The Death of taxonomies?
11/29/09 09:12 Filed in: taxonomies
Theresa Regli has more on...
The Death of Taxonomies, revisited
Earlier this year I caused quite a stir when I predicted the death of taxonomies. Taxonomists worldwide told me I was an idiot, nuts, completely delusional. Some were deeply concerned that their jobs were threatened, as if employers would change org charts based on my prediction. Others secretly told me they agreed.
Of course, as so often happens in these dark days of 140-character tweets, my prediction was often taken out of context. I had predicted the death of traditional, monolithic, and single-hierarchy taxonomies, as well as the death of what I’d call the typical turn-of-the-21st-century taxonomy project (which I did dozens of times, as a former taxonomist), where librarians and/or linguists spend a few months in an organization determining how enterprise content should be categorized, so content technology could use it optimally. This project would usually be followed by an even longer period when people would admire the taxonomy, nod knowingly, saying “that’s exactly what we need!” - but not tag anything, despite the roadmap and project plan saying they should.
As 2010 fast approaches, I’ve never been more sure of my prediction. Metadata continues to be vital, but technology is constantly getting better at mining and organizing it. As an example, this week I visited three organizations in Paris using Sinequa (one of the vendors we evaluate in our Search & Information Access research) on their intranets. In an approach similar to Endeca’s, entity extraction and semantic analysis create multi-faceted categorizations by people, country, city, language, companies, and other topics. Most of the content was unstructured; no taxonomy or tagging projects were undertaken.
Read more....
The Death of Taxonomies, revisited
Earlier this year I caused quite a stir when I predicted the death of taxonomies. Taxonomists worldwide told me I was an idiot, nuts, completely delusional. Some were deeply concerned that their jobs were threatened, as if employers would change org charts based on my prediction. Others secretly told me they agreed.
Of course, as so often happens in these dark days of 140-character tweets, my prediction was often taken out of context. I had predicted the death of traditional, monolithic, and single-hierarchy taxonomies, as well as the death of what I’d call the typical turn-of-the-21st-century taxonomy project (which I did dozens of times, as a former taxonomist), where librarians and/or linguists spend a few months in an organization determining how enterprise content should be categorized, so content technology could use it optimally. This project would usually be followed by an even longer period when people would admire the taxonomy, nod knowingly, saying “that’s exactly what we need!” - but not tag anything, despite the roadmap and project plan saying they should.
As 2010 fast approaches, I’ve never been more sure of my prediction. Metadata continues to be vital, but technology is constantly getting better at mining and organizing it. As an example, this week I visited three organizations in Paris using Sinequa (one of the vendors we evaluate in our Search & Information Access research) on their intranets. In an approach similar to Endeca’s, entity extraction and semantic analysis create multi-faceted categorizations by people, country, city, language, companies, and other topics. Most of the content was unstructured; no taxonomy or tagging projects were undertaken.
Read more....
Rocky and Bullwinkle are 50 years old
11/28/09 09:10 Filed in: miscellany
(CNN) -- Fifty years ago, Jay Ward's animated moose and squirrel duo, "Rocky & Bullwinkle," debuted on ABC, forever changing the way the world looked at animated television.
His daughter, Tiffany Ward, continues her father's legacy as executive producer of the feature films "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, "Dudley Do-Right" and "George of the Jungle," and Cartoon Network's (sister channel to CNN) new "George of the Jungle" animated TV series.
"My dad was a true eccentric," Ward said. "His studio was a wonderland for me. It had a soda fountain, ice cream sundaes, a snow cone machine, a popcorn maker and candy bars everywhere."
More here... including attempts to gain statehood for Moosesylvania...
Check this out
11/26/09 09:09 Filed in: miscellany
t's on Amazon, and it is the listing for a laptop desk that attaches to the steering wheel of your car.
http://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Office-WM-01-Laptop-Steering/dp/B000IZGIA8/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
But then, check out the customer-supplied images below the listing's picture. Priceless! Direct link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/product-gallery/B000IZGIA8/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all
Speed reading
11/25/09 10:49 Filed in: reading
I'm not a
speed reader, although I am a very fast reader. I
have fond memories of sitting with my dad, playing
with a toy he had brought home. It was flat metal
plate with a sliding viewer in it, one that would
open and shut with a snap. He slipped lists of words
into it, and could adjust how long they displayed in
the viewer before it snapped shut. His playful toy
increased my reading speed, and as it increased, the
word lists grew into phrase lists, longer and longer,
all to be recognized in a fleeting view that he could
make shorter and shorter. It certainly worked!
