's called lifelong learning.
Because, like Web 2.0 - ignorance can be dangerous. You'll suddenly find yourself trapped in the stone age of technology. And at libraries, we want to help prevent that from happening to our users.
Post scriptum: Yes, I know I've deviated from Jakob Nielson's main point, which is basically "Don't believe the hype, because the costs may be greater than the return". But it just got me thinking about whether the same applies to libraries.
From a practical point of view, I quite agree with a lot of what he says. I mean, when you design a library website, you're not trying to create the next facebook. It's hard enough just to get users to use public library OPACs and online databases, let along start generating user-created content!
That said, usability is *always* going to be an issue, as long as technology changes. I often end up helping 30-something year old adults, who have little to no computer literacy skills, just read their email.
Which is where libraries step in.
My understanding of Neilson is that he'd have sites connect information with users by having the web content as simple as possible.
However, what I'd like to see is for libraries to be connecting users with information through creating users that have the skills to engage with Web 2.0 technology. Instead of saying "it's too complicated, make it simpler" we should be saying "our users have new things to learn, and we're going to find ways to help them learn so that they can get more out of our services."
After all, libraries are about challenging people to regularly learn something new, so that their lives can be enriched. And you're never too old - that's why it's called lifelong learning.
Because, like Web 2.0 - ignorance can be dangerous. You'll suddenly find yourself trapped in the stone age of technology. And at libraries, we want to help prevent that from happening to our users.
Post scriptum: Yes, I know I've deviated from Jakob Nielson's main point, which is basically "Don't believe the hype, because the costs may be greater than the return". But it just got me thinking about whether the same applies to libraries.
Can't sleep, Clowns will eat me...
I do actually have a mild fear of clowns, but it's the 27 degree nights that are interfering with my sleep patterns.
Instead, I'm going to follow the trends of Kathryn, CW, Walt and Stephen, and recount my year in sentences by listing the first sentence of each month.
However, I'm going to do slightly different - I'm going to recount the last 15 months, starting from when I started my first professional position as a librarian. Could be interesting considering how much of a formative year it's been for me... (note: the earlier entries here are from another private blog, and, as such, might be slightly edited.)
September 2006: I'm in Darwin now - the library is awesome and I have my own office.
October 2006: My MacBook is now fixed... this makes me very happy.
November 2006: A quote that I liked in an article about why students are more inclined to use Google and federated search tools, rather than use more specialised academic databases: "Only librarians like to search; everybody else likes to find."
December 2006: I've been in Sydney for the New Librarians Symposium, which was very good for many reasons, and I'm feeling inspired. [p.s. come to NLS4!]
January 2007: Being the first time spending New Year's Eve away from friends, I didn't really want to sit at home all evening, so I went and volunteered some work over at the bar at Brown's Mart for a gig that was playing there, which was kinda fun in its own way.
Febuary 2007: I'm down in Melbourne to do a show, so If you want to catch up and have coffee or drinks somewhere, feel free to get in touch with me before the 11th.
March 2007: [My first post was an image - topical, for those of you you remember it]
April 2007: I know this is totally lame, but guess who has just gotten past the first round of Australian Idol? [yes, it was me.]
May 2007: And so the biblioblogging begins... I'm very much aware of not wanting to blog for the sake of blogging, which is why I haven't done this sooner, but now that I've started, here's what I'm trying to achieve: I want to elevate the status of the librarian in society so that it takes its proper place as a recognised profession in information science, both within the wider information industry as well as within popular culture. We need our Librarian Idols.
June 2007: Systems are down at work, and most of what I was planning to do today involves an internet connection.
July 2007: There was a recent report on the ABC about libraries in remote areas. [Interesting to re-read this post, given the changes that have come into place since then, with the Federal Government intervention.]
August 2007: In my recent blogging, I have rarely distinguished between my personal voice and my professional voice - mostly because there is rarely little difference. [Still working on that one, but the lurking troll seems to have found other fish to... um... flame.]
September 2007: Children's Author (and Librarian) Madeleine L'Engle has passed away.
