“Oh, y’know I think this resource needs s’more descriptive metadata…”

Pornography has become part of mainstream culture. As such, it has become a subject of academic research, and this, in turn, has implications for university libraries. Focusing on adult Internet pornography, this study suggests that academic libraries should provide access to adult pornographic Web sites by including them in their online catalogs.

- Dilevko, Juris, and Lisa Gottlieb. 2004. “Selection and Cataloging of Adult Pornography Web Sites for Academic Libraries.” Journal of Academic Librarianship 30, no. 1: 36-50. (accessed May 22, 2009).

Break out your Bible

Andy over at Mirror/Stage just posted his search technique for identifying exactly how an expression is used. I usually consult the Oxford English Dictionary–I’m so stuffy! But I think I’ll adopt his method, because remote access to the OED database is rather slow.

The weakness of the OED is that it rarely contains American idioms, let alone entire English phrases. So, it’s not very useful for identifying stuff from the Bible, something that my speech happens to be littered with. I remember trying to locate the standard usage of “cast not pearls before swine” once, pre-library school, and had to stop due to frustration. The problem with the Bible is that there are many translations. Print resources, like a concordance, usually only index one translation. So imagine trying to look up the phrase “I withhold not my heart from any joy” when the Bible your concordance has examined translated it as “I allowed myself to have any pleasure I wanted”.

I found a neat website called Biblos that has parallel translations of the Bible. It is sort of awesome. Take a look at what it returns for “I withhold not my heart from any joy”. The site will amaze you with how poetic and beautiful (and off the mark and altered) translations of the Bible can be.

I really enjoy parallel texts. They were kinda my forte in school. I examined this collation of the 1818 and 1831 versions of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein through the lens of Pierre Macherey’s “The Spoken and the Unspoken” (from A Theory of Literary Production) for an important seminar paper. I also contrasted the A and B texts of Christopher Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus as the basis of my senior project. My cup overfloweth with nerd joy!

Mocha Sherbet (Obscene Cuisine, Recipe No. 13)

It seems that every time I discover some terrible, horrible, no good, very bad cataloging at my library, my poor coworker Vicki has to deal with it. I’m constantly printing out erroneous journal records, scribbling a quick note as to what’s wrong, and sending them off to torment her. They’re sort of like the evil planes the Joker sicks on Batman in Mask of the Phantasm.

Recently I deluged Vicki with a plethora of corrections for several huge sets of indexes and abstracts. Name changes, incorrect titles, multiple records for the same title, volumes split between multiple records, phantom storage records… The sheer combination of errors converging in one place boggles the mind! To thank her for putting up with my constant vigilance when it comes to serial cataloging, I let Vicki choose a recipe from Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop for me to make for her.

:: Mocha Sherbet ::

2 1/4 cups strongly brewed coffee or espresso
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole milk

1. Stir together the coffee, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt in a large saucepan. (Use a whisk if the coffee isn’t piping hot.)
2. Bring the mixture to a boil. Stir for thirty seconds.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the milk.
4. Chill thoroughly.
5. Freeze in your ice cream maker as per the manufacturer’s instructions.
6. When finished, the sherbet may be very soft. Put it in the freezer (in a size-appropriate, covered container to avoid freezer burn) to firm it up.

I made my coffee using a French press, using a bean that my friend Colton suggested. (Organic Shade Grown Mexico.) I wanted a more mainstream flavor – not too bold – to make sure Vicki not only liked it, but also to preclude the coffee flavor overpowering the cocoa. To make sure it wasn’t too watery I steeped the grounds for double the time. If you can’t French press your coffee, don’t bother with the filtered stuff. Head over to your favorite coffee shop and get some espresso to use in this recipe.

The Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream I made last time was so rich it was like a meal. This Mocha Sherbet is surprisingly light and refreshing, and undoubtedly easier and quicker to make! A true summer food. Next time I make this recipe I think I’ll use a more robust, flavorful bean. I’ll also add some cinnamon and cayenne pepper to see if I can get it to taste a bit like the Quiet Storm’s Mexican hot chocolate with a coffee twist.

I can’t wait to see if Vicki likes it!

:: Bibliography ::

• Lebovitz, David. The Perfect Scoop: Ice Creams, Sorbets, Granitas, and Sweet Accompaniments. Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2007. Page 120. ISBNs: 9781580088084, 1580088082.

ALA annual Anaheim arrival!

I’m enjoying myself!

Indiana Jones, Sex and the City, and Libraries?

