So true ...

It occurred to me that my speech or my silence, indeed any action of mine, would be a mere futility.

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924)

Damned if you do, damned if you don't ...

At a school of my acquaintance, a teacher librarian of my acquaintance got hauled over the coals on Monday (for sending out letters for overdue books, including the statement "may be subject to an administration fee", and not signed by the CEO). Threatened with disciplinary action.

On Wednesday, hauled over the coals again, falsely accused of releasing students from sports detention class (yes, we're still talking the same Teacher Librarian) before 'finishing time' and not following a procedure - that hadn't yet been written. Threatened with disciplinary action.

Not to mention being in the wrong room - the one instructed by the CEO, rather than the one instructed by the sports organiser. Or maybe it was the other way around? It seemed that there was a lot of uncertainty on all three sides on that one. But somehow it was all the Teacher Librarian's fault.

Apparently though - and this is a good 'rule of thumb' for others in a similar situation, although that might change with circumstances, context, phases of the moon, etc (check your local chicken entrails before making any assumptions) - is that a written instruction from a Sports Organiser trumps a verbal instruction from a principal.

Gee, and its only Wednesday!

See Also: Damned if I do, damned if I don't ... "you are not authorised to do this-that-the-other; you need my consent first; it wasn't you decision to make" as opposed to "why didn't you use your initiative?" Now, what play is that from???

On a lighter note (butane, I think), I am still awaiting the Determination. So life continues on pretty much as before, except I'm now one wisdom tooth lighter than when the week started. And still two days to go. Hurrah?

Human Rights and Civil Liberties

There's been a few television shows on introducing some 'kultchya' into the lives of what may be most kindly described as "rough girls". Our grandmothers' generation may have called them "trollops", but they weren't talking about Anthony.

Indeed, a number of charitable institutions have adopted this same cause. Even in some of our educational institutions, there are significant attempts (OK, a few half-hearted policy documents and a bit of lip service for the sake of PR) to be proactive in this area.

But I say we should let zygones be zygones.

________________________

Speaking of which, the Response to the Allegations has been submitted. A response to the Response has not yet been forthcoming. As usual, it will probably be necessary to respond to the Response to the Response, particularly as I wasn't really satisfied with the way I addressed one of the issues.

In my own defense though, I'm completely at a loss to understand how to respond to the charge that I neglected to ask myself permission to use my own work. Maybe there's a pro-forma somewhere that I didn't complete - and submit to myself. To follow the usual protocols, I guess I'm going to have to discipline myself, but you know what? I'm not that much into the whole SM thing ...


Divider graphic used with permission of Steve R. Morris of U.Florida

Hahaha

Found on the floor near the (computer) printer at the end of a busy and wet lunchtime ... a print out of instructions on Being Organised. Obviously still a bit of a gap there in planning, collating, and storage ...

The Return of the Three-Letter-Acronym

My little "reward" for having stopped smoking (cigarettes that is - the steam still comes out of my ears at times of high stress) was a nice flat-panel LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) TV ... at six times the size of the last computer monitor I bought, and maybe even more significantly half the price of the monitor. No wonder our GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is in such a state.

Anyway, now I have access to an EPG! Golly gee whiz! I even looked it up, and found that this was an electronic program guide - which we already had through our cable TV connection (CTV). Pffft, thought I (onomatopoeic, not an acronym), we've had that facility in libraries for decades with our OPACs (which is four letters, and therefore obviously a much higher class of acronym - although not quite as trendy).

I can't see much use for the PLS (Parental Lock System), given that our at-home children are far more technologically advanced than we are - and to attempt to engage the PLS can only provoke acts of retaliation which would ultimately render us not only humiliated, but locked out of viewing anything at all.

I'm still pondering the relative merits - or indeed the existence of any difference between - a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) in comparison to a DVR (Digital Video Recorder), but I guess as the glossary lists both without any See Also reference, there has to be at least a modicum of difference, regardless of how vague and tenuous.

At least now we don't need a STB (Set Top Box) given the OEA (Outrageously Expensive Aerial) we had installed. The last TLA (Three Letter Acronym) doesn't actually appear in the glossary in the current edition, but I'm going to suggest it to the manufacturers for their next revision.

Of course, this is all diversionary self-delusion (DSD) whilst still awaiting more important information (MII) on that other matter (TOM) which is hanging like the Sword of Damocles (SoD). WTF, do I hear you ask ... but no, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (WTF) have not yet been fruitful to date. But then again, Monday is only 18 hours away.

Fictional prescience?

Still awaiting more details of exactly what I am apparently guilty of - now two weeks since I asked for more details. However, an extension of the deadline has been granted; deadline hopefully not synonymous with "flat line" ...

In the mean time, consider:

"... do you think it stops with me? If that were so, the world would still be ruled by all the other cowards who tried to murder the truth - the Nazis, the Communists, the dictators - and wound up on the trash heap of history." Patterson, Richard North: No Safe Place p295. Random House ISBN 009175320

Whistleblower teacher threatened with dismissal

The teacher behind the resurgence of the DET's coverup on unflued gas heaters in schools is under threat of dismissal. Internal 'police' unit EPAC claims the teacher had placed a link on a government owned website to another site selling products made by the teacher.

