(no subject)

If you don't read dlevey's LJ, you may be missing this:

http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/11/11/the_nerd_handbook.html

(Many of you want to read this, even though you already know everything in it.)

(no subject)

If you don't read dlevey's LJ, you may be missing this:

http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/11/11/the_nerd_handbook.html

(Many of you want to read this, even though you already know everything in it.)

Stress.

There's a Big Project at work, which is finally within spitting distance of being done. After that, of course, there will be another Big Project. My life is a cycle of "wake up, work from home, say hello to the kids, go to work, come home, eat dinner, try to relax for an hour, work from home, go to sleep, repeat. And sometimes there are alarums in the middle of the night, but not very many lately and my minion is getting quite good at catching those.

I'm starting to get to the "burn things because they are pretty" stage, which is not where I want to be. I haven't taken much of my allotted vacation this year, and management played silly bugger games with the employee handbook to the point where I'm going to have to talk to big management to see if this can be straightened out. I really hope that Turkey Day provides the break that I need. If I don't get this fixed, I will get depressed, then my immune system will go south, then I will get sick. Bad things ensue.

Stress.

There's a Big Project at work, which is finally within spitting distance of being done. After that, of course, there will be another Big Project. My life is a cycle of "wake up, work from home, say hello to the kids, go to work, come home, eat dinner, try to relax for an hour, work from home, go to sleep, repeat. And sometimes there are alarums in the middle of the night, but not very many lately and my minion is getting quite good at catching those.

I'm starting to get to the "burn things because they are pretty" stage, which is not where I want to be. I haven't taken much of my allotted vacation this year, and management played silly bugger games with the employee handbook to the point where I'm going to have to talk to big management to see if this can be straightened out. I really hope that Turkey Day provides the break that I need. If I don't get this fixed, I will get depressed, then my immune system will go south, then I will get sick. Bad things ensue.

Dear librarian friends

Because I have so many of you, and what are you for if not to abuse shamelessly with question about libraries?

When I use my library's online catalog, which I do at a frequency ranging between daily and hourly, I am presented with four search methods: keywords, authors, subjects, and titles. I nearly always use authors or titles, and I am generally happy with the results. I understand keyword searching.

Why does the concept of a subject search still exist? It can't help but present you with useless statistics, such as "there are 14,577 books in the library about the Civil War" followed by the first twenty books written by Arthur Aardvark about that subject. If it led to some sort of taxonomy or shelving system it might at least be excusable for helping the novice librarian point a patron to the right part of the building... but it doesn't.

Shouldn't this be replaced by DMOZ or the original Yahoo! directory or something similar? What am I failing to get?

Dear librarian friends

Because I have so many of you, and what are you for if not to abuse shamelessly with question about libraries?

When I use my library's online catalog, which I do at a frequency ranging between daily and hourly, I am presented with four search methods: keywords, authors, subjects, and titles. I nearly always use authors or titles, and I am generally happy with the results. I understand keyword searching.

Why does the concept of a subject search still exist? It can't help but present you with useless statistics, such as "there are 14,577 books in the library about the Civil War" followed by the first twenty books written by Arthur Aardvark about that subject. If it led to some sort of taxonomy or shelving system it might at least be excusable for helping the novice librarian point a patron to the right part of the building... but it doesn't.

Shouldn't this be replaced by DMOZ or the original Yahoo! directory or something similar? What am I failing to get?