Blog

5 years ago, on May 18, 2013, I introduced EADiva to the world. I’d been working on the project since the previous fall. I bought the domain name in September 2012. Looking back now, I’m still on board with the objectives I stated in that first post

A walkthrough, with screenshots, of how to register a new batch processing operation in MarcEdit 7. By using the tool to handle your MARC, you can focus on writing XSL transformations that will manipulate the actual metadata.

Sometimes I forget things that I have the power to do, whether nominating someone for an award, sending a kudos to their boss, complimenting their work in a public forum, etc.

A reflection on overpromising as a pattern in library technology and teh gender dynamics of who’s left apologizing.

No bombs have dropped on the US’s mainland. But is it any less being killed by the weapons to have your life-span shortened? Is it any less being killed by the weapons to die of cancer which they caused over time instead of in that moment? To starve, perhaps, or to have your liver fail or another vital organ?

A challenge we encountered in our Bento Box library discovery project: how do we write helpful, caring messages for searches with no results? What does it looks like not to say ‘we don’t have it’ but ’these are other ways you might be able to find or get it.’

At first, we tried to continue as before: hacking our cars free of the clutching tendrils which grew up every night, bumping along highways until our combined weight pulverized vines into a grimy sludge. One-by-one, buildings blacked out as the weight of growth downed power lines. We left our offices and tried to support the linemen. Then cell towers choked. Signal not found. We drove plows 24/7 to keep the roads clear.

I’ve just had an article come out in Journal of Archival Organization. You can get a self-archived Author’s Accepted Manuscript, etc., here. I thought I’d write briefly about what I intended to accomplish in it. I was invited as a (now-former) member of TS-EAS to write along the prompt EAD3 and linked data. This seemed extremely in line with my work and some upcoming plans, so I was excited to do so.

At Penn State, we’re planning a discovery revamp which will include presenting our catalog with a Blacklight layer over the MARC records and creating a Bento landing page for the front-page search, which currently goes to Summon. We’ve been reviewing other institutions who’ve implemented such approaches, determining their choices, and assessing how they do or don’t meet our own needs. The box causing the most conversation right now has been our Summon search.

Reflecting on writing my own death plan. I introduce the Order of the Good Death, talk about what a death plan is compared to a will/living will, and talk a bit about my own. I share a redacted version of what I included in it and outline what I still need to do.