Field Trip!

~I've been slacking with this blog, and so many interesting things have happened in the past couple of weeks. Today I went on a field trip for one of my classes, "Resource Selection and Evaluation", in which I'm learning how to build and manage a collection of materials for a library.

Our first stop on the trip was Perkins Library at Duke University. After some navigational difficulties caused by Duke's maze-like layout (and construction detours), I arrived and listened to the collections staff talk about area studies, foreign vendors, foreign-language materials, and so forth. The collections manager for China and Japan told me about the Japan National Library, and how ruthless the Japanese are about enforcing copyright law and restricting downloads from databases.

The next stop on the trip was the D.H. Hill Library at N.C. State University. This time, the panel consisted of the science collections staff, who discussed their work and relationships between the collections staff and faculty. This can be tricky, since many faculty do not understand collections issues, especially relating to academic journals which they want but the library cannot afford (or must cut other journals to compensate). The key is to engage the faculty and make them a part of the collections process, which helps to both minimize irritation when cuts are made and build a stronger overall collection.

I am registered for a course in Science Information next semester, which will cover many of these topics in more depth, so this visit to D.H. Hill was a great introduction to the subject for me.

Our final stop of the day was the Library Administration building for Wake County, located in eastern Raleigh. I'd been to the administration complex once before, to pick up free Hurricanes tickets as a gift for volunteering at Wake County Libraries. Here, the class spoke with Betty Utley, the head of collections development for the entire county system. I enjoyed this visit the most, as I am interested in a career in public libraries.

I also learned a lot of things about the library system that I wasn't aware of. For example, Wake County libraries have a "free-floating collection", which means that books are shelved in the library that they are returned to. So if one was to borrow a book from, say, Cary Public Library, and return it at Eva Perry, the book would "live" at Eva Perry until returned somewhere else.

While this system necessitates the periodic reshuffling of books to other libraries, there are several advantages. Books will tend to accumulate in libraries where they are most used; for example, one library is finding itself with more and more large-print books, which may be caused by many seniors that live in the area (a study is underway to determine exactly why). Patrons are better served when the books they tend to read are closer to them. In addition, the county saves money on fuel expenses, because books do not need to be transported back to a designated library when they are returned somewhere else.

I also learned about services that the libraries provide that I wasn't aware of. For example, did you know that you can access electronic databases from home, using your library card number and PIN? Also, you can request an item that isn't in the Wake County collection by using the Inter-Library Loan system, which will locate the book in the U.S. and mail it to a Wake library for pickup at no cost to you!

The field trip was a great experience, and I really enjoyed talking with the presenters. I may look into a field experience program (and job) with the Wake County library system.

The Rings of Rhea; or, the mini-Lord-of-the-Rings

~The Cassini space probe operated by NASA is still orbiting Saturn, years after dropping the Huygens lander to the surface of Titan. Almost every day seems to bring new and exciting scientific findings about Saturn at the Cassini website. One of the more interesting recent discoveries has been the detection of rings around Rhea, Saturn's second-largest satellite (diameter: ~950 miles) after Titan. This is the first time that rings have been detected around what is not only a satellite, but a rocky object.

^ Artist's conception of Rhea, with the debris size exaggerated so you can see the ring.

The rings were detected during a flyby of Rhea by Cassini, which detected a sharp drop in the usual rain of electrons from Saturn as it passed the satellite in November 2005. Another, more recent flyby on the other side of Rhea showed the same result, proving that there is some kind of debris field orbiting the satellite. A similar method was used to detect the rings of Uranus in 1977.

Like the atmosphere of Enceladus and the ice fields of Iapetus, the rings of Rhea are merely the latest findings from Cassini. Who knows what else remains to be discovered about the Lord of the Rings and its ever-growing family of moons?

Library Science Arcade Games

~Games and simulations are great ways to learn. Over the years, I've learned a lot from playing games, from geography in Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, to Ancient Egyptian history in Pharaoh. Library Science is an interesting area where simulations could be of value. Here are two library arcade games I've found on the Internet, developed at Carnegie Mellon University.


The first game is titled "I'll Get It!", and is a reference librarian simulation. The second, "Within Range", teaches the Library of Congress classification system, which is used by most academic libraries*. Feel free to try them out, and see how well you'd work in a busy library!

