In 1961, America was all about the mission. A directive that sounds simple was but was anything but. The Space Race between the USA and the USSR was on. Both sides were engaged in a game of technological Can You Top This? and the Russians were winning. Cold War America was held in the grip…
There are many ways of celebrating May 1 (also variously known as May Day, Beltane, and International Workers’ Day), some of which are rather more risque (and fun!) than others. A less fun option is bellowing about one’s favorite cause on the Internet. Two groups in particular drive me nuts: the Socialists and the Capitalists. …
No introduction I could possibly write would do justice to this great article by Joe Bageant, so I’m just going to post the first few paragraphs then provide a link: The Audacity of Depression By JOE BAGEANT One of the best things about the hundred or so book festivals in America is that, with luck,…
A link to this op-ed in the Gainesville Sun has been making the rounds of the library grapevine, mostly on PUBLIB but also on TSLIBRARIANS, which is where I read it. It’s an anti-library rant, and not a very coherent one at that. Since it’s been a couple of years since I last gave an…
I remember indexing class at Queens College’s MLIS program: it was called "GSLIS 743, Indexing, Abstracting, and Other Access Systems," met for three hours a week and was filled with about 40 individuals who just wanted to get through the course and on their ways to more interesting things. Over the course of the semester…