Between 2010 and 2019, Cauli Le Chat (2006?-2020), feline roving reporter for Mooresville Public Library (Mooresville, Indiana), reported all things interesting to cats (and humans) happening at the library. Related stories from across the state (and beyond) were also included.
We have an A-1 target date for the Library's new website launch: August 1, 2012. Check at the usual URL for the big change.
Since all Library blogs will be maintained on our new website, all of our Blogger-based blogs (like my two, one of which you're now reading) will discontinue new postings. All of the older postings, however, will remain active, so you may browse these if you wish. There are 740 to choose from, at least on this blog.
Thanks for following my blogs! I've enjoyed sharing what's been happening around my neighborhood.
Adieu,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
New Website News Beat
P.S. For legendary folk group The Weavers, Woody Guthrie reworked his song, "So Long, It's Been Good to Know You," from its 1930s dustbowl setting to one to which listeners in 1951 could more easily relate. The song appeared on several of the Weavers' greatest hits compilations.
MPL Youth Services present a variety of early literacy videos for librarians, preschool caretakers, teachers, and parents to make reading fun for young children. Click here to select individual videos from our playlist, or click the play button above to start watching the playlist.
Miss Jaymi and Sammy the Toucan have their own YouTube Channel with a complete listing of their early literacy videos. Click here to select from their playlist.
This Is It, an essay collection by philosopher Alan Watts, pretty much says it all in the title. Our book trailer explains.
Isn't the soundtrack music uplifting? Nice fit there, Music Man. My Library is so fortunate to have its own composer who volunteers his time and talents.
Zen Again, Maybe It Is,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Readers' Advisory News Beat
P.S. Here's the complete composition, "A Beautiful Day to be Alive," by Daniel E. Buckley, from the upcoming symphony CD Electric Buzzards (to be released in 2013), part of which was used as the music soundtrack in our book trailer for Watts' essays.
Today is Super Hero Day at Greenwood Public Library (in Greenwood, Indiana). Library staff will be dressing up as their favorite super heroes. Some will even create their own unique characters--like the Lady With the Red Hair, for instance.
The MARCinator is prepared to defend library patrons against the evils of inferior catalog records, which could prevent patrons from finding the informational materials they need. You've seen such records in online library catalogs. They usually have little bibliographical detail and reveal virtually nothing useful about the cataloged item. Some just have a partial title with no other defining details. How can you tell from such a substandard record that such a poorly described item is the one you're looking for? You can't. That is why the MARCinator works diligently to protect your access to valuable informational resources. Knowledge is a super power, after all.
Why is she called the MARCinator? That's technical services librarianese. Every profession has its secret handshakes and lingo. (Okay, maybe not handshakes.) MARC is an acronym--MAchine Readable Cataloging--which is the format used in libraries' online computer catalogs, like Evergreen Indiana (E.I.), for example. The MARC format looks like this in E.I.:
Definitely Click to Bigify
Technical services (i.e., catalog) librarians create these things from scratch (or edit records another cataloger has made). This is high-tech encoding--in a word, it is metadata--and you have to understand such procedural methodologies as AACR2 (Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, Second Edition) and RDA (Resource Description and Access). This is a highly specialized field that requires a keen eye and shrewd mind.
If you can find anything in a library catalog, thank a technical services librarian. The catalog is the life force of the entire library information network. Finding what you need begins with excellent MARC records that catalog librarians create.
Also, thank the reference librarians who helped you make sense of the library's classification system and who interpreted the MARC records to locate what you needed. This is tough stuff. It's why librarians have master's degrees in library science.
So, Boss Lady--Why don't we have a super hero day at my Library? Just asking. Maybe I should be addressing Broadway Gal, Savvy, and Wild Thang in this conversation, too. After all, it would be our youth services department that would shoulder this program. I'm guessing Programma Mama and Technigal (i.e., Anime-Manga Gal) would also be called to duty to make super hero day a success at my Library.
I say, make it so, minions. We need a super hero day at MPL. Plus, our library staff MUST dress up in super hero costumes. Well, maybe not Scowl-Face. We don't want to terrify those kiddies. Seeing 'Ol Scowlly in spandex and short shorts would horrify anyone.
I'm Already Wearing My Costume--It's my Press Fedora,
Cauli Le Chat
MPL Roving Reporter
Library Programs News Beat
P.S. Here's my Library's tribute to technical services librarians, who wear many hats at MPL. At small libraries, T.S. librarians do everything--plus cataloging--so be extra nice to them. Canned tuna-in-oil, I'm thinking.
