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Mosaic Stairway in the Magic Gardens

It was cold but sunny in Philadelphia this afternoon, so I took a few hours to tour part of the city by foot. My direction was partially dictated by the fact I left my VISA in Bookbinders two evenings ago, so I needed to retrieve. But, I particularly wanted to see the Magic Gardens on South Street by mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar up close. I had seen it from my car window a few years back and was anxious for a closer look. I was lucky enough to arrive as they were opening the Gardens up and thoroughly enjoyed wandering through alley after alley of intricate tile art that offers surprises all along the way. Well worth the $3 admission. My other sights can be seen on my Flickr site. Of course, I stopped in to see the Liberty Bell. Yes, it’s cracked

My major goal for the afternoon was to represent Lynn at the University Library Group meeting. In particular, Lynn wanted me to see a demonstration of their open source VuFind product. Unfortunately, the Villanova director, Joe Lucia, had his car broken into last evening and his laptop was stolen. So, no demo! But it was extremely interesting to sit in and hear a group of deans and directors from our peer institutions discuss an assortment of common interests and issues.

Tomorrow, I head home. But, I plan to stop by the PALINET booth first thing, where Villanova’s technology staff will show me VuFind. Hopefully, that will allow the expected overnight snowfall to melt before I hit Rt. 95.