How Net Neutrality Bans Could Affect your Library

Those of us who curl up with our fluffy pets and fluffier husbands and watch the evening news (or in my case the Colbert Report)

are aware of this not-so-new concept of Net Neutrality and how it is making headlines. Like the 90% of viewers out there, my first thoughts were not egregious outrage, nor was it clapping approval; no, my first thoughts were..."what is net neutrality?" "uh-oh, should I know this?"


Well, for those of you who don't know what net neutrality is nor why it is in the news, take heart and do not fear for the ALA already has a stance on to tell you how you think! Now, I will ever so lightly explain to you librarians, teachers, and other information enthusiasts what net neutrality is and how it can affect libraries and information presentation. While I will not go on a terrible rant about my personal stance on the matter, it will be pretty obvious how I stand on the net neutrality thingy.

What is Net Neutrality Anyway?????

Net Neutrality (NN) is basically non-discrimination on the online world. "But New Pagemaster, the online world is full of discrimination!" Yes, yes it is. However, in this instance, we are talking more about who can get on what websites and how fast. 

"It is the principle that consumers/citizens should be free to get access to - or to provide - the Internet content and services they wish, and that consumer access should not be regulated based on the nature or source of that content or service. Information providers - which may be websites, online services, etc., and who may be affiliated with traditional commercial enterprises but who also may be individual citizens, libraries, schools, or nonprofit entities - should have essentially the same quality of access to distribute their offerings." -ALA website 

Without NN, the people of whom you pay big bucks in order to get online can charge more big bucks for certain websites. Heck, they can even ban websites from their services if those websites do not comply with money, do not advertise for them, or if they just don't like their face. These big companies will be allowed to give faster service and more bits to those who can pay more.

Affects on Education and Academic Libraries

If NN is banned by the FCC, that gap between the "nice" public school in town and the "not-so-nice on" will grow an amazing amount. This is because of the already stupid law that is in place that basses school funding on the kids test scores.

So, let us brainstorm a bit:  
low test scores = less money, less money + better education websites costing more = less education websites, less education websites = low test scores. 

You get where I am going with this. Those schools that are already having a hard time will have an even harder time getting funding, widening the gap between the educational rich and poor. 

Why would education websites cost more?

Well, this is because these good education websites already provide so much free or low-cost stuff that they cannot pay your bill anymore. What the end of NN will see more of is the rise of already big businesses, just online. Do you like Mickey Mouse? 'Cause you will see a whole lot of him soon. Entertainment websites that already make bank can cozy up with the internet providers. Friends like Friends with money. The Entertainment world has money. 

Affects on Public Libraries

Public libraries could face higher service charges for newly premium online information and services. In a time of tiny budgets, paying more for more internet access would require tradeoffs such as fewer books, staff, and open hours. Hopefully, the public libraries will still be able to offer community services to the lower income (heck even higher income) public. Have you ever looked and seen what your public library can do for you? Look it up, you will be surprised what all your missing.

In Conclusion...

The blog post above is just a taste of the massive complexity that is Net Neutrality and its effects. Some say there are some upsides to it as well. Feel free to look them up, I haven't the time to rummage through the internet garbage. Below are some good links for further understanding if you want to know more. Otherwise, I hope I did explain a bit about what is going on so you can at least sound like you know at your next staff meeting.



https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/1133/1709#.U3uiDHa2xI0

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/telecom/netneutrality

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/01/15/11-questions-you-were-too-afraid-to-ask-about-net-neutrality/

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/nnj3ic/end-of-net-neutrality

Bibliophile the Move: 4 Easy Tips for Moving with an Extensive Home Book Collection

I recently picked up my home, husband, and doggy and moved to an unknown area for me. Along with all the other moving checklist items (internet, electric, water, fees, more fees) I found myself in a difficult place moving my impressively large book collection. However, through all the wailing and gnashing of teeth of Biblical proportions, I did successfully move all my books and collectibles to my new place. Here are a few tips and tricks that made is SO much easier.

1) Young one: weed your library

First thing's first, you need to go through your library (or knick-nacks, or clothes, or whatever) and ask yourself: "do I really need to keep this?" This can be very helpful because if you are like me, you may find that you have two, or five, copies of the same book. Heck, they may even be the same publisher and year!

Unless you lend out your personal books often, there is no need for you to hold onto multiple copies of novels, even your favorites.

Another thing to check is the quality of the books you are moving. Here is a secret: my husband has kept every textbook he has ever bought. He even goes to the used books stores and gets the free ones out of the bins. So, our combined family library consists of a few rows of textbooks of all subject matters dating from the 80's to the current year. For those of you who did not have to lug textbooks around in your backpack to a class on the other-side of campus, textbooks are gosh darn heavy. Is it worth breaking your back to move a lifescience textbook from 1984 to your next location? That one is a personal choice, but chances are the textbook is so out of date that it would not even matter. The same goes for the books that are too beaten up to even read. Like Elsa from Frozen says....Let it go.

