Mentors, Masters, Leaders

Culturomics: Measuring culture through books - Famous People...

2011-08-05T13:15:00.000-04:00

Michel J.B. et al., Science 331, 176 (2011) -- source and information courtesy: The Fountain Magazine

Extract:

On average, people became famous and lost their fame two times faster than in the nineteenth century, and the authors claim that the trend for becoming famous and losing fame will be even faster in the future, at which time “everyone will be famous for 7.5 minutes” on average."

On the same shelf:

Hand, Eric. Culturomics: Word play.
The article features the work of Erez Lieberman-Aiden in the area of digital humanities. It mentions the n-grams viewer, a software ...

SCHWARTZ, TIM. Culturomics: Periodicals Gauge Culture's Pulse.
A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Quantitative Analysis of Culture Using Millions of Digitized Books," ...

MORSE-GAGNE, ELISE E. Culturomics: Statistical Traps Muddy the Data.
A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Quantitative Analysis of Culture Using Millions of Digitized Books," ...

Anonymous. Science and Technology: Reading by numbers; Culturomics
For centuries, researchers interested in tracking cultural and linguistic trends were resigned to the laborious process of perusing ...

BOHANNON, JOHN. Google Books, Wikipedia, and the Future of Culturomics.
The article discusses research reported elsewhere in the issue by mathematicians Jean-Baptiste Michel and Erez Lieberman Aiden on ...

Anonymous. Word pushers

The Leader's Guide to Storytelling, by Stephen Denning - A new edition

2011-03-20T09:49:00.000-04:00

The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership), by Stephen Denning,
Jossey-Bass; Rev Upd edition (2011), ISBN: 0470548673; 368 pages;

About the book:
How leaders can use the right story at the right time to inspire change and action

This revised and updated edition of the best-selling book A Leader's Guide to Storytelling shows how storytelling is one of the few ways to handle the most important and difficult challenges of leadership: sparking action, getting people to work together, and leading people into the future. Using myriad illustrative examples and filled with how-to techniques, this book clearly explains how you can learn to tell the right story at the right time.

The 7 Habits for Highly Effective Websites

2011-01-14T21:37:00.000-05:00

by Ammneh Azeim @ nForm User Experience

Amazon.com Widgets

Recently I read Stephen R. Covey’s book “7 Habits of Highly Effective people”. As I read his book, it occurred to me that a lot of these habits can be applied to website management using the user experience efforts and practices. These habits seem like common sense, but a lot of common sense is not a common practice. Sometimes we have to say the actions out loud to make them become part of our practice.
Habit # 1: Be proactive: Covey talks about this habit in the following words: “Your life doesn't just ‘happen’. Whether you know it or not, it is carefully designed by you. The choices, after all, are yours.
Habit # 2: Begin with end in mind: As Covey says, habit two is based on imagination — the ability to envision what you cannot see with your eyes at the outset. It is based on the principle that all things are created twice.
Habit # 3: Put first things, first: In user-experience projects, prioritization activities are very important. Priorities are established based on the users’ needs.
Habit # 4: Think win-win: Think Win-Win isn't about being nice, nor is it a quick-fix technique. It is a character-based code for human interaction and collaboration.
Habit # 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood: So seriously, do I need to say anything here? It’s one of the basic underlying techniques in the user- experience field. We use this technique liberally during our user research, and design phases. It’s a very important habit in the UX field.
Habit # 6: Synergize: Covey explains this habit this way: “Synergy means ‘two heads are better than one.’ Synergizing is the habit of creative co-operation. It is teamwork, open-mindedness and the adventure of finding new solutions to old problems.”
Habit # 7: Sharpen the saw: The last but not the least habit Covey recommends for highly effective people is to sharpen the saw, by taking time off from the daily routine, learning something new, taking a break and coming back more effective.

On the same shelf:

The 7 Habits for Highly Effective Websites @ Sitecore

WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

2010-09-29T17:28:00.008-04:00

Creativity &/or innovation is the bottom line, but how and what is the focus of this lecture, by the author of 'Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History Of Innovation,':

What they say about the book, WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM: "Another mind-opening work from the author of Mind Wide Open." (Publishers Weekly)

PS. Info courtesy: Khalid's Blog

Be so good they can’t ignore you, Steve Martin

2010-08-06T15:04:00.000-04:00

Pearls Of Wisdom Quoted by Robin Sharma: India - DNA, Aug 2, 2010

"Here’s comedian Steve Martin’s advice to young comics: “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” Life favours the devoted. The more you give to life, the more life sends back. It’s just not possible for you to be great at what you do, always reaching for your brilliance and standing for excellence, and not win in the end. (Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead once said, “You don’t merely want to be the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.”)

Sometimes discouragement sets in. We try hard, stay true to our dreams and pursue our ideals. Yet nothing happens. Or so it seems. But every choice matters. And every step counts. Life runs according to its own agenda, not ours. Be patient. Trust. Be like the stonecutter, steadily chipping away, day after day. Eventually, a single blow will crack the stone and reveal the diamond. An enthusiastic, dedicated person who is ridiculously good at what they do just cannot be denied. Seriously.

Steve Martin’s insight speaks to me deeply. “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” (Management guru Peter Drucker made the point slightly differently when he observed: “Get good or get out.”) Apply that philosophy at work. Apply it at home. Apply it in your community. Apply it to your world. Having the courage to present your gifts and your highest capacities will yield magnificent rewards. Life is always fair in the end. Trust it.

Life is always fair in the end. Trust it." ©2010 Diligent Media Corporation Ltd.

On the same shelf:

The Steve Martin Method: A Master Comedian’s Advice for Becoming Famous
This quote is also at Favorite Quotations ~ Goodness ~ Ideas to motivate, educate, and inspire

Editor’s Column: Applying Machiavellian Ideas on Leadership to Libraries

2010-06-14T01:59:00.000-04:00

Michael Lorenzen, Michigan Library Association's MLA Forum, Volume VI, 2008

In the early 16th Century, Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince. In this work, he gave advice to the rulers of Renaissance Italy on how to successfully use power to be great leaders. The book was well received and in the following five centuries it has been examined and analyzed by philosophers, military men, politicians, and businessmen. A recent interpretation of Machiavelli was written by Ledeen (1999) in which the author showed how Machiavelli is relevant in the modern world in a variety of settings.
Contents:

Does Machiavellian Theory Fit Library Leadership?

Basic Machiavellian Concepts

Entering into Evil

Conclusion

References:

Forsman, R. B. (2003). Machiavelli and me: Strategies for sidestepping the budget axe during tough times. Colorado libraries, 29(3), 9-11.

Kierkegaard, S. (1954). Fear and trembling. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.

Ledeen, M. A. (1999). Machiavelli on modern leadership. New York: St. Martin’s Press.

Lorenzen, M. (2003). Teaching and learning on the Web. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 7(1), 3.

Lorenzen, M. (2006). Strategic planning for academic library instructional programming. Illinois Libraries 86(2): 22-29.
Machiavelli, N. (1964). The Prince. New York: St. Martin Press.

Maxwell, J. (1992). Whether it is better to be loved or feared: Acquisitions librarianship as Machiavelli might have described it. Library acquisitions, 16(2), 113-17.

Energize on the job to reach full potential

2010-02-27T18:02:00.000-05:00

By Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun, February 3, 2010
Extract: VANCOUVER — Work-life balance — the idea that work drains our energy and we recharge after hours — isn't true, a Vancouver Board of Trade breakfast gathering was told Wednesday.

What really happens is that some things drain us, whether at home or at work, and other things energize us, Johanne Lavoie, a senior expert at management consulting firm McKinsey & Company said at the event, organized by the board's Women's Leadership Circle.

...For example, Lavoie is good at preparing spread sheets, a skill she spent time learning and mastering. But when she completes one, she's exhausted. On the other hand, she never felt good at talking to crowds. Yet given the chance she found doing that pumped her up. So she has learned to shift her focus, handing off the spreadsheet work to a colleague and taking on the talking gigs. In the end she has more energy to devote to work.

The beauty is that while something may be draining on you, it may be energizing to someone else, Lavoie said. So there is room to trade a draining task for an energizing one.

