ASI's First Golden Turkey Award

From the American Society for Indexing web site:

ASI Announces Golden Turkey Award
Sarah Palin's Book Receives ASI's First Golden Turkey Honors

Wheat Ridge, CO (November 20, 2009)—The American Society for Indexing (ASI) wishes to present its Golden Turkey Award for misadventures in indexing to Sarah Palin and HarperCollins for Going Rogue. In these days of Google and full-text search, many people don’t realize how crucial the art and science of indexing still is. (See comments at http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-11-12/the-missing-pages-in-palins-book/ for some particularly disturbing evidence of public failure to recognize the value of good finding aids.) Palin’s book performs a crucial public service. The inaccessibility of information in this text makes it clear to any reader that a good index is essential to a book’s long-term value. <read complete press release>

Biblioburro

Now this is library outreach.

Stevenson High School officials halt publication of student newspaper, the Statesman -- chicagotribune.com

Stevenson High School officials halt publication of student newspaper, the Statesman -- chicagotribune.com

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Indexing Humor

From Slate.com

The Going Rogue Index
Sarah Palin didn't put an index in her book. So we made one for her.

By Christopher Beam
Posted Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009, at 10:52 PM ET

When Sarah Palin's 413-page autobiography, Going Rogue: An American Life, hit stands Tuesday, readers discovered the governor's most mavericky move yet: The book lacks an index. So Slate has compiled its own. Just print out this index, paste it into the back of your copy, and start skipping around! (And, yes, the page numbers are real.)

Al Franken draws a map of the U.S. | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ

This is pretty awesome. Could you do this?

Al Franken draws a map of the U.S. | Minnesota Public Radio NewsQ

Other Geography Awareness Week fun:

http://mywonderfulworld.org/gaw.html

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/12/departments/senator-maps

Crazy Monday

I came in to the office with two meetings on my calendar, both of which should have taken a combined 3 hours. They ended up taking 4.5 hours, and I had two add-on meetings which took about another 1.5 hours. So, there went 6 hours of my day.

After performing a triage on my email, I will be looking at Online Office in my courses. If you've posted a question to me there or in the other question forums/topics in D2L, I will respond to you by the end of the day.

After that message triage, I am working on grading materials as quickly as I can. Here's my to-do list, in order:

1. Grade Quiz 1 for INFS 2210
2. Grade Assignment 6 for INFS 1000
   
3. Grade Imaginative Works, Images and Sounds assignment for INFS 2210
4. Grade INFS 1000 complete midterms

Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

The Farmington Independent | Farmington, Minnesota

The Farmington Independent | Farmington, Minnesota

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Child protection or censorship? - Latest News - Kentucky.com

This story raises a number of issues relevant to information literacy and freedom of information. What do you think?
Child protection or censorship? - Latest News - Kentucky.com

Millennials in the Library Teleconference

	MCTC LIT Program
	Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Room S3420 1501 Hennepin Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55403 US
When:	Friday, November 13, 10:45AM to 1:00PM
Phone:	612-659-6290 to RSVP; ask for Ginny Heinrich
The Millennial Generation, Generation Y, Echo Boomers, Digital Natives, and the Trophy Generation are all terms used to describe people born in the United States between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. They have been shaped by a heady mix of culture, politics, and technology. "Millennials" have had an unprecedented exposure to mass media, pop culture, instant communication, and cultural freedom woven together by a complex technological net. It is daunting to try to classify a group of over 70 million people easily. Our teleconference will seek to add nuance to these classifications to help us understand them more fully and answer the questions: Who are Millennials? How can our libraries better serve them as patrons, students, and staff? Speaker Jennifer Kushell At 35, Jennifer Kushell has lead a movement inspiring young people to pursue their professional dreams for more than a decade. As the president and co-founder of YSN.com ("Your Success Network"), she spearheaded development of the first professionally focused network dedicated to supporting emerging adults (Gen X and Millennials) as they transition from home and school into the real world. In working with young people from over 100 countries, YSN's mission is to ensure that no young person lacks access to opportunity to realize their full potential. YSN enables the next generation workforce in exploring their passions, building their professional identities, and pursuing opportunities across the globe. Fee No charge; registration is required. Agenda 10:45 - 11 am - Check-in, Welcome 11 am - 12:30 pm - Teleconference 12:30 - 1 pm - Facilitated on-site discussion

Newspapers as Information Sources

Local newspapers are declining in numbers, but this issue is about more than just the newsprint format itself; it's about jobs, investigative reporting, and actual fact-checking before distribution. I think that's kind of a big deal. What do you think?

DeFilippo, Frank A. "What it Means When a City Loses its Paper." Splice Today. 2 Nov. 2009. Splice Today LLC. 3 Nov. 2009. http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/what-it-means-when-a-city-loses-its-paper

Campus Card Update

From the Director of Auxiliary Services:

MCTC Community,

We are pleased to announce the roll out of www.mctccampuscard.com

This secure website provides new functionality to add value to your card, check balances, view transactions, as well as email notifications to alert you when your card falls below a user defined amount. We are confident you will find this to be a valuable tool in the management of your card account. Complete instructions detailing access and functionality exist on the website tool bar under Online Access Instructions.

Please note that two funds exist within your Campus Card account. Parking and Maverick $. Maverick $ can be loaded and used for Bookstore and Sodexo Dining purchases. Parking can be loaded and used for Parking only. Values can not be moved between funds.

Don't stand in line, manage your account ONLINE!
It's easy, convenient, and funds are on your account instantly....how cool is that?...yep, pretty cool!



Gary Westerland
Director of Auxiliary Services
Minneapolis Community and Technical College
612-659-6854
Gary.Westerland@minneapolis.edu

The Future of Reading

I read an interesting piece in Library Journal today (citation below), sent to me thanks to my subscription to "Library Link of the Day." It is about the future of reading (hence the post title), and in turn, libraries. It raises several issues which I think are interesting, but more importantly perhaps it also includes a "Reader Bill of Rights for the Digital Era" for this brave new world of electronic books, etc. In it, it raises several issues for individuals as well as libraries to consider. What do you think? Add your comments here, or post in our course Hallway Conversations discussion forum.

Peters, Tom. "The Future of Reading." Library Journal. 1 Nov. 2009. Reed Business Information. 2 Nov. 2009. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6703852.html

Survey Results: How are you doing in your classes this semester?

Votes are in!

This semester is awesome and better than I expected!	1 (25%)
Everything's okay and I'm doing about as well as I thought I would be.	2 (50%)
This semester is a little shaky for me; not my best.	1 (25%)
I'm completely overwhelmed and freaking out.	2 (50%)