Inside ZSR
ALA Annual 2019 marked my first return to Washington DC since 2007, when I attended my very first professional library conference there. I was a law librarian then. I am no longer that. Nor am I a rookie librarian anymore. In fact, at this year’s conference, I met up with my new ALCTS mentee. Either... more ›
Who doesn’t like Chicago? Everyone likes Chicago. In order to not like Chicago, you have to not like cities. Which is valid. I like Chicago, inasmuch as I like cities. I have family in Chicago. During an epic Greek meal on Sunday night I learned that one of my favorite cousins is pregnant. I am... more ›
For the 2017 Midwinter conference in Atlanta I made the strange decision to pack the back seat of my car with a 2-year-old and a 2-month-old, seated beside one another, facing in opposite directions but unanimous in their displeasure. My wife was better-behaved. Nevertheless the arrangement proved untenable and I ditched them somewhere outside Alpharetta, where... more ›
Productivity with vendors (book and ILS), committee obligations, and future of cataloging were the three main themes for me in Orlando. Meetings by chance also played a key role in making this an above average conference for me. I caught up with our Casalini sales rep on how to implement a more Gobi-like version of... more ›
Assuming you are six years old, Orlando is a dream destination. If, like me, you’re 37, you need some compelling reason to go. Enter ALA Annual 2016. On Saturday I attended the program “Linked Data: Globally Connecting Libraries, Archives, and Museums.” Reinhold Heuvelmann of the German National Library described his library’s system of metadata creation,... more ›
Following quickly upon the heels of an item from ZSR’s Special Collections & Archives appearing on the cover of Archival Outlook, the January 2015 issue of Library Resources & Technical Services (LRTS) features an image from our digital collections. LRTS (pronounced “lerts”) is the official journal of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services,... more ›
This year’s Midwinter was a bit unusual for me in that I didn’t find as many programs of obvious interest as I usually do, which led to my attending some sessions that I normally wouldn’t have. About this I have no complaints. It was fun, as was this outdoor section of the Brattle Book Shop... more ›
In case I’d been longing for parades (turns out I had), a confluence of well-known events made the 2015 ALA Annual Conference the perfect place to be. How do New Orleans and San Francisco parades compare, you ask? San Francisco parades involve less alcohol; more illegal-smelling smoke; smaller floats; fewer thrown objects; and more daytime... more ›
It was good to visit my home state of Illinois for ALA Midwinter 2015 in Chicago. I was able to get together with a few cousins with whom I was close growing up in Decatur, three hours south. And who doesn’t like 18 inches of snow? Somehow the weather didn’t actually interfere too much with... more ›
Three segments to my post: 1) Linked Data and Semantic Web, 2) Introverts at Work, and 3) Vendors and Books and Video — read just the part that interests you! 1. Linked Data and Semantic Web (or, Advances in Search and Discovery) Steve Kelley sparked my interest in the Semantic Web and Linked Data with... more ›