When I started this program, a show I’d long been dreaming of doing, the better part of two years ago, I had a child about to turn two and another one on the verge of joining our family. Even then, getting prepared for, and then recording, the show was a delicate balancing act between being a dedicated father and husband and contributing something meaningful, at least in my estimation, to the library community. These past few months have presented some challenges on the family side (mostly in the form of significant, recurring illness) that have me rethinking how I prioritize those components of my life that are competing for my energy.
In short, it’s time to devote more of my headspace to being daddy. Toward that end, and with a heavy heart, I’m putting the show on hiatus. I’m hesitant to declare it a permanent vacation, as situations change and I’ve been known to change my mind, but that’s a distinct possibility.
Couple of things I should say with regard to this. It’s not a decision I make lightly and it in no way reflects my enthusiasm for what we do here. I love producing this program. I love the conversations. I love the people who’ve joined me on this journey. I know some of them will be genuinely disappointed. For this, I am sorry.
I’m willing to consider alternative arrangements (less frequency, guest hosting, etc.), but this is only the most visible of a number of changes I’m making toward reclamation of my extra-curricular time. Please understand that the problem for me is not so much the hosting of the show, which is only an hour of my time per week. It’s the never-ending involvement: the slave-like attention to my feed reader, the setting up of blog posts, the reading and re-reading of proposed conversation starters. All worthwhile activites that I enjoy, but that require a certain constant level of engagement which forces me to make compromises with the rest of my priorities. I’m making a conscious decision to not make those compromises anymore.
If someone out there in listener land thinks they are up for this kind of engagement and would like to consider taking on the responsibilities of running the show, I’m open to talking about it. Yes, it’s my baby. Yes, I’m protective of it. But I’m capable of letting go, as I ultimately did with the Carnival of the Infosciences, my first LIS child. Just know what you’re getting into before you drop me a line (greg.schwartz at gmail). I find it unlikely that anyone will want to take the reins though, given that I waited a few years for someone to make a show like this happen before I did and it never happened. And even though I tried to make it take as little of my time as possible (so that it might be sustainable), it still takes a not-insignificant amount of time and energy.
Thank you all for listening and participating through 71 awesome, one-of-a-kind episodes.
Uncontrolled Vocabulary #71 is now available for download. Here’s a direct link to the mp3.
You can subscribe to the podcast (as well as this blog) via the following feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/uncontrolledvocabulary
On the call:
Mary Carmen Chimato, North Carolina State University
Anna Creech, University of Richmond
Kendra Levine, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley
David Rothman, Community General Hospital Medical Library
Michael Sauers, Nebraska Library Commission
Chris Zammarelli, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Topics:
1. Most State Library jobs could be history (pennlive.com)
2. Why aren’t ebooks taking off? Not enough pirates (The Guardian)
3. Doomed: why Wikipedia will fail (ars technica)
Why Wikipedia’s Policy to Blacklist Blogs is Outdated and Wrong (ReadWriteWeb)
4. In Web Age, Library Job Gets Update (New York Times)
5. A Dirty Little Secret: Self-Censorship (School Library Journal)
6. Is Your Library a Star? LJ Launches the Index of Public Library Service (Library Journal)
Uncontrolled Vocabulary #71 records tonight at 10 PM Eastern. Topics for tonight’s show will probably include, but not be limited to:
- Most State Library jobs could be history
- Library books fall by two million a year amid warnings of cuts and closures
- Why aren’t ebooks taking off? Not enough pirates
To join the conversation:
1. Dial +1 724-444-7444
2. Enter the show ID: 38665
3. Guests: Dial 1#
TalkShoe members: Enter your 10-digit PIN
Don’t forget that you can also call in for free using Gizmo Project.
Participate in the text chat by visiting our TalkShoe show page.
Uncontrolled Vocabulary #70 is now available for download. Here’s a direct link to the mp3.
The windstorm here in the Midwest caused its share of technical problems with the show, forcing me to spend most of the hour on a cell phone. Please accept my apologies for the unusually poor audio quality, but I’ll think you’ll find much of the conversation to be very worthwhile.
You can subscribe to the podcast (as well as this blog) via the following feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/uncontrolledvocabulary
On the call:
Greg Schwartz, Louisville Free Public Library
Christa Burns, Nebraska Library Commission
Aaron Dobbs, Shippensburg University
Michael Sauers, Nebraska Library Commission
Topics:
1. Libraries can keep books with lead-containing ink (USA Today)
2. Rutgers Faculty Agrees To Drop “Library” from SCILS Name (Library Journal)
3. ALA Urges Library Advocates To Lobby Now on Stimulus Bill (Library Journal)
Day 5: Get Ready for Major Economic Stimulus Vote Tomorrow (District Dispatch)
Portion of the Senate stimulus related to broadband expansion (readthestimulus.com)
URGENT ACTION NEEDED: Protect Library Funding in the Economic Stimulus Package (District Dispatch)
4. Palinet and Solinet Teaming Up to Become Lyrasis (LISNews)
OCLC and NEBASE’s future (N3)
5. Author’s Guild calls Kindle 2’s text-to-speech software illegal (CrunchGear)
Neil Gaiman waxes sensible on Kindle Audiobooks and the redonkulous Author’s Guild (BoingBoing)
6. Sony works with Netlibrary to offer Mobile Collections for the Reader Digital Book (OCLC)
Sony Reader Mobile Collections (OCLC)
O’Reilly Challenges Proprietary eBook Standards With Bookworm (ReadWriteWeb)
7. ‘Wall Street Journal’ Librarian Laments Shutdown (Editor & Publisher)
[Updated at 1:03 AM to add BoingBoing link]
Uncontrolled Vocabulary #70 records tonight at 10 PM Eastern. Topics for tonight’s show will probably include, but not be limited to:
- Libraries can keep books with lead-containing ink
- Rutgers Faculty Agrees To Drop “Library” from SCILS Name
- Will libraries be stimulated?