October 2007: A few weeks ago, the Victorian Public Libraries Learning 2.0 project was launched. Learning 2.0 creator, Helene Blowers filed it under truly amazing that over 1000 participants had "jumped on board", and whilst I remain quietly optimistic that this program certainly opens people's eyes about the fantastic tools that are available online, I was also interested to see what the take-up would be like, several weeks down the track, and whether it would actually change the way that public libraries provide their services. [nb: whilst I was quick to judge at the time, as I'd assumed that three weeks was enough to get off the mark and well into the program, the team over at Boroondara have done an amazing job since then in getting, at this stage, 26 out of their 45 participants to complete the 23 Things program!]
November 2007: [On "The Librarians"] Well, we've all been talking about it. I posted my thoughts on a mailing list this morning. Basically, I liked it. I think, however, it's far too early to pass any real judgement on it. [I only ended up watching two episodes... but despite a lot of criticism from colleagues, it seemed to get rave reviews in the papers/magazines - at least the ones I saw.]
December 2007: It's a little frustrating to see all the same old arguments re-emerging about Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, now that the films are coming out. Please, no spoilers! I've already been tainted by Mike's review on Read Alert.
----
2008 onward:
So... thus went my first 15 months as a librarian. The next 12 months are already promising to be very interesting, with Librarian Idol to hit the Adelaide Fringe Festival in about ten weeks, and a new show that I'm writing called Evil (Library) Scientist, that I'm hoping to bring to the Darwin and Melbourne Fringe Festivals later in the year. I'm also on the organising committee for the 4th ALIA New Librarians Symposium in Melbourne next December. Right in the middle of all that, in September, I'll be reaching the scary-age-that-dares-not-speak-its-name. And then there's that whole career thing that I'm trying to look after at the same time. I seem to be doing okay with that, so I'm not hugely concerned with steering it in a particular direction, although some more specific direction would be good.
Suitably fatigued now... I fear no clowns.
Instead, I'm going to follow the trends of Kathryn, CW, Walt and Stephen, and recount my year in sentences by listing the first sentence of each month.
However, I'm going to do slightly different - I'm going to recount the last 15 months, starting from when I started my first professional position as a librarian. Could be interesting considering how much of a formative year it's been for me... (note: the earlier entries here are from another private blog, and, as such, might be slightly edited.)
September 2006: I'm in Darwin now - the library is awesome and I have my own office.
October 2006: My MacBook is now fixed... this makes me very happy.
November 2006: A quote that I liked in an article about why students are more inclined to use Google and federated search tools, rather than use more specialised academic databases: "Only librarians like to search; everybody else likes to find."
December 2006: I've been in Sydney for the New Librarians Symposium, which was very good for many reasons, and I'm feeling inspired. [p.s. come to NLS4!]
January 2007: Being the first time spending New Year's Eve away from friends, I didn't really want to sit at home all evening, so I went and volunteered some work over at the bar at Brown's Mart for a gig that was playing there, which was kinda fun in its own way.
Febuary 2007: I'm down in Melbourne to do a show, so If you want to catch up and have coffee or drinks somewhere, feel free to get in touch with me before the 11th.
March 2007: [My first post was an image - topical, for those of you you remember it]
April 2007: I know this is totally lame, but guess who has just gotten past the first round of Australian Idol? [yes, it was me.]
May 2007: And so the biblioblogging begins... I'm very much aware of not wanting to blog for the sake of blogging, which is why I haven't done this sooner, but now that I've started, here's what I'm trying to achieve: I want to elevate the status of the librarian in society so that it takes its proper place as a recognised profession in information science, both within the wider information industry as well as within popular culture. We need our Librarian Idols.
June 2007: Systems are down at work, and most of what I was planning to do today involves an internet connection.
July 2007: There was a recent report on the ABC about libraries in remote areas. [Interesting to re-read this post, given the changes that have come into place since then, with the Federal Government intervention.]