2) Place Your Books in Some Order

Now, I am not saying pack according to Dewey or LC. If you want to, go ahead, all power to you. What I am saying is put the bigger, heavier books together in a SMALLER box. This will provide protection from a larger book damaging a smaller one, or completely ripping it to shreds. If you choose to use cardboard boxes, MAKE SURE TO LABEL THEM AS BOOKS.

This will spare you or your movers from picking them up and quickly finding out that paper weighs a ton. Do not overload the boxes! I know these are trained, burly men doing the lifting, but they too can get injured lifting something that was unexpectedly heavy.

There are some of you, like me, who have some books that are more fragile or for some reason need better protection. This is a great time to use those sheets and towels that you are stuffing in every nook and cranny and wrap them up nicely but tightly. For the very breakable books (like an old family Bible) I would wrap it in a towel then saran wrap it so that is does not come off. 




3) Make Sure Your Boxes are Labeled Properly

Each box, books or not, should be labeled with your last name, the room it will go in, and whether it is heavy or fragile. Again, please make sure to label your boxes as books so that no one gets hurt.

4) Create Handholds

This is the easiest thing that can really save you from getting hurt. Handholds will allow for easier lifting and moving all of your books into and out of the truck. If your hands start to hurt, just use a kitchen towel to cushion them against the cardboard.










I hope these 4 little tips can really help when a bibliophile is on the move!

INALJ: Finding a Library Position, the Net-Savy Way

As I was sitting in my pajamas watching my 4^th or 9^th hour of Law and Order SVU and mindlessly web-browsing for interesting reads, I came across a website that blew my mind. Here, as a recent grad finding myself in the library field, I was constantly searching for open positions in my city. Heck, I would take a nearby city. I had a running list of websites that I checked daily to see if they had updated that I had put together myself and was quite proud of. 

Browsing....browsing....browsing....suddenly, there is my list! Actually, it is my list and then some, complete with links and organized by location and employment/volunteer status. I am speaking of the INALJ (I need a library job) website at inalj.com. 

October 16, 2010, an amazing woman named Naomi House founded and published this blogging platform that now employs over 180 volunteers. The point: to provide those who are in the library field with all open positions in their area. And folks, this is nationwide.

For instance, I call the mountains of east Tennessee home, so I may find some lists on the internet of some local positions if I tried. However, given that a good amount of the surrounding counties are dirt poor, some don’t even have their own websites to check. I go to www.inalj.com, click on the INALJ Jobs link, then I have a list of states and Canada, some overseas too. 

The INALJ Tennessee section is run by Rebecca Tischler with several assistants listed. At this point, I can click on her bio, contact her, or just go through the list of Tennessee jobs, divided by region. As an east Tn girl, I don’t want to have to move 5 hrs away to work in Memphis, so I limit my search to the east Tn section. And………….the links work. Yes, I did not find one dead link on any that I applied to. Heck, there is even a list of Academic institutions in east Tn with links to their employment opportunities so you can search them yourself. My Alma Mater, Carson-Newman University is loud and proud on that list.

So, if you are a budding library professional like myself and looking for a position or volunteer opportunity, look no further than the INALJ website. There are several other resume-padding opportunities on there as well, such as blogging opportunities, presentations, and, of course, networking. Lots and lots of networking!

Black Girls Don't Date Vampires

As I was reading through my Tumblr, I came across an article by the Huffington Post called “America Lacks Multicultural Literature.” Feel free to read it yourself; it is an interesting read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tejas-desai/america-lacks-multicultur_b_5311322.html. 

Though I agree that most of the protagonists and characters in American literature are white, I can off the top of my head think of some multicultural characters, especially in adult fiction which I will discuss in a later blog post.

 Thinking younger, however, I have a more difficult time. Like a good amount of adults and teens (mainly female), I go through teen paranormal novels like candy. Amanda Hocking, Meg Cabot, Lauren Kate, Jessica Sorenson, and other authors are my dealers; their paranormal romances, my crack cocaine. I can usually go through one on a busy weekend or in a night if there is nothing else to do. Needless to say, my guilty pleasure has taken me through many, many young adult novels…....….not one of which had an African American protagonist.

When these high school protagonists are described, they are usually long-haired brunettes that are awkwardly lanky, most of them with notably “honey” eyes. Honey eyes are an extremely overused cliché that should never, ever be used. However, none of these girls, the fixations of the paranormal hottie who loves them beyond time and space, have any color.

I could never begin to tell you why this is, just that I have noticed it. Black girls don’t date vampires, werewolves, angels, what-have-you. Neither do any other minorities, such as Native Americans or Asians. Some may be Latina, but only in looks. I am near begging for a good paranormal romance in which the protagonist is not a white female from an upper-middle class family who usually has both of her parents in the picture. 

For a genre that allows for so much diversity in their paranormal character: Vampire, werewolf, shifters, angels, ghosts, time travelers, elves, mermaids, selkies, etc, I just wish they did the same for the human character.

So, my question is, do you agree with me that there is a lack of racial diversity? Can you think of any true teenage paranormal romances with a Black/Native/Asian/Latina/Other race? Please feel free to post in the comments and I would love to read them!

