I've just finished reading a wonderful blog by Penny Dolan over on The History Girls, about a series of connections that lead her from a randomly-chosen book from her shelves, right through a whole string of 19th century names, fictional characters and relationships, all linked by a wooden-legged chap called W.E. Henley. Which made me think of Charlotte Bronte. Recently, she's been my W.E. Henley.
It started with a Facebook post - which sent me to the Harvard Library online site where they have been working on restoring the tiny books Charlotte and Branwell Bronte made when they were children - which led to my own History Girl post Tiny Bronte Books.
(Please, if you go to have a look, scroll down to the bottom and watch the Brontesaurus video - you won't regret it.)
I'm in the midst of editing an anthology of East Perthshire writers called Place Settings and was delighted to read in one of the entries the author's interest in the Brontes, and how "... every night, the sisters paraded round the table reading aloud from their day's writings."
Then I got involved in a project run by 26, the writers' collective, in which writers were paired with design studios taking part in this year's London Design Show, and asked to write a response to one of their objects. I was given Dare Studio who were putting forward, among other lovely things, a new design - the Bronte Alcove.
The alcove is meant to be a private space within public places, blocking out the surrounding bustle and noise. Which made me think of bonnets. Which led me back to the internet, which led me, by way of images of hats, to the passage below, written by Elizabeth Gaskell on her visit to Charlotte at the parsonage:I asked her whether she had ever taken opium, as the description given of its effects in Villette was so exactly like what I had experienced, - vivid and exaggerated presence of objects, of which the outlines were indistinct, or lost in golden mist, etc. She replied, that she had never, to her knowledge, taken a grain of it in any shape, but that she had followed the process she always adopted when she had to describe anything which had not fallen within her own experience; she had thought intently on it for many and many a night before falling to sleep, - wondering what it was like, or how it would be, - till at length, sometimes after the progress of her story had been arrested at this one point for weeks, she wakened up in the morning with all clear before her, as if she had in reality gone through the experience, and then could describe it, word for word, as it had happened. I cannot account for this psychologically; I only am sure that it was so, because she said it.
Which led me to wonder ... my own practice has always been to try not to think about work when I'm courting sleep. And I have rarely, if ever walked round my table of an evening, reading aloud from my day's work. But have I been losing out here? Do you do as Charlotte did? I would be most interested to know.
Meantime, I wait for the next popping up of my very own W.E. Henley.
Do you look cheesy, dull, and out of touch?
I was thumbing through the local rag this weekend, enjoying random stuff like “Police Log” and tips on keeping my tires from early winter wear, when I came across an ad for a local computer store.
They’ve got a great holiday sale going. They also do helpful stuff like data restores, removing shareware, and network setups. Cool.
Unfortunately, the ad looks cheesier than a side dish in a highway diner. I actually had to check my calendar because I thought I had slipped through a wormhole on my way out of the bathroom and landed in 1993.
Now, according to the Design Rules of the Universe, blue and yellow compliment each other. True enough, but it depends on how you use them. In this case, they don’t compliment so much as argue. The ad also displays two supremely ancient clip-art computers. There’s also a clip-art cartoon elf at the top and some clip-art Christmas lights as a border, but we’ll leave them out of this for now.
Let’s say you have a computer company. Let’s assume that you would like people to think that, being an expert in computers, you are up-to-date with all the latest trends in computing. For example, people might want to get the impression that you’ve stopped using floppy disks.
For me, seeing a beige cartoon computer with a floppy slot says, “I still use DOS commands.”
As a person who needs new computers from time to time, I want the future. I want to see sleekness, shiny black and silver things with impossibly thin profiles. I want to feel like if I showed up at the store I would be awed by the technology. I want Promethius working behind the counter, possessing the kind of computer knowledge I can’t even guess at.
Instead, the impression I get from this particular ad is that my grandfather sells calculators.
I’m a smart dude. I can read past the terrible clip art and the ugly choice of colors (by the way, red and green are missing from this holiday ad). I can see in plain Helvetica that they remove shareware and perform system backups. I notice they sell desktops and laptops at “very competitive prices.”
I can read it, but I don’t feel it. You feel me?
Now, I’m betting there are people in my area who only see “Computer Store Holiday Sale” and not “Computer Store Holiday Sale circa 1993.” Some people in this area are not going to care. Those people are this guy’s “Right People,” his niche. So what’s the problem?
0 Comments on Do you look cheesy, dull, and out of touch? as of 1/1/1900
Last year I wrote the September/October issue of Library Technology Reports on Gaming in Libraries: Intersection of Services as a general overview that could help jumpstart a discussion in a library (especially with a department head or administrator). During the next few weeks, I’ll be writing an update to that issue, so I’m curious what you’d like to see in this new edition.
My intent is to broaden the discussion about gaming to include a more holistic view of the topic, beyond just video games, as well as diversifying the audience for gaming in libraries beyond just teens. So I have a pretty good idea of what I want to write about, and although I’ll have a shorter length to work with (half as long as the first one because TechSource is trying to reduce the cover price of LTR), I’d still like some input. What questions do you need answered? What do you need help explaining to others in your institution? Which areas need some further exploration?
I’m also hoping to highlight a few more case studies if there’s room. I’m particularly interested in showcasing unique gaming services offered by school and rural public libraries or services to nontraditional patrons, so please let me know if you think you’re doing something good.
Please leave a comment and share your thoughts. Thanks!
gaming in libraries,
gaminginlibraries,
library technology reports,
ltr,
techsource
.jpg?picon=1806)
