Starchivists
l’archivista, ciao
We saw this funny post on l’archivista the other day, via someone’s twitter feed. It features a really straightforward instructional video, hilarious in its earnest public-service-message aesthetic. And, we guess, it does give a nice overview of the mysterious duties of starchivists the world over. It’s for some job site, because you know, people are hiring and all, but we appreciate it nonetheless.
Bookswapping Librarians
We had a great time last night at The Desk Set’s book swap / bar night at Pacific Standard. We managed to unload about 15 books and brought back a few choice titles, including two Isabelle Allende books, two Nicholson Baker titles, and a 1999 NY Neighborhood guide to ethnic eating.
We also learned about Books Behind Bars, an organization which gives books to prisoners–all the books which weren’t taken at the end of the night were donated to them.
Thanks desk-setters, well done.
scan-tily clad
Artist turned medical student uses the medical facility scanner to secretly scan objects by the cover of night,* incredible images result. Scans produce hundreds of layers which are then color coded (by the artist) to differentiate.
The Science Times’s got the story about 44 year old Satre Stuelke–check the slideshow. Barbie has leg bones and a skull?!
*actually the facility openly donated scanner time.
MoTA, Stick Around!
We dig the Museum of Temporary Art, an at-home curatorial project which catalogues objects in 33 compartments of a small box. From what we gather, as new objects come in, old ones leave the Museum. Items are properly accessioned, it seems, and there’s an open invitation to contribute.
We particularly like Liberty in a Bottle, Sealed Nurse, and Headstone Tribute to John Dolis (RIP).
Are the links temporary, too?
a book as cool as its title is long
We hereby present a book about a time capsule long buried at the World’s Fair grounds, scanned for your reading pleasure, and available at the unique and amazing Prelinger Library:
The book of record of the time capsule of cupaloy, deemed capable of resisting the effects of time for five thousand years, preserving an account of universal achievements, embedded in the grounds of the New York World’s fair, 1939 (1938)
Punch Card from the Public Liberry
Our office has a scanner, and we have decades-overdue library book titled The Causes of the American Civil War (slavery. And nothing else . . . I did not read the book).
Sounds like a winning formula for an SD post!
Read on. If you’ve got the guts.
the scan-do spirit
Print is Dead! Long Live Print! Carl Malamud for Print Czar! There’s revolution a-brewing in the Government Printing Office, or at least there will be if common sense prevails and Carl Malamud is appointed President. Some of his craaaazy, dare we say patriotic notions:
+ public access to legal documents
+ more support and work with librarians
+ the creation of the United States Publishing Academy as job stimulus
+ removal of passport RFID chips
+ making .gov sites a popular destination (g’luck with that one)
+ working with unions, not detroying them.
The man even twittered his platform.
YES WE SCAN.
Starchivist alert!!!!
Gothamist recently interviewed rockstar librarian David Smith. Wow what a guy. Here, in bullet-point form, are some reasons we love him, and some reasons we hate on him and therefore love him even more:
Love Him Because
- Was a taxi cab driver in NYC in the 70s
- Gets to do personal research projects for famous people like Diane Arbus, George Carlin, Werner Herzog
- Also helps HS Students, the homeless, random folk
- Wants to bring back rent control (not the fake rent control we have now)
- Would never consider leaving NY
- Likes the B&H Restaurant on 3rd ave
Hate Him Because
- Once paid $135/month rent
- Greatly admires Jonathan Saffron Foyer
- OK this list is a lot shorter than we thought
not-so-run-of-the-milwaukee
The UW Milwaukee library has a Nurse Romance Cover of the Week online archive. And there are a LOT of weeks. Oh my gosh, so many weeks, I think I may have to take my time and count them all, one at a time, full image search.
Please note how we feature a cover in which the woman in question is a Doctor, not a nurse lusting after some skeezy male Doc. Feminism lives y’all.
Found via @archivesbitch on twitter, who rightly asks, Why can’t there be an Archivists Romance Cover of the Week Archive?
After the shushing’s done
The librarian is drinking again. Cute post from the Desk Set’s much improved website, Where DO Librarians and Archivists Hang Out? We know and like most of these local haunts, and look forward to the book swap on March 30th at nearby Pacific Standard.
Get drunk, inside.
truth to clutter
Oh, we just love this. One of these days I’m gonna get organ-izized.
challunge
We were poking aorund for a photo of one of the souvenir buttons/clip-ons/pins/metal clips from the Metropolitan and couldn’t find a thing. Anyone? Winner wins the winning award.
Meantime, we found this flickriver page of photos from the Museum, which we like.