With a 14 day period to respond, EPAC has not provided sufficient details of the allegation to prepare an adequate defence. The request for an extension of time has gone unanswered, as has the query for more specific information.

The teacher, a paying member of the NSW Teachers Federation for 25 years, approached the union for assistance. At the time of writing, the extent of that support was limited to an offer of 'editing' any response written by the teacher.

Union support to date has been limited to an offer to 'edit' the teacher's own response to the charges, and an instruction to limit contact to a Federation Officer currently on leave.

... and thanks for all the fish?

Many thanks to those colleagues who have shared their own (similar) experiences, the expressions of support, and advice. Isn't it strange that in a supposed democracy such as Australia, there is still an automatic assumption of guilt - requiring the "accused" to prove innocence? But this is not the case in "common law" - only those in the employment of government services, who make the laws. Go figure.

This needs to be brought to the attention of Someone Who Cares. In the location of such a personage or organisation lies the first of many hurdles. What a shame my friend Steve Price moved to Melbourne ...

Hope you're sitting down ...

... today I was officially presented with a formal letter from my employer's Stazi Unit; I am charged with making money from Warrior Librarian, and providing resources for free to my colleagues. I kid you not. Oh, and I breached copyright because I wrote stuff related to my work - so "technically" it belongs to my employer, even though I did it in my own time and on my own equipment - that I then gave away.

When you've finished laughing yourself sick (I vomited myself, but I can't say I was laughing at the time), you might be interested to know that I was told that my employer considers these allegations are as seriously as those levelled against child molesting teachers.

But perhaps what rankles the most is the fact that the allegations were made by one of my "colleagues". But together with the automatic presumption of guilt, and the requirement that I prove my innocence, comes the provision of anonymity of my accuser. Sure, I've got a fair idea who it is most likely to be, but they won't be made to face me after I've shown the charges to be without substance, frivolous, and motivated by malice.

So much for 'natural justice', transparency, and good old fashioned fairness. Indeed, this situation is contrary to common law in this country, and violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I have 14 days to respond to the allegations. I could sum up the whole situation in just one word, but I think I'm expected to be more prolix and less expressive ...

Assessing the Effectiveness of Web 2.0

They say "everything old becomes new again", and so it would appear to also be true in the matter of Online information dissemination. I've lost track of the number of hugely successfully authors (critically acclaimed as well as commercially viable) who stated their work is read because there's "something there to offend everyone" - or words to that effect.

And what better way to assess the effectiveness of Web 2.0 communication than to collate data as to what and why "advice" is given regarding the restriction of "certain information".

Whilst still contemplating the implications of the very recent verbal instruction that a certain person "did not expect to see their name mentioned" by me on "any website or listserv", and the confidential classification of The Meeting, and a prohibition on revealing the nature of the discussion, and the expectation of that none of the identities of the other parties would be revealed ... it occurs to me that perhaps I may have been the only one present that sees the true nature of the instruction.

We're not talking anti-terrorism strategies, national security policies, or even daytime television programming. This was a conflict resolution meeting regarding different perspectives on library management.

Can't tell you any more at this stage without appropriate clearances re identities, agenda, outcomes, determinations, etc. I'm already in trouble with the Fashion Compliance Unit, The Diet Council, and the Grammar Police. However, I'm reasonably sure that there isn't yet a prohibition on my "reflecting" or inviting comment on my reflections.

So pretty much it came down to an experienced, qualified and practicing Library Manager disagreeing with the principle of "non-accountability", unqualified, and precedent-reliant line managers determining policies which negatively impact on resource security, OHS issues, and pure and simple Human Rights.

Not to mention MLTU - the misinformed leading the uninformed ... to the exclusion of the only informed perspective. Such is the way of the world. Apparently.

A very small victory for order ...

You remember I had that box of bookmarks? And you remember I had that floppy disk storage box? And you remember how I threw out the floppy disks? Which left me an empty floppy disk box and no idea what to do with it?

Solved that one! Once I found that the bookmarks are exactly the right size to store in the floppy disk box (or maybe it was the other way around), the answer came to me in a flash.

Put the bookmarks in the floppy disk box.

The result is astounding. This strategy means that I've managed to throw out one small box (that used to have bookmarks in it). A small step for man, a giant step for feng shui. Ok, maybe more like a shuffle ...

Yet more repurposing?

Another imponderable ... now that I have thrown away all the old floppy disks (except one for archival purposes), what to do with the purpose built floppy disk box?

Not strictly speaking only a home-office/library problem ... there's a build up of these containers at the DJ Library as well. But at least there the many cupboards provide some storage space.

Here's a few ideas to be going on with: they're the ideal size for a small animal coffin, although being basically "open casket" in function, not suitable for road-kill; a lockable pen caddy for really treasured memento-type stationery; those cute mini-CDs fit in there nicely - but as they're mainly advertising, do we really want to keep them?; for families with dysfunctional oral hygiene, the containers could be used for overnight storage of multiple dentures; or what about miniature glass houses for growing designer herbs?

