And another one (for good luck)

I decided since I was already at the site that I could probably take another minute to make at least one more animated gif.

I'm not sure that I am as impressed with this one as the las one, but it is certain better than a few of my other attempts.


GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator

Cameron: 7
Neil: 0

A few of my favourite things

Thanks to a Hearing Voices post I came across a site that combines two of my favourite things: libraries and animated gifs.

The New York Public Library's Stereogranimator provides one with the opportunity to convert old stereographs into 3D anaglyphs or animated gifs.  Obviously, I decided to focus my attention on the animated gif option (though I did play around with one of the 3D anaglyphs).




GIF made with the NYPL Labs Stereogranimator

Some of sterographs are better than others, but with a little work you should be able to find one that will allow you to get a neat 3D effect pretty easily.

Cameron: 6
Neil: 0

A Few Quick Notes 559

-When I woke up yesterday it was close to -13 or -14.  By the time I went to bed last night the temperature was hovering around 0.  Today we reached a high of 11.  You may not be surprised to learn that the snow we received on Friday is now gone.

-This evening I borrowed a bread cookbook from my local public library.  Of course, I didn't even remember to consult this cookbook before beginning this evening's bread baking exercise (I ended up just going for a pumpkin/molasses/whole wheat/multigrain improvisation).

I may not be good a following recipes, but at least I am getting much better at making just one loaf of bread at a time.

-Listening to actors talk about acting is the worst, it's probably even worse than listening to pop musicians talk about what their music is about.

-Thanks to some inside info from my father about the relationship between meat consumption and kidney stone formation I have recently drastically reduced my consumption of meat.  So far I have been surprised how easy this has been to do, and how cheap.  If I learn to make it to foods more nutritious than rice it might even be healthy!

-Check out the hot plane puns the Judiciary Committe made in the title of its 2006 report on the Air Marshal's dress code.

Funny timing

Given my last post I thought it was funny that this afternoon I should happen to find in my RSS feed a report about the future of Via Rail.

To help with that party vibe

Frequently the Killam Library has something of a party vibe. Instead of studying, many students sit around at large tables and socialize. On some evenings it is a particularly raucous and happening place.

I am now starting to wonder if this state of affairs isn't related to something that I found on the fifth floor.

A place that makes the location of its 'staff ounce' known is surely the obvious place to go for a party. Apparently all kinds of the undergrads knew about this before I did.

A Few Quick Notes 550

-After a few days of cooler temperatures we seem to have headed back into the mid-twenties. Though it has occasionally been a bit muggy recently, I think that on the whole this weather is fine for this time of year.

-Yesterday some friends from Halifax came out to visit. After doing some apple u-picking we had lunch and then all played some pick-up Ultimate. All in all I think we all had a very enjoyable afternoon.

-Maybe a week ago my father brought to my attention a telephone and internet deal. Almost immediately I signed up for the deal as it will mean a 50% reduction in our telecommunications costs, at least that is what I am hoping will be the case. The aspect of the new arrangement that I am a little worried about is that for maybe two days we may have overlapping service. Anyway, if we don't have a fully functioning phone or internet connection for a few days starting tomorrow afternoon don't be surprised (and I am sure that many of you might be saddened by the prospect of not getting more of these updates for a few days).

Anyway, I just hope the transition is smoother than I am fearing it will be.

-Earlier today I finished reading my first ebook (I read it on an iPad). Much to my surprise, the experience was much more pleasant than I might have expected. Of course, the book didn't have illustrations screw with formatting and as I was reading the book recreationally the fact that it didn't have page numbers wasn't problematic. I can definitely see myself reading ebooks in the future, particularly as public libraries provide larger and larger ebook collections.

It's hard to believe that this is real

I am not even entirely sure what to make of this, but it is definitely impressive.



[Embedded video]

I am curious how many more libraries will adopt similar storage and retrieval systems? Also, I am curious to know how much it cost to implement such a system.

A Few Quick Notes 519

-At the moment is experiencing an intermittently heavy rainfall. The only good news is that it is not too cold, actually it is almost 10 degrees outside.

-I am gathering that today is the day we 'spring forward,' but I have absolutely no idea what time it is right now. I feel that clocks in our apartment might be displaying three different hours. The worst part is that it is surely the latest of the three times.

-Last night we were able to watch Gushue play Stoughton in the first play-off game of this year's brier. Of course this means that we were able to see the measure for 1 in the tenth and Gushue horrible shot in 11 to set Stoughton up for the win. Bummer.

