Socrates Café

First, a nod to the Word Woman:
Heterological: (adjective) failing to describe itself. An adjective is heterological just in those cases where it is not true of itself, e.g. "non-hypenated".

If something about this word's coherence or even its existence is as deeply troubling to you as it is to me (namely, is "heterological" heterological?), then you might enjoy the Socrates Café.

The Socrates Café strives to be an informal yet rigorous discussion of topics relating to the core areas of philosophy-- metaphysics, epistemology, logic, aesthetics, and, inevitably, ethics. Participants choose a broad question to explore, and then we spend the next two or so hours turning it upside-down, inside-out, and, sometimes, wrong way-round. Bring those lingering thoughts on in for a test!

Discussions are mediated with a firm but loving touch by the Library’s own Mitch Grady, who has actually had some measure of quite decent training in most areas of contemporary analytic philosophy.

Meetings are held at the Missoula Public Library on the last Thursday of each month and start at 7pm.

Word Woman

Welcome to another mind-bending episode of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! Keep your brain fit for a lifetime with lifelong learning. Now let's get warmed up with the Word of the Week:

Bombilation: [bahm-buh-lay-shun] (noun) a buzzing, droning or humming sound. This word sounds as if it should be much more severe than the definition strictly allows; if you had said you were kept awake by bombilation all night, it seems that rubble and sirens would be expected, not just somebody's overbassed car or a neighbor's TV. -- "More Weird and Wonderful Words", Erin McKean, ed., Oxford University Press, 2003.

Example: The bombilation of the plane passing overhead broke the silence of the lazy summer afternoon.

Where did YA go?

No, not you, but the Young Adult collection and computer room. Today we officially closed off the upstairs Young Adult area to do some construction, but never fear - we still have books and a computer room for you downstairs in our small meeting room. We are going to be keeping a YA librarian down there to help you find books in the new, temporary location.



We're enclosing the YA area to let you guys be a little louder and be able to have fun while you visit the library. Today is day one, and we're already pretty far with the wall framing, so hopefully this won't last too long!



There has also been quite a bit of progress on the entryway to the Children's area. Our Gnomos Locos got busy and started painting and texturing (which I'm not sure is even a word...those crazy gnomes!) the whole structure. And what's more, we're starting to see strange things, like faces, popping out of the the top. I can't wait to see how it will turn out.

Presenting at Offline 2008

All apologies for letting the blog sit for a week without an update, but everyone here spent last week gearing up for our statewide Offline library conference. Offline focuses on technology in libraries and so I was given the task of presenting a workshop on Computer and Network Security in libraries.

Trying to figure out what to present at a conference like this is tough. I mean, how can you present on computer security to both a librarian from somewhere like Bozeman or Billings with an IT staff, and a small town librarian who does everything by themselves? Because of this I gave three totally different presentations, keeping the basic message the same: be aware of your surroundings on and offline and pay attention to general weirdness going on with your computer. As usual I had prepared too much, and had way more to talk about than I needed, but that's better than nothing. I had a great time doing it, and hopefully everyone learned something.

This was my first foray into presenting at a statewide conference, and I think I did well, I'll be at the Montana Library Association conference in April for an open source software presentation I'm really excited for.

Word Woman

Welcome to another wonderful edition of Word Woman's Weekly Work-Out! If you're looking for a bit more strenuous exercise than the Word of the Week, may I suggest that you go to http://www.freerice.com/index.php and try out their vocabulary quiz. The website donates rice through the United Nations for every correct answer, so not only will you be building mental muscle, but you will also be helping to end world hunger at the same time. Post a comment with your high score and see if you can beat Word Woman's benchmark of Level 50. Now, let's move on to the Word of the Week:

Pansophism: [noun] The possession of universal knowledge, or the claim to such enlightenment. -- "-Ologies & -Isms: A Thematic Dictionary", Howard G. Zettler, ed., Gale Research Company, 1978.

Example: Bob's pansophism was a constant source of irritation to his friends and family.

Dress to Impress

You may have noticed this past week the staff have looked a little different. We are all wearing new name tags in an effort to be more recognizable as staff. Karl was more than happy to model the brand new name tags for the blog, and show off his very professional appearance.

Where the heck are my books?

Through the redesign here we've had to temporarily move our books around to shift shelving. So right now it may be tough to find the book you're looking for, let's see if we can't clear things up just a little bit.

The first, and most common question is always, "Where are the new books?" We've placed them on carts right behind the information desk. There are several carts full of new fiction, new non-fiction and our staff picks.



Next, and most confusing, even to staff, is fiction by authors whose last names begin with L, M, or N. These books have shifted to the top shelf above the rest of our fiction collection. L starts above the A's and then everything moves back from there.



And lastly, our Large-type books have moved to the shelves above our Biography collection right behind the reference desk.



All these changes are temporary while we get things moved into their new places. Don't hesitate to ask any of us to help you find something, or grab something from the top shelf, we'll be more than happy to do it!

Hamilton's Duel as You've Never Heard it

In conjunction with the Alexander Hamilton: The Man who Made Modern America exhibit here at the library I thought I'd share this video describing the duel between Hamilton and Burr as its never been described before. The re-enactment stars one of my favorite actors, Michael Cera.

Word Woman

Welcome to another astounding episode of Word Woman! Expanding your vocabulary is a great way to keep your brain in shape in the long run, so get ready to work out for that 40K race of life with the Word of the Week:

Satisdiction: [sat-is-dick-shun] (noun) a word meaning 'saying enough'. If only we knew to shut up after achieving satisdiction. From Latin words meaning 'enough' and 'saying', on the model of satisfaction. Another 'enough' word is satispassion, which means 'atonement by adequate suffering' which leads to the burning question: "How much suffering is enough?" Especially the suffering caused by someone who never seems to reach satisdiction. -- "More Weird and Wonderful Words", Erin McKean, Ed., Oxford University Press, 2003.

Example: Sports announcers' enthusiasm for the game, perhaps along with the sound of their own voices, often leads them to ramble on long after the average spectator feels that they have achieved satisdiction.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

If you've stepped foot in the library the past couple of days, you've already noticed the changes that are taking place. We're starting a big shift to make room for our CD/DVD/Video section "Entertainment Central." Shelves are being constructed, collections are being moved temporarily, and things may not be exactly where you're used to them being. But don't worry, we know where everything is, so don't hesitate to ask us where that book you can't find is located.




And it looks like those "Gnomos Locos" who are building the entryway to the Children's area are starting to test out some paint, I can't wait see what they come up with next!

Back to the Cold

I'm back.

I spent the last week in sunny Mexico getting slightly tanned, and taking (in my opinion) a well deserved break from the library world.

One thing that makes me glad to be back is the lack of humidity. I'm not sure how libraries can exist in such humid conditions. I bought a brand new book (Lamb by Christopher Moore) and by the time I left, with it almost finished, the book is on it's last legs. And being a librarian, I'm kind to books, other than the occasional dog-earing of pages. I think another few days on the beach and the pages would have started to fall out.

For proof that I really was in Mexico, here is a picture of me at Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the modern world.