Publish or Perish

I work in a book heavy environment I watch a lot of the trends for publishing. And it did come to my attention about the make your blog a book option.

At Christmas my daughter asked me for 'a book'. A book Mommy writes... But #lookit haven't I written a book. Is this it? It seems like a good way to take this creation and put it 'on the shelf' and my friends I suppose that is what I am doing.

With these few remaining posts I will put this away. Just as my first post was about putting another book on the shelf.

the Near Miss

Last week I flipped out about missing Northern Voice. I knew Dave Cormier was going to be there. I follow Dave. I knew what he was going to talk about.

I needed that talk.

I was struggling with a coming congress on ebooks: yes/no for schools as textbooks, novel studies, library books. I am also committed to producing a system rattling presentation to 100+ school librarians over the next 3 weeks. An urging to weed down collections, build new spaces for critical thinking -- that are physical and digital -- a talk to reconnect us with library principles of collection management and selections. I wanted to go to Northern Voice. I felt what I needed might, in some measure, be there. I kinda knew a girl. I sent out a plaintive tweet, feeling sorry for myself. Like a Wonka ticket by the next day I'd scored. I would get to go. I would be able to get the talk.

... Then ... I missed it.

In buying a drink for the person who sponsored me... in indulging in one more of my rants on publishing futures for children's literature to a new acquaintance... in walking in the sun I missed most of Dave's talk. Stumbled in late and saw that last slide "tyranny of the book". I knew what I had missed. I heard @jbmurray's whole piece of the talk. Saw Dave long enough to say hi, sure, but I'd missed IT...

Or did I...?

You see I was there all day. I was in the #nv10 and it was an exceptional day for me. An exercise in putting myself out there, all of myself. The mother-woman part, the @maryakem and even the legal name me who was printed right there on my name tag. I didn't meet 200 people. I met 12. And I think they were the vital 12. I hit on good sessions. I felt integrated to a number of important conversations, for me, on twitter. I said some silly stuff but a couple good ideas and perspectives also came. I was very much there. And it was a good place to find what I felt I needed.

Did I mention Dave Cormier was there? I'm sort of connected to him. It's not personal. It's a system. I won't bore with any details; they are of little consequence. I was there in that place exceptionally close to his talk. An exceptional presentation of a critical perspective he brings to a dialogue I am a part of and flagging under for its importance. I watched a recording of Dave today for what I missed, and you know...

I missed nothing. I am caught up. More than caught up...

In all its asynchronicity, the centre holds. What's 15 minutes between good research and learning? NB: @davecormier has a certain consistency that, for lack of better words, does transcend time and space. It is intrinsic to the message - or what I took of it -- yesterday and in the other online resources I have already (or again)...

...the access we need to knowledge is to be unbound from print and sequential pagination. I found it could be unbound from the clock/calendar of a conference. We don't schedule learning we find it. We find it in libraries of so many kinds today.

I will spend next week trying to convince librarians to unbind knowledge from the opening hours of their libraries, to take down shelves and focus on the finding. I will do that better with clarity on how sense of place/space is core. I'm hopeful this will make a lot of bookworms better able to deal with the aggressive weeding I'm advocating.

The talk gave me what I needed to secure the knowledge and to release myself from self doubt because I was there that Saturday. I was there with @wakemp and with @HHG and with Bon's husband, my friend Kerry and the owner of Dexter the dog and that we r connected. The strictures that make me wonder 'am I missing something?' were undone. As much as the talk that's what I needed.

ps. I feel it is our responsibility as librarians to help people let go of books. Books are our brand and we should protect them from the drek or near misses they can be.

The end of assvice?

I have been working a lot in the area of shifting publishing and more and more I find my identities crossing over. Mother. Woman. Librarian. "Blogger". Twit. I am happy about that since I actually started the Mother-Woman blog back in 2005 to weather the fracturing of identity I faced when I returned to work that autumn a mother surely but unsure how to be a hyphenated mother.

To this day, though I do it so infrequently now... I do still like the blogging. I was so excited to hear my friend and mommy-to-meta-blogger Kerry is presenting at Northern Voice a Vancouver blogger event I am going to for both personal and professional reasons. 1.) let me rankle.. the NV folks better not be billing my best mommyblogger peeps just to attract the inevitable, Mommy Bloggers you suck press coverage from the top flight proprietary news outlets. And 2.) aren't social media threads for parenting information just the best thing ever invented???

As I spend more time, as a librarian, thinking about what is happening to the quality (qualities?) of information a bit of an aha moment. I keep looking for the points of disconnection between the information sources we've had and the new options. Do you agree with me when I say it's not just about convenience it's about credibility? I mean if you share my low-ish opinion of the parenting books from main stream publishers blogging makes inordinate sense. If we asked the question what's so great about parent blogging? Well yeah it's because it is better and more credible than those books. Parenting that's about a social as it gets, innit?