I've never felt the need to take a speed reading course, but if you do, here's some hints from someone who has ramped up their reading rate in a different way.
In this article, I’m going to share the lessons I learned that doubled my reading rate, allowed me to consume over 70 books in a year and made me a smarter reader. I’m also going to destroy some speed-reading myths, to show you it isn’t magic but a skill anyone can learn.
My first introduction to the concept of speed reading was from a book, Breakthrough Rapid Reading. I’ve since moved away from a few of the concepts taught in the book, but the core ideas were transformative. In only a few weeks, my average reading speed went from roughly 450 words per minute, to over 900.
More than just words per minute, speed reading helped instill a new passion for reading. Because I gained more control over my reading abilities, my desire to read went up. That new motivation made me a voracious reader, in one two year period, I had read over 150 books.
Here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned from several years of speed reading: Continue reading at 7 keys...
I've never felt the need to take a speed reading course, but if you do, here's some hints from someone who has ramped up their reading rate in a different way.
In this article, I’m going to share the lessons I learned that doubled my reading rate, allowed me to consume over 70 books in a year and made me a smarter reader. I’m also going to destroy some speed-reading myths, to show you it isn’t magic but a skill anyone can learn.
My first introduction to the concept of speed reading was from a book, Breakthrough Rapid Reading. I’ve since moved away from a few of the concepts taught in the book, but the core ideas were transformative. In only a few weeks, my average reading speed went from roughly 450 words per minute, to over 900.
More than just words per minute, speed reading helped instill a new passion for reading. Because I gained more control over my reading abilities, my desire to read went up. That new motivation made me a voracious reader, in one two year period, I had read over 150 books.
Here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned from several years of speed reading: Continue reading at 7 keys...
Plumbers and lesson on how to treat a client
11/23/09 10:27 Filed in: miscellany
From
Freelance Switch, how hiring and choosing a plumber
can teach us things about talking to clients...
And what are the lessons to be learned from this experience? Here are five:
1. Some people are going to come to you with tough jobs. How you respond to their inquiries says a lot about you and your work. Are you going to be like Michael, who relished the challenge and motivated his crew to step up to it? Or are you going to be like the Plumber of Doom and see problems all around you?
2. Be enthusiastic about what you do, even the unpleasant parts of it. It may not involve digging ditches in 100-degree heat, but you’re going to have to go through some tough stuff to get to the end result.
3. Don’t give your clients too much homework. Take care of things for them. You’ll become known as the guy (or gal) who gets stuff done.
4. Don’t be afraid to show off your work. And, yes, you can even show off a ditch if it’s well done.
5. I’m writing this from the United States, where there is a tendency to look down on people in the trades. Don’t do this. Tradespeople take great pride in their work. Take some time to learn what they do, especially the experts. You’ll be helping to bridge a divide that has existed for too long in our society.
And what are the lessons to be learned from this experience? Here are five:
1. Some people are going to come to you with tough jobs. How you respond to their inquiries says a lot about you and your work. Are you going to be like Michael, who relished the challenge and motivated his crew to step up to it? Or are you going to be like the Plumber of Doom and see problems all around you?
2. Be enthusiastic about what you do, even the unpleasant parts of it. It may not involve digging ditches in 100-degree heat, but you’re going to have to go through some tough stuff to get to the end result.
3. Don’t give your clients too much homework. Take care of things for them. You’ll become known as the guy (or gal) who gets stuff done.
4. Don’t be afraid to show off your work. And, yes, you can even show off a ditch if it’s well done.
5. I’m writing this from the United States, where there is a tendency to look down on people in the trades. Don’t do this. Tradespeople take great pride in their work. Take some time to learn what they do, especially the experts. You’ll be helping to bridge a divide that has existed for too long in our society.
100 words every high school graduate should know
11/21/09 10:25 Filed in: miscellany
| taxonomies
The
editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have
compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every
high school graduate should know.
“The words we suggest,” says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, “are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language.”