Desai, T. (2014, May 12). America Lacks Multicultural Literature. The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 14, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tejas-desai/america-lacks-multicultur_b_5311322.html

Pictures:

 Sorensen, J. (2011). The Fallen Star. United States: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

 Cabot, M. (2011). Abandon. New York: Point.

The Monsterous or the Crazy: My Personal Favorite Film Librarian

You know, if you really think about it, librarians have been in movies for a long time. Long enough to have a name for them: reel librarians. Yes, most of them are bit roles used to shush the main characters and never actually help.

Madam Pince

A good friend of mine actually just did a paper on the role of Madame Pince in the Harry Potter series. For those who do not know, there actually is a librarian that works in the library that Hermione frequents, who knew?

Monster's University

Though the unhelpful monstrous stereotype does exist pretty obviously in film…..

 

I would like to take the time to review my favorite librarian in all of film.

Now, those close to me know of my secret lesbian crush on Evelyn O’Connell from The Mummy. I mean, look at her! Who would not want to be with this sexy librarian beast who unleashes the plagues upon an unsuspecting Egypt because she can’t listen to the guy who obviously knows more about Egypt than her (the Egyptologist). But, hey, her mom was Egyptian so  she obviously knows what she is doing.

Hottie McHot

No, my favorite reel librarian touched me way before I wished Evelyn O’Connell would. My favorite librarian took the kid from Home Alone and I on an adventure that I still cannot forget to this day. He is the Pagemaster!

The Pagemaster is a 1994 film staring Macaulay Culkin as Richard Tyler, an overly cautious kid that may need way more therapy than his parents are willing to admit.

As a storm hits the area while riding his bike home from the hardware store, Rich takes refuge in the town library. Let me also say that, even though he was such a whimp that I, a 6 year old girl, could beat him up, he had a seriously awesome

bike that he tricked out himself. No one seems to give him credit for that though.

At the library, he meets the eccentric librarian, played by Christopher Lloyd (who always tends to play the crazy but brilliant person) who tried to talk Rich into exploring the fictional area of the library. Rich just desires to call his dad from something called a payphone in order to get a ride home instead. Some might think that Rich was such a scardy-cat that he didn’t even think a library was safe, however Christopher Lloyd played the part so well that even I got some pedo vibes from him.

Richard soon proves that maybe he was right to always be scared when he slips on the floor, hitting his head on the way to this payphone thing. When he awakens, the paintings of wizards and dragons in the library start to come alive. Rich is soon part of the paintings, having become 'illustrated'. Rich meets the wizard, known as "The Pagemaster". The Pagemaster tells Rich to get back home, he must face three tests: Adventure, Horror, and Fantasy. As a kid, this part was truly epic. Taking an actor then turning him into an animation was something way too much for me, it made me feel older to watch it.

If you want to read the rest of the synopsis, you can find a good one here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110763/synopsis. Or you could just watch it. Watching would be better.

What I wanted to discuss was why the pagemaster beat out all the other excellent librarians out there in films, at least in my opinion. The Pagemaster was not just a movie, but a character. He, the librarian, understood the value of the books under his charge, and more importantly the value of children reading them. Yes, being a kid, Rich probably did not grasp the full story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

But, to the pagemaster, it isn’t about the dissecting of a piece or the literature analysis. We don’t have to have a Ph.D. in English or Literature to read it. It is about the story. Where do you go when you are reading about a crazed man chasing a whale? Does your mood change with the characters? Do you understand the plight of the pirates searching endlessly for Treasure Island?

Furthermore, books can be your friends. Yes, if the books start literally talking back, maybe there could be some issues. But have you ever felt lonely in a good book?

Pagemaster: Think, boy! What kind of an answer would you've had if I brought you here with the turn of a page?

[hologram of Mr. Hyde appears, then morphs into Jekyll]

Dr. Jekyll: You prevailed over evil. [morphs into Captain Ahab]

Captain Ahab: Ah, you looked Moby Dick in the eye, boy. [morphs into Long John Silver]

Long John Silver: Ah, you got pirate stuff, me lad! An' don't let no one tell you different.

Pagemaster: If I had brought you here from the start, you would've never had the courage to face your own fears. [hologram morphs into the Dragon] And in doing so, you triumph here... and always. [hologram shows Richard Tyler unconscious on the library's rotunda floor]

The Pagemaster started something in me while I was still quite young. He was right. If I can do this alongside my favorite characters, than I can do it in real life. I can talk to people and make friends and everything else that really goes against my naturally crippling social anxiety. Thank you crazy Christopher Lloyd for always playing the quirky but magical teacher that always is in control and knows best.

 OK, he may be a tad creepy still.....




Jones, A. (Director) (2011, November 10). A Librarian's View of Madam Pince: Promoting Stereotypes, Perpetually Absent, or Plot Device?. Replacing Wands with Quills: A Harry Potter Symposium For Muggle Scholars. Lecture conducted from James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Kirschner, D. (Director). (2012). The Pagemaster : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Laemmle, C. (Director). (2004). The Mummy : Universal Studios.

Heyman, D. (Director). (2002). Harry Potter and the chamber of secrets : Warner Home Video.

Scanlon, D. (Director). (2013). Monsters University : Disney.