nirak.net - Musings of an LIS Student

I am very excited to announce (here, at least- already announced on Twitter) that I will be attending the Center for History and New Media’s unconference THAT Camp. Here’s the quick blurb, from the website:

Short for “The Humanities and Technology Camp”, THATCamp is a BarCamp-style, user-generated “unconference” on digital humanities. THATCamp is organized and hosted by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, Digital Campus, and THATPodcast.

I have been listening to Digital Campus for a while (since the 2nd episode, I think) and am, of course, a big fan of Zotero, so I’m thrilled to go to George Mason and hang with a bunch of super smart people. I’m hoping the smart will rub off a little on me.

I’m full of ideas for the unconference, but nothing concrete is forming in my brain yet. Luckily, THAT Camp will be after I have finished my spring semester but before I start my summer semester, so I will have some time to collect my thoughts, do a little research, and maybe make some more research LOL cats, just for fun.

This will be the first conference/event I have gone to that is directly related to digital humanities (I have been to library conferences), and I am looking forward to talking about DH things with people outside of work.

I am also excited to be heading back to Washington D.C., though the only time I have to visit museums will be Friday after my plane gets in at 11ish. I’ll be running over to the National Gallery of Art as soon as the plane lands. Last time I did my whirlwind tour of the national mall museums, I didn’t get to spend much time in the NGA. Though I won’t be able to make it this trip (I tried to fly out later Monday night, but it didn’t work out) I WILL see the National Building Museum someday. (Jenny Levine has recommended this to me at least twice, so I must see it!)

On another note, if anyone knows of a cheap place to stay in/near Fairfax or has a couch I can crash on for the nights of May 30, May 31, and June 1, let me know. Alternately, if anyone else is going and wants to share a room, let me know. I can get a hotel, but I’m trying to save money where possible.

karin :: Mar.26.2008 :: Conferences :: 2 Comments »

I have been pretty quiet here lately. The truth is, there has been a LOT on my mind- stuff about my future career, where I want to live, what concessions I am willing to make (including how much time I am willing to spend away from my husband) and what exactly I want to do. So much is unsure, and I suppose I feel a little uncomfortable talking about things that I am unsure about- though I think for other library school students, this is exactly the kind of thing that is very useful to read about.

The other reason I have not posted about these feelings and thoughts is because it is hard to do so without naming names. Much of what I want in a job depends on where that job is, and that has to do with family, friends, and of course, my husband who is both my family and my best friend. (OK, trying not to sound too mushy, but he really is.) Also, the library community is small. It’s not hard to determine who I am talking about, even if I don’t name names. This has mede me super careful about what I post, especially lately.

So please forgive me if my posts come off sounding a little awkward and vague- it’s where my brain is right now.

I recently withdrew my name from a job that I really, really wanted. I think I had a good chance at getting the position, but it was just too far from home, in a place my husband would have had a hard time relocating. I knew this when I applied, of course. The plan was that I would spend the week in this other place and then come home on the weekends. It sounds OK on paper, and in planning, but when we actually sat down to figure out costs and logistics, it sort of fell apart. There were a lot of little things that, if taken alone, would have been fine, but all together would make the job unmanageable.

Then there was the fact that I am, after all, still in school- still carrying a full coarse load while working full time. Travel would mean cutting 5-6 hours out of my week when I have little time to spare. I can’t help but feel I should have considered all these aspects of the job before I applied, and I feel bad for not doing so. On the other hand, sometimes it takes a face to face confrontation with a possibility before it feels real. I am very grateful to the search committee of the school I applied to. It sounds like they are doing wonderful things and I am disappointed I will not be a part of it. They asked really great questions that really showed they are thinking about many of the same things I am, and it will be hard to come by a job that would allow me the opportunities this one would have.

The whole experience has made me cautious about job applications. For a while now I have been adding more and more to my to do pile- applying for a job seemed like the logical next step. I realize now that I need to take a step back and reassess. Full time work and school is hard- when I add to that presenting and writing and conferences and serving as secretary for the NMRT of the NLA, I’m pretty much filled up to capacity.