The following is the entire list of 100 words Every High School Graduate Should Know:
abjure
abrogate
abstemious
acumen
antebellum
auspicious
belie
bellicose
bowdlerize
chicanery
chromosome
churlish
circumlocution
circumnavigate
Okay, you have to go to the website for the full list. But I love that "feckless" and "moiety" made the list, and I am happy to see "taxonomy" on it!
“The words we suggest,” says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, “are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language.”
The following is the entire list of 100 words Every High School Graduate Should Know:
abjure
abrogate
abstemious
acumen
antebellum
auspicious
belie
bellicose
bowdlerize
chicanery
chromosome
churlish
circumlocution
circumnavigate
Okay, you have to go to the website for the full list. But I love that "feckless" and "moiety" made the list, and I am happy to see "taxonomy" on it!
Palin wins Golden Turkey Award from ASI
11/20/09 10:22 Filed in: indexing
| publishing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ASI Announces Golden Turkey Award
Press Release
Sarah Palin's Book receives ASI's First Golden Turkey Honors
Wheat Ridge, CO (November 20, 2009)
The American Society for Indexing (ASI) wishes to present its Golden Turkey Award for misadventures in indexing to Sarah Palin and HarperCollins for Going Rogue. In these days of Google and full-text search, many people don't realize how crucial the art and science of indexing still is (see the comments at http://www.thedailybeast.com/...) for some particularly disturbing evidence of public failure to recognize the value of good finding aids). Palin's book performs a crucial public service. The inaccessibility of information in this text makes it clear to any reader that a good index is essential to a book's long-term value.
Sarah Palin's Going Rogue has no index at all - a brilliantly simple if deviant way of proving the need for an index, worthy of one who prides herself on being a bit of a maverick. The sheer difficulty of using Going Rogue for any purpose beyond that of a doorstop turns it into an ironically elitist text. Now, other tomes from diverse parts of the political spectrum have been published without indexes (most recently and egregiously, David Plouffe's The Audacity to Win). What makes Going Rogue stand out is its sheer importance. Whatever one thinks of Ms. Palin, no one can doubt that she was a principal player at the center of an historic campaign. Scholars of the political history of the early 21st century will have to consult this book, a task which the lack of an index has made nearly impossible. If Plouffe's account were compared to Eusebius of Caesarea's biography of the Roman emperor Constantine the Great, Palin would be Constantine's rival Maxentius, defeated at the Milvian Bridge. Valuable as Eusebius's manuscript is, late antique historians would kill for a first-hand account from Maxentius - and if it were 432 pages long, as Palin's Going Rogue is, and as full of public and personal incident, their first job would be to give it an index.
Why does any of this matter? If all one is going to do is read a book from front to back and then forget about it, indexes don't matter. But books are our way of storing and accumulating knowledge, checking facts, comparing viewpoints. It's very hard to do that without an index. What about full-text search? Well, all I can say is, how is that working out for you?
Electronic searches are very good at finding words, but they're bad at finding concepts. If you're looking for information on "agriculture," you might miss all sorts of valuable information that uses the term "farming." A good index, written by a professional indexer (who is an actual person with a brain, not a piece of software, although indexers use dedicated software programs to perform mechanical aspects of indexing such as accurate alphabetizing) will pull together all related concepts regardless of the words used to express them. Ever had the experience of entering a search term and getting 45,679 hits, and had no luck narrowing the parameters? An index will provide subentries for major terms in a text so you can find the aspect you're interested in. In other words, an index does the full-text search for you.
Why are books published without indexes? Publishers and authors usually cite time and cost as the reasons for putting out a book without an index. Neither is a very good excuse. Indexers go to work when the text has been finalized and is going through the final proofreading stage, so there's no need to tack on extra time to do the index. In a pinch, a good indexer can produce a satisfactory index to a 400-page work in three days. Indexes can add to the final cost of the book in two ways. First, the indexer usually makes between $1,000 and $1,500 for the index to a standard-size text. For a book with the projected sales of Going Rogue, this is hardly likely to break the bank. Second, depending on the book's length, including an index may require the publisher to add another quire or signature of pages, which will affect the paper and binding costs (this consideration is not an issue for e-books, which as the technology improves will be released with embedded indexes that hyperlink to relevant parts of the text). Palin's book has, on my count, at least seven blank pages available, which could have held a respectable index. (Plouffe's Audacity to Win, on the other hand, has none, and an index would have required an extra quire.) In any case, given that the index often helps sell a book (by giving potential buyers a taste of what's in store) and greatly improves its functionality and long-term value, leaving the index out is a false economy. That is why ASI awards its Golden Turkey to the publisher, as well as the indexer. HarperCollins deserves as much credit for Going Rogue's lack of an index as does Palin herself.