To join the conversation:
1. Dial +1 724-444-7444
2. Enter the show ID: 38665
3. Guests: Dial 1#
TalkShoe members: Enter your 10-digit PIN
Don’t forget that you can also call in for free using Gizmo Project.
Participate in the text chat by visiting our TalkShoe show page.
Uncontrolled Vocabulary #69 is now available for download. Here’s a direct link to the mp3.
You can subscribe to the podcast (as well as this blog) via the following feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/uncontrolledvocabulary
On the call:
Greg Schwartz, Louisville Free Public Library
Christa Burns, Nebraska Library Commission
Kendra Levine, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley
Chadwick Seagraves, Private Academic Library Network of Indiana
Topics:
1. Library Waives Fee for Sully’s Waterlogged Book (NBC Los Angeles)
2. Children’s Books Get One-Year Stay from Anti-Lead Law (AL Online)
3. Berkeley departments skirmish over 3M contract (San Francisco Chronicle)
Berkeley library given waiver to sign 3M deal (San Francisco Chronicle)
4. Dallas libraries let you pay to check out hot titles (Dallas Morning News)
5. Watched Any Good Books Lately? HarperCollins Tries ‘Video Books’ (Washington Post)
6. Libraries and copyfraud (Ragesoss 2.02)
Ball State Copyright Conference
7. Guinness World Records book in school libraries (Nebraska Library Commission)
Message posted to SYSTEMS mailing list
8. My Top Tech Trend: Social software deathwatch (See Also…)
9. Amazon To Drop Microsoft, Adobe e-Book Formats (Publishers Weekly)
Uncontrolled Vocabulary #69 records tonight at 10 PM Eastern.
Topics for tonight’s show will probably include, but not be limited to:
- Berkeley library given waiver to sign 3M deal
- Library Waives Fee for Sully’s Waterlogged Book
- Dallas libraries let you pay to check out hot titles
To join the conversation:
1. Dial +1 724-444-7444
2. Enter the show ID: 38665
3. Guests: Dial 1#
TalkShoe members: Enter your 10-digit PIN
Don’t forget that you can also call in for free using Gizmo Project.
Participate in the text chat by visiting our TalkShoe show page.
Uncontrolled Vocabulary #68 is now available for download. Here’s a direct link to the mp3.
You can subscribe to the podcast (as well as this blog) via the following feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/uncontrolledvocabulary
On the call:
Greg Schwartz, Louisville Free Public Library
Ryan Deschamps, Halifax Public Library (Check him out on the latest episode of CommandN talking about Podcamp Halifax!)
Rudy Leon, University of Illinois
Kendra Levine, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley
Michael Sauers, Nebraska Library Commission
Topics:
1. Obama adminstration brings back the Freedom of Information Act and transparency in government (BoingBoing)
Obama administration embraces Creative Commons (Coyle’s InFormation)
Supreme Court Rejection Nixes Child Online Protection Act (AL Online)
Under Obama, feds may still snoop library files (San Francisco Chronicle)
2. At First, Funny Videos. Now, a Reference Tool. (New York Times)
3. Wikipedia May Restrict Public’s Ability to Change Entries (New York Times)
4. Why you can’t find a library book in your search engine (Guardian)
OCLC Defends Records Policy, Faces Questions, Suggestions, and Criticisms (Library Journal)
5. Google & the Future of Books (New York Review of Books)
A fire on the plain (Peter Brantley’s thoughts and speculations)
Uncontrolled Vocabulary #68 records tonight at 10 PM Eastern.
Topics for tonight’s show will probably include, but not be limited to:
- Wikipedia May Restrict Public’s Ability to Change Entries
- Under Obama, feds may still snoop library files
- British Library warns of ‘black hole’ in history if websites and digital files are not preserved
To join the conversation:
1. Dial +1 724-444-7444
2. Enter the show ID: 38665
3. Guests: Dial 1#
TalkShoe members: Enter your 10-digit PIN
Don’t forget that you can also call in for free using Gizmo Project.
Participate in the text chat by visiting our TalkShoe show page.
With my whole family down for the count with nasty illness, I’ll be spending this Wednesday evening in my primary role as Superdad/husband. We’ll plan on recording episode 68 on January 28th. Thanks for your understanding.
Uncontrolled Vocabulary 