Retiring Guy's Digest: 2013-07-14

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Public Libraries Offer "Unusual Stuff to Borrow"

Grosse Point Public Library. Tool collection.

Ann Arbor District Library

Friday, July 19, 2013

Transcribed: "Explore the Reference Collection @ the Jessamine County Public Library"

"When the online catalog shows that an item is in the reference collection, that means you can use it in the library and make photocopies from it but you can't check it out. The main reason for this is that these books are so chockful of information that we like to keep them on hand for everyone to use.

"Reference materials include encyclopedias, big books on subjects like religion, countries, and cultures, careers, science, nature, and medicine. We also have a full set of Kentucky revised statutes, the laws of our state.

"In the reference collection, you'll find college and financial aid directories, and dictionaries for English and other languages.

"Among our most popular items are the car repair manuals, NADA car buying guides, Consumer Reports buying guides, and price guides for collectibles.

"Most reference books have good indexes so it's easy to find the information you need.

"Nowadays you can find a great deal of information through online databases, but reference books can still offer a wealth of information and enjoyment."

Reminds me of the "Top 40 Reference Countdown" programs, fast-paced and fairly frenzied, that I presented a decade and more ago. It was one of my all-time favorites. (I share the first and last pages of the most recent, and now useless, bibliography.)

As Far As Most YouTube Amateur Hours Go, This Video's Not So Bad

For the first minute or so.

Hawaii State Library: Celebrating 100 Years

Fascinating for its Lack of Audio-Visual Synchronicity

Jessamine County Public Library

Nutburger Alert: Why Would You Even Think of Doing This?

Chris Craven sez, "Ballsiest prank I've seen.."

Must be Opposite Day in Craven-Land.

Perhaps it should be pointed out that 82% of the 120,707 libraries in the U.S. are school libraries

Source: American Library Association

Does The Library Of The Future Have Books? (Forbes 7/18/2013)

Excerpt: While most of the 100,000+ libraries in the U.S. will likely continue to function as they always have, moving books around shelves and holding areas, to and from patrons — at least for the foreseeable future — some libraries around the world are changing and this could be the start of a trend.

[Sidebar: Jeremy, is that all there is........to libraries? ".....moving books around shelves and holding areas, to and from patrons...."]

As for school libraries, the loss of librarians is accelerating.

Source: State of America's Libraries Report 2013

As a point of comparison, there were 31,932 fulltime-equivalent ALA-accredited MLS librarians working in 8,951 public libraries in 2010.

Carol Stream Library Board Looks for Input on What to Do With Kuhn Road Property

Screenshot of entire Carol Stream Public Library homepage

Library may survey Carol Stream residents on land sale. (Daily Herald, 7/18/2013)

SYL vs. STL: A final vote to approve a contract with ManorCare was scheduled to take place May 8, but the old board majority, led by former President Mike Wade, never got the chance. After Wade's five-person Support Your Library slate was swept in the April election by current board President Jim Bailey's Support the Library slate, the new board members — many of whom have expressed reservations with a sale — were sworn in two weeks earlier than planned.

Property purchase and referenda timeline:

2003. The library purchases the Kuhn Road property for $750,000 with the idea of building a new facility there.

March 2004. Two referendum questions rejected by the voters.

Purchase $19.25 million dollars in bonds for the construction of a new building
Increase taxes to operate the new facility.

April 2005. Referendum rejected by voters: Approve the sale of $19.5 million worth of bonds to construct, furnish, and equip a new Library facility.

April 2007.. Referendum rejected by voters: Approve the sale of $25 million worth of bonds to build and equip a new library facility on Kuhn Road.

Other Carol Stream Public Library posts/articles:
As I see it: Up a lazy river in Carol Stream? (6/25/2013)
The first regular meeting of the Carol Stream Public Library board of trustees. (5/21/2013)
Voters take their library back from the Tea Party. (4/17/2013)
Library board race grows increasingly bitter. (Daily Herald, 4/3/2013)
Board punts on library building project. (11/20/2012)
Quick turnaround time. (8/2/2012)
Good luck with that! (8/1/2012)
Library Director has no doubts her firing was personal. (7/25/2012)
Do-over: Library board votes again to fire library director officially, legally. (7/26/2012)
Philosophical realignment of the Carol Stream Public Library Board of Trustees. (7/19/2012)

Another Example of Mushroom as Lawn Ornament

This one appears to be groaning under its own weight.

Photo credit: Retiring Guy

Urbana Resident Offers Succinct Performance Evaluation of Departing Library Director

Urbana Free Library executive director to leave after book weeding scandal. (The Daily Illini, 7/15/2013)

Emphasis added by RG.

This doesn't sound like a "food fight over library personalities" to me.

I'll certainly be sharing this quote with my LIS 712 students during the spring 2014 semester.