And, if you ask bon... well what about the genres. We need to reshuffle the deck on voice. As I wade through they myriad of choice for information sources in schools day by day I never make up my mind. Organize by format? By access.. by discipline. Well like one of my best friends said to me when I had my first baby "Repeat after me. Your guess is as good as mine"!

And, that's peer review for ya nowadays, innit?

Reference Desk

Pretty busy at the house of Wo with class reunions and thanksgiving and bathroom renovations. YAY new bathrooms! (Bad aren't you glad you are not here?)

In the meanwhile... Kudos on everyone who posted something booberific yesterday, I was with you in spirit. In my defense, I was ahead of the deadline for love of breastfeeding posts in July. Yes, call me an excuse machine.

Also -- did you see the blogs of note today blogspotters? The bookstore tourism blog is a interesting new read in a different direction. Check it out. By the way, I visit libraries and bookstores when I travel, do you like to make literary stops on your holidays or is it all cabana boys and discotheques? Do you even remember when you used to vacation?

I have some new posts in the works and some asstime on my agenda so hopefully I can offer some more timely posting soon. That is all.

ps. If Danny Boyle made the film Blogspotting who would play you?

Parenthood: A bibliography

I am a firm believer that what new parents need most is unconditional support. A lot of smiling and nodding and rah-rah, good for you. There may be folks out there with the right answers about breast/bottle, co-sleeping v. crib-sleeping, slings, baby bjorns, maya wraps, immunizations, sticky socks, chlorine-free diapers and all the rest of it.. but me? No I am not one of those people. If you have a kid as far as I'm concerned you are the go-to-guy or girl for said kid. Taking on that responsibility is daunting enough without some rabble wrecking your confidence. I have wanted to patent the phrase unconditional support ever since I became a parent. It is certainly what I need most and can best offer my peers.

When new parents enter my orbit I am eager to get this message across. One thing I keep wanting to do is give them the cacophony set of expert books out there with an annotated bibliography and a large salt shaker. This is indicative of not just my parent side but also my professional librarian side. I love my librarian side for a couple reasons 1. I do believe that books can help anywhere/anytime and 2. I am non-judgemental. Did you know librarians are trained to be non-judgemental? Good library school profs are all over that. They challenge us to look at our work as something apart from some straight-jacket of good choices. They tell that while it is ok to try and promote really good works it is not for us to chose but rather to provide choice. I love my job. It is a handy backstory on being a parent, too.

Our extended family got a new addition last week and another new Mom is on the horizon. I think I will do my best to finally write that bibiliography so what can you tell me? What titles would you include. Sears? Baby Whisperer? Weissbluth? Who else?

P-man Book Report

Mo said: Write a book review.

I replied: After our son was born, and prior to our move to larger premises, he slept in our room. As I had been accustomed to ending my day in bed with five latex-clad dwarves and a tub of... a good book, I love a good book, more than I could ever love a quincunx of midgets, tripe, and a brace of spatulas... where was I... with the kid in our room, it became impossible to read in bed. I know I could have changed my habit, to read on the couch, but something was always on.

Since our move, three weeks ago, I have again been able to read in bed, to enjoy hot dwarves, and fine literature. I have begun to devour books like hot tripe from the scapulae of five diminutive yet lusty... Hence this review of the novel pictured above.

I replied further: I can read books, but I have no idea how to review them. I prefer to rely on the opinions of others in these matters. But I continue to digress. Here we go. The book review. Without further ado. Any second.

"Amsterdam" is a book. It was written by Ian McEwan. Apparently. I did not see him write it. He's taken all the credit, which has been ample. Some have said he takes too much credit. He is not my favourite author. While his books are written very well the stories are usually grim. Where is the happy, Ian?

Mr. McEwan is not the only Ian who writes books. There are others.

This novel is a Booker Prize winner. For those of you who don't know (sniff) the Booker Prize is a literary award given each year to the best booker. Mr. McEwan was the best booker in 1998. (I know, I don't get out enough.) I can't believe people need me to tell them these things! This is a big award.

I expected this novel to be the basis of one of my favourite movies but I was sorely disappointed. This book was not, as hoped, a study of a deformed serial killer on the loose in Amsterdam, but a study of hubris as illustrated through two successful middle-aged Englishmen whose friendship is tested by events. The friendship fails as do the subjects. It is likely too obvious to note the tale is expertly rendered, the characters fully drawn, the narrative trajectory horrifying and beautiful to watch. So I won't mention those things. Forget it. I won't even recommend you purchase the book although I suppose I can, after all, since this is my book review. Never mind, I will leave that to someone who can offer a not-inaccurate precis of the book.

So, Amsterdam, it's a book. A good one.

I then suggested Mo write a book review of a novel, as opposed to a kid's book or child-wrangling guide.

Said Mo: Are you suggesting I have time to laze about and read books?

P-man out.