OK, maybe not the best of options, but perhaps someone out there has other ideas?

See and See also:

http://warriorlibrarian.wordpress.com/2010/06/06/hello-world/

Another Home Library Dilema

Another day, another Box of Bits to assess, review and amend as necessary. OK let's be honest, it's just more of a decade's accumulation of stuff I really didn't need, but got because it was free and you never know when it might come in handy (BIWFAYNKWIMCIH - which is possibly the world's longest and most meaningless acronym - but remember you saw it here first, if it becomes popular or gets used by someone else in a publication where the attribution is missing) ... geez, now what was I saying?

Ah yes, the box of bookmarks; collected from book sellers, conferences, random mailings, journal inserts, and so forth. With only four readers in the household (not counting the cat, who only thinks she can read) even I am prepared to concede that we may have slightly more than we need.

The question is, what ones - if any - should I keep? The remainder can go to the Day Job Library, where no doubt they will end up strewn around the playground minutes after distribution. Which is really sad, because they're really bright and colorful, and represent a decade's worth of targeted BIWFAYNKWIMCIH ...

Ad H.O.C. Irony?

How's the "Value Added" Home Office Clean-up going? Slowly, but thanks for asking anyway. But possibly of more significance are the treasures that are coming to light. Sort of more like an archaeological dig than a library cull.

The latest dusty tome to emerge is "Getting Organised" (ISBN 0826467709; Continuum Publishing 2004). What a find! Unfortunately it got lost again with the hour, but at least it got photographed before it slunk back into the chaos ...

A Short Treatice on the Nature of Human Uniqueness ...

Excessively wet and dismal weather certainly encourages the Muse; it is indeed tempting to create some half-witted pun revolving around "reflecting" and the size of the puddles. Just this once I might refrain. But no promises, mind.

So, when pondering the generic advice to "avoid negative people", it occurs to me - from the subatomic perspective at least - that if the whole of any society was "positive', this would create an unstable environment. Speaking ionically rather than ironically, all that positive charge would generate a force that would blow itself apart. And there are some who would say that this is already happening as we observe global unrest and daytime television programming.

My good friend Spike Milligan once said "blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light". Not that I know Mr Milligan personally or anything, but I've got quite a few of his books. At the time of writing I don't know if Mr Milligan has mine.

However, given that someone now (!) needs change for the photocopier, I will terminate this brief but mildly ponderous (couldn't resist, sorry) task and attend to the minutae of everyday library life ...

Library Blog Awards

That publishing company who write to Yours Generally to advise that Warrior Librarian was nominated for their Library Blog Awards has now announced the winners.

There were 5 categories; academic, general interest, public library, school library and "quirky".

In keeping with our fine tradition of fouling up just about everything, we didn't score a place. Although the award information states that the 'judging criteria' are available, and does indeed name the judges for four of the five categories, there is no information regarding "quirky" library blogs. And probably just as well, as we also have a fine tradition of naming names ... which is a whole other story.

Always read the small print ...

Here's a neat little trick ...

To apply for "seed money" for a schools-community partnership, Schools First puts the terms and conditions of the grant application into Latin. And then requires applicants to sign that they have read and understood the requirements.

I guess that's one way of making sure that the money goes to those schools who incorporate Classical (if somewhat dead) languages.

But we're all techno-savy and information-literate, right? So why not use an online translator? Geez, I wish you hadn't asked that. "Phasellus annoyance large not is bibendum not venenatis if not transitory ..."

And today's controversy is ....

... is buying books a core function of a one-person library Librarian? And if so, should it be done during work hours? And if a 35% discount is available for purchases made "in person", should that purchasing be done during work hours if the preferred supplier is off-site and does not provide an online purchasing facility?

Until the last few weeks I would have said yes to all the above. Yes, book buying is a core function. Yes, it should be conducted in work hours. Yes, a 35% discount is well worth the "transfer of duties" to the off-site supplier.

Anyways, seems that a particular "site manager" does not completely agree. "Adequate notice" must be given. What is "adequate"? 24 hours? 48 hours? 3 weeks? This particular - and seemingly quite reasonable - question is not able to be answered without yet another meeting.

Oh, and the library in question being a school library, let's not forget that the daily routine can change from day to day. Which leaves the question of "how much notice" is "adequate" a somewhat moot point. Factors such as weather, excursions, exams, etc mean that a suitable opportunity may unexpectedly occur at little or no notice for book reviewing, purchasing, customer/reader input, publishing advisory services, etc.

But what would a multi-certified professional librarian know? Right?

Sigh.

Just "Duties as Directed"?

Tuesday at the Day Job Library school is sports day, where all staff cheerfully tootle off to various sporting activities. Sure I've got a pommie tan, but check that jaunty angle of the cap, and the lanyard with a whistle!

Mind you, the day before I wore my batgirl t-shirt - but that doesn't mean I can fly.

But what a terrific display of "how-to" books on drawing; manga, fantasy, trees, cartoons, boats, kangaroos, more (but different) manga, a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. Displays are such fun ... not to mention how they can help highlight gaps in the collection. I did find out that we didn't have anything on drawing breath, water, or the short straw ...