Here We Go, Again

Guess what?!

Youth Group is starting up again, and I've been asked to help out again. I truly do enjoy teaching the kids every week some random tidbit of the Catholic faith. So if you see me rubbing my hand maniacally in the background with a insane cackle, just move along.

This year a few things are different. Instead of the High School and Middle School being separate they are going to meet together for food and talk then break down into groups for small group discussions. Also the kids are going to be in 'houses' a la 'Harry Potter' style, named after different Saints, such as St Maria Goretti, St Faustina Kowalska, St Maximilian Kolbe, and St Thomas Aquinas. Each house has a head, and I'm going to be head of the Aquinas House. It will be interesting to see how the kids adapt to the changes.

However it goes, it will be a lot of fun.

St John Bosco, Patron of Youth Ministries, Ora pro nobis

Irksome Problem, a LS 502 post

In my pursuing of the wondrous realm of JSTOR I am finding interesting articles in regards to oral history in archives. I've enjoyed reading them, but I have one small issue:

Not many deal with changing technology or the procedure to deal with it. Just mostly suggestions of updating every two to five years.

OK, so maybe not a small issue. But let us not view this as a issue but a challenge to make me think. Yeah - I'll go with that. So I will have to look at procedures that some archives have published dealing with adapting the archive collection to technology and the technology most likely used by the users, and see if that will not lead itself to an update procedure. I'm also going to see if anyone has published any books on the subject.

Ready, set, . . .  RESEARCH!!!

Ponders and Wonders, a LS 502 post

The mind ponders and wonders

A few brainstorming ideas I have in regards to preserving oral history (or any archive object in general):
Is there a procedure on what to do when the technology the data is stored on changes?
Is there a standard to follow with changing technology?

This area is where my mind is keeps wondering towards, so I think this will be my research focus for this class.

Most of the stuff I'm finding deals with updating archives in dealing with technology like scanners and cameras. But nothing really on what to do when that computer you have in the back archives is not compatible with the scanner or printer right next to it.

Random articles to ponder over:
Taking a Byte Out of the Archives: Making Technology Work for You
Preserving Oral History Recordings (from down under)

I think I'm still breathing calmly . . . I think.

The Idea Emerges, a LS 502 post

"Madness does not come by breaking out, but by giving in; by settling down in some dirty, little, self-repeating circle of ideas; by being tamed."
--G.K. Chesterton, Manalive

I have mentioned I'm a little freak out over my Research Methods class? I've done research before for my undergraduate degree, but I can't help but feel that I'm a little out of my depth.

But the Muse has struck!

As I was weeding a collection in the branch library I worked before my transfer, I found a book on Windows 3.1, complete with floppy disks. Now, when I say floppy disks, I mean floppy disks.

For your viewing pleasure:

Note: Advance claim no longer valid.

It struck me that there are people who probably never seen an actual floppy disk in there life. I remember explaining a floppy disk to a friend of mine who is only a few years younger than me and she gave me a confused look. So the thought in my mind is if there are no machines that can read these storage device how can we recover the information that is on there. The door is now locked, never to be open because we have lost the key.

So, with this class I want to look into how do archives make sure that the information, like recordings of oral history, that is saved on computers is not lost because of changes in technology.

I refused to be tamed!!

Useful Articles, a LS 502 Post

I forgot to mention that the journaling for my research class is going to be a bi-weekly posting. Thus another post this week! (Much better than I usually do with this blog.) Just to let you know, these may appear to be random - but, there is a madness to my method.

Over the past few days I have mostly been looking at online articles to get an idea of which direction I want to take my research.

Articles/Posts (that tickled my fancy):
Smithsonian Oral History Collection (What they have in their collection)
Assistive Technology Oral History Project
How Digital Technology Has Changed Oral History
Digital Omnium
List of All Oral Histories (ETHW)
Oral History in the Digital Age

Down into the Depths of Research, A LS 502 Post

Breath in, breath out.

I survived summer classes, but I now start the class that ellicits cringes from all that I have told I'm talking - Research Methods. All those cringes did not help my confidence in regards to this class. But I like to learn new things and explore the unknown.