In the new Indiana Jones movie, the titular hero tells his students to “get out of the library”. A humbug on you, Dr. Jones! I looked you up in Scopus and nobody cites your work. I cross-referenced the journals you’ve published in in Ulrich’s and none of them are peer reviewed… or indexed! I’ve pulled up their impact factors in Web of Science and their scores are the pits!

Sarah Jessica Parker’s library-related advice to Sex and the City/Carrie Bradshaw devotees? It’s quite a bit more practical. Find it in this video at 2:44:

Sage words, madame; I salute you. Special thanks to Siobhan and Jeff for the heads-up.

:: Bibliography ::

Ryzik, Melena. UrbanEye: Sex and the City. New York Times. http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=1a94f19eaf6d603d17278a602a1e53103ef45184 (31 May 2008).

Recycling, tooth and nail

I like to recycle; I like recycling to be easy. There’s no reason it shouldn’t be, correct? Mine is the richest nation in the world. So why is it like pulling teeth to make sure that the recyclables I discard are actually recycled? (The problem across the board seems to be that practitioners of the janitorial arts find it easier to pitch the recycling. I’ve had to deal with this in both the public and University waste-management systems.) When we have programs in place specifically designed to facilitate recycling, I shouldn’t have to be a watchdog or whistle-blower.

In December of 2007 I observed that one of our departmental libraries has (almost exclusively) recycle bins at their circulation desk. Because the vast majority of the waste circulation creates is paper-based, there was a need for only one general waste bin. Inspired, I did a bit of research and learned that the University at which I work and study invites staff to recycle (in theory, as we shall see): “if you know of a good spot which needs one [a recycling container], or if you need a container for your work area, let us know by contacting us at recycle@fm.pitt.edu or at 412-624-952.” Feeling young, smitten with the environment, and encouraged, I sent them this concise and cordial e-mail on 21 December 2007.

Hello!
My name is [X] and I work at the [X] Library. I was reading our recycling website and noticed that we can request recycling bins for our workstations.
May I request two small, paper-only recycling bins to be kept behind the circulation desk at the [X] Library?

Thank you,
[Signature and standard contact info]

They never responded. Now, after a bit of proselytizing, I have converted someone with clout to my mission. I shouldn’t have had to, but sometimes one’s objectives must be achieved through proxies.

Also, by laying these cards on the table I realize that I’m opening myself up to being more easily identified by keyword searching. I figured this would happen eventually. Ah well. =\

:: Bibliography ::

Facilities Management. Facilities Management Recycling at the University of Pittsburgh. University of Pittsburgh. Last updated 7 January 2008. Accessed 4 February 2008. <http://www.facmgmt.pitt.edu/recycle.htm>.

So I heard you’re a library sociopath

Today a professor comes into my library and asks for a binder of documents we keep behind the desk. My coworker – henceforth we shall call her “The Vindicator”, because her rule enforcing prowess is unmatched – obliges; moments later the prof books it out the front door. The security alarm goes off – thank you, tattletape! – and my coworker calls him back, asking if he has removed anything from the library. At this point I am slightly nonplussed, having been occupied with other matters. I see right away, however, that The Vindicator suspects him of a most heinous crime… lifting a copy of The Value Line Investment Survey!

Whatever sense of entitlement that permitted this man to steal the goddamn Value Line also compelled him to deliver an anti-library tirade. Enraged, his return to the circulation desk was marked by a vociferous, preemptive denunciation of the library, it’s staff, and it’s service. I wouldn’t say I was afraid of the man at that moment, but being verbally abused is not exactly how I enjoy spending my Monday mornings. The professor’s harangue was augmented by a series of circuitous justifications and crazed accusations. In summary: The library is intentionally wasting this faculty member’s time to undermine the teaching of his class.

Apparently, not allowing people to take the five finger discount is “a step back”. Come now. The library provides the materials he needs, the department provides the money to photocopy Value Line for his class, and the University provides TAs to do it for him. What insolence! What self righteousness!

After xeroxing it, the tenured professor further expressed his dissatisfaction to me specifically. I put on my poker face, looked him right in the eye, and replied with something between “Ah” and a non-committal grunt.

To my utter surprise and adulation, The Vindicator walked up to him and delivered the most crisp, canned, backhanded apology I have ever seen! It walked the perfect line between affront and verisimilitude. Remind me never to cross that brazen lass; she’s got one sharp tongue and is not afraid to use it… for Evil!