Posts

The road towards valuing diversity

I haven’t been posting lately because I noticed that the views for my blog dropped off sharply in November. I thought that I would post something to see if there is any interest anymore.   In February, Black History Month, we typically see many lists of books about and by blacks, books about black history, and books that support diversity. No doubt you’ve seen many of them already. Here is one that I thought that I would highlight:  https://www.rebekahgienapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/top_diverse_books.pdf The web page has books recommended for various age ranges as well as a brief synopsis of each.   What is interesting is the very last page.   There you will find a list of books that are not recommended.   Undoubtedly, many readers will find some books that they expect to see on the list.   There may be other childhood favourites that are a surprise.   If you click the links for the books, it will take you to another page or website that contains an explanation of why or how
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#AskAConservator Day

 This information was sent to me via email about the international Ask A Conservator Day. Conservators around the world are participating in #AskAConservator Day on November 18. SCAA is supporting the Canadian Association of Professional Conservators (CAPC) to join in this international conversation, in order to reflect the breadth and depth of the work of conservators, archivists and museum professionals in Canada. Do you have any questions you'd like to #AskAConservator? If so, we invite you to email them to  liaison@capc-acrp.ca   by November 16. Your question will be answered by a qualified conservator and posted in a series of short news articles on the CAPC website on November 18. Ask us anything! Last year, CAPC answered questions on  how to preserve tintypes ,  how to unroll curled photos ,  what to do about yellowed textiles ,  recommendations on museum software ,  what issues to be aware of when hiring a clock repairer , and conservators spoke about  the most challenging
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Free online Event, Nov 19. American Writer's Museum hosts a reading of indigenous poetry

 If you happen to have time on the 19th, this event may be of interest: Native poets Layli Long Soldier, Mark Turcotte & Tanaya Winder read from an anthology of Native Nations poetry edited by Joy Harjo. You can register for free at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/layli-long-soldier-mark-turcotte-tanaya-winder-tickets-126883731657?aff=November2020Newsletter
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Video of interest: A conversation with David Treuer, author of "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee"

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 From the American Writer's Museum YouTube Page: American Writers Museum presents a discussion with writer David Treuer about his 2019 National Book Award finalist "The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee," which gives a sweeping history — and counter-narrative — of Native American life from the Wounded Knee massacre to the present. This conversation originally took place February 14, 2020 and was recorded live at the American Writers Museum.
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Why is it so hard to be a library upstander?

 Thank you to everyone for your feedback and comments about the last post. Let me begin this post by acknowledging that it is extremely difficult to be an upstander in a toxic work environment.  The upstander is the one who witnesses bullying, discrimination, or harassment, and says or does something to stop it.  We all want to be upstanders but yet we often are not. At least, I know that I often fail in this regard and I feel that there are times when I have been failed by others who could have come to my defense.  We witness something happen and we put our heads down and feel bad about what is happening but stay quiet.  We might approach the victim after the fact to offer support.  We may even give some money to a cause that fights for the rights of victims.  But, when the chips are down and we are in a position to intervene, we very often do not do so.  Why do we do it?  There are likely lots of reasons.  No doubt that there are many papers and books written about why people physica
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Incivility in libraries

 I don't know about you but from time to time I am introduced to someone who asks me where I work or what I do for a living.  When I say that I am a librarian or that I work in a library, I am presented with a response something along the lines, "that must be a dream job, no stress at all."  Hmmm...  I wish.  Yet, so many people seem to hold this point of view.  Perhaps the only knowledge they have of libraries and library work is their exposure to libraries as an infrequent user.  In their minds, the library is a quiet and peaceful place full of all sorts of interesting books, movies, and music.  Everyone in the library is happy and there is nothing to fight about or to cause stress.  Oh, if only that were true.  The reality is that there have been days in my working life where I could barely sleep at night, had to force myself to get out of bed in the morning, feared going to work, and walked around all day with a knot in my stomach.  And, why was that?  It was generall
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RDA News

 I suspect that many of you already follow RDA developments.  However, for those who haven't had a chance to catch up with their email or RSS feed, the RDA ToolKit posted this reminder today: December 15th Transition Preparation We have just about six weeks until the beta  RDA  Toolkit becomes our standard platform on December 15, 2020 around 8 PM CST. The original version of  RDA  Toolkit will still be accessible to all subscribers for the foreseeable future, and there will be additional free and premium learning opportunities to help all subscribers improve their skills with the beta  RDA  Toolkit well into the new year. In the meanwhile, please look out for a November e-mail blast from us explaining what's going to happen, what's  not  going to happen, what you should do to prepare, and key preparation resources. If you want to follow developments for yourself or subscribe to email updates about the ToolKit, have a look at their website   https://www.rdatoolkit.org/
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