Me, Annot8ing
There’s a viral thing going on this week in the library blogosphere: in response to an invitation issued by the Librarian by Day, over a dozen library staff will be detailing their workdays on their blogs. All kinds of libraries are represented, and links to the collected blogs are available on the Library Day in the Life wiki.
When I was a library school student mumble years ago, I learned to type sets of catalog cards on a manual typewriter (remember those neat black and red ribbons? Remember those inky fingers when you changed one?) My library technology class consisted of replacing the light bulb in a Bell & Howell 16mm film projector, and OCLC was being closely watched to see if the concept would fly. What was needed to make a library run smoothly on a daily basis was not really part of the curriculum – that was reserved for on-the-job learning later.
How much libraries have changed in the intervening years! Not a catalog card in sight, movies are DVDs projected from laptops, and OCLC is no longer the only online game in town. However, it still takes a LOT of person-power to deliver materials and services to the public – most of which is not visible to that public. So, tomorrow through next Sunday, I’ll be blogging my workdays here, and reading about the real-life work of other librarians at Library Day in the Life.
Thank you, Civil Librarian, for passing along the invitation!
Annot8tions 