Some random thoughts that have been bouncing around my head the past couple of days...

Real vs. Online Life
On Monday the Krafty Librarian blogged about a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education that discussed the impact of blogs on those seeking jobs. The author of the article noted that the search committee took a look at each candidate's online activity, regardless of whether or not a candidate had given a link to their blog on their resume. While this article only addresses the issue of blogs, another conversation I had with my friend Michelle has me thinking about other online activities: listservs, message boards, and discussion groups. How concerned should we be about our online life and its impact on our real one?

Cooter in the News
Like me, Cooter from the original Dukes of Hazzard is appalled by the Dukes movie (although he doesn't cite Jessica Simpson as a reason for his disgust). Who knew Cooter had his own website? Now I know where I'll be doing my Christmas shopping this year.

Willy Wonka the Amazing Chocolatier
I love Johnny Depp, and I will definitely see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However, I think the Willy Wonka song is going to drive me insane. I can't get it out of my head. When I woke up this morning the first thing I thought was:
Willy Wonka
Willy Wonka
The amazing chocolatier
Willy Wonka
Willy Wonka
Everybody give a cheer

People Can't Really Be That Stupid
I've now read several reports of bookstores who have accidentally sold early copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. First there was the story about the kid in New York who bought the book then returned it because it was the right thing to do (if I had been that kid I so would have been throwing a tantrum), and today I read in USA Today that more copies have been sold in Indianapolis. How does this happen? When my mother (who I sometimes believe lives in her own little world) knows the street date for a book, there really isn't any excuse I can think of for a bookseller to be like, "Oops. Must have slipped my mind." Puh-leeze.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Every summer I get the opportunity to teach my reference class online, and every summer I end up horrified by the things students say to me in their emails. Yesterday afternoon I received a lovely email from a student complaining about an assignment that they were handing in, and I'm still boiling mad about it.

I'm not mad that the student considered the assignment to be an exercise in busy work. I'm not mad that the student thought that it was time consuming. Heck, I'm not even mad that the student told me that it was the least valuable assignment they had completed in the entire program. Wow. The entire program? That's an endorsement I can put on my next syllabus.

What has me mad (and I believe I have blogged about this before) is that this is stuff that I know the student would never in a million years have the balls to say to my face or even over the phone. While I love the convenience of online communication, I absolutely hate the fact that people do not feel in any way accountable for what they say online. People can say what they want, when they want, to who they want without ever having to worry about what happens after their message is sent. Heck, they don't even have to read the response to their thoughts if they don't want to. That's what the handy delete button is for.

I'm someone who (unless communicating with friends) tries to remain circumspect in everything I say in email. Why? Because you never know when something is going to come back and bite you on the butt. I don't ever want to be in that position, so I do my damnedest to make sure that doesn't happen. To me communication is communication, regardless of whether it's online, on the phone, or face-to-face. And if you aren't brave enough to say it to my face, then don't say it at all. Okay?

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday, posts at both Romancing the Blog and Smart Bitches touched on the subject of autobuy authors. At RTB Maili talked about autobuy authors who end up being voted off the list after churning out several disappointing reads, while Candy discussed those authors who remain on her autobuy list despite a stinker or two. Both are interesting reads and I highly recommend you take a look at them.

I think I am somewhat of an oddity when it comes to the autobuy list. It wasn't until the past couple of years that I even started to put one together. I had authors that were must reads the minute their books hit the shelf, but I always depended on my local library for those books. Now that I work at a library however, I find myself buying more and more books. Is that crazy? Definitely. But that's the way it is.

My autobuy author list has really grown over the past year. If I were being honest I would have to say that I am maintaining two autobuy lists (I don't believe in doing things half-assed). List A consists of autobuy authors that I will purchase anything that has their name on it regardless of whether it's mystery, young adult, horror, anthology, romance, etc. I see the author's name and that's all I need to know. The book is going home with me. List B consists of autobuy authors that I only buy a portion of their books (i.e. certain series, genres, subgenres, etc.). List B is very long, so I won't bore you with those details, but here are the authors that make List A (which I am limiting to adult authors only for space purposes):

Meg Cabot
Beth Ciotta
Jennifer Crusie
MaryJanice Davidson
Lori Foster
Kim Harrison
Emma Holly
Alison Kent
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Marjorie M. Liu
Katie MacAlister
Kinley MacGregor
Lucy Monroe
Mary Stella

I like these authors so much, I would buy their books even if Oprah recommended them. I can't give an author a higher compliment than that. :-)

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I was recently evicted from my office. Don't worry, I'm not homeless or anything. But I do have a new desk at a new location: the back office of the library. Being moved to a new location makes me feel a bit like an alien visiting a new world. I'm perpetually confused about where I stashed stuff, and flinch whenever someone walks past me.

Before I would have said I was someone who didn't mind change, but right now I'm thinking I'm not so open to it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

People always assume that Iowa (where the Library Diva was born and raised) is nothing but cornfields, and that nothing exciting ever happens there. If I was being honest I would say that 99% of the time those assumptions are correct. However, there is always that 1% waiting in the wings to come out and bite you on the butt when you lease expect it. Such was the case on Friday, the first day of my vacation when I found myself making an unexpected trip to the local police station. Thanks Mom.

So how was everyone else's weekend?

--------------------------------------------------------------------