Inauguration day snuffles

I'm at home today with a wicked sinus headache and cold, but thanks to the wonders of technology, I have ample options for coverage of the 2008 inaugural celebrations in Washington D.C. welcoming Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States. Right now, I'm listening to the BBC news hour streaming on MichiganRadio. I thought I'd mark the day with my favorite bit of campaign kitsch, "There's No One as Irish as Barack O'Bama" by the Corrigan Brothers. It's catchy, witty, cheerful . . . and as an extra bonus Hanna finds it deeply disturbing ;).




Enjoy inauguration day!

(Ah-choo!)

Booknotes: The Ghost in Love

On the recommendation of Nancy Pearl, I used some Christmas money to buy a copy of John Carroll's novel The Ghost in Love. What with one thing and another, it's taken me most of a month to finish reading this relatively slim novel -- but I'm glad I had a chance to savor the experience. The novel is one of those books about which it is difficult to say "this is a story about . . . " any one thing. The story begins when a man falls and hits his head on the curb -- an act that is supposed to end in his death. Yet he fails to die. This glitch in the cosmic program (a sort of computer virus, suggests the Angel of Death) sets off a chain reaction of events that affect the lives of many people (and non-humans) around the man who failed to die. It's sort of Terry Pratchett (Reaper Man) meets Audrey Niffinegger (The Time-Traveller's Wife): not a shabby way to begin the the new year in books.

Librarians in film

It's probably not entirely ethical to link to your roommate's blog on a regular basis, but since I'm being held partially responsible for the existence of this post, I thought I would highlight it. Go check out the annotated list of ten librarians in film that Hanna put together for me.

Image from imdb.

You've been watching too much science fiction when

Yesterday, I was writing out new envelopes for a series of pamphlets we hold at the MHS and I glanced at the title "The legal condition of women in Mass," published in 1869, and thought it read "The legal condition of women on Mars." Yup.

Possibly those three episodes of Torchwood I watched last night were inadvisable . . . though I can't really say I feel that contrite. It was a delicious way to begin the weekend.

Alice: "I can't believe it's not butter"

I've become quite fond this past year of the long-running BBC comedy Vicar of Dibley, which both the New Hampshire and WGBH public television stations broadcast here in perpetual re-runs. I was trying to explain to my family over the Christmas holidays this particular clip, in which Alice, the totally endearing verger, explains to vicar Geraldine her suspicions concerning I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. Since no one can deliver the monologue quite like Alice herself, here she is in full form!

Looking Back/Looking Forward: Library Science

As we enter 2009 -- and before I get lost once again in the maze of a busy academic schedule -- I thought I'd post a few items on the projects I completed this fall and the projects that are up for the spring semester.


Enrolled as a part-time student, I'm attempting to balance three different sets of course requirements: those for my history degree, those for my general library science degree, and those for my archives management focus within the library science program. This fall, I took a haitus from the archives management courses and took LIS 407 (Reference Services). I had the usual frustration with Reference that I have with all introductory-level survey courses: they try to do too much in too little time, and as a result skim the surface of a great deal of information that could potentially take a lifetime (or at least a career) to explore. That pedagogical frustration aside, it was a good class taught by a knowledgeable, enthusiastic professor (thanks Rex!). I particularly enjoyed putting my annotated bibliography together on the topic of providing children and young adults with reference services in the area of human sexuality. For the bibliography, I surveyed the library science literature for articles and books on the topic (slim pickings) as well as poking around the internet for useful resources. Below are the internet sources I ended up listing in the finished project.

Internet Resources

A number of organizations provide a wealth of resources on their websites for sexuality education that would be of use in a reference setting. Below I provide a sampling of organizational websites and selected page descriptions that highlight some of the resources available that may be of particular interest in a library reference setting:

1. Internet Public Library's TeenSpace. The Internet Public Library (based out of the University of Michigan and Drexler University schools of information) has a portion of their website dedicated specifically to resources for adolescents, which includes resources related to sexuality. Two pages of particular note:

Frequently Asked (Embarrassing) Questions. On this page, a list of links are provided for issues such as dropping out of school, medical questions, mental health, and social issues (“what do I do if my friend says something racist?”) as well as sexuality information. Also linked to this page is:

Health & Sexuality Links. This is an annotated list of websites that cover a range of issues on the topics of health and sexuality. These links are further divided into sub-heading categories such as “LGBT” and “Abuse and Exploitation.”