At the same time all this was happening, or maybe because of it, I have found myself drifting back to art as a pastime. I sort of stopped making art after I finished my Bachelors in Fine Art. The preparation for the final show and my final classes were overwhelming (I was working near full time then, too). I was constantly making art, and that art was constantly evaluated and critiqued, and it got exhausting. I not only had to create, but I had to think very carefully and pointedly about what I was creating, how to explain it, how to defend it, and how to present it. The thought of making a living at as an artist started to take on an ominous tone- a life full of creating for someone else, and to base my living off that… well, let’s just say I’m glad I found librarianship as another option.

So I’ve been painting again, and it feels good. It’s been a while since I’ve had a hobby completely outside of library stuff. Even the “fun” books I read last summer almost all had to do with some aspect of libraries- technology, management, etc. To get my artwork out there I’ve started a “free artwork” photoset in Flickr- I will occasionally put up small paintings there for free (and I usually announce on Twitter). There is something immensely gratifying about giving things away for free.

I realize that when I push myself too hard, I end up wanting to turn away from the things I am most passionate about, so I am on a quest to regain some balance in my life. I was so sparky last semester- my thoughts seemed to mesh up with what I was learning in class and the blogosphere supported it all. Now my feed reader constantly taunts me with the little “1000+” unread posts signal. I’ve taken a laissez faire approach to that- not gonna weed or do anything, just read when I can. I feel like I’m constantly running to catch up, not sprinting ahead of the pack. I hope that this spring break I can emerge with new enthusiasm and vigor, and more purpose about what I want to do and how I can accomplish it.

Photos: splorp BugMan50 capturingJenn (last one mine)

karin :: Mar.25.2008 :: Conferences, Library, Rant, School Stuff, Work :: 7 Comments »

The last few weeks have been very, very weird for me, and have shaken up both my outlook and my expectations.

Here’s the short version: On several people’s recommendation, I have applied for a job as a librarian here in Nebraska. I wasn’t planning on applying for jobs so soon (I don’t graduate until December) but the job description sounds really, really great so I went for it. While that was going on, I got an email that led to a conversation that just blew my mind and really opened up my eyes to different career trajectories I could take. I spent a few days sort of frozen with the fear that I would take the wrong path and end up in a job I dislike or end up with no money (a not so secret fear of mine).

Then I snapped out of it. I realized that there’s no mistake that’s irreversible, and what I want right now is experience more than anything. It’s still hard making a decision when I don’t know what lies ahead, but that’s always the case, right? And I don’t have to make a decision right this second, anyway. Whatever I end up doing will tell me more about what I really enjoy, and hopefully I’ll figure out the perfect job for me (and a way to secure it) in time.

The funny thing is, I already really like where I am and much of what I do. I am just a lowly assistant - I schedule meetings, I take minutes, and I generally try to make my boss’s life easier, but as time goes on I get more varied and interesting things to do. For example: maintaining the internal wiki we use to track the progress of projects, designing project sites, maintaining the website for the Center, helping with podcasts, and being a general design-y person. I think I could be quite happy staying here, but there’s just no money in the budget for me (that is, me as a professional after I graduate). In the end, that may be for the best- I think perhaps I need an impetus to try something new.

I decided to go to library school because of the huge variety of things I can do with the degree. Now that I am getting to the job hunting phase of my education, this range of options is both a good and a bad thing. Good, because I can see almost limitless opportunities ahead of me. Bad, because there is so much I want to experience that there is no way one job could satisfy all I want to do.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going. I’m excited about so many things, and I think I could be of help in so many areas, that there are lots of possible job opportunities- enough that I can, perhaps, be a little choosy. I am meeting amazing people along the way and having incredible conversations.

Now if I can just adjust to the change in time and get my sleeping patterns back to normal, I’ll be all set.

karin :: Mar.19.2008 :: School Stuff, Work :: 3 Comments »

I’m writing an evaluation of Quintura.com search engine for my Information Storage and Retrieval class. I’m having a lot of fun playing with it - it’s kind of like boolean searching for dummies. It uses Yahoo for search results, and gives a cloud of terms one can use to broaden or narrow the search. I’m not always a big fan of tag clouds, but in this case, it can work really well to show an overview of a subject. Plus, they have embeddable widgets-

All in all, a nice alternative engine. I much prefer it to similar engines like Clusty, KartOO and Grokker.

karin :: Feb.27.2008 :: School Stuff, Sites and Stories :: 2 Comments »

In the comments of Michael Sauers recent post about adding creative commons works to their library catalog, Dewi Morgan said:

I think this is great… but.

