My pet peeves… there are a lot – consider yourself warned

SO… today is one of those days where things that usually only peeve you a little all happen at once and all of a sudden you can’t stand them and you can literally feel yourself filling with rage – seriously! I could actually feel it creeping up my neck! Panic set in because once it reaches your head you are full up and the excess has to go somewhere and you just know that one of two things are going to happen… you are going to scream bloody murder at someone or you are going to have that crazy ugly angry cry – if someone witnesses you doing the latter you have no respect points left whatsoever, you have been shamed and you need to move immediately. So I took a deep breath, thought about the fact that 2 months from today I will be flying to Vanuatu for a 2 week honeymoon (this is a HUGE deal as I am 28 and have not had a break from work for longer than 1 week since I was 18!!!), got a coffee (NO IT DOES NOT MAKE YOU MORE ON EDGE!!!!!) even hummed a couple of tunes of that hula song, but then realised that’s for Hawaii. Eventually I started to feel normal again and then as I sipped my coffee I started to ponder my pet peeves, do I really have that many? Hmm turns out I do, is it unusual to be annoyed by these things? Here are some of the things that peeve me… feel free to comment on or share yours – mainly because it will make me feel better for my psychotic episode this morning, but also because it will be fun!

Peeve list

• Women that wear tank tops showing off underarm hair you could braid if the need somehow possessed you.
• People who spit on the ground – seriously?! What is the need for that, life is not a game of football – keep it on the field.
• People who scream obscenities at their children – this is just wrong, it makes me both angry and sad. The child of someone I know started talking a couple of months back… mumma, dada, nanna, mopmop (can’t say pop pop) but she can say shit and fuck!!! What the hell! What a fabulous thing to teach your child, very colourful vocabulary there, good job at giving them the best start to life possible.
• People who abuse animals!!!!! There is no excuse! I have had many rescue dogs, cats, birds and guinea pigs in my life and someone treated each one of them badly. These people belong in jail!
• People who park in the middle of two car spots – I don’t get it… are you blind and can’t see the lines? Do you not know how to park? Or do you just perceive that you are so important that you deserve two spots? How does this happen?
• People that queue jump! Everyone else standing in line had to do their time waiting, so should you. You are not better than anyone else in this line!
• Racism! It’s just not cool! I don’t get it and I don’t want to! This seems to be another case of someone thinking they are above someone else. This is amusing to me because in fact if you are racist I perceive you as being below everyone else that isn’t as you obviously have not evolved enough as a human being to see the beauty of a multicultural world.
• People that cut in front of you in their cars so that your only choice is to hit them or slam on your brakes and hope you don’t hit them. It is your fault you are running late to whatever you’re on your way too, please don’t cause a fatality because of your mistake!
• People who take off their shoes in a public place and have foot odour so bad that you gag!
• People who hit parked cars and don’t leave a note!
• Halitosis!
• BO!
• Talking with your mouth full! Oh god please, please don’t!
• People that do not wear underwear, then wear attire that show this fact off – you are not a celebrity, no one is going to take a photo of it, please put it away!!!

Oh my god! I am stopping now, writing this list is just fuelling my rant! Must stop! Quick press publish!!!

Bridezilla

Yes another stereotype – you must have heard this one right? I wonder where this initiated, if you know please do share it with me. As you can see from my profile I am currently working full time, studying at night, planning a wedding and numerous other responsibilities that are too tedious to bother listing hehehe, needless to say stress levels sometimes get pretty up there, particularly now around major assessment due date time, or as my fiancée calls it, “bye bye love time” as I crawl into a hole until the assessments are done. But this year I do not get that luxury as we are 9 weeks away from the wedding and everyone wants something from me.

I have to admit I have had what I would consider Bridezilla compulsions, I have wanted to chuck a tanty, I think I have chucked a couple – maybe even pretty decent ones, obviously they were all completely warranted though because there is no way my level-headed self would explode over something inane like having to glue thousands (okay hundreds) of pin-head sized diamantes onto blasted invitations is there?! Grrr damn little pin-head sized diamantes I hate you sooooo much!!!

It’s funny some girls I know talk about their dream weddings for years before they even meet a guy they would even consider marrying. I wasn’t like that, when we decided to get married and started talking about what we wanted I honestly wanted a really small personal ceremony on a beach (only because we both adore the beach) with immediate family and our two best friends and then to walk up the beach and have a BBQ. Somehow that went from under 30 people to just over 100, now I have a decent sized extended family so ok I could accept this, but then everything wasn’t good enough for someone. It didn’t matter that this is our wedding and not what we wanted and if we tried to stand up for ourselves then people started saying their side of the family wasn’t coming blah blah blah. Oh for heaven’s sake!!! We are not dramatic people, we do not like or enjoy drama, we wanted to elope, we said we were going to cancel the wedding – we were told we would be disowned if we dared elope (this was not from my father – I could have understood it from him as I am the only daughter and he would miss his opportunity to walk me down the aisle – no my parents said if we wanted to elope they would pay for it because it would make us happy. Cue the awwwwwws :D).

So whilst I have attempted some pretty darn good Bridezilla impressions over the past year, somehow people know it is not me and I do not mean my crazy threats. I find this completely unfair, the one time I wish to embrace a stereotype and my fellow man shuts me down… is this what irony feels like?