As part of the class we must do journalling to aid in our research, so now will begin the random entries of research ideas, posts, and articles that peak my interest in areas I would like to research.

Today I was transferred to the Genealogical and Historical Room of my library's system; it houses a lot of local history objects and a wide variety of genealogical research (so if you're interested in joining groups like Daughters of the American Revolution or Sons of the Confederacy, drop in for a visit and find that family member). I am very interested in archives and the role they play in the community in terms of identity. I also love the role of the storyteller in society, how they weave tells of heroes, journeys, and life into ways that touch us personally. There have been many times I have found myself listening to the tales of others; things that their grandparents did in World War II, what happen when they were caught in a flood ending up rowing up the Ocmulgee River, or the story of how they met the love of their life.

There are stories that cannot just be written down and read; some stories have to be told and listen to. But how to we collect and preserve the oral stories of our community? What are the methods available? How to we brace for the changes in technology so things are lost in conversions?

Breath in, breath out.

Here I go.

Take a Gander, a cross posting

Check out my review of 'The Geeky Chef Cookbook' over on the Catholic Geeks blog called 'A Taste of Fandom'.

Here at the end of all things -- mostly the Semester

So within the week I will finish the last week of my second semester of grad school, and it has been a journey.

I now know how to better conduct reference interviews and look for resources, and I also have expanded my IT capacity, which I never thought would happen. Information Technology is still not my forte, but now I am able to better understand something relating to it.

I saw this once posted somewhere: "Google can provide a thousand answers, a Librarian can provide the right answer." How true that is! Looking for the right information is more than just typing in keywords into a search engine and hoping for the best. There is a method to the madness of the librarian as the scour through the massive amount of information provide both on and off line.  Two sources may cover the same topic but will approached it in a different manner thus one may be more suited to the need of the patron than the other. The librarian may also have to be a code-breaker to understand what the patron is seeking because sometimes the patron himself does not really know what he is looking for. So when the librarian is asking you a bunch of of questions, please bear with him, he is just trying to find the right information for you.

The last two projects I had to do for my IT class dealt with a Usability Study and Database building; for these project I had to work with a group of three other persons. Shout out to the lovey ladies I worked with, you are amazing and I would not hesitate to work with you again!

What I learned beyond the subject matter of the projects was that IT is not a lone wolf field, not in the slightest. My group worked very well together because we played on each other's strengths. I know that if I had to the last two projects by myself I would have been completely lost and in full panic mode. So I employ you dear readers to dispel the image of IT people living deep down in the depths of the basement with zero people skills. They simply have a different way of viewing the world, mostly within ones and zeroes, and a different way of communicating.

So, my dear Elevensies, I am glad to have finished our second semester together. We have had many trials and tribulations, but I'm glad to be with you:

Here at the end of all things.
(Not quite, but if feels like it!)

Funniest Ballet Performance Ever

For a good laugh:

"It's an Unix system!"

I can now save Jurassic Park before the dinosaurs eat me!!!

To explain, I've just completed the section of my IT class that deals with Unix command lines. All I could think about when I was Unix on the syllabus was Lex, the hacker girl, from Jurassic Park.

Having that movie reference to encourage me onward I buckled down and went through the modules and looked up more coding for Unix. So at this point of the semester I have a better grasp of HTML tagging and Unix line commands, or at least have a good grasp of the basic concept. I almost feel like in those heist movies where the hacker is looking for a backdoor in the computer program to unlock the doors. I would not call myself a hacker in the original sense of the term (a computer programmer enthusiast), but I am now someone who has gain a better appreciation for computer programming.

Do I feel like my IT fluency has improved? Well I can comfortably say that I could hold a conversation about the basics with a computer geek and not be completely lost or have that glazed look in my eyes. Am I just a little overwhelmed? Just a tad. Fortunately I feel like I have a good support from my cohort.

Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to make sure that all the doors have door knobs so the raptors cannot open them.

Penn & Teller Fool Us Francis Menotti

I am loving this!