August 2007: In my recent blogging, I have rarely distinguished between my personal voice and my professional voice - mostly because there is rarely little difference. [Still working on that one, but the lurking troll seems to have found other fish to... um... flame.]
September 2007: Children's Author (and Librarian) Madeleine L'Engle has passed away.
October 2007: A few weeks ago, the Victorian Public Libraries Learning 2.0 project was launched. Learning 2.0 creator, Helene Blowers filed it under truly amazing that over 1000 participants had "jumped on board", and whilst I remain quietly optimistic that this program certainly opens people's eyes about the fantastic tools that are available online, I was also interested to see what the take-up would be like, several weeks down the track, and whether it would actually change the way that public libraries provide their services. [nb: whilst I was quick to judge at the time, as I'd assumed that three weeks was enough to get off the mark and well into the program, the team over at Boroondara have done an amazing job since then in getting, at this stage, 26 out of their 45 participants to complete the 23 Things program!]
November 2007: [On "The Librarians"] Well, we've all been talking about it. I posted my thoughts on a mailing list this morning. Basically, I liked it. I think, however, it's far too early to pass any real judgement on it. [I only ended up watching two episodes... but despite a lot of criticism from colleagues, it seemed to get rave reviews in the papers/magazines - at least the ones I saw.]
December 2007: It's a little frustrating to see all the same old arguments re-emerging about Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, now that the films are coming out. Please, no spoilers! I've already been tainted by Mike's review on Read Alert.
----
2008 onward:
So... thus went my first 15 months as a librarian. The next 12 months are already promising to be very interesting, with Librarian Idol to hit the Adelaide Fringe Festival in about ten weeks, and a new show that I'm writing called Evil (Library) Scientist, that I'm hoping to bring to the Darwin and Melbourne Fringe Festivals later in the year. I'm also on the organising committee for the 4th ALIA New Librarians Symposium in Melbourne next December. Right in the middle of all that, in September, I'll be reaching the scary-age-that-dares-not-speak-its-name. And then there's that whole career thing that I'm trying to look after at the same time. I seem to be doing okay with that, so I'm not hugely concerned with steering it in a particular direction, although some more specific direction would be good.
Suitably fatigued now... I fear no clowns.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Alternatives to libraries...
A little while ago, I volunteered my services to co-manage the Alternative jobs for librarians blog. However, with a lot of the hustle and bustle of everyday life, I have neglected to contribute.
Until now. A number of recent events have gotten me thinking about the alternatives to working in a library, given the skills set that I currently hold.
- A talk by Keith Webster recently made mention of the fact that LIS graduates were being snapped-up by non-library workplaces, indicating that there must be some incentives to go there, rather than into the library workplace.
- I also have a growing number of acquaintances who are qualified librarians, and have moved away from the world of libraries. I chatted to one recently who stated that "Libraries are their own worst enemies. This, I agree with - but I'll leave that topic to another day.
So I've putpen to paperfinger to keyboard, and made a new start to the Alternative Jobs blog, and added a few current vacancies that some of you wouldn't-be librarians might be interested in.
I'll try to do my bit to post semi-weekly.
Until now. A number of recent events have gotten me thinking about the alternatives to working in a library, given the skills set that I currently hold.
- A talk by Keith Webster recently made mention of the fact that LIS graduates were being snapped-up by non-library workplaces, indicating that there must be some incentives to go there, rather than into the library workplace.
- I also have a growing number of acquaintances who are qualified librarians, and have moved away from the world of libraries. I chatted to one recently who stated that "Libraries are their own worst enemies. This, I agree with - but I'll leave that topic to another day.
So I've put
I'll try to do my bit to post semi-weekly.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Musings on copyright and parody.
Writing/performing musical parodies have always been a bit of a hobby of mine ever since high school. However, I was also aware that, at the time, there was always the issue of copyright infringement.
On one hand, a parody is absolutely clear that it is referring to another work. If I start a piece of music with the all-too-familiar introductory chords of "The Rose", sing "Some say love, it is..." and then digress to the Macquarie Dictionary definition, then I am clearly taking the mickey out of the song. It is my creative work as a response to another creative work.