The "context" argument: Commentators on Palin's missing pages have suggested that she perhaps deliberately left out the index to foil "the Washington read," a practice whereby one skims the text by judicious consultation of the index, particularly for instances of one's own name. The Washington read, it is argued, results in snippets from the book being taken out of context. T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) refused to have an index for The Seven Pillars of Wisdom on this account, and the French literary establishment not infrequently argues against the use of indexes on this basis. (I would not have thought Sarah Palin would be inclined to side with Lawrence in particular or the French in general, so I assume, if she does indeed espouse this view, that she came to it via a different route.) In any case the argument is specious. Biased readers can take snippets of the book out of context without any assistance from the index; news coverage of Palin's book so far has made that abundantly clear. Rather than ensuring contextual reading, the abandonment of the index ultimately ensures a book's place on the remainder shelf - your own, or the bookseller's.
So congratulations are due to both Sarah Palin and HarperCollins for their outstanding demonstration of why every serious book needs an index. ASI salutes you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About American Society for Indexing
ASI is the only professional organization in the United
States devoted solely to the advancement of indexing,
abstracting, and database building. Come visit us
and learn more about indexing at www.asindexing.org
This just in on ASI-L:
As president of ASI I am the author and responsible for its content, as I am for all ASI messages that are distributed. The message is emphatic (and nonpolitical): Going Rogue is an important contribution to political history and as such it should have had an index. I do not apologize for that message in any way. Promoting indexes is part of my job, and so far we have had an overwhelming non-ASI reponse to the posting from people wanting to know more about indexing.
Best, Kate Mertes
Kate Mertes Mertes Editorial Services 118 N. West Street Alexandria, VA 22314 703-549-4574 kmertes@hotmail.com www.katemertes.com
Thinking ebook first
11/19/09 10:21 Filed in: ebooks | publishing
From Mike
Shatzkin - read it all, it's good...
Up until what seems like five minutes ago, the static print version was where all the money was. But with the IDPF reporting industry-wide year-on-year gains of 300% of ebook sales through August and Crain’s saying Random House had an 700% year-on-year increase of Kindle sales through September, the day when ebook sales are financially significant has apparently arrived and the point when those revenues could be more important than print revenues is in sight. So it may be time to change the objective of the author and editor from “how do we create the best possible print book” to “how do we create the best possible ebook?”
This will require some radical changes in thinking.
1. “Space” will no longer be scarce. That means that nothing of value should be discarded; the question becomes how to best employ any thoughts, writing, or images, not whether to include them. (Warning of a likely unintended consequence: putting mediocre material in the finished product can become a temptation and that does not achieve desired effects.)
2. Background material of any kind will become useful. For fiction, that might mean more in-depth character descriptions or “biographies”. For non-fiction, that might mean source material.
3. Multiple media are desireable. Anything that is relevant to the book in video or audio form or art of any kind should be included. If rights and permissions are a problem, then linking out to the material wherever it is on the web becomes an option.
4. Linking is essential. The author should be recording deeplink information for every useful resource tapped during the book’s creation.
5. New editorial decisions abound. Should the reader be given the option to turn links off (to avoid the distractions)? Does it “work” if linked or multiple-media elements become essential to the narrative of the book? And, if that becomes the case, what are the work-arounds for the static print edition? Should “summary” material be added, such as a precis of every chapter than can be a substitute for reading the whole chapter? (That could help somebody skip and dive their way through a non-fiction book, particularly.)
6. How should all of this complexity flow? Books are pretty straightforward: you start at the beginning and turn pages until you get to the end. But ebooks can allow different sequencing if that becomes useful. Can we have beginner, intermediary, and expert material all in one ebook that “selects” what you see by what you tell the book you are?