IT Fluency Thus Far

<a href= www.thecatholicgeeks.com target=_blank >Catholic Geeks</a>

Gasp! Wait! What did I just type? What is this strange string of letters and symbols? What does it all mean?

Let us all take a moment to take a deep breath - all together now, breathe in and breathe out.

So what you see typed up above is HTML tagging for creating a link to an external website opening it in a new window. What amazes me is that I actually understand what I just said. When my Information Technology class started I knew zero about HTML tagging so color me impressed with myself. Now at this point in the class I understand the basic tags for formatting titles, font styles and size, lists, and even putting in links to other website.

Call me Toto because I have dared to look at the man behind the curtain as the big flaming head of website design is telling me to pay no heed. I will fully admit that I am a little proud of myself for being able to construct a simple website (which is still under development at the time of writing).

As GK Chesterton once stated "There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds." Armed these new lessons I'm excited to see where everything goes next.

To end this post I leave you with a picture of me with my spirit animal, Perry the Platypus.

Information Technology Visual Aid

In one of my classes we had to draw out how we visualize information technology. Below is how I see it; basically it's different topics all interconnected and information technology helps us see all those connections through an access point. Everything is connected.

Very quickly drawn in a coffeeshop

Do We Think Anymore?

Several weeks I took part of a conversation with several co-workers that I do not normally work with; well it was mostly me just standing there and the other three talked. The topic of this conversation was the holds list - to explain if there is a book, let's say a particular book about fishing, if the local library does not have it the librarian (or the patron through their account) can place a request for that fishing book and whichever library has it will send it off. It's a neat system and I have used it on multiple occasions. On the library end of this system the holds list is the list of requested items are we have to go through the stacks to find and send off to the requesting library.When it's printed off it is in order by the call number.

Seems simple enough, right? Well, the difficulty (and a minor one at that) is that each library has set up their collection in their own way. One library might have collected the Christian Inspirational, African American, Large Print, or Short Stories each into one area that is not denoted by the call number. This results, especially when still learning a particular library's setup, in the librarian zigzagging across the library if they are going in strict order of the call number.

The zigzagging was main component of the conversation (it was more like a mini-rant). I listen as one person wondered if there was a way to program the holds list so that the zigzagging could be eliminated. The other two agreed and I was a bit dumbfounded.

I think what bothered me so much about that conversation was how depended some of my co-workers were upon the computer system to arrange everything for them. One of the first things I do when I arrive for work is pull the holds from the shelve. But before I disappear into the stacks I go over the list and make note of which items can be found where, then I go to each section of the collection to find the items. I may change up the order from day to day, like finding the audio-books first before going to non-fiction or looking through the Mysteries before the Large Print.

As I was growing up I was always taught that computer programs and the like were a great supplement, but not a replacement to my thinking. It was a time saver, not my brain. This is how I view the holds list; to quote Pirates of the Caribbean, the list "is more what you'd call 'guidelines'" than a strict order of things. It makes pulling the holds easier, but it is not going to completely dictate how I go about pulling the holds. If somehow the computer program for the library  is set up so that it takes into consideration the format of each collection, fine by me, but I am not going to hold my breath for it.

Random Quotes

Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.”
― Fulton J. Sheen

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds."
― Gilbert K. Chesterton

"There's an old saying about those who forget history. I don't remember it, but it's good."
― Stephen Colbert

Stephen & Patricia Heaton Have A Catholic Throwdown

This is why I adore Stephen Colbert!

MLIS, ITF, and Other Fun Things

To some I am known as Livie, others 'what's her face', and to those most dear a friend. The purpose of this posting for for my LS 560 class, Information Technology, in which I will introduce myself to my fellow classmates who are also in pursuit of a MLIS, and a brief rundown of my ITF (information technology fluency).

Fellow classmates - Hello!