Possible New WEDC Slogan? "Low-Quality Jobs Are Better Than No Jobs"

It's a twin spin, folks!

News Release

Not to be a wet blanket, Rep. Spiros, but let's take a look at this article from yesterday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Private-sector employment rose 13,800 in June, state says".

Excerpt (RG is responsible for the bold text):

In Rep. Spiros' case, it's probably more instructive to take a look at some of the numbers in Table D in the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor report: States with statistically significant employment changes from June 2012 to June 2013, seasonally adjusted.

Bonus round: Pat Strachota (R-West Bend) also puts on her cheerleading uniform, but surprisingly, doesn't use the "moving Wisconsin forward" mantra.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Rain Room

Steamy Wait Before a Walk in a Museum’s Rain. (The New York Times, 7/17/2013)

Excerpt: Since May 12, Mr. Guo and tens of thousands of others — art lovers, technology buffs and the merely curious — have trooped to the Museum of Modern Art for a chance to experience “Rain Room,” a temporary installation in which water rains down except where sensors detect people, giving visitors the illusion of walking between the drops.

The work, by the little-known art collective rAndom International, received tepid reviews from art critics.

The Rise and Fall of Detroit

Screenshot from the Detroit Free Press, 7/18/2013

Although located in neighboring Dearborn, Ford's River Rouge plant serves as an apt metaphor for Detroit's reign as "Motor City" during much of the 20th century.

River Rouge Plant timeline

1917. Construction begun.

1928. Construction completed.

2004. Plant closes.

2008. Plant is demolished

Wisconsin Public Library Materials, 2003-2012

Source for all graphs: Wisconsin Public Library Service Data

(2012 data is preliminary.)

Observations: The number of books owned by Wisconsin public libraries

peaked in 2006 at 20,144,918 volumes.
has remained relatively flat since 2003.
is at its lowest point since 2002.
[sidebar] grew by 21% during the 1990s.

Observations:

Audio materials increased by 44%.
Video materials increased by 62%.
Consistent, year-by-year increases in both formats.

With periodicals, a longer view is instructive. (Sidebar: Did we not count multiple subscriptions of a individual title prior to 1994? And if so, would such a change have accounted for the bulk of a 11,556 increase?)

BadgerLink was introduced in July 1998.

Related posts:
Wisconsin public libraries: Municipal and county revenue, 2003-2012 . (7/17/2013)
Wisconsin public libraries: Total number of programs and program attendance, 2003-2012. (7/17/2013)
Wisconsin public library circulation, 2003-2012. (7/17/2013)

Encourage Your State Legislators Not to Co-Sponsor This Proposed Constitutional Amendment

Background:
2 Republicans propose eliminating state treasurer, secretary of state, (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/5/2013)
Op-Ed: Board of public lands serves state well. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/4/2013)

Analysis by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau

This proposed constitutional amendment, proposed to the 2013 legislature on first consideration, deletes from the constitution the offices of secretary of state and state treasurer.

Secretary of state
Currently, the constitution assigns four duties to the secretary of state; all other duties are prescribed by law.

The four duties prescribed by the constitution are to:
1) serve as governor when there is a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor and the governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office, or serve as acting governor when there is a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor and the governor is absent from the state, impeached, or incapable of performing the duties of office;
2) keep a fair record of the official acts of the legislature and executive department of the state;
3) serve as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands; and
4) keep the great seal of Wisconsin.

Under this proposal,

the secretary of state is replaced by the attorney general in the line of gubernatorial succession.
The proposal deletes the requirement that the secretary of state keep legislative and executive records.
The proposal also removes the secretary of state as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.
Under the proposal, the constitution continues to provide for a great seal, but its placement is determined by law.

State treasurer
Currently, the only duty assigned to the state treasurer by the constitution is to serve as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands; all other duties are prescribed by law.

The proposal removes the state treasurer as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands.

Terms of incumbents
Under the proposal, the final election for secretary of state or state treasurer required by the constitution is the one that will be held in November 2014. The incumbents will continue to serve until the first Monday in January 2019.

Reconciling split ratification
When a proposed constitutional amendment incorporates more than one object or purpose, the legislature must submit each unrelated object or purpose to the people for ratification by a separate ballot question.

The constitution provides that, “if more than one amendment be submitted, they shall be submitted in such manner that the people may vote for or against such amendments separately” [see section 1 of article XII of the constitution].

The changes proposed in this joint resolution are structured to permit submission of the amendment for ratification by separate ballot questions relating to each of the offices to which the amendment relates.

Sidebar: In other words, voters will be asked to ratify two separate ballot questions:

Elimination of the office of the Secretary of State.
Elimination of the office of State Treasurer.