... The research results have been published in a book, How Remarkable Women Lead, written by Susie Cranston, who also took part in the Vancouver Board of Trade event.
continue reading

Reading Now: Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives

2010-02-21T00:00:00.003-05:00

Reading now: Mentors, Muses & Monsters: 30 Writers on the People Who Changed Their Lives ~ Elizabeth Benedict

Contents:	Part I: people we encountered -- "Why not say what happened?": remembering Miss Hardwick / Elizabeth Benedict -- Imagining influence / Robert Boyers -- Fathers / Jay Cantor -- Mentors in general, Peter Taylor in particular / John Casey -- Life in books / Maud Casey -- Annie Dillard and the writing life / Alexander Chee -- Snow globe / Jonathan Safran Foer -- When Julie met Deb / Julia Glass -- Tiger and the pelican: mentors Elizabeth Hardwick and Janice Thaddeus / Mary Gordon -- Moment / Arnon Grunberg -- Only plump the pillows / Margot Livesey -- Sontag’s rules / Sigrid Nunez -- In the absence of mentors/monsters: notes on writerly influences / Joyce Carol Oates -- Scholars and the pornographer / Carolyn See -- "But what I really love about this is this amazing game that you’ve invented": an appreciation of John Hawkes / Jim Shepard -- Munro country / Cheryl Strayed -- Mother country / Evelyn Toynton -- Seducer / Lily Tuck -- Harold Brodkey / Edmund White.
	Part II: books we read -- Company / Michael Cunningham -- Five million head of cattle / Samantha Hunt -- On fat city / Denis Johnson -- Mad hope and mavericks / ZZ Packer -- Getting it. Deeply immersed. In awe. Learning. Reading Ms. McDermott. Appreciating beginnings. Still appreciating beginnings. Nailing it. / Anita Shreve -- Paper mentors / Martha Southgate -- Part III: times of our lives -- Coming of age at bread loaf / Christopher Castellani -- Please don’t write / Neil Gordon -- Storying / Dinaw Mengestu -- Growing pains / Caryl Phillips -- Iowa City, 1974 / Jane Smiley.

Contents:

Part I: people we encountered -- "Why not say what happened?": remembering Miss Hardwick / Elizabeth Benedict -- Imagining influence / Robert Boyers -- Fathers / Jay Cantor -- Mentors in general, Peter Taylor in particular / John Casey -- Life in books / Maud Casey -- Annie Dillard and the writing life / Alexander Chee -- Snow globe / Jonathan Safran Foer -- When Julie met Deb / Julia Glass -- Tiger and the pelican: mentors Elizabeth Hardwick and Janice Thaddeus / Mary Gordon -- Moment / Arnon Grunberg -- Only plump the pillows / Margot Livesey -- Sontag’s rules / Sigrid Nunez -- In the absence of mentors/monsters: notes on writerly influences / Joyce Carol Oates -- Scholars and the pornographer / Carolyn See -- "But what I really love about this is this amazing game that you’ve invented": an appreciation of John Hawkes / Jim Shepard -- Munro country / Cheryl Strayed -- Mother country / Evelyn Toynton -- Seducer / Lily Tuck -- Harold Brodkey / Edmund White.

Part II: books we read -- Company / Michael Cunningham -- Five million head of cattle / Samantha Hunt -- On fat city / Denis Johnson -- Mad hope and mavericks / ZZ Packer -- Getting it. Deeply immersed. In awe. Learning. Reading Ms. McDermott. Appreciating beginnings. Still appreciating beginnings. Nailing it. / Anita Shreve -- Paper mentors / Martha Southgate -- Part III: times of our lives -- Coming of age at bread loaf / Christopher Castellani -- Please don’t write / Neil Gordon -- Storying / Dinaw Mengestu -- Growing pains / Caryl Phillips -- Iowa City, 1974 / Jane Smiley.

What do the reviewers of this book say @ Amazon.com:

Editorial Reviews

"Even when writing teacher Benedict is writing fiction, she's writing about writing.... So the subject of this irresistible anthology was a natural for her. People become writers by virtue of literary inspiration, be it a book, a place, or a mentor, so why not invite writers to write essays about their literary influences? The response was overwhelming and avid.... these exceptionally animated essays feel as though the writers couldn't get the words down quickly enough. And what an array of experiences and voices."-- Booklist

"A mesmerizing book of essays by famous pens who themselves were once helped -- or hurt -- by established talents as they tried to climb their way up the literary ladder. [Mentors, Muses & Monsters] beautifully captures the experience of being a literary aspirant -- wide-eyed, enchanted by words, and eager for the tutelage of a mentor -- one who's already scaled the temple wall and emerged, shining, in a turret."-- The Christian Science Monitor

"Every one of the essays here -- from Benedict's own remembrance of Elizabeth Hardwick to Christopher Castellani's "Coming of Age at Breadloaf" is wise and full of heart."-- Chicago Tribune

"Michael Cunningham relates his discovery of Mrs. Dalloway, the happy result of failing to impress a girl during high school.... Joyce Carol Oates tells us that she had no mentor but books.... And in terrific essays on the New York Review of Books and the Iowa Writers Workshop, Neil Gordon and Jane Smiley give us a sense...of how institutions conspire to turn ordinary human beings into award-winning authors."-- Bookforum (Robert P. Baird Nov. 5)

"Enthralling.... [a] lovingly compiled collection of essays."-- The Errant Aesthete

"This anthology is that rare gem, a collection whose whole is greater, even, than the sum of its parts. Where else could you read musings-about-muses, accompanied by juicy tales from deep inside the writing life, by 30 of the best minds of our generation, all between the covers of one book?"-- The San Francisco Chronicle

"The essays are not simply worshipful tributes to literary lions. Each writer shades in the nuances of character and experience that make his subject come to life, and each reads like a short story.... For the reader aspiring to sharpen his own craft, gem after gem emerges from this book's pages.... I haven't finished reading all the essays. In truth, I am reluctant to complete it, so deliciously rich and illuminating have I found each offering. I suspect any writer or serious reader will feel the same way."-- MV Times

How to Succeed in the Age of Going Solo

2010-02-13T21:31:00.000-05:00

By RICHARD GREENWALD, Wall Street Journal, FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Anybody can become a consultant. But not everybody does it well. Here's what you need to know to thrive.

So, what do these thriving solo artists have in common? What is the recipe for their good fortune? My research points to five ingredients to keep in mind.
Think Long Term
Typically, consultants keep their edge by attending workshops or training courses. But the most successful often add another key element to their training: They teach...
First, it provides some income, though admittedly not much. Second, it's a way to network, because sometimes students can become clients or lead to clients. Third, the teaching looks good on a résumé, giving consultants credibility in the marketplace and a way to stand out from the crowd. And fourth, if you're going to teach somebody the latest skills, you better have those skills yourself. So teaching forces consultants to stay current and sharp themselves.
Join a Network
Have Your Own Space
Think Like an Entrepreneur

Quotations about Library by Eli Martin Oboler, 1915 - 1983

2010-01-18T14:34:00.001-05:00

Who is Eli Martin Oboler? click here for a bio. See also ALA / IFRT Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award, "The Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award, which consists of $500 and a certificate, is presented for the best published work in the area of intellectual freedom."

"Much as some librarians would like it to be otherwise, the world views the library as a refuge from the world and librarians as unworldly refugees from the actions and passions of our time." in Ideas and the University Library: Essays of an Unorthodox Academic Librarian ~ Eli M. Oboler

"The sign SILENCE in any library is an admission that your library is poorly planned, your administration is a failure, and your clientele are captives in a dungeon--kept rather than participants in an educational and fundamentally entertaining enterprise." in Ideas and the University Library: Essays of an Unorthodox Academic Librarian ~ Eli M. Oboler

Quoted from Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations Edited by Mohamed Taher & L S Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423 (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) pp. 287, 290. Available @ Amazon.com

Disciple Colin's new talent management technique

2009-12-30T18:20:00.003-05:00

Note: This is a forwarded email*. This post is categorized under fun, and is taken from the Guru's blog @ www.personneltoday.com 'HR offered new approach to talent management.'

Put 400 bricks in a room; then shut all your new employees in the room.
Leave them alone and come back after six hours; then analyse the situation.

• If they are counting the bricks, put them in the accounting department.
• If they are recounting them, put them in auditing.
• If they have messed up the whole place with the bricks, put them in engineering.
• If they are arranging the bricks in some strange order, put them in planning.
• If they are throwing the bricks at each other, put them in operations.
• If they are sleeping, put them in security.
• If they have broken the bricks into pieces, put them in information technology (IT).
• If they are sitting idle, put them in human resources.
• If they say they have tried different combinations, they are looking for more, yet not a brick has been moved, put them in sales.
• If they have already left for the day, put them in marketing.
• If they are staring out of the window, put them in strategic planning.
• If they are talking to each other, and not a single brick has been moved, congratulate them and put them in senior management.
• Finally, if they have surrounded themselves with bricks in such a way that they can neither be seen nor heard, put them in government.

*On the Net you will find a slightly different here, and here with no clue about the author of this stuff.

