Wednesday, 13 May 2015

Librarians Versus the NSA

quote [ Alison Macrina had bad news for the 30 or so librarians in the darkened auditorium on a recent Friday. ?Your password is bad,? she informed them. ?I?m really sorry. Everything you?ve learned about passwords is wrong. It?s not your fault.? ]
[SFW] [Big Brother] [+2]
[by ScoobySnacks@7:54amGMT]

Comments

XregnaR said @ 11:47am GMT on 13th May
Good name for a porno.
AssBastard said @ 12:09pm GMT on 13th May
Oh please, the porno name would be way more drawn out and contrived. Like, "Librarians versus the N-ASS-ional SUCK-urity Agency (A XXX Parody)"
arrowhen said @ 9:35am GMT on 13th May [Score:-3 Bad]
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HP Lovekraftwerk said @ 10:01am GMT on 13th May
I know, right? I mean why the fuck do they have cooking schools when you don't need to do anything but write down someone's order and toss shit in a microwave?
arrowhen said @ 10:25am GMT on 13th May
That would be a better analogy if librarians actually wrote books instead of just pointing to the shelves that they're on.
HP Lovekraftwerk said @ 11:45am GMT on 13th May
And again, that's like assuming movies are all done in one take and only require as long to make as their actual running time. Are you trolling or is this something you actually believe about librarians?
LurkerAtTheGate said @ 1:21pm GMT on 13th May
I would've defended librarians until I got to know one. At this point I'm completely incapable of distinguishing her from someone who wants to be a kindergarten teacher but can't get licensed.
HP Lovekraftwerk said @ 1:30pm GMT on 13th May [Score:1 Underrated]
My sister is one, and my wife was one for a time (though she returned to teaching before she went full-on for a degree and the pay scale that would've come with it), and I think there's far more to the job than you know...

...as well as being a Kindergarten or early childhood teacher, which you seem to think means "babysitter." If I were less civil, you'd get a truly long tirade that would probably wind up questioning how many chemicals you were exposed to as a kid, but I'll just chalk it up to the same kind of mindset that thinks kids don't learn from playing, that nothing matters 'till third grade anyway, art isn't important to education, etc.
LurkerAtTheGate said @ 3:19pm GMT on 13th May
I made no blanket statements about librarians, limiting my comments to the one I know. I have no illusions that she is likely a fringe case -- refuses to read any books not in the YA genre, often brags about her staff (none of whom have degrees) does all the work and the only reason she (with her Masters in lib sci) shows up to work is to play with the babies.

Nevermind the absolute political mess she and other librarians in our city got into recently - Director and multiple librarians were double-billing, taking personal trips on city money (going to a conference, and staying a few extra days while the library paid for the hotel), etc. Then they threw one of their own under the bus so someone could be seen as punished appropriately.

I have no doubts some librarians are pillars that hold up our fragile society, but as with anything, no group is all good or all bad.
mechavolt said @ 4:56pm GMT on 13th May
"I made no blanket statements about librarians"

"I would've defended librarians until I got to know one."

If you can't spot the inconsistency there, I don't know what to do for you. You're taking one librarian and one library -- and judging the entire profession by it.
LurkerAtTheGate said[2] @ 5:52pm GMT on 13th May
Except I'm not judging the profession by it. I have no idea what goes into a degree in library sciences -- I assume it is a mix of education, curation, and data science. I've known a few who wanted to actively bring knowledge and to the masses. I've known a few that were as corrupt as lower-level government employees can be. My experience is anecdotal & incomplete and thus can't be relied on for a broader judgement, particularly in defense of Librarians everywhere (an opinion I held before getting to know my local librarians).

This leaves me in the unpleasant middle ground I have to hold towards teachers -- a noble profession, too often held by people who shouldn't.
ooo[......7 said @ 6:47pm GMT on 13th May
me thinks you have overdue books and are resentful.
XregnaR said @ 11:50am GMT on 13th May
The best cooks and chefs in the world learned through apprenticeship, not cooking schools. Same should be true for many of the careers that now call for degrees. Including librarians.
HP Lovekraftwerk said[1] @ 12:55pm GMT on 13th May
I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to show me where that factoid came from other than from your ass. I did a quick googling of the top chefs of 2014 and found this list of Forbes' picks for said chefs.

Just searching the names for the top four returned:
Graham Elliot, who went to culinary school at Johnson & Wales University.
Jenn Louis, graduate from the Western Culinary Institute of Portland.
Dean Fearings, who went to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
Michael White, who went to the Kendall Culinary Institute.

I could go on, but you need to do your own work. And some of these and other chefs did study under other chefs, but that's more akin to a residency after med school. A lot of actual basic instruction (and not so basic, depending on the school) is required. Or do you want to go tell all these culinary institutes that their services are no longer useful? Heck, why not do away with med schools, too? It's the same principle, after all...
XregnaR said @ 4:20pm GMT on 13th May
Fair enough on those chefs attending culinary schools - unfortunately it doesn't really say much about what they did BEFORE they went into school.

But did you just compare going to culinary training to med school? Because I'm pretty sure that it's not really an option to become a world class doctor WITHOUT formal training, where as it is to be a chef.
eggboy said @ 9:40pm GMT on 13th May
Nah mate, you need all librarians working off the same system, not each learning a different way of doing things, otherwise no-one would ever find anything.
Dr.Faustus said @ 4:03pm GMT on 13th May
What in the world did a librarian do to you to deserve this level of contempt? I won't pretend that ALL librarians are doing the work of knowledge archiving saints, but seriously that is insulting and dismissive of an entire profession.
AssBastard said @ 4:15pm GMT on 13th May
Books killed his entire family, okay? Geez, leave the poor guy alone.
AssBastard said @ 6:31pm GMT on 13th May
By the way, the books that killed his entire family? Shadows From the Walls of Death.

Look it up.
LurkerAtTheGate said @ 7:01pm GMT on 13th May
This is like Roko's Basilisk isn't it?
AssBastard said @ 5:33am GMT on 14th May
Nope, it's an actual book. Seriously. Read about it here.
5th Earth said @ 5:47pm GMT on 13th May [Score:0 Underrated]
I will freely admit that the academic requirements to be a librarian are stupid. Most librarians will tell you the same thing, and I know this because I used to work in one.

But if you think the internet is a substitute for a library you have your head up your ass. Even despite Google's best efforts, there is very little overlap between the information stored in dead trees and the information publicly available online. Unless the only thing you care about is pop culture, any sort of real research in any subject requires the use of the printed word.

And if that isn't good enough for you, then three words: Netflix for books. 'Nuff said.
pleaides said @ 4:08am GMT on 14th May
You ... used to work in a librarian?
5th Earth said @ 5:58am GMT on 14th May [Score:1 Informative]
It's surprisingly comfortable.
rndmnmbr said @ 6:50pm GMT on 13th May [Score:0 Underrated]
Sorry, Arrowhen, but you're talking out of your ass. Library science doesn't mean "qualified to run your shitty local library", it means "being able to collect, organize, curate, dispense, and assist people with locating and properly utilizing complex and obscure sources of information." Visit a decent university library and observe someone seeking information to write a dissertation and you might begin to understand why library science is a real degree with real use.
arrowhen said @ 7:15pm GMT on 13th May [Score:-2]
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eggboy said @ 9:45pm GMT on 13th May [Score:-2 Informative]
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rndmnmbr said @ 7:25pm GMT on 13th May [Score:-3 Underrated]
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arrowhen said @ 9:12pm GMT on 13th May [Score:-3]
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