However, at the same time, I'm using somebody else's work as a basis of mine. I am benefiting from somebody else's creativity. Furthermore, parody, more often than not, uses another person's work to create a meaning that is contradictory to it's original purpose. Basically, their work is twisted and used against them. Is that fair?
Well, as of early this year, amendments were made to copyright legislation for "fair dealings" of copyright work, if used for the purposes of satire and parody, but only provided that the usage is "fair".
My initial thought was "Yay! Now I can perform my alternative version of "All you need is love", without having to go through all the APRA paperwork seeking permission from Michael Jackson, and he won't send his lawyers to get me."
But I'm a little stumped on what makes a parody "fair"? One understanding of the term is that there isn't a substantial reproduction of the original work. So, I could perform a song, but alter some of the lyrics to make it somewhat ridiculous, and it would be clearly a fair parody.
However, one might argue that parody is more in the performance, rather than the material. I've seen a very funny parody of "You shook my all night long", where the words were exactly the same, but sung by a guy in a cowboy outfit, with an acoustic guitar, in a country music style. The entire context and meaning of the song has been changed, but the lyrical and musical work is still the same.
That said, how is that any different from, say, an R&B artist rehashing a Rock song in their own style? I'm pretty sure that Johnny Cash would have had to pay Trent Reznor royalties for his cover of "Hurt" (even if it was far superior to the original).
Similarly, if I substitute one word with another throughout the song - for example, instead of singing "All you need is love", I sing "All you need are drugs", but leave all the rest of the lyrics, I could be creating quite an amusing parody about the (hypothetical) influence of recreational drugs during the later years of the Beatles' music career.
Or I could be just replacing the word "love" with "drugs" and really not give much more thought to it.
I'm not quite sure where the line should be drawn. Giving the original artist the right to veto a parody of their work seems a bit wrong. I mean, everybody should be accountable to criticism, but some people (myself included) can also get very sensitive about criticism - especially in the form of ridicule.
Do any Australians out there have a better understanding of how the law works and, more importantly, how APRA understands the law to work in relation to parody?
(And yes, there is an element of parody in my show, which may or may not be covered by "fair dealing". One thing's for sure - I certainly ain't paying Michael Jackson royalties, just so I can sing "Librarian Girl".)
On one hand, a parody is absolutely clear that it is referring to another work. If I start a piece of music with the all-too-familiar introductory chords of "The Rose", sing "Some say love, it is..." and then digress to the Macquarie Dictionary definition, then I am clearly taking the mickey out of the song. It is my creative work as a response to another creative work.
However, at the same time, I'm using somebody else's work as a basis of mine. I am benefiting from somebody else's creativity. Furthermore, parody, more often than not, uses another person's work to create a meaning that is contradictory to it's original purpose. Basically, their work is twisted and used against them. Is that fair?
Well, as of early this year, amendments were made to copyright legislation for "fair dealings" of copyright work, if used for the purposes of satire and parody, but only provided that the usage is "fair".
My initial thought was "Yay! Now I can perform my alternative version of "All you need is love", without having to go through all the APRA paperwork seeking permission from Michael Jackson, and he won't send his lawyers to get me."
But I'm a little stumped on what makes a parody "fair"? One understanding of the term is that there isn't a substantial reproduction of the original work. So, I could perform a song, but alter some of the lyrics to make it somewhat ridiculous, and it would be clearly a fair parody.
However, one might argue that parody is more in the performance, rather than the material. I've seen a very funny parody of "You shook my all night long", where the words were exactly the same, but sung by a guy in a cowboy outfit, with an acoustic guitar, in a country music style. The entire context and meaning of the song has been changed, but the lyrical and musical work is still the same.
That said, how is that any different from, say, an R&B artist rehashing a Rock song in their own style? I'm pretty sure that Johnny Cash would have had to pay Trent Reznor royalties for his cover of "Hurt" (even if it was far superior to the original).