7. When is the book “finished”? An ebook that is continually being enhanced and updated by the author, perhaps even by the addition of relevant blog posts (to imagine a situation which would be very easy to execute) is a great antidote to digital piracy. But it would surely separate the ebook from the print, which couldn’t keep up with that kind of change. As ebook consumption becomes more common, though, authors won’t want their books to be out of date and they will recognize how easy it is to add new material. O’Reilly Media already includes free “updates” in the ebook purchase price of their books. How long will it be before a trade publisher makes a similar offer? Or before an author requires it as a condition of doing their next deal?
Up until what seems like five minutes ago, the static print version was where all the money was. But with the IDPF reporting industry-wide year-on-year gains of 300% of ebook sales through August and Crain’s saying Random House had an 700% year-on-year increase of Kindle sales through September, the day when ebook sales are financially significant has apparently arrived and the point when those revenues could be more important than print revenues is in sight. So it may be time to change the objective of the author and editor from “how do we create the best possible print book” to “how do we create the best possible ebook?”
This will require some radical changes in thinking.
1. “Space” will no longer be scarce. That means that nothing of value should be discarded; the question becomes how to best employ any thoughts, writing, or images, not whether to include them. (Warning of a likely unintended consequence: putting mediocre material in the finished product can become a temptation and that does not achieve desired effects.)
2. Background material of any kind will become useful. For fiction, that might mean more in-depth character descriptions or “biographies”. For non-fiction, that might mean source material.
3. Multiple media are desireable. Anything that is relevant to the book in video or audio form or art of any kind should be included. If rights and permissions are a problem, then linking out to the material wherever it is on the web becomes an option.
4. Linking is essential. The author should be recording deeplink information for every useful resource tapped during the book’s creation.
5. New editorial decisions abound. Should the reader be given the option to turn links off (to avoid the distractions)? Does it “work” if linked or multiple-media elements become essential to the narrative of the book? And, if that becomes the case, what are the work-arounds for the static print edition? Should “summary” material be added, such as a precis of every chapter than can be a substitute for reading the whole chapter? (That could help somebody skip and dive their way through a non-fiction book, particularly.)
6. How should all of this complexity flow? Books are pretty straightforward: you start at the beginning and turn pages until you get to the end. But ebooks can allow different sequencing if that becomes useful. Can we have beginner, intermediary, and expert material all in one ebook that “selects” what you see by what you tell the book you are?
7. When is the book “finished”? An ebook that is continually being enhanced and updated by the author, perhaps even by the addition of relevant blog posts (to imagine a situation which would be very easy to execute) is a great antidote to digital piracy. But it would surely separate the ebook from the print, which couldn’t keep up with that kind of change. As ebook consumption becomes more common, though, authors won’t want their books to be out of date and they will recognize how easy it is to add new material. O’Reilly Media already includes free “updates” in the ebook purchase price of their books. How long will it be before a trade publisher makes a similar offer? Or before an author requires it as a condition of doing their next deal?
Being overly sensitive to typography is like having an allergy
11/18/09 10:20 Filed in: miscellany
“I think
sometimes that being overly type-sensitive is like an
allergy,” said Michael Bierut, a partner in the
Pentagram design group in New York. “My font
nerdiness makes me have bad reactions to things that
spoil otherwise pleasant moments.” One of his (least)
favorite examples is the Cooper Black typeface on the
Mass sign outside a beautifully restored 1885
Carpenter Gothic church near his weekend home in Cape
May Point, New Jersey. “Cooper Black is a perfectly
good font, but in my mind it is a fat, happy font
associated with the logo for the ‘National Lampoon,’
the sleeve of the Beach Boys’ ‘Pet Sounds’ album and
discount retailers up and down the U.S.,” Mr. Bierut
explained. “I wouldn’t choose it as a font for St.
Agnes Church even as a joke. Every time I go by, my
vacation is, for a moment, ruined.”
