Christmas music quiz

OK, bibliosleaths. I am not setting the bar high here, as I scored a big fat one. I enjoy doing the brainteaser every Friday, though sometimes it is Tuesday before I get to it. In the last year, I've scored nine and ten, each once. More geography, please!

Welcome to the Friday Brainteaser from Xrefer, provider of the Xreferplus online reference service.

Christmas Songs

Here's a seasonal quiz about songs which were written for Christmas or which were hits at Christmastime.

Questions:
1. Which British group had a 1973 hit with "Merry Xmas Everybody?"

2. Which American performer had a hit in 1994 with "All I Want for Christmas is You?"

3. What was the title of the Christmas song organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure in 1984 to raise funds for Ethiopia?

4. Which song was a hit at Christmas 1988 for Cliff Richard?

5. Boney M had a number 1 hit all over Europe at Christmas 1978 with which song?

6. Who wrote the song "White Christmas?"

7. Which English electric-folk group had a British hit at Christmas 1973 with the Latin carol "Gaudete?"

8. Complete the title of Dora Bryan's 1963 Christmas hit: "All I Want for Christmas is a..."

9. Which American rapper had a 1979 hit with "Christmas Rapping?"

10. Which traditional carol was a hit for Mike Oldfield in 1975?


Answers:
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The l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g n-o-o-o-o-w

No, I am not waiting for the library to close on the Saturday before Christmas...that would be s slow clock to watch. No, I've been reading The Clock of the Long Now (note: correct permanent link form--tada) by Stewart Brand. I have been reading it very slowly on my lunch half hours, more like twenty minuteses. I have never been very good about going to lunch on time, or taking breaks. I arrive on time. I would work late cheerfully if I could. I like to say I have a flexible sense of time.

The subtitle of this book is Time and reponsibility. It's fascinating--looking at time not in minutes but in aeons. I wish I could remember which blogger recommended it, so I could thank them. I am tempted to think it was Blake, though I have no proof. Anyone care to look? In any case, my clock has run out, as someone else has placed a hold on it (the book, not my clock) and I cannot renew. I'm on page 85 of 173. So dense with ideas that it has tken me six weeks to get 85 pages. I am kind of glad that I have been reading it slowly, as these are not the kind of ideas to take in in one gulp. But I may have to break down and actually buy it.

I don't think it will be on www.paperbackswap.com--how's that for elitism? I do want to keep pondering kairos and chronos, and the interplay, checks and balances of nature, culture, governance, infrastructure, commerce and fashion. Not exactly light party chatter. Back to baking Xmas cookies!

AND not OR strikes again

Oh, I can learn! I spent four solid days in training this week. It was more than a little odd, sitting in a room while someone explained confidentiality of library records, the cornerstones of intellectual freedom, and the Children's Internet Protection Act. I defintely atoned for some sins this week!

But I think I did learn some important things. The most important was that in keyword searches in the Millenium client (the backend, not the OPAC), the default operator is OR. So when I went looking for "medieval warfare", I was getting any record with either term, not records with both. I was thinking, "boy, they bought a lousy product!" I keep thinking I should have figured it out. I mean a keyword search for "cornwell predator" brought up nothing but garbage, when the author or title did bring up hits (but too many for this lazy librarian to want to sift through.) But when I asked others, they told me that Millenium client is lousy for keyword and subject searches--just use the OPAC. But of course I find shifting from OPAC to Millenium another drag...

So the keyword thing is solved, though if I see Millenium at ALA, I may ask them why the default operator is OR. Walt Crawford has made "AND not OR" something of a mantra. When I discovered that was my problem with the keyword searches, I felt a little like Grasshopper in the old Kung Fu show when he fouled up by not following David Carradine's wisdom. Or something--Luke with Yoda? I also managed to bop "and not or" into collection development/intellectual freedom. I tried morphing that into this morning's staff meeting, but I doubt anyone was awed by my profoundity on that one. But I will continue on my little crusades...

The continuing subject search weirdness in Millenium remains inexcusable. You can search on any subject you can dream up, however, if it isn't the accepted LCSH heading, you get a see reference that isn't clickable or anything. It may even tell you see alsos, but if you want to go there, you must leave your current search and type the see also reference into the subject box. Say it's U.S. History with all its magnificent subdivisions, you may have to do quite a bit of typing. And remembering, as the see also reference may have disapeared. What, you weren't thinking you might need to look in more than one of those see references?