Similarly, if I substitute one word with another throughout the song - for example, instead of singing "All you need is love", I sing "All you need are drugs", but leave all the rest of the lyrics, I could be creating quite an amusing parody about the (hypothetical) influence of recreational drugs during the later years of the Beatles' music career.
Or I could be just replacing the word "love" with "drugs" and really not give much more thought to it.
I'm not quite sure where the line should be drawn. Giving the original artist the right to veto a parody of their work seems a bit wrong. I mean, everybody should be accountable to criticism, but some people (myself included) can also get very sensitive about criticism - especially in the form of ridicule.
Do any Australians out there have a better understanding of how the law works and, more importantly, how APRA understands the law to work in relation to parody?
(And yes, there is an element of parody in my show, which may or may not be covered by "fair dealing". One thing's for sure - I certainly ain't paying Michael Jackson royalties, just so I can sing "Librarian Girl".)
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Warnings...
Thanks to Michael Stephens for posting this. I know of a number of readers who can relate to this...
Of course, whilst there's an element of truth to this, I think there's an even bigger issue.
I think that there is a far greater risk associated with failing to innovate services. Worse than losing staff and users - by maintaining the same staff and users in a rigid unchanging library environment, you're reinforcing a staff and user base that is complacent with not being progressive, but just providing the same service year-in, year-out.
At least when you lose staff, the opportunity is provided to attract new staff that can try to inject new ideas into the organisation. At least if you lose users, then you're faced with changing stats that might spur on a new direction in an attempt to attract new users.
To use an overused analogy, sometimes you need to completely crash and burn before the phoenix can rise from the ashes.
Of course, whilst there's an element of truth to this, I think there's an even bigger issue.
I think that there is a far greater risk associated with failing to innovate services. Worse than losing staff and users - by maintaining the same staff and users in a rigid unchanging library environment, you're reinforcing a staff and user base that is complacent with not being progressive, but just providing the same service year-in, year-out.
At least when you lose staff, the opportunity is provided to attract new staff that can try to inject new ideas into the organisation. At least if you lose users, then you're faced with changing stats that might spur on a new direction in an attempt to attract new users.
To use an overused analogy, sometimes you need to completely crash and burn before the phoenix can rise from the ashes.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Approaching the Fringe...
The following news was posted on the Adelaide Fringe Festival page.
Scary! I've been reworking a lot of the show lately, and am planning a few performances in Darwin in Jan/Feb next year in the lead-up to Adelaide.
Other than the excitement of doing a solo show in the Festival, I'm also extremely excited to have just registered for a half-day seminar with Dr Michael Stephens, which happens to be on one of my days off.
With that, plus WOMADelaide and Writer's Week at the Adelaide Festival, it's looking like this March in Adelaide is going to be absolutely fantastic. Bring it on!!
Adelaide Fringe 2008 The Biggest Ever!
10/12/2007
“Adelaide Fringe is extremely excited and proud to have the largest Adelaide Fringe ever in 2008! This record breaking number of artist registrations confirms that Adelaide Fringe is the essential destination for performers and we can’t wait for February!” – Christie Anthoney, Fringe Director
Comedy registered the most shows with 120, followed by visual arts with 112, theatre with 105 and music close behind with 104 shows.
There are also around 55 cabaret shows, 24 events, 18 dance shows, 6 film/ video entries and 8 events taking place in Port Augusta.
Scary! I've been reworking a lot of the show lately, and am planning a few performances in Darwin in Jan/Feb next year in the lead-up to Adelaide.
Other than the excitement of doing a solo show in the Festival, I'm also extremely excited to have just registered for a half-day seminar with Dr Michael Stephens, which happens to be on one of my days off.
With that, plus WOMADelaide and Writer's Week at the Adelaide Festival, it's looking like this March in Adelaide is going to be absolutely fantastic. Bring it on!!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Librarians can be fashionable...
I was amused, the other day, when this ad came to my attention...
It's for store staff at a women's boutique fashion store in the Sydney CBD... the name? Library Fashions.
