Dewey or not?

I am unsure if I see what all the fuss is about. I read the article and listened to the NPR podcast and found the idea of doing away with Dewey to be less than shocking. When I first heard about the Maricopa library, thinking how does this change anything and shrugging my shoulders with indifference. As long as the patrons and the staff can find the books and be led to more books in the stacks that may be of interest what does it matter what system is used?

I decided to do some digging and I found Dewey numbers in Maricopa’s OPAC, what is going on here? Did they or didn’t they get rid of Dewey? I searched for “The Hobbit” and came up with a cliffs notes with the call number of 808.8 Tolkein. A subject search of the “United States” came up with even more Dewey numbers. I decided to try and IM with a librarian at Maricopa to figure out the reality of all of this is… and was redirected to a 24 hour service at 8pm MST , what is going on here. Now I am annoyed.

5 minutes later. I have just finished playing around with the Maricopa’s OPAC and have figured out that it is possible to search in one particular library in this case the Perry Branch. The Dewey system is still in place in the OPAC. However the actual branch location for an item is not mentioned anywhere!

I hate to say it, even though I am smiling while I do, perhaps the lack of Dewey at the Perry branch is motivated somewhat by politics and notoriety and less about the patron in the first place. Is this why they were wearing no to Dewey badges at ALA, how does that help patrons? What is really going on here? I am starting to wonder if the patrons really are being thought of first or not? I am sure the staff at Maricopa are excellent, but “something is rotten in the state of Denmark.”

That does not invalidate the use of something besides Dewey or the even more confusing LOC. I have gotten terribly off track here, apologies for the ramble if you made this far.

Warcraft and Starcraft as Virtual Communities

Sample Warcraft

Sample Starcraft

I used to enjoy the computer games Starcraft and Warcraft 3 especially when I lived in South Korea where Starcraft is for all intents and purposes a national pastime. Starcraft and Warcraft are strategy games somewhat like chess but not turn based and with differing pieces to control. These games have vibrant and sometimes interesting sometimes disturbing virtual communities (VC) all of their own.

While waiting for a game a player is in a “lounge” where they can chat, IM, or simply wait for another game of pwning noobs. Players are identified by their handle, their level (amount of wins), and their “clan.” This area is usually for newer players or those who are just playing games and not interested in chatting (like me).

A clan is composed of individuals who decide to come together and name themselves (usually an acronym). Some of the clans are extensive while others are no more than 10-15 players. Clans come together for any number of reasons such as language, location, playing style, etc. I was involved in clans for a brief period of time, but was never invested in them. I rapidly grew annoyed and bored with the racist, misogynistic, and homophobic conversations of what I presume to be 12-15 year old boys and avoided clans altogether. The anonymity of the web lets individuals to act like idiots. This is a truth I discovered over and over again all across the various VCs I have been involved in where the real name and/or e-mail address is not required. I liken it to the mob mentality, people feel anonymous in a mob and do terrible things that they would never consider doing if they were being observed solely, a panopticon thing I suppose.

The actual game can take anywhere from a few minutes to many hours depending on the competency and strategies employed. The matches can either be 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4. These matches are the area of the Starcraft/Warcraft VC which I most enjoyed. I played team games specifically because the VCs that are instantly formed. Strategy needs to be thought up and agreed to quickly, the players need to communicate and work together just as a team in any sport, otherwise losing is assured. I enjoyed the team work of these games and the instant community and comradeship formed between players randomly placed on a team together no matter their race, nationality, sex, etc. A common goal was put forth and everybody worked together.

Starcraft and Warcraft have their own interesting VCs with a large amount layers. To paraphrase Shrek, “Starcraft and Warcraft virtual communities are like onions.”

Intro

I am Mick. 

I work at the New Lenox Public Library (NLPL) and am starting a practicum at Northeastern Illinois University’s Ronald Williams Library (NEIU).  

At the NLPL I work at the reference desk about half of the time and do various other tasks the other half of that time i.e. run the adult chess club (I designed the chess website, a first effort).   

I have just started at NEIU and am enjoying it, a very interesting bunch of librarians to be sure.   I will be working on something called LibGuides which I will certainly write on ad nauseum.  I will also use Adobe Captivate for some asynchronous lessons which I am extremely excited about.   I will also get a lot of time on the reference desk and perhaps even teaching some classes. 

I am engaged to be married in July of 2008. 

I taught EFL in South Korea for three years and worked in hotels down in New Orleans before that as a night manager on Bourbon Street (this is why I grin when we talk of problem patrons). 

I graduated from Knox College with a double major in philosophy and history. 

I hope to become nearly impossible for a library not to hire.  I originally came for the technology, but find myself buying in to the whole Library 2.0 philosophy or perhaps it is that the Library 2.0 philosophy that is working with my already quasi-established theories of service.