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February 21, 2008
How Everyone Contributes
If you ever wonder about the way that an organization works, you need to look at the way that people behind the scenes operate. At the Kresge Library, we have twenty positions. It is easy, in a library, to focus on the number of "professional positions" that you have, or how many librarians you have one staff. We have 8 (myself included).
But the way that I look at the library is that we all have a role to play and we all contribute to the general success of the operation. While it is sometimes hard to articulate this, one example came over the radio this morning.
Morning Edition's Susan Stamberg did a piece on the Script Supervisor this morning. When a movie is made and acknowledged during the awards shows, like the Oscars, we have awards for actors, directors, pictures, cinematographers, art directors, etc. But there are critical roles in the making of a movie that rarely shine in the light.
For a library to be productive, you need great people doing professional work. You need to convey to everyone that their work is critical to the operation of the unit. This is true if we are working with faculty on a research project, with students on a MAP team, and with staff as well compile course packs. It is also true when we collect the mail, when we check in periodicals, when we update web-pages. I hope I convey that. I guess it is something that we always need to work on.
This entry was posted in the following categories: Business Librarianship , Management Philosophy , Movies & Popular Culture , Other Library Work , The World of LibrariesPosted by cseeman at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)
Happy Birthday - Papa Smurf
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you...
The smurfs turn 50 this year. Actually, not until October, but it is never too early to plan. See the story from NPR's Morning Edition.
If you need more smurfs in your life, visit the Happy Smurfday Site.
For more about the smurfs, please visit the "about" page.
This entry was posted in the following categories: Completely Off Topic! , Movies & Popular CulturePosted by cseeman at 08:54 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2008
Chris' Crowd Report for Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts
This was from Chris after last night's movie.
I saw a special program showing the animated academy award nominated shorts today. There were about 10 - 20 people. There were no trailers. Here are the shorts, their descriptions, & my opinion on them.
The nominated Animated Shorts:
I MET THE WALRUS
In 1969, fourteen-year-old Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room with his tape recorder and persuaded him to do an interview.
This was my favorite of the shorts, as i loved the animation & the reality comdinding with comedy. This is I Met The Walrus, my favorite short.
MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI
A timid woman boards a mysterious night train and has a series of frightening experiences.
The animation & visuals were very good, & the beginning was funny, but afterwards, It became disturbing & hard to follow. It was still good.
MEME LES PIGEONS VONT AU PARADIS (EVEN PIGEONS GO TO HEAVEN);
A priest tries to sell an old man a machine that he promises will transport him to heaven.
Hilarious & clever, Even Pigeons Go To Heaven & it's pixarish style gave me a fun experience with one lesson. Don't mess with death.
MY LOVE (MOYA LYUBOV);
In nineteenth-century Russia, a teenage boy in search of love is drawn to two very different women.
I admired the gorgeous animation & the clever story & visualizations, but it rambled on a bit too long. It also had some elements that children should never see....
PETER & THE WOLF
A young boy and his animal friends face a hungry wolf in Prokofiev's classic musical piece.
I liked this short with it's animation, story, & music. It was just too bad that I had to leave early before the ending, but I won't tell why.It was still good for what I saw.
I really liked these shorts. I hope you do too.
_________________
Step aside remy! There's a new pixar star in town, & his name is Wall-E!
Posted by cseeman at 06:30 AM | Comments (0)
February 06, 2008
Observations from Super Tuesday
Thinking about politics (duh).
Here are some observations on Super Tuesday.
First, the timing of these primaries is a joke. Everyone wanted to move their primary up to make their vote relevant. What happened in this process is that there were too many states - so the candidates did not really campaign in the states at all. So at the end of the day (to quote my brother), Iowa and New Hampshire are even MORE influential in this process.
Second, for the Democrats - we need a real vote for Michigan and Florida. Not everyone was on the ballot in Michigan and Florida was a beauty pageant. So these two critical states lost everything by going early. Clinton cannot claim that she deserves both - because the Michigan Democratic contest was a joke - with many candidates not on the ballot.