On the same shelf: To-forward or not-to-forward

Emerson's Conceptual Librarian, Professor of Books -- Library Education Revisited

2009-12-28T02:48:00.000-05:00

The idea of a “Professor of Books” originated from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote in his essay on books in 1856: “Meantime the colleges, while they furnish us with libraries, furnish no Professor of Books, and I think no chair is so much wanted.” Quoted from a book that has over fifty quotes by Emerson: A Dictionary of Library and Information Science Quotations. Edited by Mohamed Taher & L S Ramaiah. ISBN: 8185689423 (New Delhi , Aditya, 1994) p. 126

Emerson's legacy in practice: "Upon becoming the President of Rollins College, Holt saw the cultural possibilities in Emerson’s suggestion, and believed it suited his hope of making Rollins an ideal small liberal college. He made Grover his first faculty appointee as America’s first “Professor of Books.” Some years later Grover recalled “the thrill which I experienced when I came upon Emerson’s suggestion which was to change my life work and make my new vocation also an avocation. My imagination immediately took wings and I began to mull over the possibilities dormant in Emerson’s idea.” Edwin O. Grover (1870-1965): Professor of Books and Citizen of the Community.

A new book that finds a model for library education is here: The Politics of Professionalism: A Retro-Progressive Proposal for Librarianship ~ Juris Dilevko

Extract from the book: "Instead, building on Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “professor of books” model, Dilevko suggests that anyone wishing to work in an academic, research, or public library must independently pass a series of essay-type subject-specific examinations in about ten to fifteen fields or areas of the arts, social sciences, and sciences. In addition, he or she must be able to read and speak at least one non-English language fluently, as well as attend courses about various aspects of the operation of libraries at regional summer institutes."

Interesting is another dig. John Mark Tucker's essay Emerson's Library Legacy: Concepts of Bibliographic Instruction (1984): "Ralph Waldo Emerson's criticism that libraries lack the profession of "professor of books" represents the central problem of bibliographic instruction: an inadequately formed theoretical or conceptual framework. A history of the ideas, notions, terms, and phrases about bibliographic instruction illustrates this."

Bottomline: The notion of 'A professor of books' (not just caretaker or possessor of books), is not new with Emerson. Libraries in the middle ages were managed by a scholar of repute, who had subject-specific knowledge. Period. These caretakers of libraries (the equivalent of modern librarians) were not trained in library schools, but they knew their art and craft of managing the books, providing service to their users, as per the best practices of the time. Examples of such scholarly librarians (with a transition from old-fashioned librarians to the modern librarian), are many. For instance, Ibn al-Nadim (died 995 C.E), and among others the caretakers at the Alexandrian Library, Bodlean Library, Cambridge and Oxford University libraries (details are here: Encyclopedia of Library History ~ Wayne Wiegand ), and much about them here: Some Old-Time Old-World Librarians. Scholar librarians are in the modern era replaced by bibliographers or subject librarians.

Questions for Further Study includes:
"Finally, what difference does the scholarship of librarians make to library users? Are scholarly librarians, and libraries that support and encourage scholarship, more innovative? Is there a measurable relationship between the degree of scholarship undertaken at certain libraries and the quality of library service delivered?" [source: The Scholarship of Canadian Research University Librarians, David Fox, Partnership: the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, Vol 2, No 2 (2007)]

1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly

2009-12-24T00:05:00.012-05:00

Thanks to lead by Sylvie to reach Seth Godin for this citation: First, organize 1,000 by Kevin Kelly.

Extract from Seth's blog:
This is Kevin Kelly's best riff of the year, and that's saying an enormous amount. Go read it!

Some people will read this and immediately understand. Others will read it and start waffling over the meaning of "true." My expansion: you need to alter what you do and how you do it so that 1,000 true fans is sufficient to make you very happy.

The following visuals by Kelly, tells it all, and tell it in short:

"A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans." 1,000 True Fans

The genius of the True Fan model is that the fans are able to move an artist away from the edges of the long tail to a degree larger than their numbers indicate. They can do this in three ways: by purchasing more per person, by spending directly so the creator keeps more per sale, and by enabling new models of support.

New models of support include micro-patronage. Another model is pre-financing the startup costs. Digital technology enables this fan support to take many shapes. Fundable is a web-based enterprise which allows anyone to raise a fixed amount of money for a project, while reassuring the backers the project will happen. Fundable withholds the money until the full amount is collected. They return the money if the minimum is not reached. 1,000 True Fans

Who's Who at the Library from the 500 Most Influential Muslims

2009-12-23T00:20:00.000-05:00

Source: the 500 most influential muslims

[alternative source: The 500 most influential Muslims in the world]

COLOMBIA
Al colombi, Dawood Abdl Ghafur
Al Colombi is one of the most well respected Muslim scholars in Colombia. He is the most active
and influential da’wa activist in Colombia, being present at the conversions of over 1000 people.
He is the founder of a mosque in the city of Pereira and of the Centro Cultural Islamico Colombian’s
da’wa project. He hosts conferences and awareness lectures for Muslims and non-Muslims,
and he is acknowledged for his talent for conveying the principles of Islam to non-Muslims. He is
also the author of several articles in Spanish and has created the only library of Islamic books in
Colombia.

MOROCCO
Benbin, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Shawqi
Benbin is the director of the Hasaniyya Library, Morocco. He is an eminent professor, and is globally
recognized for his research in the study of Islamic manuscripts. He has published many books
and specialized studies.

BELGIUM
Al Yahya, Dr. Abdul-Aziz Mohammad Abdullah
Al Yahya is the director of the Islamic Cultural Center in Brussels, Belgium. In 1969, the Islamic
Cultural Center in Brussels was founded as an institution housing a mosque, a library, and
information service as well as offices. It was funded by the Muslim World League and Saudi
Arabia, and hosted the European Council of Mosques for several years. It mainly functioned as
an intermediary between the Muslim community and the Belgian state, negotiating the needs and
interests of Muslims.

Tributes to Professor P. N. (Prithvi Nath) Kaula, 1924-2009

2009-10-29T13:53:00.036-04:00

(Prof. P. N. Kaula receiving 2004 Padma Shree Award from President Prof. APJ Kalam). Photo courtesy Kaula Endowment

I TBH U's The Chronicle states:

"With deep regret we announce the demise of Prof. P. N. Kaula. He was a distinguished Librarian of our country and abroad. He classified and standardized Library and Information system...
Among his achievements:
>>Former Professor & Head, dept. of Library & Information Science, Banaras Hindu University, India
>>Author bibliography for document list educator journalist,
>>Library and Information Science Specialist
>>Emeritus Professor (UGC)
>>2004 Padma Shree Award Winner by Govt. of India."
Much more in L ibrametric Mapping of the 'Libraries, Archives & Information ...; and here: Library of Congress

A note from the family reads:

"With deep sorrow and grief we inform about the sad demise of our beloved
Padmashree Prof. P N Kaula, one of the greatest intellectual of the world in
library and information sciences who left this world on August 30, 2009 at his
residence at Lucknow. Born at Banamohalla Srinagar and educated in J&K
State, Delhi, Chennai, and Banaras, he was the brighest student of Dr
Ranganathan, the father of library sciences in India.May God bestow peace upon
the departed soul.Sh M L Peshin and Smt Uma Peshin, Brother-in-Law &
Sister09419205774, 2594146

Aligarh Muslim University - Mera Chaman - Sad demise of Padmashri ...

[LIS-Forum] Tribute to Prof. Kaula

Info courtesy: Dr. R. N Sharma

Knowledge Worth Sharing from a Solo Librarian: Helen Tannenbaum

2009-10-06T21:48:00.020-04:00

Knowledge Sharing is...

Joseph Addison said: "When knowledge, instead of being bound up in books, and kept in libraries and retirements, is thus obtruded upon the publick; when it is canvassed in every assembly, and exposed upon every table, I cannot forbear reflecting upon that passage in the proverbs, 'Wisdom crieth without, she uttereth her voice in the streets.'" More quotes from the blog: Library & Information Science Quotations.

Then, here is the wisdom, share it, and be empowered:

Extract:
Helen Tannenbaum, editor of Flying Solo, the newsletter of the SOLO Librarians Division of the Special Libraries Association, compiled this top ten list from posts on the dsol-sla electronic discussion list. I think it's great for any librarian!

10. Never lose your enthusiasm over purchasing a book truck.
9. Keep track of the things you do, the questions you are asked, etc.
8. Promote yourself and your services--don't be afraid to blow your own horn.
7. Don't be shy about asking the Solos list a question--that's why we're here.
6. Make nice with the following staff: IT people, office management, supplies purchaser, HR, your boss's assistant, mailroom and receptionist (i.e., Everyone).