To play the games, click here, then select which game you want to play.

(* - but not Duke University libraries, for some reason, which still use Dewey Decimal...)

David Does the Czech Republic

~I've registered myself for a two-week summer program called "Libraries and Librarianship in the Czech Republic". I'll be staying in the City Center Hotel in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and touring the libraries at Charles University (the oldest university in Central Europe). I'll also be traveling around the Czech countryside to look at other libraries--although I'm sure I'll find time to hit some tourist sites as well!

This program is offered every year by UNC, and is open to all students and professionals, not just library science students. While the exact schedule varies from year to year, here are some of the events that previous trips have included:


-Walking tour of the Old Town (Stare Mesto), Charles Bridge and Wenceslas Square

-Bus tour of historic Prague, including Mala Strana, Nove Mesto, Prague Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral and the Jewish Quarter

-Visit to the Klementinum (National Library)

-Visit to Kromeriz to see a castle library

-Tour of the Parliament Library

-Tour of Strahov Monastery and its libraries

I'll be receiving academic credit for the trip, so it's more of a learning experience than a tourism vacation. You can be sure that Debonair David will cover the trip in detail, along with plenty of pictures. If you want to "Czech Out" the details of this "Prague-ram", you can read all about it here.

The Joys of Nay-Cha

~Nothing special today, just some photographs I took recently while on a walk in the woods:

^ A closeup of some berries. Eating them would probably not be a good idea.

^ Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this picture? Anybody? Anybody at all?

^ Despite its sturdy appearance, this bridge remains closed to vehicular traffic. This in no way impedes me from walking across it. Once it is open, it will be much easier for me to go grocery shopping. Open it! Now!

^ A lazy creek in the woods. This area would be a real paradise for cats, wouldn't it?

^ The shattered remnants of a tree limb that fell over on a windy day. Assuming it isn't moved elsewhere, I wonder how long it would take for the termites and other insects to erase it completely?

^ Another closeup of a plant. Would anyone care to identify this one?

^ "Mister Moon, Mister Moon, You're out too soon, the sun is still in the sky..."

^ It was getting late, so I decided to head for home. This was the last picture I took on my walk.

Checking Out the Law

~Today I took a tour of the Katherine R. Everett Law Library at UNC, as part of the Special Libraries Association. Although I'm studying library science, I haven't yet selected an area to specialize in. The tour was part of my investigation of special libraries.

I'll say this about lawyers: they use a lot of books. Like other libraries, law libraries are shifting more and more into the realm of electronic databases. Unlike other libraries, which are merely robbed blind to use databases, law libraries are required to sacrifice several students a year to the dark god Elsevier. All kidding aside, I heard from the head law librarian that a single search in a law database can cost as much as $1000, which makes no sense to me, but that's how they work. Roll that around in your head the next time you type something into Google and hit "Enter".

How, you may be thinking, can law students possibly afford to use these databases? The answer is that the database companies are essentially drug dealers. They offer use of these databases to the university at a massive discount, ensuring that many of the law students will come to rely on being able to run case searches whenever and wherever they want to. Then, when the students graduate, take the bar exam, and become lawyers, they find themselves unable to function without the databases...forcing them to pay arm-and-a-leg prices. If they're hired by a large law firm, the firm *might* cover the costs, but otherwise...

This is why it's so important for law students to learn how to use the library. They need to be taught how to actually search through indexes and books to find what they need, so they aren't dependent on cocaine--I mean, on LexisNexis. And when they do use databases, they need to know how to run effective searches, so they don't need to repeat themselves and rack up massive charges. (Or, worse yet, misspell a word and have to run the search again, costing $1000. How embarrassing that would be.)

As for me, I glanced through a few of the law books, but was unable to comprehend the dense legal terminology and numerical designations in North Carolina case books. I don't think I'll go into law librarianship (I'd need a J.D. anyway), but other special libraries await me.

(Remember, Dan, you don't need LexisNexis. You just need a Lawgiver, and maybe a Lawmaster.)

Home Page

~I've set up a home page here, as part of a class assignment. It may not look like much, but I wrote the XHTML code for the pages myself, so it's something of an accomplishment for me. Further class assignments will have me improve and update the page, so more will be added to it in the future.

I've also added a link to my home page on the list to the right.