A few notes about my person, I currently work as a full time library assistant at a branch library who graduated from Christendom College in Virginia with a strong Liberal Arts education resulting in a B.A. in Scared Theology. It was often stated during my time at Christendom that a Liberal Arts education would give me strong skills in critical thinking, research, and writing; overall, I find that to be true but it also
strengthen my out-of-box thinking.  I have no shame declaring myself a geek in both fantasy and sci-fi - it's how I met some of my closest friends and how I get to have amazing interactions with new people. I am all about learning new things - it turns into a new adventure of discovery and more often than not those new things I learn come back to help in the library because eventually a patron will ask a question about it.

My favorite sight and smell.

A few notes on my ITF; one of my coworkers jokingly refers to me as the IT person of the branch, but I think it is mostly due to the fact that I am the youngest full time employee there. A trait I share with the rest of my generation is that I grew up with the fast growing technology of the world so I have a tendency to figure out things tech-related after messing with it. So when there is a patron  who needs help on a computer, I'm usually the one that gets sent out to assist.

I did not touch a computer until I was in the sixth grade when I remember most distinctly typing in a web address in the URL bar then asking 'Now what?', much to the dismay of my teacher and classmates. But, as evident by this blog, I have since learned to use a computer but I am not what you would call completely tech savvy. I am the person who will take the manual and refer to it often as I'm learning how to use a new device, which is why my parents will simple hand a manual to me with a pleading look saying 'Explain, please!'

I am very thankful for the invention of the mouse with all it's point and click wonderfulness, so please don't ask me how to enter in a command line with all those confusing slashes and dashes. I am hoping by the end of the semester that I will understand those slashes and dashes a little bit better without the need to get the lion tamer's chair and whip for assistance yelling 'Back! Back!'

On to the User Profile Activity (cue dramatic chord): My mother is a very smart woman and is very well liked in our community. But to call her tech savvy would be erroneous. Again she is very smart, but she is the type of person who would be very happy to live without the beepings and dings of technology. But leave her an electric lamp so she can read her books, she loves to read. She knows how to type up a document in Microsoft Word, but would need someone to help her with formatting. Email is something she uses because almost everyone else has an email that she interacts with through her volunteer work and most of the time that how they prefer to communicate; she can attach a file to an email, but needs a few reminders. She does not have a smartphone (she calls the one she currently has a 'dumbphone'), but is willing to learn how to use one if she needs to. I asked her if I gave her my digital camera without the manual would she be lost - there was little to no hesitation when she said that she probably would be lost. But she can use a Kindle Fire!

I am very nervous going into this class, but I am very it as a changllene from which I will not back down.  So bring it on scary technology! Bring it on!

Overworked, Overwhelmed, and School has Only Just Started

Once upon a time I received an message in my work email inviting me to apply for a leadership program with in the library system where I am currently employed. With everything I already have on my plate I did not really want to add another item to my agenda. But I printed off the email with the intention of contemplating it over once I was home.

To make a long story short, at my parents' encouragement I did apply and surprisingly accepted into the program. Part of the application was to included a project that would contribute somehow to the workings of the library system weather behind the scenes or directly with patrons. After racking my brain and bouncing ideas off of a few co-workers I came up with the idea of a basic library instruction for the general public.  Basically it would be something that would explain how to use the library and what to find there. So on top of my regular duties I now have that project to do.

A little stress, yes.

I'm continuing volunteering for the Middle School Youth Group at my Church.  There were too many mothers asking if I would be back this year for me to even say no. However the main reason is that I do enjoy giving talks and the Youth Director, Lauren, is an absolute sweetie. But compiling and writing a fifteen to twenty minute talk does take a bit of time to do. When I started helping with the youth program I did not think that I would enjoy it. But I gave it a chance and surprisingly I did enjoy it, and the kids on a few of the talks were very interested in what I was saying. With such a positive reaction I realized that I was able to do some good with the Youth Group. My hope is that the kids will remember a handful of things I talk about in the years down the line.  If they do then I can mark off my endeavor as a success.

More stress, yep.

The next chapter of my schooling is just about to start for my Master's degree. I am equal parts excited and nervous. The first semester went well with good grades but I went through it with an extreme amount of stressing out and good amount of sleeplessness. I don't want a repeat of that I really don't.  That being said, I did enjoy what I learned and I even signed up for another class with one of the professors I already had. He made everything he taught about sound so epic with plenty of geeky type references.