Where are we now? We are going along with whatever we are told, we both have personalities that are too laid back to keep stressing as bad as we have been. So we will do the little dance, make some little vows, and get wed that night like we are being told to… and then we are taking off to Vanuatu for the wedding WE want. Shh no one knows yet hehehe.

If a picture speaks a thousand words… how many does a video speak?

Proof…

Just incase you thought I was some batty agoraphobic lady who hides in her cobwebbed house with her books and only communicates with the outside world via the fabrications in her blog about, ‘out there’, librarians here is some giggle inducing proof.

This video was created by the students and faculty at the University of Washington’s information school, it is their rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Pokerface” and it gave me a good giggle this morning, I hope you enjoy it… it takes all types 😀

Dissipating the stereotype

When you think of librarians what thoughts come to mind?

Smiling, kindly old ladies similar to ‘Granny’ from the Tweety bird cartoons?

Or something nightmarish like the librarian ghost at the beginning of the Ghostbusters movie?

Hopefully nothing like the orang-utan librarian of Unseen University from the Discworld series!

Either way you go ALL are wrong, there is NO cookie-cutter for librarians, we vary in personality possibly (I dare to say) more so than other professions.

Why?

Well take a University library for example; we cater for all faculties within the University. Therefore there are librarians who specialise in commerce, arts, law, creative arts, science, education, engineering, health & behavioural science etc. we also have collection development staff, client services staff, web development staff, electronic resources staff and a myriad of other staff members who fall under various headings. There is no one personality that would cater for all of these areas.

So who are we?

We are somewhat like you (GASP) – are you shocked? We are as different from each other as you are from other people. Some like cats, some like dogs, some drink tea, others coffee (I drink both depending on my caffeine needs at that particular moment).

Do we all love books?

NO! Since the technological boom in recent years many librarians prefer e-resources. Many libraries have already or are now reviewing their collections policy and amending it to an e-preferred policy. With the recent announcement from Kindle regarding the fact they are developing Kindle library services to be released hopefully toward the end of the year where clients will be able to take their kindles into selected libraries and borrow e-books it seems that the idea of an e-preferred policy will continue to grow.

Confused?

So are we!

Librarians…. ditch the bun!!!

Librarians it’s time to bust apart the age-old stereotype of a snaggle-toothed, bun toting, people ‘shushing’, tweed wearing, scary, mean spinster ladies (and why are we seemingly affiliated with cat ladies? When did this happen? I am sadly allergic to cats, but I do have dogs, am I therefore a dog lady? Why do I feel like I should be offended by this?). How did this stereotype come to be? In todays heavily technology influenced society there is no time for ‘shushing’, only time for action. If librarian’s and the libraries they operate within do not step up and keep up with the times then they will fall behind and current and future generations will suffer without the know-how that we as librarians could be providing them.

What do we as librarians in an academic library provide our clients?

1. Information literacy classes
2. Classes on the use and benefits of endnote
3. Research assistance, both walk up and book ahead
4. A quite place to study
5. Reliable access to the internet and technical support to aid with issues
6. A variety of resources that can be borrowed, including laptops
7. And numerous other services

Many libraries are starting to integrate similar services utilising web2.0 technology, some experience success with online librarian chat services, facebook, twitter, instant messaging, forums etc. the possibilities are really only as limited as your imagination. Daily people are finding new and innovative ways of exploiting the technology available to us to promote services. Through embracing these developments in technology we are actively aiding people to continue to embrace libraries!

So what is current library life like?

Busy, busy, busy! Everytime one turns around there is another better technology emerging, new and better…

• Smartphones!!! Like apples new iPhone 4 and androids like the new Samsung Galaxy SII
• Personal Computers like the new ASUS EeePad Transformer which performs the roles of a laptop and tablet in one
• Bluetooth technologies such as this work in progress that may eventually replace computers

Libraries of all shapes and sizes need to be aware of these emerging technologies and keep abreast of them in order to maintain the sustainability of their libraries. Staff need regular professional development to ensure they are all versed in the use of these technologies in order to be able to capably assist their patrons.

What does the future hold?

Truly, this question is unanswerable, with the vastness of opportunities being constantly developed the face of libraries could change as much in the next decade as it has in the last decade.

Libraries have changed dramatically over the past decades, gone are the physical card catalogues, replaced with online catalogues, print journals and books are now largely accessible online and with the emergence of kindles and smartphones that have applications enabling the reading of ebooks, electronic copies are steadily growing in popularity.

One can only hazard to theorise what libraries will look like in 2020 or 2030, it is likely that the steady boom in technological development will continue and more amazing technologies will once again totally transform library operations. Already one can access information literacy classes online via You Tube will something similar to this eventually supercede ‘in-library’ classes? Many researchers have theorised that libraries will become largely digital, meaning that patrons would no longer have to visit a library in order to access anything, all the resources and assitance will be online. 24/7 access to a librarian from the comfort of your own home. I wonder will this lead to a nation of ‘work from home’ librarians? Surely if there is no need for patrons to come to the library, there is no need for staff to either.

There are many crazy postulations one could make about what will be, it is a very exciting time to be working in libraries and I personally believe that even though we have already been completely transformed, we are only at the tip of the iceberg and there are many much more fabulous things to come… I can’t wait!

Will this be what becomes of libraries? Or will they look more like this?