Comments on: The Silliness Wrapup

By: Jean Costello

Jean Costello — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:40:19 +0000

I didn't realize how much conversation "ARCgate" generated in libraryland until I sawAndy's Woodworth's blog post. Sad indeed.

By: Luxembourg at Fleurus

Luxembourg at Fleurus — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 00:56:00 +0000

Advanced review copies? WTF? How ’bout that at the twitter meetup this year there were more non-obese, nicely-dressed librarians this year than usual…including some hot, smart girls I got to flirt with (and more).

By: Evan Banned

Evan Banned — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:59:11 +0000

Webster’s Emmanuel Lewis defines “conference” as “a meeting of two or more persons for discussing matters of common concern, especially involving a small child of alternate race moving in with a football player. Often confused with whatever Willis may be ‘talkin’ bout.’”

I even looked in real dictionaries and no mention of ARCs or “swag” (I said the “s” word, deal with it) of any kind is mentioned. Anyone complaining they did not get enough free stuff is simply missing the point of a conference. Namely, to get together with others and shamelessly be able to talk about work without bothering to wonder if your spouse or significant other is doing that yawn thing. Socialization should be the reason for going to a conference, maybe even furthering the profession by discussing important topics. If you are worrying about your blog the entire time, you are missing out on meeting the only people that might actually want to read what you write.

As for the Wikileak debate, I liked the debate better when it was about Bittorrent.

This comment was sponsored by Question Marks Make Ethical Nerds Timely (QUEMMENT)

By: Solo Boy

Solo Boy — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 20:46:21 +0000

So if I, as a librarian, paid full price to attend ALA and DIDN’T get the free ARC books I wanted, who can I complain to? Gee, after all, some other less “deserving” librarian(s) got the books I wanted!

Oh, and I suppose I can complain on my library blog about how a couple of bottom feeders got the stuff I should have gotten…

By: Midwest SciTech Librarian

Midwest SciTech Librarian — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:31:02 +0000

“I’m a paying member of ALA and of YALSA and of PLA and of ALSC, and I attended the conference because I had committee obligations this year. Because I’m working. Because I was giving a presentation to librarian colleagues. Money is incredibly tight right now because I’m not working a regular job. I paid out of pocket for my memberships in both associations, as well as for my plane ticket, my hotel room, my transportation to and from the airport, around Anaheim, for my meals. I don’t get reimbursed. Every penny I spent at ALA was a penny I couldn’t spend on other things.”

1. Cut out PLA, YALSA & ALSC and you’ll save $130 off the bat.
2. If you’re under-employed, you should have been spending time at the placement center not at the exhibit hall trolling for freebies.
3. Whining about it on your blog (see #2)

“Librarians are missing the chance to pick up a book that they want to read. For themselves.” — Have you checked your local public library for books to check out? It’s a system that works for staff as well as patrons.

By: spencer

spencer — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:59:05 +0000

I’m so glad I didn’t go. The profession makes me sad.

By: David Caruso

David Caruso — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 06:05:54 +0000

From the reactions I’ve read to your post, AL, it looks like these book bloggers can’t handle…
*puts on sunglasses*
A negative review.
YEEEEAHHHHHHHH

By: Librarian Ida

Librarian Ida — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 23:47:07 +0000

If ARCs aren’t useful to your work, trying to access them without having to hunt each one down from the publishers would seem trivial.

I thought the post on Stacked was an articulate expression of one librarian’s opinion on the matter. But apparently expressing an honest opinion on the Internet makes her a “whiny blogger with a sense of entitlement.”

Way to elevate the discussion with name-calling, Annoyed Librarian. Stay c̶l̶a̶s̶s̶y̶ petty!

By: um

um — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 23:33:12 +0000

I think you’ve missed the point. About all of it.

By: Anon

Anon — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 22:49:01 +0000

“After all, the ALA Council has stopped taking politically motivated resolutions totally unrelated to libraries seriously, and that could be because of one whiny library blogger with a sense of entitlement.”

Thank you. Thank you so much for that. I read that post and her Twitter rants and thought, “Wow. What a brat.” It’s an industry event, so it makes sense that the librarians should get to look at the books first, I would think. But wow – to write a whole post whining about it and making the ridiculous points she did took it over the top.

I mean, is receiving ARCs THAT crucial to being a librarian? Can one do the job without them (that’s a serious question, not snark). Or are they THAT important to “To develop as professionals in librarianship”?