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April
Welcome...
I have been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1987.
For 3 years, it ran in the Greeley Tribune. Since then, it has run in various subsidiaries of the Douglas County News Press. I still have most of my columns in digital format.
For many years, I only gave myself one rule: try to work the word "library" into every piece. My intent was to think in public about just what librarianship means at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st.
April 22, 2010 - library offers new ways to listen to music
As a teenager, I listened to music in one of three ways: on my transistor radio (portable), on the radio in my room (a dedicated device plugged into the wall), or on the stereo.
For the stereo, I bought a few albums, but like most teenagers mostly I bought, and listened to, 45s.
April 15, 2010 - the Taipei Public Library
This week's column is by my daughter, Madeleine LaRue, currently teaching English in Taipei City, Taiwan. She is the child of two librarians, and as you can see, this has left its mark.
*
The Taipei public library, by Madeleine LaRue
About a year and a half ago I read an essay by George Orwell called “Books vs. Cigarettes,” in which he defends of his habit of buying books by systematically proving that it is not, in fact, as expensive as other hobbies, such as smoking. I don’t smoke, and thank God, because I, like Orwell, already spend the majority of my paycheck on books. Since moving to Taiwan this has become problematic: all English-language books here are imported, and therefore astronomically expensive.
April 8, 2010 - zombies!
I have zombies on the brain. I am not alone.
What got my attention was "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies," by Seth Grahame-Smith. (This incorporates the full text of Jane Austen's novel with a whole lot of zombie issues.)
April 1, 2010 - long term thinking in short supply
Last week, I wrote about my new hero, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Fed. A quietly brilliant economics professor, Bernanke's research focused on the history of the Great Depression. Following a crash precipitated by wild speculation, Bernanke came to believe that the business people and government of the time (the 1930s) did almost everything wrong.
April 23, 2009 - do you fear change?
"Change is inevitable. Change for the better is a full-time job." Adlai E. Stevenson.
People keep telling me that "no one wants or likes change." That's not how I see it.
I used to do workshops that started like this: "I'm going to name some job factors, and I want you to tell me if you want MORE, LESS, DIFFERENT,
or if this factor is ABOUT RIGHT.
* Tools (computers, software, or any other device or technology)
* Hours
* Benefits
* Pay
* Supervisors
* Workload
and so on.
April 16, 2009 - Tim Miller tweets!
[The library employs a host of wonderful people, and it's fun to see what they're up to. This week, library employee Tim Miller talks about about living in Twitter Town. - Jamie LaRue]
I've only been a citizen of what some people call "Twitter Town" for about a week now, and I love it already. My web browser always has a Twitter tab up. On The Net, this electronic tossed salad of people,places, institutions, and bots goes by the domain name twitter.com. If you haven't joined this quickly growing community of "Tweeters"already, sign up now.
April 9, 2009 - imagine the post-Kindle public library building
I can think of two, maybe three times before when the technology of text has proven disruptive.
1. Gutenberg. The widespread, rapid and inexpensive printing of the Bible let people read it themselves, bypassing the middleman of the priest. Consequence: the Protestant Reformation.
2. Broadsides. The blogs of their day (the American Colonial period), broadsides provided cheap and subversive entertainment for the masses. They also fomented enough anti-Anglican rebellion to result in the Revolutionary War.