They describe their store as having a "strong feel for heritage, blended with the modern.... Sounds like a library to me.
(I wonder if they have anything in guybrarian.)
It's for store staff at a women's boutique fashion store in the Sydney CBD... the name? Library Fashions.
They describe their store as having a "strong feel for heritage, blended with the modern.... Sounds like a library to me.
(I wonder if they have anything in guybrarian.)
Living, Learning, Leisure...
...is the "motto" of Darwin City Libraries.
I've been the manager of Karama Library for a couple of months, now. It's an interesting library because it's located within a bustling shopping centre, but yet its usage is the lowest of the branches in the library service.
So, the challenge has been set to increase its usage.
Since I've moved in, I've focused mostly on the collections. The team workshopped some new ideas for adjusting the shelving so that it engaged people more as they entered the library, and we spent a few good mornings pulling shelves apart and rearranging the shelving. If nothing else, it was an excellent team-building exercise, especially for me as the new team member.
I've also spent a lot of time developing the collections. It's now in a far healthier state, after a thorough "weight-loss" program. :)
Now the big task is to get more people into the library. That means programs and events. At the moment, we have the usual Storytimes, a School Holiday program, a monthly youth evening, and computer adult learning program. We need to offer so much more than this. So, I've used Google's idea, and set up a whiteboard, on which I'm encouraging my entire team to contribute to. I've told the team that no idea is too big, and it doesn't necessarily have to be "literary" - our motto is "Living Learning Leisure".
So far, we have on the board:
- Xmas card-making and gift-wrapping sessions
- A visit from Lance Whitnall, who is currently in Darwin
- Self defence for women / Tai Chi classes
- Teen Storytime
- Austar on a big screen in the youth area
- Creative Writing workshops
- Movie/Cartoon afternoons/evenings
- Lunchtime Cooking demonstrations
- Gardening / Potplanting
- Board Games afternoons / evenings
- Police / Social Worker visits
- Makeup for girls (and boys, if they want it)
- Live acoustic music performances
- Men's / Women's health information presentations
- Anybody with a high profile who happens to be in town.
- For that matter, anybody from out of town who we can afford to fly in.
The list is growing, and they're all doable. I'm really very excited now. I think it's easy for a team to get bogged down by limitations that shouldn't be there. There is an unfortunate misconception that public libraries are (a)only for the educated and (b)only about books and computers, and it's something that we can easily dispel simply by thinking outside those boundaries in the way we plan events in the library.
Because public libraries should be for everybody, and they should be about "Living, Learning and Leisure", whether or not it involves books.
I've been the manager of Karama Library for a couple of months, now. It's an interesting library because it's located within a bustling shopping centre, but yet its usage is the lowest of the branches in the library service.
So, the challenge has been set to increase its usage.
Since I've moved in, I've focused mostly on the collections. The team workshopped some new ideas for adjusting the shelving so that it engaged people more as they entered the library, and we spent a few good mornings pulling shelves apart and rearranging the shelving. If nothing else, it was an excellent team-building exercise, especially for me as the new team member.
I've also spent a lot of time developing the collections. It's now in a far healthier state, after a thorough "weight-loss" program. :)
Now the big task is to get more people into the library. That means programs and events. At the moment, we have the usual Storytimes, a School Holiday program, a monthly youth evening, and computer adult learning program. We need to offer so much more than this. So, I've used Google's idea, and set up a whiteboard, on which I'm encouraging my entire team to contribute to. I've told the team that no idea is too big, and it doesn't necessarily have to be "literary" - our motto is "Living Learning Leisure".
So far, we have on the board:
- Xmas card-making and gift-wrapping sessions
- A visit from Lance Whitnall, who is currently in Darwin
- Self defence for women / Tai Chi classes
- Teen Storytime
- Austar on a big screen in the youth area
- Creative Writing workshops
- Movie/Cartoon afternoons/evenings
- Lunchtime Cooking demonstrations
- Gardening / Potplanting
- Board Games afternoons / evenings
- Police / Social Worker visits
- Makeup for girls (and boys, if they want it)
- Live acoustic music performances
- Men's / Women's health information presentations
- Anybody with a high profile who happens to be in town.
