Swimming in Magazines

Magazines Team Up to Tout 'Power of Print'
By Russell Adams and Shira Ovide, The Wall Street Journal

Magazine executives spent much of last year telling anyone who would listen that they were taking their brands digital. Their message this year: Print rules.

Five leading magazine publishers have pitched in on a multimillion-dollar ad campaign touting the "power of print." They say nearly 1,400 pages of the ads will be sprinkled through magazines including People, Vogue and Ladies' Home Journal this year.

The ads press the case that magazines remain an effective advertising medium in the age of the Internet because of the depth and lasting quality of print, compared with the ephemeral nature of much of the Web's content.

"The Internet is fleeting. Magazines are immersive," says one ad, which is slated to appear in May issues of the participating publications. The first spread features a photo of swimmer Michael Phelps from ESPN The Magazine, with the headline "We surf the Internet. We swim in magazines."

Backing the campaign are Time Warner's Time Inc., Hearst, Advance Publications' Condé Nast, Wenner Media and Meredith. The ads were created by WPP's Young & Rubicam. (full article)

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Visit: http://ipl.org/div/askus/

A Library-Themed Christmas

This Christmas, my husband gave me several library-themed gifts. I said I was touched because it demonstrated to me how he was supportive of my decision to pursue an MLIS degree and change careers. His response was, "Oh, sure, that's what I was doing."

Okay, so maybe he didn't intentionally select the gifts for that reason, but he has been very supportive and I love the gifts. (If you're wondering where he found them, he searched Google for "librarian.")

My favorite gift (shown at right) is the Deluxe Librarian Action Figure, with “amazing push-button Shushing Action.” Featuring the likeness of real librarian Nancy Pearl, the 5” tall vinyl figure comes with a reference desk, computer, book cart, multiple book stacks and some loose books, including a tiny plastic replica of Nancy's book, "Book Lust."

My other gifts included the following books: "Death Books A Return: A Scrappy Librarian Mystery," by Marion Moore Hill, which I very much enjoyed reading over the holiday break (I also ordered her other book in the series); "Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian," by Scott Douglas, which I'm reading now (very funny); and "Library: An Unquiet History," by Matthew Battles, which I'm planning to read during the semester break.

Cool. I love Mad Men

NY Public Library's researchers field calls & texts 24/7
By Jeremy Olshan, New York Post

They have an answer for (almost) everything. Whether it's the writers of "Mad Men" calling to ensure the hit show's portrayal of the city in 1963 is accurate, or a fourth-grader stumped on her science project, the research librarians at the New York Public Library are the question authorities.

Created in the 1960s as the telephone reference desk, the team of six senior librarians in the catalogue area of the stunning Rose Reading Room now take hundreds of questions each day by phone, e-mail, online chat -- and, as of a few weeks ago -- by text message.

Most of the requests relate to mundane matters such as obtaining a library card, but each day there are several dozen juicy "cherry questions," senior librarian Bernard van Maarseveen told The Post.

"These are our bread-and-butter questions -- the ones that keep us coming in each day and keep us from calling out sick," he said. "These could take days or weeks."

The writers of "Mad Men," for instance, call frequently while working on the show. For example:

"Right now on taxi cabs you have lights that say 'off duty,' and they wanted to know if those lights were on in 1963," said Maarseveen, whose desk is piled with books filled with such Big Apple arcana.

"They also wanted to know what was scheduled to be on TV the day of the Kennedy assassination," he said... (full article)

Spring 2010 and Snow!

Well, I've made it through 2-1/2 semesters of the program. This term I'm taking LIS 2500: Reference Resources and Resources and LIS 2585: Health Consumer Resources and Services. I'm also continuing my internship with the ipl2, with a focus on marketing. So far, everything is going well.

The campus has been closed this week because of the blizzard so I have another week to catch up on my work. The photo to the right is of the Hillman Library. Pittsburgh has gotten about 2 feet of snow. I live north of Pittsburgh and we've had a lot less - about 10 feet - but it's still coming down.

Homecoming Weekend at Pitt

Last weekend was my first Pitt homecoming and my first visit to Heinz Field. It is a beautiful football field, but it is so big that it didn't feel much like a college game. We couldn't find any of our friends until after the game at a local restaurant. We were lucky that the rain held off and it didn't get cold until the end of the game. Pitt beat USF in a blowout. They are doing so great this season! Much, much better than when I was an undergrad student.

The weather on Sunday was even better - cool but sunny. Natalie and I had lunch at the "O" (we split a turkey sub and small fries and were stuffed!) and walked around campus. The campus now has a Pitt Panther statue that was donated by the class of 1999 (after we graduated), so we got some pictures of it. We also walked around Station Square and took some great pictures of the city from Mt. Washington. We caught the end of the very exciting Steelers game on the radio. What a great weekend for football in Pittsburgh!

Visit to Pitt - Twice in a Month

Fall semester has been challenging. This month in particular as I keep getting colds, probably from the changing temps. Last weekend I was in Pittsburgh for fasttrack weekend and this weekend I'll be there again. My friend Natalie is flying in from Denver for Pitt's homecoming and she is staying with me. We're going to meet up with other friends after the game Saturday (my first visit to Heinz Field) and attend an event on campus Sunday. I'm really looking forward it since I haven't seen anyone since college.

Fasttrack weekend was hectic as usual. I didn't see as many people from cohort 9 as I expected I would. Some of us were communicating through Facebook afterward that it would be fun to plan a get-together for next time (in March). I can't believe it is already time to register for spring classes! I need to figure out what classes I want to take and register next week. I think I'm going to take Health Consumer Resource and Services and Information Visualization.

Well back to cleaning the house to prepare for my guest and then off to the airport.