Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Monday, April 29, 2013
Archivists Bringing Past Into Future Are Now Less Cloistered - NYTimes.com
Archiving in the Digital Era: Want to see Einstein's family tea set? How about scripts from "The Carol Burnett Show"? Archivists are the specialists who protect and display these objects for posterity, now more online than ever. By ALISON LEIGH COWAN
Published: April 28, 2013
Their gatherings take place at locations as disparate as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan or the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Queens, but they always reflect their consummate knowledge of New York. And when the conversation turns to topics like chaos or history’s turning points, no one is in a hurry to go home.
In fact, there is often a waitlist to get in.
Meet New York City’s archivists. Read more...
Friday, April 26, 2013
How Becoming a Librarian Saved Me
When Publishers Weekly asked me to write a piece called How Becoming A Librarian Saved Me, I thought:
Saved from what? Saved for what?
Salvation means different things to different people. I use two definitions for myself. The first comes from my sexy, two volume Oxford English Dictionary:
- Preservation from destruction, ruin, loss, or calamity.
I’ve come to my second, personal, less official definition through my work at the library.
- The ability to tell my own story, articulately and honestly.
I was in the staff area when my manager called me. “We have a patron who has a question for you,” she said. “I think you’re probably the one to talk to him since you do the blogging.”
I’ve been in this situation before—someone asks about blogging or web traffic, I get the call whether I’m the right one to handle it or not, and a patron and I have a brief chat about how to get started blogging. Read more...
Thursday, April 25, 2013
The Brazen Bibliophiles of Timbuktu | New Republic
One afternoon in March, I walked through Timbuktu’s Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Studies and Islamic Research, stepping around shards of broken glass. Until last year, the modern concrete building with its Moorish-inspired screens and light-filled courtyard was a haven for scholars drawn by the city’s unparalleled collection of medieval manuscripts. Timbuktu was once the center of a vibrant trans-Saharan network, where traders swapped not only slaves, salt, gold, and silk, but also manuscripts—scientific, artistic, and religious masterworks written in striking calligraphy on crinkly linen-based paper. Passed down through generations of Timbuktu’s ancient families, they offer a tantalizing history of a moderate Islam, in which scholars argued for women’s rights and welcomed Christians and Jews. Ahmed Baba owned a number of Korans and prayer books decorated with intricate blue and gold-leaf geometric designs, but its collections also included secular works of astronomy, medicine, and poetry. Read more...
Financial Empowerment Day
11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Science, Industry and Business Library
188 Madison Avenue @ 34th Street
See our flyer for more details! (pdf)
FREE Financial Counseling
11:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Certified Financial Planners offer 30-minute private sessions Brought to you by the Financial Planning Association of New York
FREE Credit Crisis Counseling
11:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
30 minute private sessions brought to you bythe Financial Coaching Corp, Community Service Society of New York
Read more...
7 Can’t Miss Sites for the Digital Job Seeker
As we continue to move toward a more digital job search – where paper doesn’t matter, and your online presence and awareness could mean the difference between getting an interview and not – there are just some resources we can’t live without.Here are seven of them… each designed to help you rise above the competition and make the “digital you” more appealing to recruiters:
1. Google Alerts
With Google Alerts, you can set up a search specific to your name, industry, or the companies you’ve targeted in your job search. Each time new content is published regarding your search criteria, you’re notified via email – a great way to keep with current events, and impress the interviewers. Read more...
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
The Digital Public Library of America Has Arrived | The Scholarly Kitchen
The Digital Public Library of America has just launched and can be found at the annoyingly unconventional URL http://dp.la. That’s the only criticism I have to make of it, the funny domain name. Otherwise it’s an impressive performance. I have just begun to browse it and expect that I will come to use it regularly. It’s a bit like Wikipedia in that respect — always present in the background when you need it and welcome for precisely that reason.
There will be endless commentary about DPLA, so my remarks here are simply to call attention to the project and to encourage people to check it out. It’s a moving target — what it is today will be significantly different in 6 months. Heaven only knows what it will look like in 5 years.
I have been watching the project since it was first conceived and I subscribed to several of the mailing lists for the working groups. There has always been a gap, at least in my opinion, between some of the lofty — and incendiary — aspirations of the project and the actual nuts-and-bolts work to get it up and running. The “information wants to be free” crowd has embraced DPLA, and that’s unfortunate. (There are many subgroups within the world of free information advocates.) But the actual service that is available right now is very useful, if limited by the current scope of its collections. I say “current scope” as though I actually knew what that scope is. Unlike in a physical library, you just can’t tell by digging into the search tool just how large DPLA is. You will not see documents that you don’t specifically request, so what you do see is the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Over time the amount of ice below the surface is no doubt going to grow beyond human measure. read more....
There will be endless commentary about DPLA, so my remarks here are simply to call attention to the project and to encourage people to check it out. It’s a moving target — what it is today will be significantly different in 6 months. Heaven only knows what it will look like in 5 years.
I have been watching the project since it was first conceived and I subscribed to several of the mailing lists for the working groups. There has always been a gap, at least in my opinion, between some of the lofty — and incendiary — aspirations of the project and the actual nuts-and-bolts work to get it up and running. The “information wants to be free” crowd has embraced DPLA, and that’s unfortunate. (There are many subgroups within the world of free information advocates.) But the actual service that is available right now is very useful, if limited by the current scope of its collections. I say “current scope” as though I actually knew what that scope is. Unlike in a physical library, you just can’t tell by digging into the search tool just how large DPLA is. You will not see documents that you don’t specifically request, so what you do see is the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Over time the amount of ice below the surface is no doubt going to grow beyond human measure. read more....
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Being Laid Off? Know Your Rights As An Employee | CAREEREALISM
Being Laid Off? Know Your Rights As An Employee
By Andrew Deen
During the recent financial crisis, many companies ran into difficult times. Businesses struggled to stay afloat and employees were laid off. In the post-recession period, many companies are downsizing when their business does not meet set expectations. Today, employees are also familiar with the idea of pink slips, and they know that their individual performance and company’s financial health must be right to prevent any shocks.Being Laid Off? Know Your Rights
While layoffs have become quite common in all industries today, many employees do not know that the law safeguards their interests and welfare. Here are some laws and policies that every employee should be aware of when he/she is asked to leave: Read more...
Thursday, April 18, 2013
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