Continue reading the complete list posted on the blog by Judith A. Siess:

TOP TEN LIST FOR NEW (OR ALL) LIBRARIANS

On the same shelf:

The Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian's Weblog

One Person Library - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

One Person Library - Citizendia

The Evolving Role of the Solo Librarian

Deep Thoughts - Gandhi on Prayer, Humility and Heart Softeners

2009-10-03T20:19:00.022-04:00

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948) ~~source: ThinkExist.com Quotations

Info courtesy: Begum Ibrahim @ Facebook
Picture courtesy: Mike Ghouse @ Facebook

On the same shelf:
Gandhi on humility, by vinod @ Youtube, courtesy:
Heart Softeners - Understanding Islam Community

U.N. releases Mahatma stamp

Magnificent Pillars of Leadership by Joseph Plazo

2009-03-12T00:04:00.001-04:00

Quote of the day: "Integrating, coordinating, motivating. These prime directives allow a CEO to weather any storm and take the corporate ship home to port. They are the three pillars of magnificent leadership." Continue reading

Six Lessons for Investors

2009-01-18T00:33:00.001-05:00

Be diversified and don't assume past performance will continue.
By JOHN C. BOGLE
"There is almost no limit to the ability of investors to ignore the lessons of the past. This cost them dearly last year. Here are six of the most important of these lessons:

1) Beware of market forecasts, even by experts
2) Never underrate the importance of asset allocation.3) Mutual funds with superior performance records often falter.
4) Owning the market remains the strategy of choice.
5) Look before you leap into alternative asset classes.
6) Beware of financial innovation." continue reading

See on the same shelf:

Thought for the day ~~ Indecent Obsession in love and duty

2009-01-17T00:02:00.000-05:00

"The last lines in the book read: ''Nurse Langtry began to walk again, briskly and without any fear, understanding herself at last. And understanding that duty, the most indecent of all obsessions, was only another name for love.'' Neither the sentiment expressed nor the suggestion that Nurse Langtry finally understands herself is convincing; nevertheless, Colleen McCullough is able to make the reader care about Sister Langtry, who, despite herself, is a vibrant enough character to make the book enjoyable and worth reading. "
continue reading NYTimes

Leverage: One Cause of the Financial Crisis

2008-11-28T15:19:00.007-05:00

Extract from EFL Bliss:
Teachers who like to deal with topical issues in class won't want to skip over the current meltdown. The problem is that so much of what has been happening in the world of finance is so arcane - impossible for us to understand, let alone explain in simple English to our students. However, there are some very important phenomena that can be grasped, described and discussed.continue reading

The Only Two Secrets to Motivating Yourself You’ll Ever Need

2008-11-24T12:51:00.000-05:00

"I’ve written about motivation a bunch of times before here on Zen Habits, but the more I learn about it, the more I realize that motivation isn’t that complicated.
Sure, there are numerous tips that can help, numerous tactics and strategies I’ve used with success. But it really all boils down to two things.
And those two things are so deceptively simple that you might decide to stop reading after I name them: 1) make things enjoyable and 2) use positive public pressure. But read on for more on how to use those two things to motivate yourself for any goal..." continue reading this great article by Leo Babauta @ Zen Habits

The Ten Commandments of Life Branding: Violate Them at Your Own Risk

2008-11-11T11:56:00.025-05:00

NB. Life is a brand that is for you, and its a brand only you can make. I found the an excellent article by Mike on branding. He integrates work, business and all the rest under the main theme, Life Branding. The best part of this is the 101 and categorization of ideas, that fit, and fit very well.

'10 Steps to Be the Brand You Want in Life,' Guest post by Mike King of Learn This; posted @ The Positivity Blog October 20th, 2008

Life Branding: 1. Know Your Own Brand; 2. Eliminate Any Ego Based Perception; 3. Hold True Your Background; 4. Live and Reinforce Your Morals; 5. Make Your Core Values Known; 6. Practice What You Preach; 7. Strengthen Your Unique Attributes; 8. Demonstrate Your Most Wanted Traits; 9. Write About and Share With Others; 10. Be Consistent With Your Brand

... conitnue reading: 10 Steps to Be the Brand You Want in Life

See also:

The 18 commandments of Knowledge-conscious managers

PRODUCTIVITY: Brainstorming - Ten Guidelines

Cyber Worship Resource of the Week is The Ten Commandments of Access

Real World of Work ~ Bulletproof Your Job

2008-10-16T13:49:00.004-04:00

Plan Be: Visible, easy, useful and ready
In buoyant times, whiny, difficult and unengaged employees may be tolerated but, the minute the going gets tough, they're the first to be axed, author and headhunter Stephen Viscusi tells Stephanie Whittaker. Don't want to find yourself in the crosshairs? Consider following his four strategies to protect your job

By STEPHANIE WHITTAKER
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Special to The Globe and Mail
Has the shaky economy got you worried your job is on the line? Go get a haircut. And classy shoes.
And if you can't stand the awful coffee in the office kitchen, or the co-worker brewing it, swallow the words you'd like to say, and the swill, too.
That, at least, is some advice being dispensed by New York headhunter Stephen Viscusi in a new book, Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out on Top at Work. continue reading The Globe and Mail

If the world’s population were reduced to 100…

2008-10-07T22:32:00.008-04:00

Worth watching again, from time to time, and asking yourself “what did I do recently to make the world better?” Click here to see the real show: http://www.miniature-earth.com/
Published by Claude
Tags: ecology, miniature-earth.
If you have a bed to sleep in, a refrigerator for food, a closet for clothing, if you have a roof over your head each night, you are wealthier that 75 percent of the world’s population. According to the Minature Earth Project, if the world’s population were reduced to 100 people, 6 individuals would control 59 percent of the world’s money. The “State of the Village Report,” originally published by Dartmouth professor Donella Meadows in 1990, was used to calculate the statistics which many of us have seen in the form of an email titled "Village of 100." If the world’s population were reduced to 100 people, what would our global village look like? Since 1990, Ms. Meadows’ research has been circulated through millions of email inboxes and shared in thousands of classrooms, mine included. The updated version published by the Miniature Earth Project includes recent population statistics from the UN and the Population Reference Bureau. Continue reading Ms. Ward's post @ I am a teacher et cetera: A Village of 100

Learning By Heart - for a change from the monotonous worldview

2008-09-09T15:34:00.007-04:00

Amazon.com Widgets

Learning By Heart
This Open Source Learning Community is created by educators for educators. Open Source Learning is the new name for Progressive Education.

Note: Learning-by-heart, is also a methodology of education--part of it relates to memorizing (i.e., not doing things with a fondness, or by desire of the heart). India follows this system--a system of education, learning, and training.

Do we need to work harder in a downturn?

2008-09-01T11:35:00.000-04:00

Amazon.com Widgets

"This is the title of an interesting article on Fumsi (part of Freepint) which to anyone with any common sense the answer would be obvious - Yes must worker harder to show how valuable I am.
But...it's not just about working harder, it's also about adding more value and making yourself more visible to those individuals (managers) who make decisions about funding and staffing. The article has 10 Top tips on how to survive a downturn, which I have listed below:
Continue reading James Mullan @ The Running Librarian: Running towards a web 2.0 future

Qualities of a Great Teacher -- Thought for the day

2008-08-17T15:54:00.012-04:00

Amazon.com Widgets

"Let’s take a look at the qualities that define a great teacher:

1. Love What They Do
2. Good Communicators
3. Admirable
4. Positive Reinforcement
5. Fair & Just
6. Leadership
7. Committed
8. Understanding
9. Compassion & Caring
10. Confidence
11. Prepared
12. Professionalism
continue reading the details AlexLandis.com
Silence is golden, duct tape is silver…

WHO'S WATCHING OVER OUR LIBRARIES?

2008-07-20T00:11:00.010-04:00

Patron Saints of Libraries: from Warrior Librarian Weekly.

The most excellent reference librarian Robert Lee Hadden has completed serious research on the matter of patron saints of libraries. He states that "there are a number of official and unofficial patron saints in the various forms of Christianity." Pope John Paul II recently declared St Isodore of Spain to be the patron of electronic communication, including the Internet...

...However, celestial guardians for libraries are not restricted to Christian religions. In Arabic culture, scrolls were dedicated to the King of the Cockroaches so that lesser bugs wouldn't destroy other documents. In Hindu countries, Ganesh, the elephant headed god of beginnings and remover of obstacles, is the library guardian. As he also invented the Sanskrit alphabet...

On the same shelf:
THE LIBRARIAN'S PRAYER / PRAYER FOR LIBRARIANS

Cyber Worship Resource of the Week is The Jewish Prayer While Logging Onto the Internet

Skills/Tools a Coach/Mentor Needs - - A question in-deed

2008-07-14T16:21:00.003-04:00

Ask a Question:
Skills/Tools a Coach/Mentor Needs.

Asked by: Md Abubucker Alathick.
10 Answers | 3 months ago | Closed

Dialogue: interviews with industry mavens -- Rishi Chandra

2008-06-22T16:31:00.011-04:00

Rishi Chandra, Product Manager, Google Enterprise At the Enterprise 2.0 Conference last week, Internet Evolution sat down with Google's Rishi Chandra to talk about Google Apps
On the same shelf:
Data Mining in the Age of Web 2.0
Written by Oded Noy, 6/20/2008 -- Web 2.0 is both a data-mining goldmine and a nightmare. While it provides a valuable environment of consumer-generated data and media, it's hard to consume this information in a meaningful way without getting overloaded with noise. ...
Today, if you are really interested in doing any meaningful research on any topic, you need to subscribe to 37 RSS feeds to connect with 24 people who are visionaries in their fields, and listen to all their "tweets." Or, you end up looking at a bunch of different Google search results with no idea if they are recent or old or have any relevance at all.
Top 10 Google Flubs, Flops, and Failures
Not everything Google touches turns to gold. These are some of Google's biggest nonstarter Web services, software programs, and business moves.
Research isn’t a Google search

Teacher or Trainer: What's the Difference?

