I.Heart.LCSH

After weeks of torture in Cataloging, I think we've finally come to an area that I can (somewhat) embrace - LCSH!! (Library of Congress Subject Headings, y'all!)

I don't know why, but I do love the classification of *things*. I've always loved organizing things and making order out of chaos, so this part deux of the class is something I can relate to more than the description of items. Classification and organization are two of the main reasons why I'm drawn to IA (information architecture) work. Finding similarities in items that appear to have no relationship is tricky, whether it is in a catalog or on a website. The main idea is to get users to find the item and hopefully, matched up categories correctly so that they get from searching to finding rather painlessly.

Pete Morville talks about "findability" in his blogs, books, etc. He is one of the forerunners in the area of IA and, I think, quite brilliant. One thing he comes back to and, really this is oversimplified but true, "You can't use what you can't find." I think if Cutter were alive today he'd be leading the charge with Pete and the rest of them in the "user experience" movement and making things more 'findable' whether it be in a database or on the web.

I'm not going to blather on, but I thought I'd leave some good resources on the topic of user experience, findability and IA in general. I hope you get some time to check these out:

Findability - http://findability.org/

UX Zeitgeist - http://rosenfeldmedia.com/uxzeitgeist/
(great place to link to books, articles, etc. on the "above" mentioned topics)

What is IA? - http://iainstitute.org/en/learn/resources/what_is_ia.php
(probably should have started here first...basic def. of what IA is by the Information Architecture Institute)

Getting over the Hump...A Call to Action

I started off this day in a really brash kinda mood, but a glass a wine and 2 sleeping kids later, I realized I need to soften up a bit.

After reading articles, blogs, discussion boards,...you name it...about how there is no money, lay offs, no jobs, etc....I got really, really ticked off!! For example, here was the start of my orig. post from this morning:

Librarians Should Not Have to Work for FREE!!!

The rant continued but I realized that all I was doing was...well..ranting. And while it feels good in the moment, it doesn't really change the fact that libraries still have no money, lay offs...you get the point.

So here's my "to do" list...I need to add more, but this was my first attempt. My top 5 are:

1. Become a "friend" of the local library
2. Get to know my local librarians better
3. Learn how to advocate for my library
4. Find out what the issues are and FB everybody and their brother about them
5. Attend a city council meeting

If I want libraries to be around for my kids to enjoy, then I'm going to have to start making a statement about why these places are important, and not just to me, but from a community point of view. The "why" is a heck of a lot more important these days than the "what".

So out with the bun and the 'shushing'; no more whining about how we are devalued, underpaid, not appreciated...we aren't having that anymore...it's time for a change in our voices and I want to start ushering in that change in my own way.

Cheers,

Amy