Who does a brisker business: Netflix, Redbox, or your local library? Redbox lends 1.4 million, Netflix lends 2 million, and U.S. libraries lend 2.1 million DVDs per day. The survey was conducted by OCLC (Online Library Computer Center) and they don't lie!
July 2010 Archives
My husband is mildly obsessed with Old Spice commercials. It's sort of rubbing off on me. Apparently we're not the only ones! Here's a little video that Old Spice created in response to pleas (of a grad school classmate of mine) on Twitter:
And... 'cause that wasn't awesome enough... here's an even cooler one that was made at the BYU library.
With the man your grades could be like. Think about it.
We might even let you play with the book carts.
Yeah, probably not.
When the phone rang this afternoon, the caller's dilemma was one that I hear about a lot: "I'm trying to get an article and it won't let me log in."
This happens for a variety of reasons, so I went into troubleshooting mode. The lady was attempting to log in to JSTOR. Here's a rough transcript of our conversation:
Me: "Okay. What are you typing in as your username?"
Lady: "gobbledygook" [not really, but you get the idea]
Me: "Hm. Okay. What is your Seton Hill email address?" [your database username is typically the first part of your SHU email, the portion before the "@" symbol]
Lady: "janet.doe@students.shu.edu" [or something to that effect]
Me: "Oh! Um, ma'am, are you a student at Seton HALL University, in New Jersey?"
Lady: "Um, yes, why?"
Me: "Well, because this is Seton HILL, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania."
The two schools are often mistaken for one another, but I've never heard of a student confusing the two before. I wonder how she ended up on our website or with our number!
One of the enjoyable things about being a librarian is serendipitously finding something interesting while researching something completely different. In my search today on a completely unrelated subject I found an interesting video on youtube.com. A Japanese artist, Isao Hashimoto, has created various works on the topic of nuclear weapons. The one I stumbled upon is a video entitled 1945-1988 which deals with the 2053 nuclear tests/explosions that occurred worldwide during that time period. It shows where any by which country the explosions the explosions took place. There are also sound effects and score areas to see which countries were doing what. Guess which country “won?” Anyway it is interesting to watch the proliferation and the eventual decrease in the numbers.
Of course the libraries in Pennsylvania took a financial hit when the governor signed the latest budget. Except for one!
Budget Gives, Takes Away From Libraries: State Budget Includes $10M For A New Library
I know this post is not related to libraries but I found the headline of this newspaper story from England's MailOnline and had conflicting reactions. It's sad but is it also humorous?
Firefighter denies manslaughter of farmer 'who was trampled to death by cows spooked by engine's siren'
