Rex Libris

On the Friday I headed into Prahan to visit Alternate Worlds. How cool is this shop! Especially if you are into comics! Anyway, I went with the intention of ordering all the copies of Rex Libris and to my amazement they had them all there! I was so stoked. I bought all 8 issues for about $50. Issue 9 is yet to arrive but they do mail order so I am thinking of setting up an account. It was really cool though because I thought that I would have to order in from overseas and that then it would cost a fortune, but no - all copies were there and they were cheap! So if you have thought about getting copies (and you live in Melbourne) I recommend a visit to Alternate Worlds. I have hardly started reading them though as I am savouring every word (and I really have to do homework!).

Second hand bookshopping

On the Thursday I decided to head into the outskirts of Old Melbourne town and do some therapeutic shopping by going second hand bookshopping!! I bought a book years ago on "Guide to Bookshops of Victoria" so decided to hunt some of the shops out. In total I bought about 15 books (which have just been added to the massive pile of hundreds of books I already have to read)!!

Some bookshops worth visiting are:

Book Affair
200 Elgin St Carlton

Already Read
98 Scotchmer St Fitzroy North

Merchant of Fairness
300 Whitehorse Rd Balwyn

MJ's Bookshop
77a Boronia Rd Boronia

These are just a few of the dozen or so I visited. However, these ones I will definitely be returning to!

More meetings

Boy have I been busy. Last week I headed to Melbourne on Tuesday night for an ALIA Vic meeting. It was held at Blake Dawson Waldron and boy do they have a great view!! I took the minutes (which I only managed to type up last night while watching All Saints). Planning is currently underway for the annual Christmas Party so stayed tuned for more info!

On the Wednesday I again headed into the city (but I stayed in Melbourne - for 5 days actually!). The local Libraries Australia User Group had a training day on using the Document Store function within LADD. The session was OK. I learnt what I needed to. Not sure we will use the function though as there are so many steps involved (all confusing - especially when we barely use LADD as it is). But anyway, it was great to catch up with some fellow ILL Officers from health and academic libraries. I had lunch with Margaret from Box Hill Hospital and we caught the train back out with Margaret going to work and me starting my 4 days of no work and relaxation mode!!

Book: Kartya's Story

Now I read this one on Sunday (whilst still recovering in bed). This was another great book. I think there were a few elements that swayed me though! It was set in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, in the suburb next to the one I grew up in. So I was very familiar with the setting etc. (I always love that about a book). The story was about a young girl (born only a few months after me - again, I love similarities), who was adopted. It was about the struggle with her identity from her adoptive mother's perspective. The young girl turned to the streets, petty crime, drugs (in particular heroine). This also hit a close cord as I am very close to someone who is a recovering drug addict. Anyway, the adoptive mother ended up trying to track down the birth mother in Taiwan as this was one of the main problems of Kartya - not knowing where she came from or why she was given up. It ended up with a successful media hunt in Taiwan for her birth mother. The family all met, Kartya was happy - free etc. However, she was still on drugs just before she left to go to Taiwan and the story ended about 4 weeks after that. The epilogue was about 6 months later. I would be fascinated to see if it all turned out well or if she returned to Australia, drugs, family etc. A good read though. 4/5 stars

Ballarat NAC

Last Wednesday night Ballarat held one of ALIA's regional NAC's. It was out at the University of Ballarat, Mt Helen campus. The UB library put on some really yummy food (thanks guys!). The most encouraging thing was that there were 14 representatives present. OK - only three weren't employed by the University, but still, it was a great start. There was me from health, and two from schools and the rest UB. One however, was a TAFE teacher (UB teach library technicians) so I think she can be counted separately too as she isn't in the library. Derek Whitehead was the chair, with the lovely Margie Anderson as minute taker.

Having never been to one before I must admit it wasn't what I expected. Anyway, we got to discuss lots of issues. In particular the skills required of the profession and the image of the profession. We also discussed a local library group in Ballarat. A dinner has been organised for November 1st so hopefully we will be able to kick start something from there. It will be really interesting to read Margie minutes as I didn't necessary get the idea of where all our discussions are headed. We also skipped other parts do to lack of time. Anyway, I will be interested to see where these discussions head, but most importantly, the turnout was a great start to reforming a local group.

Book: St Judes

I read this book on Saturday (while sick in bed) and it was a great read. It is about an Australian girl who goes to Africa to volunteer and help teach the locals. But her plans changed when she went on a safari to the Serengeti and fell in love with her Tanzanian safari guide, Richard Sisia. Despite the reservations of some of her family, they were married in 2001, some six years after first meeting (and they have two children). Meanwhile, she had started a scheme to sponsor the education of African children. With the help of Rotary, the scheme grew to the point where she decided it would be better to build her own school. Her father-in-law donated a block of land in the town of Arusha, Tanzania and the School of St Jude opened in 2002. Built by Australian volunteers and sponsors, the school now boasts more than 700 students with a second campus and secondary school currently under construction.

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It was one of those reads where you feel like a lot of what you do is so self obsessed. I mean I jumped on the web and found out more about the school and sponsorship etc. but realised I couldn't really afford it (one of those caught up in the moment things). Plus, I have been sponsoring a child in Mozambique for years so those feelings disappeared. It was just one of those inspiring reads though where you were really touched. I highly recommend it! Plus they mention the library and how wonderful librarians are - plus the website says they are looking for volunteers, including librarians (but a minimum of a one year stay).