Third, winner take all does not belong in the primaries. I can buy this for the electoral college in the general election, but for someone to win 34% of the vote and take all the delegates - there is something wrong there. Glad this is an issue primarily for the GOP.
Fourth, say what you will about Clinton and Obama - what seems to be surprising is the total number of Democrats who are voting. I will put out some examples later, but they are clearly drawing people into the process. Hopefully, good turnout in the primaries will lead to closer races in the red states. Check out the Tennessee Results
Fifth, McCain in the new Kerry. Kerry became the front runner in 2004 based on the best alternative and carrying the mantle of elect-ability. I really like John McCain and I think he would do a great job - but if he has to change his message to reach out to conservatives, he might not be so attractive to independents. If he wins the nomination, he might have good support - like Dole had in 1996, but not what Bush did in 2000 and 2004. -- ADDED COMMENT - Remember that Kerry was also left for dead in the fall of 2003. It could be eerie. What would be interesting is if McCain chooses Lieberman as his running mate. He is actually more conservative that McCain in many regards and could reach out to the Independents and Democrats. I could also be a complete mess...
Sixth, Obama did better and won the states that Democrats do NOT typically win. Just a quick comment - I need to look at the numbers. But Obama won states like Missouri, Idaho, Utah, etc. Clinton took Tennessee, but this seems to be an interesting trend.
Seventh, even freaking Ryan Seacrest and American Idol judges know how to run a contest. Let's let them work out a primary schedule for 2012. After all, the contest for that nomination starts next week.
--added one more--
Eighth, maybe the polls are a bit less reliable because people are voting in numbers that are not truly expected. I know you think about New Hampshire when Clinton surprised everyone with a big win. The difference, many more women voting than was expected or polled (I think). So the surveys and the elections can be quite different.
Certainly makes for good television, especially with the writers on strike!
Posted by cseeman at 05:51 AM | Comments (0)
February 05, 2008
For Marketing, the Most Valuable Player Might Be YouTube
From the New York Times
Advertising
For Marketing, the Most Valuable Player Might Be YouTube
By STUART ELLIOTT
Published: February 5, 2008
The Internet, digital video recorders, mobile devices and other technologies are giving a strong postgame presence to the annual roster of Super Bowl commercials.
Follow this link for the full article.
With more and more advertising available via YouTube and other resources, it is easier than ever to find and use advertising in your research.
The trick is getting the file so you can use it on your desktop when you are not connected to the Internet. Previously, I wrote about a great web application that you can use to grab YouTube videos and convert them to MP4 files.
It has the amazingly logical name of: YouTube to iPod and PSP Converter and it is a small program that will download and convert into an MP4 file format among others. Good for your iPod, your PowerPoint, your...well, whatever. This is from DVDVIDEOSOFT.COM and is free.
For students and faculty at the Ross School of Business, there is also Adforum. This database provides access to over 35,000 advertisements in all media. The focus is international. The database has audio and video capability. The source also provides access to news and other information relating to the advertising industry, including agency information. Be sure to log off as directed on the password sign on screen.
Posted by cseeman at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2008
Made in the USA
From the New York Times
Sports / Pro Football
At a Small Ohio Factory, Leather and Laces Mesh
By KATIE THOMAS
Published: February 2, 2008
The National Football League is the only major sports league whose balls are manufactured in the United States.
--from the article--
The N.F.L. is the only major sports league whose balls are manufactured in the United States. World Series baseballs come from a factory in Costa Rica. Basketballs in the N.B.A. finals first bounced on the floors of factories in China.
--end--
This is all pretty amazing. I assumed that none of our equipment was made locally anymore. I know it makes sense from an economic point of view to move jobs to where they can be done more efficiently, but will any of us be working if that were to happen? How much would a football cost that we would buy for our kids if it were made here? That is the real question I have.
Here is Ada, Ohio:
This entry was posted in the following categories: Business Librarianship , Completely Off Topic! , The Culture of SportsPosted by cseeman at 06:26 AM | Comments (0)