Miscellaneous

Council of Historians

That recent Atlantic article suggesting that the President needs a council of historians to consult.

Word.

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“Why the President Needs a Council of Historians” (Graham Allison and Niall Ferguson)

While I’d never thought of it before, I certainly agree. As a food historian and a former grad student in history (ugh, don’t ask and I won’t tell), and former high school history teacher, I can tell you that people don’t know anything. It’s really rare that people really know history, even the party line. Honestly, if you want to change your entire life, your whole entire self, pick up a history book. It’s been made painfully obvious, most of our government officials don’t know their history and if they do, it’s probably what you learn in high schools or basic college history courses. It is necessary. I hope the idea of such a council is given some serious consideration.

Click the image to read that article if you haven’t already.

#LibraryLife

#LibraryLife. I really love this hashtag when I see it appear in my Twitter timeline. I am living the library life right now. Why? Because I work at a reference desk in a research library answering questions, checking out books, shelving, etc. It’s been a good experience so far and a good re-introduction to service desk work that I did long ago at Northwestern University. The pace of academic libraries doesn’t seem to have changed very much. I’ve noticed though that while people seem to know a little more about how to find things, they only know how to do it through the Internet and more specifically Google. Basically, if Google Scholar doesn’t show results that they need, it’s a wrap, generally speaking. @Mac_Attack29 said it best with this picture: BwArSebCMAE0N_-

I like to hear the stories librarians share and the insights gained from work and from studies, reading, and writing about libraries and archives, which I do by following some really interesting people on Twitter. I don’t think it’s a secret that you can stay up on trends and news in the LIS world (and anywhere else for that matter, see the #Ferguson and #FergusonSyllabus for examples of how amazing Twitter is at chronicling and sharing thought provoking perspectives on current events.) But the daily personal side of things, I just love. Having been a teacher I can tell you that there’s an element of mundanity and absurdity in every aspect of everyday when you work with the public and you’ve really got to be able to roll with it.  I get a taste of that by following the hashtag #LibraryLife. Case(s) in point:

 

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Often wryly funny: Screen Shot 2014-08-31 at 3.40.45 PM Screen Shot 2014-08-31 at 3.38.17 PM

Sometimes clearly not here for your foolishness: Screen Shot 2014-08-31 at 3.42.46 PM

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But in the end, always your (humble) (maybe?) public servants: Screen Shot 2014-08-31 at 3.38.40 PM

 

 

 

 

There are so many librarians doing so many different types of things. It’s really interesting to be able to learn about the options on Twitter and to be able to see a glimpse of all those personalities in the midst of daily grind. So even with the struggle of finding a full time librarian or archivist position right now, I’m excited to be part of that #librarylife inasmuch as I am at the moment. Now back to those cover letters and resume updates, and online applications that take and hour but really are just all of the information on the resume you just uploaded plus the name and address of your high school.  Ugh. Hey, there you, reading, you hiring?