Learning all the time

Things I find cool, interesting and awesome

[sesamestreet]

[susanelkins]

cookie monster always brings a smile to my face

[susanelkins]

Elephants often make me think of my mom. We had a carved elephant statue on the fireplace hearth.  Like the momma elephant she always looks out for us and loves us.

[susanelkins]

I am a librarian

When I tell people I am a librarian, I always wonder that they think I do.  I often follow this up with the disclaimer I don't check out the books or read stories to children.  This is the ideal most people I have meet have about librarians, even when they know I work at the university. 

[sesamestreet]

When 900 years old you reach, look as cute you will not. 

Watch it now: http://bit.ly/1pX2usj

[susanelkins]

Must practice self control when there are cookies in the break room

[butyoudontlooklikealibrarian]

For my academic tumblarians, in case you’re in the mood for your incoming freshmen to make you feel old.

[susanelkins]

Yes I feel old again this year.

[osyal]

WORKING THE REFERENCE DESK AT AN ACADEMIC LIBRARY DURING THE SUMMER

(x)

[susanelkins]

Or on a Saturday afternoon.

[susanelkins]

We've all heard them. Probably more than once or twice. These are the reactions and responses librarians receive when they introduce themselves to those wh

After I tell people I am a librarian I add that I don't check out the books or hold story time.  I do get some strange looks, but I hope it makes them think about what else could go on in a library.

[susanelkins]

Note to self

Never read a definition in the Urban dictionary again

[sesamestreet]

Thankfully, Cookie Monster did not eat the U.S. Open trophy.

[susanelkins]

I love Cookie Monster

[susanelkins]

5 Unforgettable Love Letters to Libraries

Authors have long professed their love for libraries, and in celebration of National Library Week, we've collected five of our favorite quotes, from Jane Austen to Albert Einstein.

Love letters to the Library

[susanelkins]

It's not just that a library provides access to books, but that it also offers access to brilliant individuals who provide research assistance, guidance, book recommendations, and tools to help people empower themselves when it comes to researching and locating information.

S.E. Smith "What the 'death of the library' means for the future of books" http://bit.ly/1BuTd46

[susanelkins]

While consumers might be ready for e-book subscriptions, it seems book publishers are not. Until then, a Kindle, an Amazon Prime subscription and a library card are still the best deal for consumers.

Molly Wood "Aiming to Be the Netflix of Books" http://nyti.ms/V1kha6

[susanelkins]

Random Hoildays

One way to tell you are on the social media committee in a library is that you know about random holidays. For example July is Cell Phone Courtesy Month and July 15th is Cow Appreciation Day

[susanelkins]

Preserving 120 years of U.S. cultural history

When the Library of Congress comes to mind, most of us don't think of movies, TV shows or old-school vinyl.

Preservation is in the news. The job of preserving things over time is never done. 

[susanelkins]

Vendors

I have begun to get email from vendors about stopping by a booth or meeting for lunch.  This can get tiresome when you are going to a conference and you are trying to plan other things. I am not register and I am not going to ALA this summer, these email are just strange.

[butyoudontlooklikealibrarian]

This LEGO dude is my new spirit animal (as is the librarian who made him).

[susanelkins]

This is awesome.

[susanelkins]

A World Digital Library Is Coming True! by Robert Darnton

In the scramble to gain market share in cyberspace, something is getting lost: the public interest. Libraries and laboratories—crucial nodes of the World Wide Web—are buckling under economic pressure, and the information they diffuse is being diverted away from the public sphere, where it can do most good. Not that information comes free or “wants to be free,” as Internet enthusiasts proclaimed twenty years ago. It comes filtered through expensive technologies and financed by powerful corporations.

Cost of academic journals is out of control.  I don't know if open access is going to be the answer, but changes must be made.