Which brings us to the area of greatest concern for the school and library communities. (Not to mention the villages, town, cities and counties that receive trust fund loans from the BCPL, a total of 394 loans in FY 2010 and 2011.)

Board of Commissioners of Public Lands
The three−member Board of Commissioners of Public Lands presently consists of

the secretary of state,
the state treasurer, and
the attorney general.

Under this proposal:

the attorney general remains a member
the lieutenant governor becomes a member; and
the state superintendent of public instruction becomes a member

if the offices of secretary of state and state treasurer are both deleted from the constitution.

Second consideration and ratification
A constitutional amendment requires adoption by two successive legislatures, and ratification by the people, before it can become effective.

In summary (provided by BCPL staff)

Just wondering: Outside of the items to eliminate offices, do any of the other changes require a separate vote?

Information provided by BCPL staff

The Law of Unintended Consequences?

Wisconsin Library Association

Still Waiting for a Further Encouraging Word from Wisconsin's Department of Administration

Delays plague state's OpenBook financial transparency program. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 7/17/2013)

University of Wisconsin-Madison

It may be a leap of logic, but I now feel I have a better understanding of this veto.

I suspect DOA Secretary Mike Huebsch felt that his department already had enough on its plate.

And, as quoted in the 7/17 JS article.......

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Wisconsin Public Library Municipal & County Revenue, 2003-2012

Municipal revenue

is up 21% since 2003
decreased 2.2% in 2012 compared to 2011.

County revenue

is up 38% since 2003
has not experienced a decrease since 2003

Wisconsin Public Libraries: Total Number of Programs and Program Attendance, 2003-2012

The number of programs in Wisconsin public libraries

has increased consistently since 2003.
is up 51% since 2003
increased 6.3% from 2011 to 2012

Source: Wisconsin Public Library Service Data

(2012 data is preliminary)

Program attendance

has increased consistently since 2003.
is up 40% since 2003

Sidebar

The Beyond the Page campaign is a joint effort of the Dane County Library Service and the Madison Community Foundation [can't connect to website so Facebook page will have to do for now] to create a permanent endowment that will support humanities programming in all 28 public libraries in Dane County – forever.

Related post:
Wisconsin public library circulation, 2003-2012. (7/17/2013)

Wisconsin Public Library Circulation, 2003-2012

Source: Wisconsin Public Library Service Data
Circulation of physical items.

(2012 data is preliminary)

Total circulation is

up 16.1% since 2003
up 1.7% since 2008
down 3.2% since 2009.

Circulation of children's materials

is up 16.7% since 2003
dropped slightly in 2007 and 2010
reached an all-time high in 2012

Apparently, there are lots of folks who, like me, still check out physical materials from the public library.

Sidebar: This audiobook, my most recent checkout, will keep me occupied for awhile. (Here's Stephen King's New York Times book review.)

Two years ago, I hadn't read anything by Joyce Carol Oates. Since then, I've listened to every audiobook available in LINKcat. My favorites: The Falls (the role of Ariah -- even the name -- would have been a perfect fit for Geraldine Page), Little Bird of Heaven (masterfully performed by Kate Reading).

In the News: Rep. David Craig and His Pavlovian Reflex to Roundabouts

Hey, guy, it's not nearly as bad as you think it is.

New York State Department of Transportation

Proposed law would give municipalities final say on roundabouts. (Racine Journal Times, 7/16/2013)

Uh......Dave, where do you think a lot of the money for road projects comes from? Best you review this page on the Wisconsin Department of Transportation website.

The following programs assist local governments with needed improvements to highways and bridges.

Connecting Highway Aids assists municipalities with costs associated with increased traffic and maintenance on roads that connect segments of the State Trunk Highway System.
County Forest Road Aids helps defray county costs for the improvement and maintenance of public roads within county forests.
Emergency Relief assists local governments with replacing or repairing roadways or roadway structure damage on all federal-aid highways (major collectors and above) resulting from a catastrophic failure or natural disaster.
Expressway Policing Aids provides assistance to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department for the costs of patrolling expressways within the county.
Flood Damage Aids assists local governments with improving or replacing roads and roadway structures that have sustained major damage from flooding.
General Transportation Aids (GTA), the second largest program in WisDOT’s budget, returns to local governments roughly 21.8 % of all state-collected transportation revenues (fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees) - helping offset the cost of county and municipal road construction, maintenance, traffic and other transportation-related costs.
Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) funds highway safety projects at sites that have experienced a high crash history. Emphasis is on low-cost options that can be implemented quickly.
Lift Bridge Aids reimburses the cities of Milwaukee, Racine, Green Bay, Manitowoc and Two Rivers for costs associated with the operation of 10 lift bridges on connecting highways within these communities that provide connections to the State Trunk Highway System.
Local Bridge Improvement Assistance allocates federal and state funds to help local governments rehabilitate and replace the most seriously deficient existing federal-aid-eligible local structures on Wisconsin’s local highway systems.
Local Roads Improvement Program (LRIP) assists local governments in improving seriously deteriorating county highways, town roads, and city and village streets. The program has three basic components:

County Highway Improvement (CHIP);
Town Road Improvement (TRIP); and
Municipal Street Improvement (MSIP).
Three additional discretionary programs (CHIP-D, TRIP-D and MSIP-D) allow municipalities to apply for additional funds for high-cost road projects.