2008-06-06T17:00:00.001-04:00

by Rana Sinha, Apr 21, 2008
Having served as a teacher and trainer for over twenty-five years, I get different answers from different people engaged in the field of education when I ask them to clarify if they are teachers or trainers.
Teachers are usually found in primary schools, whereas trainers are found in all walks of life, especially commercial ones, they say. A tennis coach (trainer) teaches you new skills and trains you for improving your playing skills. A leadership trainer or coach can teach you new methods of leading people and help you become a better leader. An instructor gives you instructions for learning to do something while a mentor is like a guide, leading you to acquire insights as well as acquire skills.
Teachers educate people (children are also people), while trainers help them learn skills for doing certain things, which earn them their livelihood. When students finish school or university for that matter, they may not have learnt skills like welding, bookkeeping or managing other people, which they can trade for money on the job marketplace. People have to go to special institutes classified as VET or vocational education and training to learn professional skills. continue reading

University of Utah Emeritus Professor of American Studies, William Mulder, Dies

2008-04-21T12:41:00.017-04:00

"Gentleman scholar, mentor, bibliophile, Mormon historian, English and American studies professor and advocate of Indo-American scholarship and understanding, Mulder, 92, died Wednesday, Mar. 12 at his home. Born in Haarlem, Holland in 1915, he immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1920, first to New Jersey and six years later to Salt Lake City. "

Mar. 19, 2008 - "The motto Wij zijn klein maar groot (We are small but great) expresses the sentiment of the Dutch in Utah," wrote William Mulder, emeritus professor of American studies at the University of Utah. As a fellow Dutchman in Utah, Mulder achieved greatness on many levels, professional and personal, local and abroad. continue reading

Dr. William Mulder obituary
Dr. William Mulder obituary - Obituary provided by UtahTributes ... With Hyderabad as a second home for the family, the years in India, full of travel, ...
Prof leaves worldwide influence - Salt Lake Tribune
Former University of Utah professor of English William Mulder. ... East Center) and developed its American Studies Research Center in Hyderabad, India.

Deseret Morning News The eloquent Dutchman
Mulder was also the guiding force in establishing the American Studies Research Center in India. He initiated its programs in Hyderabad, attracting scholars ...

American Studies in India, a Personal Memoir
He was William Mulder, professor of English at the University of Utah, ..... a professor at the University of Hyderabad, India's University Grants ...

Deseret Morning News Late professor was a brilliant, gifted scholar
He initiated its programs in Hyderabad, attracting scholars from throughout the continent. Mulder came to love India almost as a second home and returned ...

In Memoriam, William Mulder, 1915 ~ 2008, Humanists of Utah

Cyber Worship Resource of the Week is The Ten Statistical Commandments of Chairman Alroy

2008-03-28T10:24:00.007-04:00

Here is a sample from inside the Book: Cyber Worship in Multifaith Perspectives--full of resources, and KM accessories, that will facilitate building bridges in a Multifaith society. Table of Contents / Reviews

Chapter 3. 'Fast Track to Multifaith Resources for Cyber Worship':
Resource of the Week is The Ten Statistical Commandments of Chairman Alroy:
Thou shalt log thy data!
Thou shalt run non-parametric tests!
Thou shalt standardize thy sampling intensity! Much More

Order the book with Publisher:

My book Talk
More in this Weekly series @ Multifaith Information Gateway

Hall of Fame: Leaders & Legends of the Blindness Field

2008-03-02T19:48:00.006-05:00

Listen to this Article
Talking Books Librarian also says: "The Fred's Head Companion blog recently alerted me to the Hall of Fame for Leaders & Legends of the Blindness Field. The list include people like Samuel Ashcroft, Richard Hoover, and Anne Sullivan Macy.
They are currently accepting nominations for 2008 - you can nominate someone. The deadline for 2008 nominations is March 21! "
See also on the same shelf: Who is Who @ Multifaith Hall of Fame of the 21st century

Thought for the day posted at Libraries Today Blog

2008-02-21T17:32:00.009-05:00

"Before you study the history, study the historian." Edward H. Carr, The George Macaulay Trevelyan Lecture 1961 at Cambridge University--pulished as What is History [Libraries Today Blog]

PS. Incidentally, this study of the narrator, interpretor, writer, communicator in the history of Islamic literature, corresponds with the practice adopted by those who were involved in collecting the Tradions (Hadith) of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace be Upon Him). See Asma-ur-Rijal, or Rijal al-Hadith (The Study Of The Reporters Of Hadith).

Horace Arthur Vespry (1931–2008)

2008-02-01T18:29:00.000-05:00

Memorial to H. Arthur Vespry(1931–2008)
January 2008
I am so sorry to be bringing such sad news: Arthur died Thursday afternoon. I was with him when he died; friends were there to support us both. Now he is in that place where there is no more sickness or sorrow. -- reported by Anne Vespry, daughter of Arthur.
In Arthur we had a very devoted, generous and nice library fellow and a mentor. From the perspective of an international librarian, as a Trinidadian, as the Director @ AIT in Bangkok, and a Candian (incl. McGill, IDRC, UWest Ontario) he has many information sharing models for us to follow.

FYI., I never met him, rather spoke with him only once on phone. Having spoken with him, I introduced him (via email to other professional colleagues), as well. I see that his profile on Linkedin and his Website are updated--this is good as his friends all over will know that Arthur's journey continues.
see his a master piece: Career Path of an "International Librarian" SLA Toronto, 1996).

How to Price Information Products and Services H. Arthur Vespry, Marianne Vespry and Christa Avery 1999, in MARKETING INFORMATION PRODUCTS AND SERVICES A Primer for Librarians and Information Professionals
Google for more about Arthur.
LIPSA (Library and Information Center Staff Planning Advisor): a microcomputer-based system. F.J. Devadason and H.A. Vespry.
Information Technology and Libraries 15.n2 (June 1996): pp 105(8).
Arthur Vespry, 1931-
Who's Who in Library Service. A biographical directory of professional librarians in the United States and Canada. Fourth edition. Edited by Lee Ash. Hamden, CT: Shoe String Press, 1966. [WhoLibS 4] [Source Citation: Biography and Genealogy Master Index. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 1980- 2008.]

Death Notice @ Hamilton Spectator

'

Description:
VESPRY, H. Arthur 1931-2008 The sages tell us, "Life is a journey." Arthur Vespry's life did look very like a journey. He was born in Trinidad, then a British Colony. He finished "higher school certificate" (roughly high school plus the first year of university) at St. Mary's College in Port-of-Spain. At that time there was no university in the British West Indies, so he came to Ottawa to do his BA (1957). He went to McGill for his library degree (1958). He returned to Ottawa to continue working at the Department of Agriculture Library. In 1960 he moved to Vancouver, to set up a new library (the first of a number in his career) for a research station being set up by the Department of Agriculture on the campus of the University of British Columbia. He met Marianne Forsyth, a young librarian working at the UBC Library, and they were married in 1961. Arthur was accepted into the PhD program at the University of Chicago in the fall of 1961, but when he had his entrance medical, he was told that his health was too poor for such demanding study. This was a shock, and plans were changed. They spent that winter in London, England; then returned to Toronto. Arthur worked briefly for the University of Toronto Library. More moves followed: to Deep River, where Arthur was the librarian for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd; to Hamilton and the Science Library at McMaster, and in 1965 to St. Catharines, where he was the first chief librarian of Brock University.

