Today I installed the Zotero plug-in for my Firefox web browser. Zotero is a neat little plug-in that allows you to easily cite and reference websites, books, and articles. It is great for capturing all the necessary information on websites as it is often hard to find the correct info you may need.
I've created a short Jing video that explains the installation process as well as some examples on how to use Zotero. I am writing a short article on the intersection of sports and feminism and used Zotero to help gather some critical sources.
You can also view my instruction video on Screencast.com by clicking here.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
The Technology of Networking
The second semester of library school is in full swing! Almost February, almost a month in, almost five months away from graduating. Wait, almost five month away from graduating! I can barely believe it- it feels as if I have just started. I guess that is what Pitt meant by "Fast, Forward, and Focused."
With my graduation approaching faster and faster each day I have started to think past school and think forward to my new career as a librarian. These thoughts are excited and liberating but also have me scared. I've spent my whole entire life in school of some kind, and in five.short.months I am leaving it all behind?!
Though, leaving it behind for (presumably) greener pastures. But, in order to get to these green pastures, I must obtain my dream job (which of course will happen immediately after graduating!). In order to do this I have become skilled in what I refer to as the "technology of networking."
I've never been a big social network type of person, I just recently got a (ultra private) Facebook account and the internet has never really provided me much entertainment beyond the threshold of half an hour. But, I have realized that in some ways, an internet presence is good. That is, a professional internet presence.
I've taken a liking to my blog, treating it as a professional endeavor rather than just a school assignment. I've created a Linkedin account ("the professional Facebook"). My website is in the works. Business cards in the mail. Resume hot off the press. All necessary tools for the new professional.
All these tools are a relatively new technology. Even the term, social networking, is new (I mean, isn't all networking social? How has this term come to describe the internet variety of networking?). These technological tools have the power to harness real potential if used in a dedicated and constant way.
With my graduation approaching faster and faster each day I have started to think past school and think forward to my new career as a librarian. These thoughts are excited and liberating but also have me scared. I've spent my whole entire life in school of some kind, and in five.short.months I am leaving it all behind?!
Though, leaving it behind for (presumably) greener pastures. But, in order to get to these green pastures, I must obtain my dream job (which of course will happen immediately after graduating!). In order to do this I have become skilled in what I refer to as the "technology of networking."
I've never been a big social network type of person, I just recently got a (ultra private) Facebook account and the internet has never really provided me much entertainment beyond the threshold of half an hour. But, I have realized that in some ways, an internet presence is good. That is, a professional internet presence.
I've taken a liking to my blog, treating it as a professional endeavor rather than just a school assignment. I've created a Linkedin account ("the professional Facebook"). My website is in the works. Business cards in the mail. Resume hot off the press. All necessary tools for the new professional.
All these tools are a relatively new technology. Even the term, social networking, is new (I mean, isn't all networking social? How has this term come to describe the internet variety of networking?). These technological tools have the power to harness real potential if used in a dedicated and constant way.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Currently digging . . .
Margaret Kilgallen (1967-2001).
Margaret Kilgallen. Main Drag, installation view, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 2008. 2000, Mixed media installation, dimensions variable.
Margaret Kilgallen was an influential contemporary artist in the San Fransisco Bay's Mission School movement. Kilgallen's art, which is often largely text, was influenced heavily by her early career as a book conservator for the San Fransisco Public Library. In addition to typography Kilgallen's work reflect strong influences from the folk art tradition.
I was lucky enough to see an installation of Kilgallen's work at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas during their 2008 exhibition of The Old, Weird America. The installation, set up in one corner of the museum was beautifully overwhelming. The hand-painted lettered signs, a theme in much of Kilgallen's work, are crisp, clean, and overpowering while at the same time approachable and inviting. The warm, neutral colors that resonate in all her works transport you to the idea of a hot and dry Summer afternoon in an almost-but-not-quite-yet downtownish street. You would be walking down this street, absorbed in your own thoughts about the awful heat or your lack of motivation to do anything this Summer but think about the awful heat and your lack of motivation. You turn the corner quickly -- Did you just stumble over that broken concrete? Did anyone see that? No? Good. -- you kneel down to tie your shoes, come back up, and in front of you, a huge mural painted on the side of an building that you never realized was there. Suddenly, you're brought back to the present. You pause. You stand. You're weight is evenly distributed between your feet. You can't move. You stand. You forget about the heat. But then, you realize you're not in the heat. You're not even outside. It is not even the awful Texas Summer. Rather, you're inside, in a museum, their air conditioner blowing on top of your hair making you shiver and jump a little. And you're staring at this large and imposing installation that seems so different from anything else around you. Once you've realized all your friends left you for the gift shop downstairs you began to back away from the corner. You trip. Your shoe is still untied.
