Libraries With a Future Responses

It's a busy time for periodicals here at The Dean Files. The new issues of The New Yorker, Dwell, GOOD, ACRL News and College & Research Libraries all arrived within a few days of each other. I am working my way through these, and in an effort to get ahead of the reading, I stayed up a bit late reading the two ACRL publications. I read (and was super proud and happy to read) an article by my good friend, Erin Dorney about a "Job of a Lifetime," which was great. One other article in particular really piqued my interest, Libraries with a Future: How Are Academic Library Usage and Green Demands Changing Building Designs? by Michael Wescott Loder. Of course, I thought to myself "Oooo, Library Design post!" but it really turned into something more than that.

Fort Worth Streetcar

I think if you read The Dean Files regularly, you know both Jen and I love the city where we live, Fort Worth. We also love the walkability and public transport of forward-thinking cities, such as Portland. Streetcars, really, are one of the "things" that help make a city friendlier to both pedestrians, and the environment.

Earlier this month, the federal government announced that Fort Worth was to be the recipient of a large grant for streetcar construction. Almost immediately, pundits and politicians started holding forth about how we should decline the funds. Why is this so bad for Fort Worth that we have to turn down free money for its construction? Even if you are opposed to public transit, wouldn't it create jobs locally and improve tourism?



Well, it looks like the streetcar still has some supporters and proponents. Head on over to one of our favorite blogs, FortWorthology, to read more:

Smart Pro-Streetcar Op-Ed Shows Up in Star-Telegram By: Kevin Buchanan

Digital Memory and Identity

Jen recently shared this article from the New York Times with me:

The Web Means the End of Forgetting, by Jeffrey Rosen

I'll be up front with you: this article really raised my ire. So if you will indulge me, good reader, let me share with you some of my thoughts (previously and briefly expressed here) about this article, and online social interaction in general. I have a question for you, reader, which I hope you answer in the comments: are people totally oblivious to what they and others post about them online? Or, do they not care? This question came up frequently while I was reading the article.

1959: Electronic Home Library

While using the new Flipboard app for the iPad earlier this week, I came across this really cool look back into 1959 for the perception of the home library of the future:

Electronic Home Library, on Paleofuture

So, first, I admit to you that I would love to have a home library that looks something like the one in that image. How cool mid-century is that? I think I would skip the shield and spears, though. Oh, and the book projected on the ceiling as well. Now reader, I know that you expect me to discuss what this has to do with library science and how it piqued my librarian brains. I won't disappoint you!

Assessment Metrics and the Catalog

By way of introduction to this post, I want to tell you, I am terrible at math. This posed something of a challenge for me in one of my classes last semester - Library Planning, Marketing, and Assessment. The assessment part was a challenge, but I think I have a good grasp of the practices and broad theories of assessment in libraries. I filed away my assessment tools and have been thinking about them vis a vis the Manifesto project.

Mad Men Season 4 Premiere

Well, last night was the premiere of season four of the one drama TV show Jen and I watch regularly - Mad Men. Our friends the Tainters turned us on to the show, and after the first three episodes of the show, we were hooked.

Mad Men Season 4

It's Sunday the 25th, and that means that tonight is the premiere of Mad Men Season 4! This is one of the few TV events Jen and I were looking forward to, and I think we have been pretty dang excited about all summer. So, settle in in front of your TV, tune it to AMC, and join us for a trip inside Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce! And, in honor of the event, here is my "Mad Men Me!"



(And, if you have comments about the show, let us know - I feel sure one of us will blog about it!)