His daughter Anne was born in St. Catharines. The next journey was longer: in 1968 they went to Vienna, where Arthur became the chief librarian for the International Atomic Energy Agency. In 1970 he was back in Ottawa, setting up yet another library, this time for the International Development Research Centre. He was also involved in the IDRC program to support information centres in developing countries, making working visits to a number of countries. In 1975 he became a program officer for information development, working mainly in Southeast Asia out of the Singapore office. While there he took extended leave during two summers to finish his MLS at the University of Western Ontario. 1979 saw a return to Vienna, where Arthur oversaw the merger of the IAEA and United Nations libraries into the new Vienna International Centre Library. He spent a year in Manila on a Unesco consultancy, 1982/83. In 1983 he and Marianne moved to Bangkok, where he became chief librarian at the Asian Institute of Technology, a graduate engineering school. (Anne was now studying at the University of Toronto.) Arthur continued his interest in technical information in the service of development, managing several small information centres at AIT, cooperating with similar centres throughout Asia, and developing and offering short training courses for technical information officers in the region. Arthur retired at the end of 1993. He contined to work as a consultant. In 1996 Marianne retired from her work with the United Nations, and they returned to Canada. Although he now required dialysis three times a week, he still loved to travel. The kidney transplant in 2002 gave him more freedom to travel and see new places. In the last week of his life he was still speaking of his next trip. Now he is gone on the great final journey. We wish him Godspeed. On Saturday, February 2nd, 2:00 PM, family and friends will come together to celebrate Arthur's life and to bid him farewell, at St. Paul's Anglican Church, Westdale, 1140 King Street West, Hamilton (corner of King and Cline). There are two churches on that corner; ours is the one with the red doors.
Date Posted: 2008-01-29

MORAL LEADERSHIP

2008-01-19T19:10:00.000-05:00

"Harvard Business School's Newsletter has a very interesting article on Moral Leadership. Students at Harward Business School are taught a course called Moral Leader where students exchange their business management case studies to discuss some of the great protagonists in literature.

Sandra Sucher is one of a number of HBS faculty who have taught the course. Sucher recently published two books about the course, Moral Leader: Challenges, Tools, and Insigths is a textbook. The other is an instructor's guide, Teaching The Moral Leader: A Literature- Based Leadership Course.

This is an elective course taken by MBAs in their second year. The purpose of the course is for students to develop their own purpose workable definition of moral leadership, a definition that they build during the course sessions and document, at the end, in a course paper.

The course has a unique structure by incorporating learning through literature. Benefit is derived from the literature itself. Through the novels, short stories, plays students ae brought much closer to life as it is really lived. Closer than lecture learning and in a case discussion. Each class is dedicated to debating and drawing lessons from a powerful work of fiction, biography, autobiography, or history. continue reading: Moin @ SKY IS THE LIMIT

TOP TEN NEW LIBRARIANS REVEALED BY LOVE LIBRARIES CAMPAIGN

2008-01-10T23:28:00.000-05:00

By 24 Hour Museum Staff, 07/11/2007
The country’s 'Top Ten New Librarians' have been revealed as part of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council’s (MLA) Love Libraries campaign. The competition, launched in June, aimed to find ten librarians who have worked in public libraries for under three years, yet are transforming services with creativity and enthusiasm. continue reading

See on the same shelf and aisle:
ENTHUSIASTIC EMMA IS NAMED ONE OF COUNTRY'S TOP LIBRARIANS
Be the first reader to comment on this story
07:30 - 07 November 2007
A plymouth librarian has shown how the old stereotypes can be broken, through her innovative work with children and young offenders.Emma Sherriff, an outreach support officer from Plymouth City Council's library service, has been named one of the country's top 10 new librarians. continue reading

How to Fail as a CIO

2007-11-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

The awful truth about being a CIO is that there are a lot more ways to fail than to succeed:
You can fail to deliver key projects.
You can be ambushed by deficiencies in your infrastructure (e.g., customer credit card information leaks out).
You can be overwhelmed by thousands of small things that add up (e.g., massive support problems due to poor control over PC's).
You can waste millions of dollars on tools and infrastructure because unreasonable user demands force you to support too many conflicting platforms.
You can focus your organization’s efforts on the wrong things (usually discovered when your company’s competition comes out with something that you could have done).
You can even do everything else right but fail because you don't hit it off with the other executives.

But let’s be clear about all of these failures. They all come down to the statement I made earlier in this article: If the company expects “X” and you deliver “Y” then you fail. Sure it’s important for you to be able to deliver, but in my experience ninety percent or more of CIO failures come from not managing the expectations of your business executives. Make sure that if “Y” is going to be delivered, then “Y” is what’s expected. Managing expectations is the way to avoid CIO failure.
Continue reading The MakingITclear® Newsletter, March, 2007: article

Google for info on CIO Qualifications

World's No. 1 guru is an Indian: C K Prahalad

2007-11-07T19:31:00.000-05:00

MUMBAI: India gave the world the word “guru”. And now, an Indian has been declared the world’s foremost management guru. C K Prahalad, professor at the University of Michigan’s Stephen M Ross School of Business, has been crowned the greatest management thinker alive by Thinkers 50, an annual ranking of the top 50 management thought leaders in the world. .. continue reading full news story

Same page: There are three other Indians in the top 50: CEO coach Ram Charan at No. 22 (up from No. 24 last year), innovation guru Vijay Govindarajan of the Tuck Business School at No. 23 (No. 31 last year); and Harvard’s Rakesh Khurana at No. 45 (No. 33 last year).
see also: Untapped $5 trillion market

John’s Eight Laws of Library Technology

2007-10-29T03:24:00.000-04:00

Greetings. I have worked in the information technology industry for over a decade, mostly as a web developer for IBM. One day I was in my local library, looking at the library OPAC, thinking, ‘Why isn’t this more like Amazon?’ That thought took me to library school. It turns out librarians were thinking the same thing, and they are busy reinventing the OPAC. To my surprise, what I learned at library school was that I was less interested in library technology than librarianship. I have recently launched a new blog, slowreading.net, where I intend to focus more on reading research and practices in libraries and in culture. But I have a number of thoughts on information technology that I have not unpacked. I wanted to do small justice to them by summing them up in a single post. I hope they are useful to somebody in the library field. [The 8 Laws of Library Technology are]:
1. It all comes down to data and rules... 2. Organized information is handier than disorganized information... 3. The rate at which data is being recorded is accelerating faster than our ability to manage it... 4. Librarians should not build their own software systems... 5. These days there is only one way to acquire a system: buy a package, and two, custom build it... 6. RSS and XML are cooler than you think... 7. Print is the next evolution in information technology... 8. Library technology is less interesting than librarianship... Continue reading
Filed under: librarianship, libraries, library2.0, print, software, technology
[NB. info courtesy: Sukhdev's World: Library Technology ]

See also:

Librarians and Techies – A NEXUS

Mining The Library Catalog: Emerging Trends, A Literature Survey

Alternative Cataloging / Information Visualization

How can i practice gratitude

2007-10-20T11:46:00.000-04:00

[PDF] The Saint, the Surfer and the CEO

See also videos:

Nuggets of wisdom, inspiration, and advice
Search by topic By faith By name
and much more @ Inspiration -- Beliefnet.com

Robin Sharma on Leadership, Management, and Personality Development

2007-10-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Robin Sharma - Expert on leadership and personality development

Robin Sharma named #6 in worldwide ranking of leadership gurus - after Jack Welch

Get inside Robin's head: blog @ http://www.robinsharma.com

Announcing Academic / Research Librarian of the Year DEADLINE

2007-10-11T00:50:00.000-04:00

Do you know the next
ACADEMIC / RESEARCH LIBRARIAN OF THE YEAR?

The deadline is quckly approaching. Please get your nominations in by December 7, 2007

This award recognizes an outstanding member of the library profession who has made a significant national or international contribution to academic or research librarianship and library development. This award recognizes and honors achievement in such areas as:

Service to the organized profession through ACRL and related organizations
Significant and influential research on academic or research library service
Publication of a body of scholarly and/or theoretical writing contributing to academic or research library development
Planning and implementing a library program of such exemplary quality that it has served as a model for others

Award: Plaque and cash award sponsored by YBP Library Services

Send nominations to:
Academic / Research Librarian of the Year Award
ACRL, 50 E. Huron Street , Chicago , IL 60611

See details in the Awards Section of the ACRL Web site: http://www.ala.org/acrl

-------

ACRL forms positioning libraries task force

ACRL/LAMA Joint Spring Virtual Institute accepting proposals

ACRL releases “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity among Academic and Research Librarians”

ACRL seeks nominations for 2008 awards recognizing outstanding achievements in academic librarianship

ACRL announces forthcoming title: “Studying Students: The Undergraduate Research Project at the University of Rochester"

More News

Audience participation ideas

2007-10-08T15:54:00.000-04:00

"Depending on the size of your group, and especially when you're conducting a workshop or longer training, you will want to encourage participation from your audience.

There are always some participants who participate more and some who participate less. It's easy for people who are shy to sit back and wait for the more outgoing members to speak up. How do you keep some people from dominating and help others to break out of their shell?

Here are some ideas that have worked for me:
1. Toss a Koosh ball or beach ball into the group
2. Hand out small cards or pieces of paper with words or phrases on them for participants to discuss.
3. Use an anonymous question box. continue reading details at
Speak Schmeak: things I'm thinking about speakers and speaking

Indian Library Professional Earns International Award

2007-10-06T00:09:00.001-04:00

Mr. Debal C. Kar, Fellow, Library and Information Centre, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), was awarded with the SLA Diversity Leadership Development Program (DLDP) award for 2007 for his commitment and dedication to the profession. The Special Libraries Association (SLA) based in Alexandria, USA, a nonprofit global organization for innovative information professionals sponsors the award. SLA serves more than 11,000 members in 75 countries in the information profession, including corporate, academic, and government information specialists.