Find out how bad Mad Men has been doing with historically-accurate fonts.... in the NYT
Find out how bad Mad Men has been doing with historically-accurate fonts.... in the NYT
Outsourcing the editors
11/16/09 10:19 Filed in: publishing
Cool book interface
11/15/09 10:17 Filed in: ebooks
Periodic table of typefaces
11/14/09 10:14 Filed in: miscellany
Grateful Dead Archivist position open at UC Santa Cruz
11/13/09 10:12 Filed in: miscellany
I think I
have to apply, even though I don't have all the
qualifications. It's just too perfect, an organized
Deadhead - who else are they going to find? Link
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
Grateful Dead Archivist
The University Library of the University of California, Santa Cruz, seeks an enterprising, creative, and service-oriented archivist to join the staff of Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) as Archivist for the Grateful Dead Archive. This is a potential career status position. The Archivist will be part of a dynamic, collegial, and highly motivated department dedicated to building, preserving, promoting, and providing maximum access both physically and virtually to one of the Library's most exciting and unique collections, The Grateful Dead Archive (GDA). The UCSC University Library utilizes innovative approaches to allow the discovery, use, management, and sharing of information in support of research, teaching, and learning.
Under the general direction of the Head of Special Collections and Archives, the GDA Archivist will provide managerial and curatorial oversight of the Grateful Dead Archive, plan for and oversee the physical and digital processing of Archives related material, and promote the GDA to the public and facilitate its use by scholars, fans, and students.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
• Master's degree from an ALA-accredited program or equivalent accredited graduate archives management program. -- Okay, have that!
• Significant, demonstrated experience working with books, manuscripts, photographs, recordings, or other material in a special collections & archives environment. -- okay, it was 25 years ago, does that count?
• Knowledge of the access tools for special collections and archival material and the standards and procedures for their preservation and conservation. -- I am so out of date....
• Demonstrated experience developing processing plans and creating finding aids in accordance with national standards. -- oh hey, finding aids! Tons of experience!
• Knowledge of and ability to maintain awareness of developments in archival processing, digital information technologies, and their uses in special collections and archives. -- seriously out of date
• Expert knowledge in the history and scholarship of contemporary popular music, or American vernacular culture, preferably the history and influence of the Grateful Dead. -- I think I have this nailed. I even know where the name came from
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and time management skills. -- Ditto
• Demonstrated oral, written and interpersonal communication skills sufficient to promote and present the archive to multiple audiences. -- I hope this doesn't include singing every verse of the songs - I tend to forget words here and there.
• Prior experience directing the work of others. -- I hate this part, but have done it.
STRONGLY PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
• Demonstrated experience working in public services in an academic environment. -- I did this in 1978, I think that's a bit dated
• Demonstrated experience working on outreach and other donor related activities. -- Uh, does doing the Navajo Nation Library Annual Mutton Stew and Fry Bread event during the Arts and Crafts Fair in Window Rock count? It was an annual event, and I had to get all the flour, mutton and lard donated. We served up Navajo Tacos for two bucks apiece and mutton stew w/frybread for $3, all for the library. Do you think that would work?
General Information:
Professional librarians at UC are academic appointees. They are entitled to appropriate professional leave, two days per month of vacation leave, one day per month of sick leave, and a generous benefit program including an excellent retirement system. The University sponsors a variety of group health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. Relocation assistance is provided.
RANK: Associate Librarian or Librarian
SALARY: Appointment Range: Associate Librarian III – Librarian I, with an approximate salary range of $52,860 – $68,892, commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Should I write the cover letter and post it here? Just think, I could tell them about my VW van that is named "Uncle John's Van." Maybe I could even wear old t shirts to work, and tie dye?
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
Grateful Dead Archivist
The University Library of the University of California, Santa Cruz, seeks an enterprising, creative, and service-oriented archivist to join the staff of Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) as Archivist for the Grateful Dead Archive. This is a potential career status position. The Archivist will be part of a dynamic, collegial, and highly motivated department dedicated to building, preserving, promoting, and providing maximum access both physically and virtually to one of the Library's most exciting and unique collections, The Grateful Dead Archive (GDA). The UCSC University Library utilizes innovative approaches to allow the discovery, use, management, and sharing of information in support of research, teaching, and learning.
Under the general direction of the Head of Special Collections and Archives, the GDA Archivist will provide managerial and curatorial oversight of the Grateful Dead Archive, plan for and oversee the physical and digital processing of Archives related material, and promote the GDA to the public and facilitate its use by scholars, fans, and students.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
• Master's degree from an ALA-accredited program or equivalent accredited graduate archives management program. -- Okay, have that!
• Significant, demonstrated experience working with books, manuscripts, photographs, recordings, or other material in a special collections & archives environment. -- okay, it was 25 years ago, does that count?