Local Roads Improvement Program (LRIP) Web System This tool will replace a local application, available only to WisDOT staff, with a centrally maintained Extranet Web system that can be used by anyone with authorized WAMS ID access and Internet connectivity.
Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) produces a four-year plan of highway and transit projects for the state of Wisconsin. Revised every year, the plan is a compilation of all highway (state or local) and transit (capital or operating) projects in urban and rural areas that propose to use federal funds.
Surface Transportation Program - Freight (STP-Freight) allocates federal funds to complete projects that improve freight connections.
Surface Transportation Program - Rural (STP-R) allocates federal funds to complete a variety of improvements to federal-aid-eligible rural highways (primarily county highways).
Surface Transportation Program - Urban (STP-U) allocates federal funds to complete a variety of improvements to federal-aid-eligible roads, streets and other projects in urban areas.

The University at Albany, State University of New York, shares these facts about roundabouts on its website.

When comparing roundabouts to a signal, studies show that roundabouts provide:

90% reduction in fatal crashes
75% reduction in injury crashes
30 to 40% reduction in pedestrian crashes
10% reduction in bicycle crashes

Roundabouts carry about 30-50% more vehicles than similar sized signal intersections during rush hour because traffic is always on the move.

Operation and maintenance of roundabouts costs less than traffic signals.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Scott Walker Heads to the Centennial State to Speechify, Fundraise

National Atlas

Walker going to Colorado for speech, fundraiser. (Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, 7/16/2013)

The July 26th fundraiser is sponsored by the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association. (However, when I do a search for "fundraiser" or "Scott Walker", I am told, "No matching results found".)

Tickets:

$500 general admission.
$2,500 photo op

Question of the Day: Why Do Mushrooms Pop up in the Yard?

Photo credit: Retiring Guy

Sagmeisters Snag Victory in Green Bay

Green Bay leaders reject saggy pants ban. (Fox 11, 7/16/2013)

Photo credit: City of Green Bay

I assume Boyce means visually assaulted since Green Bay already has laws on the books for physical assault.

Boyce ended up voting "no" on his proposal when it came up for a vote on the Protection & Welfare Committee. (Agenda item #19)

From the album, They Only Come Out at Night.

But just barely,

Monday, July 15, 2013

News-Gazette Editorial Board on the Urbana Free Library "Brouhaha": "Food Fight Over Library Personalities"?

Editorial. Change coming to the library. (News Gazette, 7/15/2013)

The editorial board poses these 2 questions:

Just what is it that needs to be fixed, and how will it be achieved?
Where does the library's strategic plan — generally a collection of vague organizational goals — fit into this mess?

The 6 public library service roles that Urbana selected are highlighted.

The Fluff-O-Meter is Working Overtime

With a Royal Baby Due, News Outlets Are on High Alert. (The New York Times, 7/14/2013)

Common Dreams

And you can't get much softer and fluffier than a Royal birth.

Which, as the Times reports, means that exceptions must be made.

Now, with Prince William’s child on the way, scores of reporters and photographers are on standby in London.

Also......

NBC and ABC, on the other hand, are sending over anchors. The “Today” news reader Natalie Morales flew to London on Sunday. The “Good Morning America” weekend anchor Bianna Golodryga has been there for nearly a week [and not on her own dime, I'm sure], and she will be joined sometime soon by a regular on the weekday edition, Amy Robach. Mr. Williams said Ms. Robach will board a plane bound for London “as soon as Kate goes into the hospital.”

ABC News Royal Baby Page

What to name the baby?

Stores Track Customers' Movements Through Their Cell Phones : "It's Creepy"

At least that appears to be the growing consensus based on the first 2 quotes in this article.

Attention Shoppers: Store is Tracking Your Cell. (The New York Times, 7/14/2013)

Robert Plant, Associate Professor, Computer Information Systems. (University of Miami website.)

Robert Plant. (CIO Tech Leadership Strategy Alignment b)log

Robert Plant. (Twitter)

Robert Plant . (LinkedIn)

Robert Plant. (Rate My Professors)

Not this Robert Plant.

Bradley Voytek. (Oscillatory Thoughts blog)

Bradley Voytek. (Twitter)

Bradley Voytek. (Gazzeley Lab)

Bradley Voytak. (UCSF Profiles)

Not to mentions these comments.