[PubLib] re: Library administration

[James Casey]

Karen:

I couldn't agree more and believe that much good has already come from the 2.0 revolution - especially in the political realms where young people seem to be getting into the process and not accepting the old chest thumping politics of fear & smear that prevailed in some past elections.  I hope that my latent optimism isn't a delusion.

What we had been writing about on this thread was the advisability of putting out illogical postings to PUBLIB (not part of the 2.0 world?) and not taking the nature of electronic discourse seriously.   I don't mean to imply that those using the IM jargon and abbreviations are inherently careless or inept, but I doubt that some writings to thousands of librarians among whose ranks will be your possible future employers should employ such a casual approach.   Librarians should participate in the web 2.0 realm - Facebook, Blogs, etc.. - and it may be wise as well as rube-like or dorky to be wary of what you say and how it is presented.  You don't know when a future employer might be watching.  --- If I was hiring a Librarian for a major supervisory position in my library, I would undertake Google, Facebook, Technorati, etc.. searches in addition to checking various references.   I think that it was you who urged that we enter the web 2.0 realm without expectation of privacy.

Jim Casey - My own views
Director of Oak Lawn Public Library

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Karen Schneider
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 1:33 PM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: Re: [PubLib] re: Library administration

Jim, I would say "walk a mile in my shoes" but you've seen my feet--that would be painful. I would suggest that at times I don't catch on with what the young'uns are saying, but I'm glad they are communicating.

If I may recommend some light reading on this topic, and more than suitable for a book group by the way, Adam Gopnik has a very funny essay in his collection, "Through the Children's Gate," where he recounts misunderstanding what is meant by "LOL." He thought it meant "lots of love." (It means "laughing out loud.") So he tries instant messaging, and when his sister tells him she is getting a divorce, he writes "LOL," etc. etc....

Karen G. Schneider  (who innocently asked on one social network what "going commando" means only to publicly learn that it refers to um, not wearing undergarments... TMI!!)
On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 2:02 PM, James Casey <jcasey at oaklawnlibrary.org<mailto:jcasey at oaklawnlibrary.org>> wrote:

Karen ---



Web 2.0 isn't the cause of the problem, but can be a venue where some of the bigger deficiencies manifest themselves.   "More communication, more often" is generally a good thing as long as it doesn't result in miscommunication.  Freely admit to being "dorkier than thou" when it comes to the 2.0 universe.



Jim Casey ---



Wht r u sayin? lolz!!

No seriously, when I am IM'ing, some things go by the wayside. I really disagree that web 2.0 is the death of English. I think more communication, more often is a good thing. But there's also nothing dorkier than backtracking to correct a minor typo. It immediately labels you as a rube. And the IM shortcuts are interesting because they are their own language. They have a grammar, and there's a right way and a wrong way to use these terms.

If you want to get concerned about grammar and syntax, record your conversation for a couple of days. Most of us do not speak in entire sentences, let alone grammatically.

Karen G. Schneider

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