- For that matter, anybody from out of town who we can afford to fly in.
The list is growing, and they're all doable. I'm really very excited now. I think it's easy for a team to get bogged down by limitations that shouldn't be there. There is an unfortunate misconception that public libraries are (a)only for the educated and (b)only about books and computers, and it's something that we can easily dispel simply by thinking outside those boundaries in the way we plan events in the library.
Because public libraries should be for everybody, and they should be about "Living, Learning and Leisure", whether or not it involves books.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Further musings on the profession...
Today's OED Word of the Day was "profession" - a term that I touched upon in an earlier post here.
What particularly caught my interest, though, was the following section of the word's definition:
I think that it's fair to say that a profession is far more than a set of skills. And whilst this definition refers mostly to a religious usage, the same could be said about certain principles that are central to librarianship.
Principles, such as:
- Freedom of information
- Equal access to information
- Equal right to education and literacy
- Freedom from censorship
- The right to privacy
- Social justice in the community
Personally, these are things that I have been passionate about long before I became a librarian. Through my library studies, these were covered as central ethical issues to the profession. Now, as a librarian, these principles are an integral part of how I work.
These principles are my profession.
Whilst I appreciate much of what The Annoyed Librarian says, when he/she attacks the 2.0 Manifesto, I also think it's important to have more than just a set of skills that defines us as a profession - it's so important for us to have a set of principles and goals for us to profess and uphold. Perhaps librarian's equivalent to the Hippocratic Oath.
It would also remind us of why we became librarians, and what we hope to achieve in this world as librarians. To those who say it's "just a job", then maybe they need to think about what they really want to do with their life, and go out and do it!
What particularly caught my interest, though, was the following section of the word's definition:
I. Senses relating to the declaration of faith, principles, etc.
1. a. The declaration, promise, or vow made by a person entering a religious order; (hence) the action of entering such an order; the fact or occasion of being professed in a religious order.
b. Any solemn declaration, promise, or vow.
2. a. A particular order of monks, nuns, or other professed persons. Obs.
b. Christ's profession Obs. Christianity.
3. Particular character, nature, or condition. Also: a person's disposition. Obs. rare.
4. a. The declaration of belief in and obedience to religion, or of acceptance of and conformity to the faith and principles of any religious community; (hence) the faith or religion which a person professes.
b. A religious system, denomination, or body. Now rare except as merged with 4a.
5. The action or an act of declaring, affirming, or avowing an opinion, belief, custom, etc., or of laying open claim to a particular quality or feeling. In later use sometimes with suggestion of insincerity or falsity, or with implied contrast to practice or fact: cf. PROFESS v. 3a, PROFESSED adj. 2.
I think that it's fair to say that a profession is far more than a set of skills. And whilst this definition refers mostly to a religious usage, the same could be said about certain principles that are central to librarianship.
Principles, such as:
- Freedom of information
- Equal access to information
- Equal right to education and literacy
- Freedom from censorship
- The right to privacy
- Social justice in the community
Personally, these are things that I have been passionate about long before I became a librarian. Through my library studies, these were covered as central ethical issues to the profession. Now, as a librarian, these principles are an integral part of how I work.
These principles are my profession.
Whilst I appreciate much of what The Annoyed Librarian says, when he/she attacks the 2.0 Manifesto, I also think it's important to have more than just a set of skills that defines us as a profession - it's so important for us to have a set of principles and goals for us to profess and uphold. Perhaps librarian's equivalent to the Hippocratic Oath.
It would also remind us of why we became librarians, and what we hope to achieve in this world as librarians. To those who say it's "just a job", then maybe they need to think about what they really want to do with their life, and go out and do it!
Going troppo
T.S. Eliot was wrong.
November is the cruelest month.