But like all copyright mechanisms, CC licences are only a means to an end, and that end is to restrict the rights of the consumer and purchaser. Some CC licenses are unarguably vastly better than most commercial licenses. But CC is not public domain.

Every time I see a government or a library getting “into” CC, I have to ask: as opposed to what?

If the alternative is Public Domain, then moving to CC is a giant leap backwards. If you are going to spend money promoting a rights mechanism, and preserving works released under that mechanism, and putting your weight and support behind that mechanism, then let that mechanism be the Public Domain, not some “watered-down Copyright that is still undeniably Copyright”.

I can’t speak as a government or library, but I can say why I myself post my work under creative commons and not public domain.

I have been trained as an artist. In school, I heard a LOT about not giving yourself away, about protecting your copyright, your “brand,” even about legal ramifications both of using others work and others using your work. I remember that the whole thing seemed weird. There was no way then, at least not that I knew, to release my work under a license that said “please use this, please share it” and allowed me to find other artists whose work was remixable. Artists have a tenuous relationship with copyright. Those that make art by remixing know, or at least should know, the copyright law as it applies to derivative works and fair use. Most artists, rather then spend a lot of time wrestling with legal definitions, will either use public domain source material, or try to use nothing at all (which can be stifling for many people.)

In general, if you release something into the public domain, that means anyone can do anything they want with it. There are limitations of course, but you wouldn’t have a legal leg to stand on if you released something in the public domain and then someone else put it in a gallery show without attribution. Of course, there is nothing to stop someone from putting a CC:By work in an art show either, but if they are following the terms of the license, at least you’ll have your name attached. It may not seem like a big deal - after all, you aren’t making money off your work either way, right? But in the art world, as most other circles, name recognition is *really* important. So if you give enough away under CC:By that people know your name, that’s social capital.

In an ideal world, Creative Commons wouldn’t be necessary- people would be polite and cite their sources. CC is a way of reminding people that yes, you can use this, but don’t pretend you made it, ok? Attribute back.

What creative commons license you use will depend on your purpose: I attribute almost everything CC:By because the important thing to me right now is name recognition. I’m building my brand, so to speak. Even if I was selling artwork, though, I’d probably stick with the CC:By SA license, because I don’t mind people making money off the work, as long as they help the cause by releasing their work into the commons as well. The brilliance of CC:By SA is that it is self perpetuating- you are free to use my content, but you have to let other people use your content. I personally don’t believe in, and will never use the Noncommercial version of the license, because it stifles other’s ability to make money as an artist (if they so choose) and is too incompatible with the other licenses. I don’t begrudge others decision to put that restriction on their content, however, I try not to use noncommercial licenses in case I want to sell something based on another work* later on. (* I added “based on another work” to try to clarify what I was saying re: Mark’s comment below. My full reply to his comment is in the comments)

As a creator, I don’t believe it is wrong to assert some rights over my work. I believe in intellectual property- I just think that as a society, we need to be able to build upon things or we will stagnate. The only problem I see with creative commons as it is is the time span- my work goes into the public domain following the same schedule as copyright law which would be 70 years after I die - that is, unless I go back and manually change the licenses of older content. Ideally, I could set a limit of my CC license, after which point it passes into the public domain. I think 10 years is reasonable. As it is now, I’ll just have to do a reevaluation of old work and release it into public domain where appropriate.

The reason I think 10 years is a reasonable term is that artists don’t live by resting on our laurels. We don’t make one really great painting or book and go “well, guess I can retire now!” - We create, we keep creating, and we keep changing. What I made 10 years ago doesn’t matter near as much as what I will create tomorrow. I think 10 years is a reasonable term for me to monetize what I can. That may be just me. I think terms up to 30ish years or until death (whichever comes first) are reasonable- but not this 70 years after death stuff.

karin :: Feb.22.2008 :: Art, Free as in Freedom, My Stuff, Open access/Open source, Sites and Stories :: 3 Comments »