S.S. Librarianship

This week with special guest Sarah Felkar... Mind Grapes: Sam is still riding her wave of Philippa Gregory books and found some more historical romance in the form of the television series The Paradise. Sarah, a huge fan of the military sci-fi genre, talks about John Ringo's Looking Glass series. While they can be a nice introduction to the genre, they can sometimes be disappointing in the depiction of women (or lack thereof). Alli gave The 100 another try and was able to talk about some awesome representations of women in a sci-fi series. She also touches on Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky's incredible comic Sex Criminals which, if you're not squeamish about the title, you should read immediately. Class Z(ed): For the past several years, Sarah has had a major hand in the organization of the BC Library Cooperative's eBook and Digital Collection Summit. This annual event gathers together digital collections librarians from all around BC to take the pulse of where ebook collections are at, how they are changing, and what we want in the future. We discuss the event, how we feel about ebooks, and what we think the future of ebooks will be.

Mind Grapes: In a rapid fire Mind Grapes, Sam and Alli cover Philippa Gregory books (like The Constant Princess and The Other Boleyn Girl, the steam indie game Catlateral Damage, and Travis McElroy and Brent Black's (Brentalfloss) new podcast Trends Like These. We then engage in a lengthy discussion of the magnum opus that is Mad Max: Fury Road because it was awesome and beautiful and nothing hurt. Where Do We Put This?: One of the major trends that we learned all about during library school was the Maker Space. What is it? What does it do? What is its utility? Alli was never totally convinced by the idea, but what if the maker space focuses on the creation of digital objects instead of simply physical ones? The Vancouver Public Library's new Inspiration Lab (not innovation lab, inspiration space, or innovation space) embodies the idea of a digital maker space. Sam has been working in the new space for the past month and tells us all about the space, its facilities, its programming, and its hopes and dreams.

We had the great pleasure of moderating a panel on the intersections among different library professionals at this year's British Columbia Library Conference. It was a fascinating, frank and inspiring conversation, and we're glad to be able to bring it to you. Watch for a similar panel at the upcoming CHLA Conference. Voices you'll hear: Christina Neigel is Associate Professor in the Library and Information Technology Department at the University of the Fraser Valley. She is currently completing a Doctorate in Education at Simon Fraser University with a research focus on the role of gender in LIS leadership. Pat Cumming is the Information Services Department Head at West Vancouver Memorial Library. She holds a Library Technician Diploma from Algonquin College in Ottawa and an MLIS from the University of Western Ontario. Her career in libraries spans more than 30 years and includes work as a library technician, librarian and departmental manager. She has experience in public, academic, school and special libraries. She also serves on the BCLA Mentorship Committee. Tamarack Hockin is a Library Technician with Surrey Libraries. Holding a LIT Diploma and Bachelor’s degree from UFV, Tamarack is also an MLIS candidate at San Jose State University. Ashley Van Dijk graduated in 2009 with her Library and Information Technology diploma, and is currently working at SFU Burnaby in the Information and Instruction division. Ashley is the Chair of the Library Technicians Assistants Section of BCLA.

Mind Grapes: We're all compliments with our TV shows. Sam's been catching up on the surprisingly amazing sixth season of Community. Dan Harmon is back in all of his glory, making the season sweet, funny, and totally weird. Alli has been watching Rob Thomas's wonderful new program iZombie and has another new TV crush. Don't worry Charlie Cox, I still love you. Class Z(ed): For the past several weeks, Alli's mind has been steeped in the newest document from the Association of College and Research Libraries, the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. It's certainly an interesting read, but it does have some challenging ideas and perhaps a more challenging implementation strategy. Is your institution putting it into practice? Tell us how!

MIND GRAPES: OK, so yes, we each talk about a thing - but this week's grapes are about 75% Daredevil, which Alli loved for more than just Charlie Cox's abs, she swears. Also Jon just binge-listened to Serial, and brings us up to date on the case. Plus Sam is really into Backstrom - maybe a little too much. NERD ALERT!: What's the deal with being a Dungeon Master? If you want to run a tabletop roleplaying game for your friends (or to make friends!), where should you start? What can you expect from the experience - and from the players? And would it make a good library program? Jon's the veteran DM, having run a dozen or so RPGs; Sam's the neophyte, being in the midst of running her first; Alli has played in both.

This week... Mind Grapes: Sam has been doing some reading inbetween a re-watch of Downton Abbey. In a similar vein, we discuss her reading of Kazuo Ishiguro's Remains of the Day and discuss some of our other favourite upstairs/downstairs things. Alli has been playing BioWare's Dragon Age: Origins and is loving it. We talk about BioWare's amazing attention to story and character as well as some awesome adventure games for the non-combat inclined. Class Z(ed): We have had some great interviews with our recently graduated friends about their first jobs out of school. This week, that spotlight turns to Alli as she discusses her first few months as the Instructional Services Librarian at a local community college. We talk about some of the job duties, keeping up with instruction trends, and working with a small group of amazing colleagues.

BiblioFiles: We have a whole episode today discussing one of the latest popular representations of librarianship in media, TNT's series The Librarians. Following the made-for-TV movies, The Librarians follows newcomers to the magical library that contains the world's remaning magical artifacts. But how well does it do? We have Adena for a fellow librarian/archivist perspective and Kat as our architecture expert and library layman. Is The Librarians really about librarians? Let's decide that together.

Mind Grapes: Sam says Yes, Please to Amy Poehler's memoirs; Alli thoroughly enjoyed the colourful zaniness of Kingsman: The Secret Service. Nerd Alert!: It's finally that time - Sam recaps her experiences on JoCo Cruise 5, talking about the performances, the activities, and the people that make it such a special trip and remarkable community.

Mind Grapes: Sam and Alli have a very movie heavy couple of weeks. Sam talks soapboxes and lack of soapboxes with the newest version of Annie and the freshly snubbed film Selma about the civil rights movement. Alli talks The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies, the latest Hunger Games movie, and touches briefly on Into the Woods. Where do we put this?: So, no surprise, we have been very, very busy. So how to we keep track of all that? What are our personal organization systems when it comes to balancing work, social lives, D&D games, and many other commitments? Alli talks about the pen-and-paper system that she's been trying out in the form of the Bullet Journal. Sam discusses the difficulties in finding programs that do everything we want them to when it comes to organization. Get it touch - how do you keep your life together?

Mind Grapes: Alli's been getting back to some older, yet awesome, T.V. with back episodes of Leverage. Robert's been getting some awesome indie game action with Year Walk. Inspired by her interview with Writers and Company, Sam reads the late P.D. James's most recent book Death Comes to Pemberley. Class Z(ed): We continue our series of interviewing friends who have just gotten their first jobs out of school, but this time, with an awesome twist! Our dear friend Robert McLelland completed a Masters of Archival Studies at the University of British Columbia this spring and has landed an awesome first job as a local community archivist. He tells us a bit about the differences in the job hunting process, some of his day-to-day work, and how the degree in Archival Studies has shaped and informed his view of the profession.