It is not exactly easy/intuitive to find the perfect LCSH, I am not the first to note (wink wink nudge nudge). And I am not going to purchase mammoth volumes that will need to be updated just so I can find the right heading. Innovative Interfaces must have put all their development money into the web OPAC, which has clickable tracings <3<3<3

I do want it all--I have to use the client constantly as I am frequently looking to place holds on materials from other libraries. Plus I am still doing the "what do we own on this subject dance" as I wade up to my armpits in collection development lists

Tintinabulations of 2005

Ok, for a new low, I am linking to another blog I am doing: tintinnabulations of 2005 It is in lieu of the dread "Christmas letter" I usually send out. I can't get it together to actually print and photocopy this year. But I decided I wanted to do something. As usual, I've had all these thoughts running hither and yon, and I have all these folks scattered far and wide that I like to connect with, if only once a year. So tintinnab is born and sent out into the world.

I realized about two minutes into it that unlike Biblioblather, tintinnab is decidedly an unprofessional blog. The letter has always (approx. 10 years) had my "best reads" of the year, so there will be a little biblio, but more blather.

Speaking of biblio, I finished Anansi Boys at lunch today. (As expected, I have forgotten the syntax to make that a permanent link. I'll have to say five hail Lorcans I guess.) I like Anansi stories, and I like Neil Gaiman. Some of the jokes were forced, the Island dialect seemed off, and the plot was completely predictable. But it was still a good read. Fat Charlie worked well as an anti-hero hero. I think Gaiman creates the suspension of disbelief really well, though I can't pinpoint how. It seems likely, or likable or not unlikely even when it gets fantastic. So it's nothing mind-bending; kind of comfortable, light amusement. Even if the ending was pat, it still pleased me to encounter a happy ending.

An odd thing I can't help ponder: only 5 other people have bookmarked Baker & Taylor's "public library landing zone" aka TitleSource 3 in del.icio.us. I use del.icio.us all the time--home, work, Philly, California--it is one good constant that let's me find things. So, aren't there lots of other public librarians using del.icio.us to access bookmarks in multiple computers? Or not many with collection development responsibilities? Are there lots of people still trying to a) remember lots of URLs and/or b) willing to type them in over and over? They trust that their favorites will still be on a machine tomorrow morning, because no one's ever ghosted their machine overnight??? Well, if you haven't used del.icio.us and are curious, feel free to look at the accumulation at /lislemck!

Gallery :: Katrina Deployment :: 17

My brother is currently deployed by the EPA in preventing the freon gas from some 800,000 refrigerators from being released into the ozone, or lack thereof. In the midst of the wreckage, he took time to snap this pic and send it to me...

I have finished reading Bait and Switch. I am SOOOO glad I didn't read it while job hunting. I got depressed enough on my own. The way Ehenreich maps things out, anyone over 40 who leaves a paying job is out of their mind. It is terrifying. I did like the way she looked at the job seeker's mindset, and exposed the "career coach" creeps for playing a shell game. In my many librarian hats, I was formerly the head of a job and career placement center. In the course of collection development and weeding, I had time to delve into a lot of the ideas with which Ehrenreich takes issue. She goes after the personality type tests big time. She doesn't really go into the occupational classification scam as much. Most of the occupational classification today is based on work from the 40s and 50s, largely about the military-industrial complex. It is like LCSH were developed in war time and didn't change--not that they are to be held up as nirvana, but they do evolve (slowly slowly).

On the career tests I took so I could advise jobseekers on how to do them, I invariably came up as a fur designer. Holland, the father of job classification, had barely a "creative" job classification. As I remember, my Holland code was "creative clerical". Now creative shelving is one thing!

Though sympathetic and deeply disturbed, I did have some doubts about Ehrenreich's methodology. But it's not a pretty picture. The fact that the author did not start expressing anger, outrage, or offer aid until the very final chapter bothered me. But then I remembered the horrible loss of self worth I experienced in my job search. The depth of doubt and fear that loss of place and income in this society stifles anger. It all turns inward. Perhaps that is part of the message our society uses to keep the unemployed in line. Jack Straw, anyone?

Overheard in Philly

I have been getting a little homesick for the sounds of Philadelphia. Maybe I just haven't got an ear for the patois here. Last night, at the sublimely silly Ocean Beach Christmas parade , I found the announcer's pronunciation of "dog" so it rhymes with "log" amusing. Of course, Californians think "dawg" is funny. I wonder when it will sound natural and/or I will lose my accent?