• Knowledge of the access tools for special collections and archival material and the standards and procedures for their preservation and conservation. -- I am so out of date....
• Demonstrated experience developing processing plans and creating finding aids in accordance with national standards. -- oh hey, finding aids! Tons of experience!
• Knowledge of and ability to maintain awareness of developments in archival processing, digital information technologies, and their uses in special collections and archives. -- seriously out of date
• Expert knowledge in the history and scholarship of contemporary popular music, or American vernacular culture, preferably the history and influence of the Grateful Dead. -- I think I have this nailed. I even know where the name came from
• Excellent analytical, organizational, and time management skills. -- Ditto
• Demonstrated oral, written and interpersonal communication skills sufficient to promote and present the archive to multiple audiences. -- I hope this doesn't include singing every verse of the songs - I tend to forget words here and there.
• Prior experience directing the work of others. -- I hate this part, but have done it.
STRONGLY PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
• Demonstrated experience working in public services in an academic environment. -- I did this in 1978, I think that's a bit dated
• Demonstrated experience working on outreach and other donor related activities. -- Uh, does doing the Navajo Nation Library Annual Mutton Stew and Fry Bread event during the Arts and Crafts Fair in Window Rock count? It was an annual event, and I had to get all the flour, mutton and lard donated. We served up Navajo Tacos for two bucks apiece and mutton stew w/frybread for $3, all for the library. Do you think that would work?
General Information:
Professional librarians at UC are academic appointees. They are entitled to appropriate professional leave, two days per month of vacation leave, one day per month of sick leave, and a generous benefit program including an excellent retirement system. The University sponsors a variety of group health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans. Relocation assistance is provided.
RANK: Associate Librarian or Librarian
SALARY: Appointment Range: Associate Librarian III – Librarian I, with an approximate salary range of $52,860 – $68,892, commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Should I write the cover letter and post it here? Just think, I could tell them about my VW van that is named "Uncle John's Van." Maybe I could even wear old t shirts to work, and tie dye?
Sarah Palin's book? No index in it
11/12/09 10:11 Filed in: publishing
| indexing
A
transcription from Countdown with Keith Olbermann and
Richard Wolfe, last night, about 55 minutes into the
program. I will link to a video clip if I can find
one.
Olbermann:
The book, no index, five chapters - in Time the speculation was two-fold here about why there was no index in it. It would force people to actually read through it because in Washington you never read the book except the parts that you find about yourself in the index. So there's no index; it's an "up yours" to the Washington Beltway establishment that there's no index to skip to.
Wolfe:
Ah, you know, I'm going to find that a hard one to agree with. You know, often when a book is crashed like this, and it may be a train wreck in a completely different sense, when they are rushing the schedule there is no time to put an index together because the page numbers are changing, there may also be a cost factor, she didn't want to waste the money on it, but there are other explanations than telling Washington to go screw itself. So I don't buy the index argument at this point, sorry.
Hisses for books with no indexes, and double hisses for using the phrase "waste the money on it."
Olbermann:
The book, no index, five chapters - in Time the speculation was two-fold here about why there was no index in it. It would force people to actually read through it because in Washington you never read the book except the parts that you find about yourself in the index. So there's no index; it's an "up yours" to the Washington Beltway establishment that there's no index to skip to.
Wolfe:
Ah, you know, I'm going to find that a hard one to agree with. You know, often when a book is crashed like this, and it may be a train wreck in a completely different sense, when they are rushing the schedule there is no time to put an index together because the page numbers are changing, there may also be a cost factor, she didn't want to waste the money on it, but there are other explanations than telling Washington to go screw itself. So I don't buy the index argument at this point, sorry.
Hisses for books with no indexes, and double hisses for using the phrase "waste the money on it."
Periodic table of information visualizations
11/11/09 10:09 Filed in: visualizations
This is cool! Each box pops up
and shows you a sample image!
The new permatemp issue
11/07/09 10:07 Filed in: miscellany
Confession
here - I was part of the Microsoft permatemp lawsuit,
and it is part of the reason I incorporated, so that
I could be hired with a clear understanding that I
was not an employee. Looks like the issue is heating
up again, as more and more companies lay off people,
and then re-hire them as temps. If they do that to
excess, the IRS may come examine ALL of their
contractors, which could include indexers.