-Yesterday I finally made it to the library to pick up my prize for placing third in the library video contest. As some of you have guessed, the bracelet flash drive that I mentioned yesterday was part of the prize, the rest of the prize was a re-usable cloth bag. Of course, while we were picking up my prize Jeannette and I entered a raffle and Jeannette ended up winning the same two items and a $15 credit that can be used towards things like photocopying or on-campus food.

-I think I am now 3 for 14 in this year's RUTRTW contest. Yesterday's 0 for 3 run didn't do much to help my record.

Perfect gift

Because it was recently my mother's birthday I have been thinking about things that might make appropriate gifts for her. Today I think I came across the perfect gift for my father to give my mother - a rubber flash drive bracelet.

One of these would be perfect because it would combine my father's favourite thing to give (flash drives) with my mother's favourite thing to get (jewelry). And, in this case, the funds would go to support a good cause. Who doesn't win in this scenario?

Plus, who wouldn't want one of these puppies? These things are so hot right now that I almost burned my wrist while I was wearing it earlier today (or maybe that was just the rubber burn that it caused when I was putting my sweater on)

The only thing that might make it better is if it said "Savestrong" instead of "Dalhousie Libraries."

Victory

Apparently I took third place in the Dal Library's Love the Library video contest.

Apparently I have won a prize, though as of right now I don't know exactly what the prize is.

Anyway, if you are interested in seeing my 'award winning' film it is located below for your viewing pleasure.



[Embedded video]

Neat idea

A friend of mine from library school recently started a blog drawing attention to types information/things that are not available online.

I really like the idea of being reminded that there are all kinds of things that aren't yet available online (or that may never be available online). In particular, it is nice to be reminded of those things that aren't online that we might expect to find online. What about all of those government records that have been created electronically since the 1980s that still aren't available online?

And I guess another important purpose is to remind people of the utility of those institutions that do house this information. For better or worse, and whether we like it or not, libraries and archives still remain the only places to get some materials. Newfoundland's pre-confederation records are still only available at the provincial archive. If you want to see them you have to go there in person.

Anyway, if this sounds as though it might be the kind of thing that would interest you I would encourage you to check the site out (and even make suggestions as to other types of information that might be included).

Score
Cameron 57
Neil 0

Reading and stuff

Yesterday, as part of my preparations for my upcoming comprehensive exam, I went to the library and borrowed a few books. The book that I have started to read is Thomas S. Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 2nd ed., apparently the popular edition of the work.

Though I had heard of Kuhn and his famous paradigms before yesterday, I really didn't know much about Kuhn or his work (not that I know all that much now).

Anyway, the first thing that I learned about Kuhn is that he was trained as a physicist. Given that I have only encountered his work in the context of the social sciences this surprised me. I guess that as the book was classified in the Qs I should have had a hint as to the nature of the author's subject and training.

On a related note, I also didn't really know that Kuhn's focus is largely hard science/s (i.e. physics and optics and whatnot). That his work is so frequently discussed in the social sciences seems to have been something of a coincidence, rather than Kuhn's goal when writing the book (though this is not to suggest that he didn't think about the social sciences in the development of his ideas). The following paragraph from the Wiki article on the book seems to sum things up nicely:

In 1987, Kuhn's work was reported to be the twentieth-century book most frequently cited in the period 1976-83 in the Arts and the Humanities and the Times Literary Supplement labeled it one of "The Hundred Most Influential Books Since the Second World War." The book's basic concepts have been adopted and co-opted by a variety of fields and disciplines beyond those encompassing the history and philosophy of science.

Anyway, all of this was just to say that I am enjoying the book so far. In some ways it reminds me of reading Orwell or Huxley as a teenager.

I guess I should probably get back to work.

Score
Cameron 56
Neil 0

A Few Quick Notes 513

-Today was a pretty standard winter's day - warmer while the sun was shining and cold in the evening. Not surprisingly, the official record, as recorded by Environment Canada, doesn't seem to reflect the reality of todays ups and downs.

-It seems that Roll Up the Rim to Win has started again. Apparently, though I would never have guessed it, the competition is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Anyway, I am off to a disappointing 0 for 1 start.

-I have started searching the library's catalogue to find the books that I will need to prepare for my upcoming comprehensive exam. This have not gotten off to an auspicious start. Two of the four books that I have searched for are not held but the library but will need to be brought in from other universities in the region. Sadly, this rate of success isn't a surprise.