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That always brings me back to thinking too. I would love to volunteer overseas, but again financial reasons stop me. I mean, I could easily pay for airfares etc. but it is everything else you have to continue paying for here (like a mortgage - but yes, I have chosen this path). I would love to do a short stint somewhere in the future. Maybe six-12 weeks like my friend Marg in East Timor. That may be doable....one day.

Beautiful libraries

The following link was sent to me from a friend:

http://www.curiousexpeditions.org/2007/09/a_librophiliacs_love_letter_1.html

Check out some of the most magnificent libraries in the world. I am very jealous. I mean I love my library and am very proud of it but compared to these, mine is not as aesthetically pleasing!!

I posted the link to some e-lists and Andrew wrote back saying "Imagine doing story time in one of these". Loved it!!

I can't decide which one I most want to work in. I have visited two of them in the flesh (OK - one was the State Library of Victoria) and the other was Trinity College in Dublin. Just amazing...

Next assignment down

I have just finished my next assignment for INF513: Research Methods in Information Studies. Because I had a big weekend - BBQ Friday night, Melbourne all day Saturday and Saturday night - and cause I was still hungover on Sunday, I had to stay up until 1am this morning trying to finish it. Anyway, it's done! All I have to do now is read through it and make changes. You know when you get to that point where you don't really care if it's any good you just want it to be over and done with? Well I am at that point. I am contemplating whether to bother reading it or just submit it (it is due today btw). Anyway, at least I can have a bit of a breather now. Only 2 more assignments left until I finish my Masters (fingers crossed) and the first one isn't due until late October. Yippee!!

Not happy!! Bloody IT!!

I am really annoyed - they have just banned Facebook, You Tube and MySpace at my work. I can't get into anything! I have been arguing with the IT guys all afternoon trying to convince them that we need it - not on my computer, but on the other ones scattered throughout the library.

OK - on You Tube the med students have been looking up operations - NOT ANY MORE
On Facebook/MySpace - people are part of groups that help them with their everyday work practices (OK - maybe not really). But, it does have email which then can no longer access. BUT NOT ANYMORE.

I mean, they get all these clinical staff from overseas, shove them in little houses or in an old ward and provide them with nothing! Hardly anyone has internet access from home and we don't have internet cafe's anywhere. The public library closes at 6pm. So frustrating, they are tearing them (and me) away from family and friends. Not happy Jan!!

And IT tells me it's not a good enough "business case".

OK - so I am really doing this for all the other poor unfortunates - not me!!

Book: Stealing Stacey

I have just finished reading the above book, Stealing Stacey by Lynne Reid Banks. Again this one was reviewed in Good Reading magazine. It was in the junior section of my local public library but probably felt it was more appropriate to the teenage section. It was one of those things where it was sort of stuck between two different age groups. The author has it listed as "Older readers" on her website though so am going to go with the "I am right - public library is wrong" scenario! Another book about the outback (a bit of a fetish for these at the minute). Very simply written though. My one concern was that they talked of an aboriginal story (and unless I am wrong, the girl got raped). The main character didn't understand her story (talking about goannas under the doona etc.). Anyway, not a book I would recommend but good for a boring train ride!

Good reading magazine

The reason I read the "Knockabout Girl" was because it was reviewed in Good Reading Magazine. When I was at the Alice Pung talk at the Daylesford Library I got to browse while we were waiting for everyone to arrive etc. And, I came across Good Reading. I borrowed a couple thinking, oh yeah - I'll have a flick through, and boy was I surprised. It is a great mag and I plan to borrow it every month now (am currently working through the back issues). I just love reading about all the books I will never get to read!! There are so many great stories out there. My "to read" list is now constantly growing thanks to this great mag. Check it out at: http://www.goodreadingmagazine.com.au/. Now I have to get back onto the classics. I have been promising myself for years to read one per year so that by the time I am 50 I can say, oh yeah - I've read that!! Maybe I'll start one after uni (wishful thinking!!)

Book: Knockabout Girl

I have just finished reading the "Knockabout Girl" by Pip Newling. It is an biography of a 23 year old Sydney sider who works as a bar maid in the Australian outback for a year, back in 1990. It tells of her adventures serving Aborigines, being the white girl, remoteness, adventure, drinking, friendships, romance etc. It is a really easy read as there are like a million short chapters (like 3 pages each) so you can always put it down and come back to it later. I really enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone who dreams of living the outback life. I mean it's not a literary marvel by any means but a good easy read none the less. 4/5 stars

Bloody libraries

Sometimes libraries can be so disappointing. Yes I am talking about Grey's Anatomy. It wasn't in my mailbox and it never arrived. Who knows why?? It should have been there but now it has been taken off my library card and given to someone else!! So, I have to go to the bottom of the waiting list again which means the second half of the series will arrive before the first!! Bloody frustrating!! And of course, no one can explain why!! I must say though it is the first time this has happened with the uni library and it has happened quite a few times with the public library too!! I hope we don't do it too much to our patrons!! But alas, it made we do other things (like watch all three Fast and Furious movies in a row!)