Check out our wall!

We have had a lot of comments about the wall behind our circ desk and how fantastic it looks!

What sort of librarian are you?

 

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/03/opinion/peer-to-peer-review/authentic-librarianship-and-the-question-of-service-peer-to-peer-review/

Hyper-connected experts

Being a digital immigrant, I found this article both fascinating and thought provoking:

http://www.demodirt.com/index.php/generation-y/27-technology/498-you-cant-trust-hyper-connected-experts

The phenomenon of "crowd wisdom" is one which impacts on us here at MSIT as far as delivering information literacy programs.  Just because an item or opinion is on Facebook or YouTube or even as part of a blog, how do students determine the authority or validity of the piece?  More importantly, do they care?  How does this impact on their assignement work?

I'd love to hear from the younger generation on their opinions of this piece.

Banned Books

http://www.salon.com/2012/03/20/rochesters_ridiculous_banned_book_controversy/singleton/

 

ALA's information about banned or challenged books makes very interesting reading - you can find it here:

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged

 

Worth Considering.......

So this is not work or library-oriented, but I thought worth sharing with everyone.  It was sent to me by Raheema Deen (Admin Manager at Alex Hills):

A palliative nurse who has counselled the dying in their last days has revealed the most common regrets we have at the end of our lives.

Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. 

She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. 

"When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, "common themes surfaced again and again."
Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

"This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. 

Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it."

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence."

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

"Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result."

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

"Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying."

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again."

What's your greatest regret so far, and what will you set out to achieve or change before you die?

A Curious Copyright Thought

It's never going to happen, but I thought this author makes an interesting point about intellectual property

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/adrianhon/100007156/infinite-copyright-a-modest-proposal/

A library is many things

A library is many things. It's a place to go, to get in out of the rain. It's a place to go if you want to sit and think. But particularly it is a place where books live, and where you can get in touch with other people, and other thoughts, through books. If you want to find out about something, the information is in the reference books---the dictionaries, the encyclopedias, the atlases. If you like to be told a story, the library is the place to go. Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had. And when you are reading a book, you and the author are alone together---just the two of you. A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people---people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.

Taken from http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/05/library-is-many-things.html