-Peter and I enjoyed tonight's Old Man Luedecke show. It is possible that this will be the final show of this concert series that I will attend, though I guess there is some chance that I might go to Amelia Curran/City and Colour show on Friday.

-I guess I should get back to locating/requesting library books. Maybe, if I am lucky, I will even get to start reading one of the articles I printed earlier this evening.

-It would be really great if Neil took a few minutes to throw up a post or two. The margin by which I am winning is starting to become a little embarrassing.

Score
Cameron 53
Neil 0

Parade of Books

A few weeks ago I noticed that the Dalhousie Libraries were going to be hosting a video contest with an e-reader as the grand prize. Not surprisingly, to enter the contest one had to create and submit a video "telling us why you love the Dal Libraries."

At first I didn't think that this would be the contest for me, mainly because I couldn't think of a good way of approaching the topic. Eventually I settled on some kind of stop-motion/time-lapse content. Of course, that isn't really enough of an idea to build a video so I had to think about it for a few more days.

I eventually decided to go with a stop-motion thing that would then convey a message about the library.

Anyway, I decided to give it a shot this afternoon and this is what I came up with.



[Embedded video]

Definitely not the best stop-motion work, but considering that no planning went into the shooting of this video I think it turned out relatively well.

They are planning on releasing the results in early March. If I hear back from the contest administrators I will be sure to let you know by what margin I lost.

Score
Cameron 39
Neil 0

A Few Quick Notes 500

-We had another cold, clear winter's day today in Halifax. Fortunately, aside from a few quick trips outdoors, I was able spend most of my day out of the cold. It seems that we should be in for more of the same tomorrow.

-Jeannette and Rebecca (but mostly Jeannette) just talked me into baking some cupcake. Given my desire to procrastinate it didn't take long to talk me into the proposition. I am now waiting for them to cool before icing them. I must say, I am definitely looking forward to chomping down on one or two of these in just a few minutes (as this salad thing as meant that we basically haven't had dessert in a month).

-For dinner we had a roast chicken, baked potatoes, and boiled vegetables. I was pretty satisfied with the meal.

-The almost non-existent Canadian Library of Parliament website is a real bummer. I know they don't want to be bombarded with questions from the public, but it would at least be nice to be able to ask them questions about the documents and reports that they produce. It seems completely unreasonable that they don't even make readily available a contact email address or phone number (they give you only the general Parliament contact information).

-In preparation for my comps I have been trying out some ear plugs. I always find it funny how many different sounds I hear while sporting ear plugs. In many ways my jaw is almost as distracting as someone typing on the other side of the room.

-There seems to be some shouting going on somewhere behind our apartment building. Unfortunately it seems to be just far enough away that I can't quite make out what they are saying. That I can't figure it out is probably fine, it doesn't sound as though anything particularly nice is being said.

-So we now have 500 of these. In some ways I am surprised that there are this many and on the other hand I am a little surprised that it took me so many years to get to 500. It is also hard to believe that the blog has now existed in parts of at least 6 years. Who would have guessed that it would have such a long life-span when it was started all of those years ago? Also, who would have guessed that Neil would almost stop posting within a year or two?

A Few Quick Notes 497

-Though today started off in the -14 range, as time has passed the temperature has steadily risen. Though it is now -2 the temperature is predicated to reach a few degrees above freezing by later tonight. I have to agree with Environment Canada that this is "an abnormal temperature trend."

-Today I bought a few blood oranages (also known as moro oranges). I opted for the regular priced bulk oranges at $1.95 a pound instead of the on sale 2 pound bags at $4.49. I am not sure if I feel about about spotting the chance to save or bad for all the people who will be suckered into paying the higher price.

-I am currently studying and drinking some yerba mate with my new bombilla. The big problem with this set up seems to be that the ability of the metal bombilla to conduct heat makes drinking the beverage when warm a little unpleasant. Of course, if you like really hot metal tubes that squirt equally hot water into your mouth than this may be the set up for you.

-The Dalhousie libraries website is really unpleasant to use. It is so frustrating when it is clear that so much effort has been put into a project that takes one further away from the goal than they were when the started.

Canadian Political Science connection or where that library book came from

A few months ago, when I started to prepare for my comprehensive exams, I checked a number of books out from the library. Over the course of the past few months I have been slowly making my way through these books. Relatively early on the the process I noticed that one of the books, The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence by Donald Creighton, had a signature on the front end paper.

