Comments on: Melting in the Big Easy

By: Spencer

Spencer — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 17:46:17 +0000

@DEE,

Yep, you should always ask why people who think the profession has problems why they don’t just walk away- instead of trying to FIX the problems. That’s the way to make hte profession better!

Sorry, that might sound a little mean, but come on.

By: Dee

Dee — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:16:59 +0000

I enjoy being a librarian and I enjoyed ALA. It’s a good experience for people that are interested in networking. Especially new librarians who aren’t jaded and wanting career changes. If people hate being librarians so much why don’t they choose another career. I’m sure the jobs that they hate so much would be snapped up by some eager MLIS graduates who need the experience and aren’t bitter.

By: Logic

Logic — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:32:37 +0000

And you mean that you did not go to Commander’s for the 25cent lunch martinis??

Shame on you!

You forgot to check with the locals!

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:34:25 +0000

“Swag seems a popular item to accumulate from the exhibit hall. You might think swag was something valuable, but it usually consists in cheap pens, posters advertising things, the occasionally squeeze ball or tote bag or sticky note pad advertising things, i.e. a bunch of junk.

That’s why it seems incredible to watch librarians waddling through the exhibit call carrying as much of this junk as they can, sometimes wheeling suitcases behind them full of the kind of stuff many of us would toss out of our offices during a good cleaning. I can only wonder what the exhibitors think of these sad representatives of the profession.”

They’re called free and advance copies of books, aka what public librarians sometimes use to stay ahead of the curve when recommending books. Or were the pen-hoarders all academic librarians? :P

By: Exhibitor

Exhibitor — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:57:50 +0000

The exhibitors don’t think any less of you for filling up on swag. I wasn’t at the conference (budget cuts ftw), but I can guarantee that at least those exhibitors from smaller presses with ever-dwindling budgets were probably wishing they too could load up on free stuff without appearing gauche.

By: Bibliotecher

Bibliotecher — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:42:14 +0000

ELENA, I wish you were my academic counselor before I enlisted for my MLIS.

AL, if only I came across your blog before as well, it would have saved me from potentially wasting a lot of money and tears… mostly tears.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:32:58 +0000

I’ve just updated my email sig file:
“Twitter: The shallow talking to the bored, or perhaps vice versa.”

Thanks AL

By: The Lit Witch

The Lit Witch — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:53:07 +0000

You make me happy that I’m not at ALA, though it wasn’t really on my calendar to begin with. Still, I wouldn’t mind meeting up for the martini part! Thanks for wading through the tweets for us. I’ve sworn off twitter until people quit talking about the True Blood premier, which apparently required minute-by-minute tweets from HBO viewers everywhere….

By: elena

elena — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:21:02 +0000

Oh, if I could only go back 20 years I would have decided on a different career path, because the conferences held by this profession make me sleep and cry, both at the same time even.

By: Enormous Librarian

Enormous Librarian — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 18:53:48 +0000

“relatively fewer enormous librarians wandering through the exhibits”

Damn, I guess AL didn’t spot me