Mr. Kar besides being a technical expert on India’s library and information science, is also a sitting member on several government of India committees on library and information science and a board member of several of India’s leading library related associations. He has organized two International Conferences on Digital Libraries (ICDL) in 2004 and 2006 respectively. The first ICDL was the largest digital library conference in the world and its organization and conduct was widely appreciated. He has published 25 articles in refereed journals and presented papers in more than 20 conferences. Source: THE MADRAS LIBRARY ASSOCIATION [MALA]'s Infozine (www.sla.org).

A word about Taxonomy and standard platform @ Google

2007-10-01T03:19:00.000-04:00

Here is an interesting insight, trend and prospects by Special Libraries Association Asian Chapter outgoing president's Jane Macoustra.

See the article 'Goolge Librarian: An Assessment' byJane Macoustra, SLA Asian Chapter NEWSLETTER 2006: Vol.3 Issue 3 & 4: 3-5

See also in the same newsletter:
Advancing your career: Mentoring, networking, grants and awards, p. 6 -7

Gurudevo Namah

2007-09-16T00:07:00.000-04:00

Posted at Thursday, 06 September 2007 10:09 IST
Gaurav Saxena

The guru-shishya parampara may be a thing of the past but still Teachers' Day is an occasion to express one's gratitude towards teachers. September 5, the birthday of a teacher and former Indian president Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, is celebrated as Teachers' day. "Teachers are like candles who burn themselves to enlighten the careers of their students," goes the old adage. However, with changing times, computers have stepped in the shoes of teachers and the human angle is slowly and gradually vanishing. As far as classrooms are concerned, the increasing number of students has made inter-personal communication an impossible task, therefore the guru-shishya parampara no longer exists. continue reading

Higher education for the high-tech savvy

2007-09-09T12:55:00.001-04:00

"As professors look for ways to engage a generation raised on the Internet, podcasts and chat groups are replacing the lecture hall

ELIZABETH CHURCH
From Friday's Globe and Mail
September 7, 2007 at 4:14 AM EDT

Students at Hamilton's McMaster University can hear the first lecture of the year for introductory psychology this week without going anywhere near a classroom.

In a break with tradition, the course's main lectures will be prerecorded and posted on the Web, available for students to watch when they have a free half hour and an Internet connection.

The online lectures, on topics such as colour perception and sexual motivation, are available only to students and, to ward off procrastination, are posted for a limited time. They include interactive slides, practice quizzes and a search function.

Students can pause or rewind, join chat groups or e-mail questions. "

Academic Librarians as Emotionally Intelligent Leaders

2007-09-02T00:35:00.000-04:00

Book Description
Emotional intelligence (EI), as based on the work of Daniel Goleman and his colleagues, has received a lot of attention in the Harvard Business Review and elsewhere as a leadership theory. It is composed of five domains: Knowing your emotions, Managing your emotions, Motivating yourself, Recognizing and understanding other people's emotions, and Managing relationships (managing the emotions of others). Its practitioners become particularly adept at managing the mood and performance of both their organizations and themselves. In Academic Librarians as Emotionally Intelligent Leaders, Hernon and company present a solid overview of EI, its connection to other leadership theories, and its particular application to academic librarianship. By moving beyond basic "people skills," they claim, library leaders can come to appreciate not only the unique challenges of personal and organizational growth, but how their own reactions and feelings are perceived by others. Particularly noteworthy is a strong focus on issues of diversity, including a chapter on how librarians of color regularly engage in self-renewal and restoration.

About the Author
PETER HERNON is a professor at Simmons College, Graduate School of Library and Information Science. He has authored 7 previous titles for Libraries Unlimited. JOAN GIESECKE is the Dean of Libraries, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. CAMILA A. ALIRE is Dean of University Libraries at the University of New Mexico.

Decision Makers - R U Wise or Otherwise!

2007-08-19T17:59:00.000-04:00

NB. If you are wise, you will enjoy reading the following post by Chris, called Mr. and Mrs. Average.

RAW STYLUS

PERSPECTIVES ON STRATEGIC ALTERNATIVE MARKETING

Aug 10th, 2007 by Chris Hoskin
See how you compare with the UK’s IT and Business Decision makers in these Silicon.com surveys.

Do you think a business blog can be a good way for companies to communicate with their customers?
View Results

What is the biggest expenses claim you’ve ever made?
View Results

When you are on holiday, how often do you check your work email?
View Results

How long have you been with your current mobile phone provider?
View Results

How do you interact most often with your boss?
View Results

How many emails on average do you get in your inbox per day?
View Results

How would you describe your normal stress level at work?
View Results

Who is in charge of IT risk management within your organisation?
View Results

Would you be happy to go through biometric security checks in airports?
View Results

Have you ever visited a virtual world?
View Results

How much time in the office do you spend using social networking sites each week?
View Results

By 2015, your working week will be…
View Results

How often do you work from home?
View Results

Are you worried about potential health risks associated with using wi-fi?
View Results

Not Working at Work is Common

2007-08-14T10:48:00.000-04:00

By Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com writer

Some people need their daily YouTube fix even more than they need their 10 a.m. coffee break. If you’re browsing the Web on company time looking for the latest in viral videos, you’re not alone. A new MSN-Zogby survey of 3,800 office employees nationwide reveals that engaging in non-work related activity at the office is far from uncommon. continue reading

See also:
Emails stress out 1 in 3 at office

London, Aug. 13: Emails are causing unprecedented levels of stress among office workers as they struggle to cope with an unending tide of incoming messages. A team of researchers has found that one in three office workers who use computers regularly suffer from email stress.

The deluge of emails also affects the performance of people at work, researchers belonging to Glasgow and Paisley universities said. Computer scientist Karen Renaud of Glasgow University, with psychologist Judith Ramsay of Paisley University and her colleague Mario Hair, a statistician, surveyed 177 people, mainly academics and those involved in creative jobs, to see how they dealt with emails received at work, the Observer reported.

Pressure to check and respond quickly to emails makes some employees check their email inboxes up to 40 times an hour. The research team also found that office workers checked their emails more often than they admitted in a survey. Almost half of the 177 participants said they looked at their email more than once an hour, with 35 per cent claiming to check every 15 minutes, but monitoring equipment fitted to their computers showed it was more often.

The research revealed that 34 per cent of participants felt “stressed” by the sheer number of emails and the obligation to respond quickly, and a further 28 per cent were “driven” because they saw them as a source of pressure. The team characterised just 38 per cent as “relaxed” because they did not reply until a day or even a week later.

“Email is the thing that now causes us the most problems in our working lives. It’s an amazing tool, but it’s got out of hand. Email harries you. You want to know what’s in there, especially if it’s from a family member or friends, or your boss, so you break off what you are doing to read the email. The problem is that when you go back to what you were doing, you’ve lost your chain of thought and, of course, you are less productive.

People’s brains get tired from breaking off from something every few minutes to check emails. The more distracted you are by distractions, including email, then you are going to be more tired and less productive,” lead researcher Karen Renaud said. <source>

Applications Now Being Accepted for Emerging Leaders 2008

2007-08-13T01:30:00.000-04:00

The American Library Association is now accepting applications for the 2008 Emerging Leaders program. The program is designed to enable 120 new librarians to get on the fast track to ALA and professional leadership. Application deadline is Wednesday, August 15. [nsls.info]

PS. Info courtesy: Rachel @ Beyond the Job

Using Mentoring and Coaching for Knowledge Management LO29961

2007-08-01T12:35:00.000-04:00

by Sujatha Das
"While information entails an understanding of the relations between data, it generally does not provide a foundation for why the data is what it is, nor an indication as to how the data is likely to change over time. Information has a tendency to be relatively static in time and linear in nature. Information is a relationship between data and, quite simply, is what it is, with great dependence on context for its meaning and with little implication for the future. Beyond relation there is a pattern, where pattern is more than simply a relation of relations. It embodies both a consistency and completeness of relations which, to an extent, creates its own context.

When a pattern relation exists amidst the data and information, the pattern has the potential to represent knowledge. It only becomes knowledge, however, when one is able to realize and understand the patterns and their implications. The patterns representing knowledge have a tendency to be more self-contextualizing. That is, the pattern tends, to a great extent, to create its own context rather than being context dependent to the same extent that information is. A pattern which represents knowledge also provides, when the pattern is understood, a high level of reliability or predictability as to how the pattern will evolve over time, for patterns are seldom static. Patterns which represent knowledge have a completeness to them that information simply does not contain.