At first I didn't really pay much attention to the signature as I assumed that it had been placed there by one of the book's borrowers at some point in the past 70 years. Then, a few months ago, for some reason or another I gave the signature another look.

Much to my surprise I found that the signature resembled the name of one of the significant figures in Canadian political science: R. MacGregor Dawson.



That his signature appear in a Dalhousie Library book didn't make much sense to me at first. Fortunately, a quick search shed some light on the situation. Amazingly, it seems that not only was Dawson born in Nova Scotia, but he received his BA and MA from Dalhousie and also had his first teaching gig at the university. The book was published by a prominent University of Toronto scholar at about the time Dawson arrived in Toronto.

I presume that upon his death in 1958 Dawson's books, or a portion of them, were donated to the Dalhousie libraries and have then been in circulation since then. Sadly, the bibliographic record for this book does not seem to note its provenance or provide me a way of finding out if there are other books from the same source (which there likely are).

Why I am mentioning any of this is that I just find it neat to think that because of the signature inside the front cover of this book I am able observe a connection (even if it only one individual owning the other's book) between two prominent early 20th century Canadian writers. It is also kind of neat to think that at some point Dawson was likely hunched over the same book I am now hunched over. I wonder if he was as displeased with the writing style as I am?

A Few Quick Notes 476

-Yesterday, for the first time this year, we had a real snowfall. For better or worse, most of the remnants of this snowfall have now melted or otherwise disappeared. I presume that this means that we will now be in for more similar weather over the coming days and months.

-We managed to rather decisively lose our first Ultimate game of the new winter season. Though it wasn't our only problem, our team was not helped by a high absence rate. Hopefully more of us will turn up next week and we will be able to provide our opponents with a better game.

-The aforementioned shift towards more winter-like weather seems to have encouraged a few more mice to invade our apartment. Fortunately, aside from one that we caught a few days ago, most of the evidence that we have that these guys are living in the building comes from hearing them in the walls rather than seeing evidence of them in the apartment. I think our continued efforts to plug holes with steel wool has really helped things, though I guess I shouldn't be so confident yet.

-This afternoon Peter and I attended a talk that presented the findings of a study that examined the ways in which Dal students used the Killam Library. One of the aspects of the talk, which was quite enjoyable, that I found most interesting was that the findings of the study were not effectively integrated into the development of new library website (even though the research was conducted in a way that would provide the designers with feedback).

A Few Quick Notes 474

-After a several day period of clear skies it seems that Halifax is now, once again, sheathed in clouds. The prediction is that this cloud cover will soon lead to rain, which would be a less than well-received turn of events.

-This morning I made an early trip to the grocery store so that I would be able to take advantage of an excellent butter sale, the first such sale in months. I had to go early because in such circumstances the butter tends to move quickly, particularly on Tuesdays as students get a ten percent discount. As it turned out, I was able to pick up 5 pounds of butter without much hassle.

-Yesterday, by taking two trips to the law library, I was able to pick up a few old Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (which was Canada's highest court of appeal until 1949) rulings that I need/ed to read. Though they turned out not to be all that difficult to find, I had been allowing myself to neglect this task for the past several months.

-While at the law library I was reminded that I really don't like the way the Dalhousie law library is run, particularly in relation to non-law students. For instance, instead of automatically granting graduate students the full loan period for a book their system has a shorter loan period as the default (you have to know to ask for the extra time if you want it). Also, study rooms and certain databases are unavailable to non-law students. Such practices seem to run contrary to the idea of an academic library (providing access to information and furthering the creation of knowledge in an academic community), but they are also more restrictive than those of non-Dalhousie libraries to which I have access through consortial arrangements.

-I guess I should get back to work now that I have bragged about my butter score and vented about the Dalhousie law library.

I don't know what to think about this

My former library school classmate (and Thursday games night regular) Ahniwa today posted a link to this story about the McMaster University library system getting rid of their reference desks. While I am sure that the University Librarian's stats are correct and that the library is experiencing fewer references requests each year, I wonder what the long-term impact of such a move will be. Will library users know that the library offers the range of services that they do? Is the library system inadvertently creating a generation of users (future graduate students and faculty members) unfamiliar with the types of services that might be provided by a academic reference librarian? Will library users be familiar enough with libraries so that they might initiate contact? Will it matter that "librarians will have their time freed up for interactions with faculty in their labs, offices and classrooms," as the University Librarian suggests will be the case?