A lot of stress - you betcha!!

There is another semester of core classes that I have to take before I can go into my electives.  I have a vague idea of what direction I want to go with my degree. But with the way somethings are playing out in my life I think I am being pushed into a direction that I am not certain I want to be pushed towards.  But I am not going to focus on that at the moment. My current mantra has turned into 'Just get through school.' So I'm just going to focus on my schoolwork and slowly figure out what I'm going to do after I graduate.

Onward and upward.

Jimmy Fallon, Adele & The Roots Sing "Hello" (w/Classroom Instruments)

This was actually quite funny!

Enjoy!

What is Martyrdom?

What follows is a rough transcript of a talk I gave the Middle School Youth Group.

In honor of the Feast of the Decollation of St John the Baptist that was celebrated yesterday, today we are going to talk about martyrdom.

What is Martyrdom?  The word martyr comes from the Greek word ‘martus’ which translates to ‘witness’.  Which is fitting since the CCC states that martyrdom is “the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death.” (2473). In scripture, it usually refers to people who testified to their faith, whether or not they suffered as a result, like Susanna (who is she) preferred to die rather than yield to the advances of the two unjust judges (Daniel 13).  The association with blood came later in the first century when witnessing for Christ could mean facing the lions in the arena like Sts Perpetua and Felicity as the crowd cheered on.

Martyrdom of St. Stephen

There are three things that are required for Martyrdom: The victim must die, the murders must kill out of hatred for the Christian way of life and Christian truth, and death must be voluntary.  Of course there are exceptions to the third criterion as seen with the Holy Innocence.  The essence of martyrdom is imitating Christ’s example both in living one’s life and in giving it for a higher cause.  As they say imitation is the highest form of flattery.

The first martyr after the Resurrection was St Stephen who was also a deacon (Acts 6:8). There is also the Apostle St James the Greater (Acts 12:2).  There are also those who died for the entertainment of the Roman Empire like.  If these names sound familiar they are – they are mentioned in the Offertory prayer at Mass. Emperor Nero (the one that fiddle as Rome burned by his own hands, yes he was crazy).

But why is martyrdom important?  Well, as the Carthaginian Church Father Quintus Septimius Tertullianus, better known as Tertullian, wrote a defense of martyrs in his Apology, We become many whenever you mow us down; the blood of Christians is seed.”  Today it is often misquoted as “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.” But let us go back to the original phrase; it hangs on an agricultural metaphor. So just as autumn’s crops dies the seeds spring up, so new Christians rise up from the death of martyrs.  Christianity thrives on commitment, and the commitment of the martyrs is inspiration for the ages.

Now martyrdom is not something that just happened in the early Church.  We have martyrs in modern times. In 1926 what is now called the Cristero War began in central western Mexican states; the Mexican Government imposed many secular, anti-Catholic and anticlerical policies upon its people under President Plutarco Elias Calles.  Calles sought to eliminate the power of the Catholic Church and suppressed popular religious celebrations.  It was a very bloody conflict with a lot of causalities whose effect is still felt today – the Mexican constitution prohibits outdoor worship, if there are any it requires government permission; Religious organizations are not permitted to own print or electronic media outlet (so no Mexican version of EWTN).  From this conflict is Blessed Miguel Pro, he was shoot without trial on trumped up charges. He died with his arms outstretch, like Christ on the cross, shouting out ‘Viva Cristo Rey!’ ‘Long live Christ the King!’

Bl. Miguel Pro is not the only modern martyr. St Maria Goretti was an 11 year Italian girl who was stabbed multiple times when she resisted rape in 1902.  On the way to the hospital she forgave her attacker, Alessandro Serenelli. Her attacker was unrepentant until he had a vision of St. Maria holding a bouquet of lilies.  She handed him each lily one at a time, each one representing a stab he inflicted. When he grabbed hold of the lilies they each burned in his hands.  He had a complete change and was released after he finished his sentence.  He attended St. Maria Goretti's canonization with her mother.