Feds plan heap of random audits in early 2010
November 5, 2009 by Jared Bilski
Beginning in February, 6,000 random (unlucky) companies will start getting the IRS version of Happy New Year’s wishes: a notice they’re going to be audited over employment taxes.
While agents will be looking for an array of violations, they’re really targeting Form 1099 independent contractors who should be classified as regular employees.
And firms who are caught violating this are likely to receive hefty back tax bills and sizable fines.
IRS agents are also hoping to sniff out tax rule violations for exec pay and fringe benefits.
The random nature of these audits includes all companies — regular C corporations, S corps, partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), etc. — across all industry types.
According to the IRS’s chief of employment tax operations in the Small Business/Self-Employed Division, John Tuzynski, the audits will be conducted based on Form 941 and then they will work backward.
In addition to sterling documentation, doing an internal audit in the targeted areas may help ensure A/P and Payroll are thoroughly prepared should the IRS come knocking.
AND, another article on Fedex, and their slim survival of an IRS audit for contractor/true employee status:
Making matters even more complicated, even as the IRS let FedEx off the hook, the agency said it is taking a closer look at other companies that use contractors. The IRS announced that, starting in February, it will undertake extensive audits of 6,000 yet-to-be-named companies, in part to review employee classification. Meanwhile, lawmakers in several states—including New York, Maryland, Washington, Colorado, and Minnesota—have recently passed laws tightening rules over contract workers in an attempt to protect individuals and keep tax money flowing to state coffers.
MORE CONTRACTORS AHEAD
The legal definition of a worker turns on how much control a company has over the person: The more control, the more likely the individual will be considered an employee rather than a contractor. Littler Mendelson, a large law firm that represents employers, predicts that half of all Americans who are rehired after being laid off in the current downturn will return as "contingent" workers, such as contractors or temps.
Studies show contractors cost up to 30% less than payroll employees, mainly because they have to pay for their own benefits and employment taxes. They also aren't covered by most workplace laws, such as those related to discrimination and medical leave.
Feds plan heap of random audits in early 2010
November 5, 2009 by Jared Bilski
Beginning in February, 6,000 random (unlucky) companies will start getting the IRS version of Happy New Year’s wishes: a notice they’re going to be audited over employment taxes.
While agents will be looking for an array of violations, they’re really targeting Form 1099 independent contractors who should be classified as regular employees.
And firms who are caught violating this are likely to receive hefty back tax bills and sizable fines.
IRS agents are also hoping to sniff out tax rule violations for exec pay and fringe benefits.
The random nature of these audits includes all companies — regular C corporations, S corps, partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), etc. — across all industry types.
According to the IRS’s chief of employment tax operations in the Small Business/Self-Employed Division, John Tuzynski, the audits will be conducted based on Form 941 and then they will work backward.
In addition to sterling documentation, doing an internal audit in the targeted areas may help ensure A/P and Payroll are thoroughly prepared should the IRS come knocking.
AND, another article on Fedex, and their slim survival of an IRS audit for contractor/true employee status:
Making matters even more complicated, even as the IRS let FedEx off the hook, the agency said it is taking a closer look at other companies that use contractors. The IRS announced that, starting in February, it will undertake extensive audits of 6,000 yet-to-be-named companies, in part to review employee classification. Meanwhile, lawmakers in several states—including New York, Maryland, Washington, Colorado, and Minnesota—have recently passed laws tightening rules over contract workers in an attempt to protect individuals and keep tax money flowing to state coffers.
MORE CONTRACTORS AHEAD
The legal definition of a worker turns on how much control a company has over the person: The more control, the more likely the individual will be considered an employee rather than a contractor. Littler Mendelson, a large law firm that represents employers, predicts that half of all Americans who are rehired after being laid off in the current downturn will return as "contingent" workers, such as contractors or temps.
Studies show contractors cost up to 30% less than payroll employees, mainly because they have to pay for their own benefits and employment taxes. They also aren't covered by most workplace laws, such as those related to discrimination and medical leave.
Back from Australia
11/05/09 10:05 Filed in: miscellany
Australia
was a fabulous trip, and a great ANZSI conference. I
hope to go again!
I love marsupials!
I love marsupials!