Yes, I'll admit that I've had my share of emotional malfunctions through the years, but the last month for me has been a particularly nasty rollercoaster. However, I couldn't put my finger on why, exactly. I mean, I've had a handful of successful gigs, we voted John Howard out, I'm settling into my new job pretty well and achieving new things, and I've just finished a very successful run acting in a theatre production in town. Things should be looking up.
However, one thing that I've been trying to ignore is the weather. It's been 34 degrees during the day, 29 degrees overnight, pretty much consistently. That plus 90% humidity in the mornings.
The build-up.
Also known locally as the suicide season.
It didn't really occur to me that something might be wrong until I found myself bursting into tears one evening for no apparent reason, whilst driving home. The next day, I overheard some other people in the theatre chatting about people "going troppo" at the moment, ie. relationships randomly breaking up, people withdrawing and becoming antisocial, picking fights with friends, etc. Apparently it's a widespread phenomenon in the Top End during this time of the year. I'm sure there's a SAD-related psychology study worth pursuing up here.
And thinking back to November last year, I was in a pretty similar state. At the time, I'd attributed it to loneliness, isolation, pressure of a new profession, and still adjusting to the social climate up here. But who knows... maybe the weather's really to blame.
But anyway, I'm going to stop making excuses. The point of this post was just to say to you, dear readers, is that I'm now well aware that I've being particularly cynical and snarky, but I'm going to make a concerted effort to at least maintain a bit more levity in my blogging.
November is the cruelest month.
Yes, I'll admit that I've had my share of emotional malfunctions through the years, but the last month for me has been a particularly nasty rollercoaster. However, I couldn't put my finger on why, exactly. I mean, I've had a handful of successful gigs, we voted John Howard out, I'm settling into my new job pretty well and achieving new things, and I've just finished a very successful run acting in a theatre production in town. Things should be looking up.
However, one thing that I've been trying to ignore is the weather. It's been 34 degrees during the day, 29 degrees overnight, pretty much consistently. That plus 90% humidity in the mornings.
The build-up.
Also known locally as the suicide season.
It didn't really occur to me that something might be wrong until I found myself bursting into tears one evening for no apparent reason, whilst driving home. The next day, I overheard some other people in the theatre chatting about people "going troppo" at the moment, ie. relationships randomly breaking up, people withdrawing and becoming antisocial, picking fights with friends, etc. Apparently it's a widespread phenomenon in the Top End during this time of the year. I'm sure there's a SAD-related psychology study worth pursuing up here.
And thinking back to November last year, I was in a pretty similar state. At the time, I'd attributed it to loneliness, isolation, pressure of a new profession, and still adjusting to the social climate up here. But who knows... maybe the weather's really to blame.
But anyway, I'm going to stop making excuses. The point of this post was just to say to you, dear readers, is that I'm now well aware that I've being particularly cynical and snarky, but I'm going to make a concerted effort to at least maintain a bit more levity in my blogging.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Haven't we been through this already?
It's a little frustrating to see all the same old arguments re-emerging about Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, now that the films are coming out.
In the latest news, Catholic schools are being encouraged to pull the books from their school libraries' shelves. Interestingly enough, they haven't "banned" it as such, but instead have required parental permission for students to read them.
I'm not even going to bother addressing the ridiculous claim that the books "promote atheism".
I wonder if, at the same time, these schools will be pulling their copies of Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience" and "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell", or Milton's "Paradise Lost", given that their themes are central to "His Dark Materials".
I also wonder if it's occurred to the church that, by taking such actions of censorship, they're only further reenforcing the criticisms that Pullman takes against the church in his books.
In the latest news, Catholic schools are being encouraged to pull the books from their school libraries' shelves. Interestingly enough, they haven't "banned" it as such, but instead have required parental permission for students to read them.
I'm not even going to bother addressing the ridiculous claim that the books "promote atheism".
I wonder if, at the same time, these schools will be pulling their copies of Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience" and "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell", or Milton's "Paradise Lost", given that their themes are central to "His Dark Materials".
I also wonder if it's occurred to the church that, by taking such actions of censorship, they're only further reenforcing the criticisms that Pullman takes against the church in his books.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)