Margaret Kilgallen's work, though I had seen it numerous times before, still had this overwhelming power to move me in a way that few artists have done since.
The book, In the Sweet Bye & Bye, published in conjunction with her 2005 posthumous retrospective show by the same name, tops out as one of my favorite books. Though not as impressive as getting the chance to see the work in real life, it is worth to have in any art book collection.
Margaret Kilgallen, Installation at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 1999. Mixed media installation, dimensions variable.
Margaret Kilgallen's "Currently digging . . ." post is Part One in a series that doesn't yet have a Part Two.
Margaret Kilgallen. Main Drag, installation view, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, 2008. 2000, Mixed media installation, dimensions variable.
Margaret Kilgallen was an influential contemporary artist in the San Fransisco Bay's Mission School movement. Kilgallen's art, which is often largely text, was influenced heavily by her early career as a book conservator for the San Fransisco Public Library. In addition to typography Kilgallen's work reflect strong influences from the folk art tradition.
I was lucky enough to see an installation of Kilgallen's work at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas during their 2008 exhibition of The Old, Weird America. The installation, set up in one corner of the museum was beautifully overwhelming. The hand-painted lettered signs, a theme in much of Kilgallen's work, are crisp, clean, and overpowering while at the same time approachable and inviting. The warm, neutral colors that resonate in all her works transport you to the idea of a hot and dry Summer afternoon in an almost-but-not-quite-yet downtownish street. You would be walking down this street, absorbed in your own thoughts about the awful heat or your lack of motivation to do anything this Summer but think about the awful heat and your lack of motivation. You turn the corner quickly -- Did you just stumble over that broken concrete? Did anyone see that? No? Good. -- you kneel down to tie your shoes, come back up, and in front of you, a huge mural painted on the side of an building that you never realized was there. Suddenly, you're brought back to the present. You pause. You stand. You're weight is evenly distributed between your feet. You can't move. You stand. You forget about the heat. But then, you realize you're not in the heat. You're not even outside. It is not even the awful Texas Summer. Rather, you're inside, in a museum, their air conditioner blowing on top of your hair making you shiver and jump a little. And you're staring at this large and imposing installation that seems so different from anything else around you. Once you've realized all your friends left you for the gift shop downstairs you began to back away from the corner. You trip. Your shoe is still untied.
Margaret Kilgallen's work, though I had seen it numerous times before, still had this overwhelming power to move me in a way that few artists have done since.
The book, In the Sweet Bye & Bye, published in conjunction with her 2005 posthumous retrospective show by the same name, tops out as one of my favorite books. Though not as impressive as getting the chance to see the work in real life, it is worth to have in any art book collection.
Margaret Kilgallen, Installation at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 1999. Mixed media installation, dimensions variable.
___________________________________________
Margaret Kilgallen's "Currently digging . . ." post is Part One in a series that doesn't yet have a Part Two.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Me v. The Technology: An Eventual Love Story
Often, as a aspiring librarian, I am asked, "What made you want to become a librarian?"
Simply stated, I don't have just one answer. I don't really have more than one answer either. The desire to become a librarian as always been a sort of organic feeling that I have never not felt. The idea to attend library school was a conscious decision. Also, my desire to become an art librarian can have a decided beginning point.
Back in Houston, Texas, where I am originally from, I started to volunteer and intern at local libraries once I decided to become serious about my future career. One of the first places I began volunteering at was the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Hirsch Library. I'm not sure why I decided to volunteer here but whatever the reason is, I credit my experiences there as one of the top influences in my art librarianship career.
At the Hirsch Library I participated in various projects organized by the library staff. One project I remember vividly for its decisive anti-technology nature. The project was to convert a regular word processor document into a spreadsheet document. The document was a list of roughly two thousand books, magazines, catalogs, and ephemera that was donated to the library. The story was that the person who donated the collection wanted a list of everything in a search-able spreadsheet. Our answer, whatever the donor whats, the donor gets.