2. Scarleteen: Sex Education for the Real World. The web-based iteration of Heather Corinna’s S.E.X., Scarleteen.com provides message boards, sexuality Q&A, writing by young people, and a variety of other interactive resources and informational content. One of the values of Scarleteen, I believe, is its holistic approach to sexual health and orientation, not assuming its readership is in any one place in the orientation spectrum and emphasizing mutuality and health rather than condemning particular sexual desires or practices.

For Parents. The “for parents” section that explains the philosophy of the site and suggests some further reading for adults who are seeking to support the young people in their lives.

Start Your Sexuality Canon. This bibliography is Scarleteen’s own bibliography of essential books on human sexuality, starting out with the famous Hite Report and making suggestions on topics of gender identity, media depictions of sexuality, as well as providing a list of basic sexual health handbooks.

3. SIECUS (Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States). SIECUS was founded in 1964 by Dr. Mary Calderone, a former medical director for Planned Parenthood. Believing in the lifelong right of all human beings to comprehensive sexuality information, SIECUS provides a plethora of free web-based resources and publications. They are also an advocacy organization for greater access and outreach on issues of sexuality, and press releases on their website can be a useful way to stay informed about current controversies over providing sexuality information to the public. A few specific items of interest:

Bibliography – Books for Young People. This bibliography provides a short list of age-appropriate books for young people, sub-divided into age categories from pre-school to high school.

On the Right Track (PDF). This 78-page booklet makes suggestions specifically for adults who work in youth development organizations on how to integrate sexuality education into their work.

SexEdLibrary. SexEd Library is a database of lesson plans from various sources pulled together and vetted by SIECUS and made available online. Categories include things like “Relationships,” “Personal skills,” “Sexual Health,” and “Society & Culture.”

4. Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), hosted by ALA. For obvious reasons, YALSA’s website can be a useful place to research the intersection of sexuality information access and youth library services. They offer numerous booklists that often feature fiction and nonfiction books on themes of romance and sexuality, support a blog that reports on current issues and a host of other electronic resources for librarians. One example of the sort of resources available would be their “Healthy Relationships for Teens” booklist, which provides web-based and traditional resources on sexuality for young adults and the librarians who serve them.

5. Teenwire.com/Planned Parenthood. Teenwire is Planned Parenthood’s site geared specifically to a young adult audience. Much like Scarleteeen, Teenwire provides multiple avenues for accessing information on sexual health and relationships. There are topical sections, question & answer features, and information about sexual health services. Much of this information is also made available in Spanish.

Parents & Professionals. This portion of the site explains Planned Parenthood’s approach to adolescent sexual health and offers links to Planned Parenthood’s publications specifically for youth advocates.

Next semester, it's back to the archives with LIS440: Archival Access and Use.

Booknotes: Locke & Key

One of Hanna's Christmas presents this years was a recently-published graphic novel, Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, written by Joe Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez. She read it over vacation and handed it off to me with instructions not to read it just before bed. The injunction was well-advised. Welcome to Lovecraft is creepy. It's one of those graphic novels most decidedly not for written for young children, despite the fact that its main characters are three siblings: Bode (the canny elementary-school-age youngest brother), Kinsey (dreadlock-sporting middle sister with an enviable record in track), and Tyler, the moody eldest son. The story opens with a homicide and only gets bloodier from there -- at the same time as our characters are becoming acquainted with the more supernatural elements of the family's Gothic mansion in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. Yet the characters and the family secrets that lie at the core of the mystery make the story compelling beyond a simple "who's going to bite the dust next?" I'm definitely looking forward to volume two.