whatever you have to say, leave
the roots on, let them
dangle
And the dirt
Just to make clear
where they come from
--Charles Olson
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
A Poem from the Bard of Gloucester
whatever you have to say, leave
the roots on, let them
dangle
And the dirt
Just to make clear
where they come from
--Charles Olson
Unfamiliar Fishes
Sarah Vowell's latest greatest most snarkiest historical adventure is now available for check out.
From Publisher Weekly's Review: Recounting the brief, remarkable history of a unified and independent Hawaii, Vowell, a public radio star and bestselling author (The Wordy Shipmates), retraces the impact of New England missionaries who began arriving in the early 1800s to remake the island paradise into a version of New England....Outrageous and wise-cracking, educational but never dry, this book is a thought-provoking and entertaining glimpse into the U.S.'s most unusual state and its unanticipated twists on the familiar story of Americanization.
The Chicagoist has also just published an interesting conversation with Ms. Vowell.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Evergreen Migration
As you may know, the Pollard along with the other libraries in the Merrimack Valley Library Consortium (MVLC) will be moving to a new library system this May. The following is a FAQ about the process, currently on the MVLC website. Stay tuned for more updates as they are available.
What We’re Doing:
MVLC libraries will be moving to a new automated library system, called Evergreen, at the end of May, Evergreen is an open-source library system that was developed in Georgia in 2006 and has been adopted by libraries and library systems throughout the world since, including two in New England. MVLC will be the first library system in Massachusetts to move to Evergreen, but we will be quickly followed by two other large library networks – NOBLE and C/W MARS.
Being open source, the new software will allow us to make changes to our own system and provide beneficial control over the development, maintenance, reliability and adaptability of our most essential services and their associated costs. Ultimately, it will provide MVLC the opportunity to design an information system that will fit the needs of our users, rather than being limited by the existing services that are provided by privately licensed software.
When Will It Happen?
Migration to the new system is planned for the Memorial Day weekend. We will be taking our current system down at the end of business on Friday, May 27th and coming up live on our new system on Tuesday, May 31.
Will Service be Disrupted?
During the transition, many MVLC provided services will be unavailable. Libraries will be able to check materials in and out, but there will be no ability to look up items in the public catalog or to place holds. Many databases and most electronic content will also be unavailable. (Some databases subscribed to by our individual members may be available.) OverDrive e-books and audio books will also not be accessible during that time. We will provide more specific information as the time draws closer.
Will the Holds I’ve Placed Be in the New System?
Yes. All current requests will be migrated to the new system.
What about the booklists I’ve created in My List?
Evergreen has a similar feature called the Bookbag. All My List information will be migrated to your Evergreen Bookbag.
Should I print out copies of My Lists, My Holds and My Searches?
Test results indicate that account information is successfully transferring from the old system to the new. However, if you’d like to keep a record of your account specific details, just in case, we encourage you to print the information that is most vital, such as items checked out, your holds list, My List titles, etc. in order to ensure that you have a backup of that information.
Stay tuned for further updates.
What We’re Doing:
MVLC libraries will be moving to a new automated library system, called Evergreen, at the end of May, Evergreen is an open-source library system that was developed in Georgia in 2006 and has been adopted by libraries and library systems throughout the world since, including two in New England. MVLC will be the first library system in Massachusetts to move to Evergreen, but we will be quickly followed by two other large library networks – NOBLE and C/W MARS.
Being open source, the new software will allow us to make changes to our own system and provide beneficial control over the development, maintenance, reliability and adaptability of our most essential services and their associated costs. Ultimately, it will provide MVLC the opportunity to design an information system that will fit the needs of our users, rather than being limited by the existing services that are provided by privately licensed software.
When Will It Happen?
Migration to the new system is planned for the Memorial Day weekend. We will be taking our current system down at the end of business on Friday, May 27th and coming up live on our new system on Tuesday, May 31.
Will Service be Disrupted?
During the transition, many MVLC provided services will be unavailable. Libraries will be able to check materials in and out, but there will be no ability to look up items in the public catalog or to place holds. Many databases and most electronic content will also be unavailable. (Some databases subscribed to by our individual members may be available.) OverDrive e-books and audio books will also not be accessible during that time. We will provide more specific information as the time draws closer.
Will the Holds I’ve Placed Be in the New System?
Yes. All current requests will be migrated to the new system.
What about the booklists I’ve created in My List?
Evergreen has a similar feature called the Bookbag. All My List information will be migrated to your Evergreen Bookbag.
Should I print out copies of My Lists, My Holds and My Searches?
Test results indicate that account information is successfully transferring from the old system to the new. However, if you’d like to keep a record of your account specific details, just in case, we encourage you to print the information that is most vital, such as items checked out, your holds list, My List titles, etc. in order to ensure that you have a backup of that information.
Stay tuned for further updates.
Monday, April 4, 2011
One from Walt
When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer
When I heard the learn’d astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I sitting heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.
--Walt Whitman
Friday, April 1, 2011
The Heart of Darkness (on a different continent)
As I've been reading this month's Non-Fiction Book Club selection: The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, which tells the story of Theodore Roosevelt's ambitious and wholly impractical journey through the wild jungles of the Amazon rain forest, I am reminded time and again of Werner Herzog and two of his most famous and frankly ambitious films: Aguirre Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo; but most especially Les Blank's film The Burden of Dreams which is about the making of the latter (the clip above is a monologue of Herzog's from The Burden of Dreams). If you haven't seen them, you should. And Herzog's recently published journals from the making of Fizcarraldo are also a treat.
I don't mean to make these recommendations to burden you...just focus on reading The River of Doubt in advance of next week's book club meeting on Thursday, April 7, 2011 @ 6:30PM. And then if you find the subject interesting (as I'm sure you will) you can check out Herzog's work, post-meeting. In any case, see you next week!
Autism Awareness Month
National Poetry Month Commence!
Today marks the start of National Poetry Month. A good place to begin each day this month (or any month, really) is at Poetry Daily. Today's selection includes two poems by Carl Dennis from New Ohio Review.
We thought we'd give you one more bookish poem today from an older source:
There is no frigate like a book
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
--Emily Dickinson
We thought we'd give you one more bookish poem today from an older source:
There is no frigate like a book
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away
Nor any coursers like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
--Emily Dickinson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)