This being way back in 2006, the librarians charged me with the only task they knew, convert an existing word processor document into a spreadsheet document . . . MANUALLY. So began, probably a month long task (one month, twice a week, five hours each day) of manually typing each item's information (title, author, publisher, publish date, place of publish, LOC heading, etc.) from a word processor document into a spreadsheet. Also, I think formatting a Chicago citation was thrown in there somewhere.
The process was eventually completed and a huge sigh of relief was breathed by the Hirsch staff and most especially, me! The whole time I was processing this huge amount of information I was thinking, "Can't there be another way to do this? Won't the computer do it for me?" Though I thought for sure that there must be, I could never find the way or find a program. And, I had already sort of "perfected" the art of copying and generating citations that the time it took me to look into another way I could of processed 30+ titles.
So, I gave up. I did it "the old-fashioned way."
The kicker? I was lamenting my struggles to my brother (an IT guy for Google in Seattle and all around computer genius) one day over the phone and he just started laughing. And, laughing hysterically. Now, my brother doesn't laugh much, if any. He wouldn't explain himself and said he suddenly had to go. Strange, but my brother is strange.
Not more than five minutes after we hung up the phone do I have an email from my brother with a list of at least five programs that would of done what took me a month to do in less than thirty seconds. Hah!
Technology is great. The best advice is to let it work for you. It doesn't work against us.
Live and Learn . . . I guess.
Simply stated, I don't have just one answer. I don't really have more than one answer either. The desire to become a librarian as always been a sort of organic feeling that I have never not felt. The idea to attend library school was a conscious decision. Also, my desire to become an art librarian can have a decided beginning point.
Back in Houston, Texas, where I am originally from, I started to volunteer and intern at local libraries once I decided to become serious about my future career. One of the first places I began volunteering at was the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Hirsch Library. I'm not sure why I decided to volunteer here but whatever the reason is, I credit my experiences there as one of the top influences in my art librarianship career.
At the Hirsch Library I participated in various projects organized by the library staff. One project I remember vividly for its decisive anti-technology nature. The project was to convert a regular word processor document into a spreadsheet document. The document was a list of roughly two thousand books, magazines, catalogs, and ephemera that was donated to the library. The story was that the person who donated the collection wanted a list of everything in a search-able spreadsheet. Our answer, whatever the donor whats, the donor gets.
This being way back in 2006, the librarians charged me with the only task they knew, convert an existing word processor document into a spreadsheet document . . . MANUALLY. So began, probably a month long task (one month, twice a week, five hours each day) of manually typing each item's information (title, author, publisher, publish date, place of publish, LOC heading, etc.) from a word processor document into a spreadsheet. Also, I think formatting a Chicago citation was thrown in there somewhere.
The process was eventually completed and a huge sigh of relief was breathed by the Hirsch staff and most especially, me! The whole time I was processing this huge amount of information I was thinking, "Can't there be another way to do this? Won't the computer do it for me?" Though I thought for sure that there must be, I could never find the way or find a program. And, I had already sort of "perfected" the art of copying and generating citations that the time it took me to look into another way I could of processed 30+ titles.
So, I gave up. I did it "the old-fashioned way."
The kicker? I was lamenting my struggles to my brother (an IT guy for Google in Seattle and all around computer genius) one day over the phone and he just started laughing. And, laughing hysterically. Now, my brother doesn't laugh much, if any. He wouldn't explain himself and said he suddenly had to go. Strange, but my brother is strange.
Not more than five minutes after we hung up the phone do I have an email from my brother with a list of at least five programs that would of done what took me a month to do in less than thirty seconds. Hah!
Technology is great. The best advice is to let it work for you. It doesn't work against us.
Live and Learn . . . I guess.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Why is new technology so intimidating?
Even the simplest technological stuffs seem so daunting and confusing.
I just began a Spring Internship at Pitt's Frick Fine Arts Library. Since I have just begun (and the students don't seem to be too into the library until they have a paper due!) things have been slow. I don't have a clear defined role in the library yet, somewhere between student library worker and librarian. I know, it's a large somewhere between to be.
I've been working the circulation desk in the mornings before any student workers arrive. Seemed simple enough I thought. Except not! I have this weird card reader thing and this gun that scans bar codes??!! I've never encountered these foreign objects in my sheltered life. Now I start wishing I had taken that job at Target years ago! I always slide the ID card the wrong way and I haven't seemed to be able to grab the gun without dropping it.
Initially, I felt as if I was never going to be able to overcome my ineptitude at these new technological things. But, after a brief seating at the circ desk and a few patient patrons (okay, maybe more than a few), I'm slinging the radar gun around like I'm Annie Oakley of the Library.
I've discovered it was more my own fear and lack of confidence in my abilities that caused me to freak out over these devices. Not the devices or the technology itself. Library school, and any studying, is about given the student the ability to confront their fears and the tools necessary to overcome and learn from them.
But, with that said, let's not even talk about the sensitizer machine!
I just began a Spring Internship at Pitt's Frick Fine Arts Library. Since I have just begun (and the students don't seem to be too into the library until they have a paper due!) things have been slow. I don't have a clear defined role in the library yet, somewhere between student library worker and librarian. I know, it's a large somewhere between to be.
I've been working the circulation desk in the mornings before any student workers arrive. Seemed simple enough I thought. Except not! I have this weird card reader thing and this gun that scans bar codes??!! I've never encountered these foreign objects in my sheltered life. Now I start wishing I had taken that job at Target years ago! I always slide the ID card the wrong way and I haven't seemed to be able to grab the gun without dropping it.
Initially, I felt as if I was never going to be able to overcome my ineptitude at these new technological things. But, after a brief seating at the circ desk and a few patient patrons (okay, maybe more than a few), I'm slinging the radar gun around like I'm Annie Oakley of the Library.
I've discovered it was more my own fear and lack of confidence in my abilities that caused me to freak out over these devices. Not the devices or the technology itself. Library school, and any studying, is about given the student the ability to confront their fears and the tools necessary to overcome and learn from them.
But, with that said, let's not even talk about the sensitizer machine!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Introduction are Due.
Welcome.
This is my first post for my blog, The Art of Libraries. In this blog I will discuss the intersection between technology and libraries, particularly an art library (or special collections, rare books, something similar!).
My focus of studies is towards a career in art librarianship. From working in art and museum libraries back in Houston, Texas (where I am from) and my time interning at the Andy Warhol Museum's Archives and Pitt's Frick Fine Arts Library, I feel that art libraries are extremely hesitant about adopting new technology. Why is this? Is the issue with the librarians? The libraries themselves? Do art libraries feel as if the technology is not equipped to meet their unique needs? I imagine that it is a combination of all of those issues as well as issues I am currently unaware of.
In this blog I hope to pursue many of these issues.
I sign off with a classic Dutch Vanitas painting. Vanitas paintings, largely still life, were a style of painting that was popularized by seventeenth century Dutch artists (though other artists used the themes and the vanitas imagery is still incorporated in art today). Vanitas art reflected the themes of death and emptiness. I choose this image to close with because on multiple occasions when telling my family and friends I am in library school, they almost always remark, "Well aren't libraries going to be dead in 5-10 years!" I've never been able to answer as well as a vanitas.
Pieter Claesz, Still Life with a Skull and Writing Quill, 1628, Oil on Wood, 9 1/2 x 14 1/8 in. (24.1 x 35.9 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, Rogers Fund, 49.107
(Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
This is my first post for my blog, The Art of Libraries. In this blog I will discuss the intersection between technology and libraries, particularly an art library (or special collections, rare books, something similar!).
My focus of studies is towards a career in art librarianship. From working in art and museum libraries back in Houston, Texas (where I am from) and my time interning at the Andy Warhol Museum's Archives and Pitt's Frick Fine Arts Library, I feel that art libraries are extremely hesitant about adopting new technology. Why is this? Is the issue with the librarians? The libraries themselves? Do art libraries feel as if the technology is not equipped to meet their unique needs? I imagine that it is a combination of all of those issues as well as issues I am currently unaware of.
In this blog I hope to pursue many of these issues.
I sign off with a classic Dutch Vanitas painting. Vanitas paintings, largely still life, were a style of painting that was popularized by seventeenth century Dutch artists (though other artists used the themes and the vanitas imagery is still incorporated in art today). Vanitas art reflected the themes of death and emptiness. I choose this image to close with because on multiple occasions when telling my family and friends I am in library school, they almost always remark, "Well aren't libraries going to be dead in 5-10 years!" I've never been able to answer as well as a vanitas.
Pieter Claesz, Still Life with a Skull and Writing Quill, 1628, Oil on Wood, 9 1/2 x 14 1/8 in. (24.1 x 35.9 cm). Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York, Rogers Fund, 49.107
(Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)