Wisdom arises when one understands the foundational principles responsible for the patterns representing knowledge being what they are. And wisdom, even more so than knowledge, tends to create its own context. These foundational principles are universal and completely context independent." Continue reading

Shape-Shifting Leadership

2007-07-26T17:06:00.000-04:00

Three kinds of leadership for three different situations.
By Dan Kimball, Mark Driscoll, and Leith Anderson

Leadership in the emerging church is a paradox. I am someone who fully sees the value of mission statements, organizational charts, and a strategic approach to leading. I read everything John Maxwell and Bill Hybels write, and they fuel my heart and passion for leadership. The irony is that most growing up in our emerging culture are critical of anything that looks like "organized religion." My church doesn't want anything too business oriented or too structured.
Mark Driscoll: Leading Yourself First
Leith Anderson: Leading by Influence continue reading

see also:
NB. Your Leadership Is Unique:
Good news: There is no one "leadership personality."
by Peter F. Drucker

The one and only personality trait the effective ones I have encountered did have in common was something they did not have: they had little or no "charisma." Read more.

Seven deadly leadership sins

2007-07-14T11:16:00.000-04:00

JEFFREY GANDZ
Special to The Globe and Mail, July 6, 2007
So much is written about what constitutes a good leader.
But what about the bad?
Clearly, a good leader will want to avoid the kinds of behaviour that go with the flip side.
See if you recognize any elements of your leadership, or the leadership of your bosses, in these bad-leader archetypes:

Narcissists
Ditherers
Avoiders
Panderers
Faddists
Tunnellers
Fantasizers continue reading

Managers work rather than holiday - Are you there?

2007-07-04T12:44:00.000-04:00

Many UK employees might feel that they don't receive enough time off work, but this pales in comparison to their boss' Holiday time, according to new research. continue reading @ Holiday hypermarket

leadership @ blogosphere - What's up now?

2007-07-02T15:22:00.000-04:00

Viewing search results from your Blog's desktop: Experiment successful!
Take a look here, the results are always current and up-to-date

Fat pay? Indian bosses work longest

2007-06-10T01:46:00.000-04:00

Zee News. Singpore, May 29: Business leaders in India and Argentina work the longest hours, clocking up 57 hours a week, according to a survey published on Tuesday, while Italians work the shortest week at 47 hours.
A survey by London-based accounting firm Grant Thornton International also found that more business people in mainland China, Taiwan and India said they experienced more stress at work this year than in the previous year.

The survey involved 7,200 respondents in 32 countries.

Top 10 countries with the longest working weeks (Average hours worked per week)

1. India 57
2. Argentina 57
3. Armenia 56
4. Australia 56
5. Botswana 56
6. Turkey 55
7. United States 55
8. South Africa 55
9. Singapore 54
10. Hong Kong 54

Top 10 countries where leaders reported higher stress levels this year compared to 2006

1. China
2. Taiwan
3. India
4. Russia
5. Botswana
6. Singapore
7. Hong Kong
8. Malaysia
9. Philippines
10. South Africa

Bureau Report

Balachandra Rajan

2007-06-05T21:54:00.001-04:00

by
K. B. Gulati

At 87, Balachandra Rajan lives today largely by himself in his London , Ontario , home. His wife, Chandra Rajan, an avid and talented translator of Kalidasa and other Sanskrit texts, lives a major part of the year in New Delhi . Just a short walk away from his residence lives his brilliant professor-daughter Tilottama Rajan , Canada Research Chair in English and Theory at the University of Western Ontario . B. Rajan is a man of legendary discipline and energy in his personal life as well as his scholarship. His stellar achievements generate respect and admiration among academics anywhere.

He has published seven books and edited or co-edited fourteen others. He is an honoured scholar of the Milton Society of America and the recipient of the James Holly Hanford and Irene Samuel awards. An English scholar, Catherine Belsey, describes him as the “subtlest of Milton ’s readers,” and an American scholar, Janel Mueller, now Dean of Humanities at the University of Chicago , calls him “one of the (twentieth) century’s leading Miltonists.” Joseph Wittreich, himself an honoured scholar of the Society sees Rajan as “having blazed the way to a new Milton criticism…, refitting Milton to the twenty-first century.”

But the fact is Rajan is not simply a Milton scholar. He has written highly influential books on Eliot and Yeats and a wide-ranging study, The Unfinished Poem (the only one of its kind) beginning with Edmund Spenser and ending with Ezra Pound. The extent and distinction of his scholarly accomplishment earned him the Chauveau medal of the Royal Society of Canada in 1983, eight years after his election to fellowship in the Society.

Latterly, he has interested himself in the comparative study of imperialisms, editing two books on this subject and publishing a far-flung exploration, Under Western Eyes, of western perceptions of India from Vasco da Gama to Macaulay.

His two novels on India , are surprising for many in that most academic readers are not prepared to accept that the critical mind, even at its best, can also be a creative one. One wonders if Rajan would have been the major critic that he is had he not had the talent to create the imaginative worlds of The Dark Dancer (1958) and Too Long in the West (1961). Both the novels have been translated into three European languages. The first of these was a Book Society Choice. George Woodcock is among those who have written appreciatively on both novels.

When The Dark Dancer first appeared, Kirkus Reviews described novelist Rajan's theme as "the parallel struggles of individual and state." Lewis Garnett observed in the New York Herald Tribune Book Review, “Young Krishnan's problem is not his alone, but is shared by the whole world. Seldom, in the West, are such themes explored with such a combination of honesty and charm."

Reviewing The Dark Dancer for The Yale Review, M.K. Spears wrote,

Here at last is a novel that honestly confronts the dilemma of the Indian intellectual, caught between East and West, and instead of expounding some neat solution, explores it with magnificent intelligence and awareness.

Whereas The Dark Dancer, according to The Times Literary Supplement, “was concerned with racial division, Too Long in the West is about the clash of Indian and American cultures." In its treatment of the immigrant's experience and its multi-cultural dimensions, the novel anticipates many future novels by South Asian writers in Canada and the U.S. It offers a gentler view of life than The Dark Dancer and remains singular in its comic tone. Santha Rama Rau had a telling (and still valid) comment on the novel:

Nobody ever believes that Indians can be funny. We are known to be neutralists, revolutionaries, mystics, serious, disagreeable -- anything except funny. Well, at last [in Rajan’s Too Long in the West] the score is evened. And by an Indian. That's important.

June 2006 witnessed the publication of his Milton and the Climates of Reading . The book is a unique attempt to bring the South Asian fields of interest and concern to Milton studies. As well, it is almost alone in engaging Milton in various contemporary reading contexts: post-structural, post-colonial, and global. His co-edited publication Imperialisms: Literary and Historical Studies (2004) attracted glowing praises from the doyen of post-colonial studies, Harvard professor, Homi Bhabha:

Our anxious moment of global achievement has ushered in a new age of the politics and poetics of Empire. This complex and contested term represents a crucial turn in the revisionary thinking that is nowhere better explored with greater critical acuity and more creative panache than in Rajan and Sauer's volume.

In 1938, when Rajan was barely eighteen years old, he left Presidency College , Madras , to go to Trinity College , Cambridge . Three years later, he completed his Tripos with first class in economics. The following year, he earned another degree, with first class in English. In 1944, he became the first person to be awarded a fellowship in English in the 400-year history of Trinity College and earned the Ph.D. in English from Cambridge University in 1945. From 1945 to 1948, he was Director of English Studies at Trinity College . Rajan's first publication, Paradise Lost and the Seventeenth Century Reader (1947), contextualized Milton within the intellectual milieu of the poet’s own times. The book quickly established Rajan as a leading critic in Milton studies. Sixty years later, it is still in use. During 1945-50, he also founded and edited Focus, a journal dedicated to criticism on contemporary authors. Rajan would have continued to teach and write at Cambridge , but despite his achievements, England in 1947 was not yet ready for an Indian professor of English.

Having been active in Britain among Indian students as the President of the Majlis at Cambridge working for India’s independence, Rajan returned to his interests in economics and public policy and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1948. During the thirteen years he was with the IFS, he was the Chairman of the Executive Board of UNICEF and a member of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna . He was on the team that drafted the Statutes of the Agency. Joseph Wittreich draws attention to Rajan’s consistently “mediatorial role” in a half century of Milton scholarship. That role is the academic translation of his experience as a diplomat.

It was during those busy years as a diplomat that Rajan branched out from literary criticism to writing fiction.

In 1961, Rajan resigned from the Indian Foreign Service to resume his academic career. During 1961-1964, when he was Head of English and Dean of Arts at the University of Delhi , he wrote W B Yeats: A Critical Introduction (1965). One reviewer described it as being "as deep as it is broad, everything is related, everything is synthesized in this sound and sensitive book.”

After moving to Canada in 1965, Rajan published three collections of essays on Milton, as well as three other books: The Lofty Rhyme: A Study of Milton's Major Poetry (1970), The Overwhelming Question: A Study of the Poetry of T S Eliot (1976), and The Form of the Unfinished: English Poetics from Spenser to Pound (1985).

He was a senior professor at the University of Western Ontario for nineteen years preceding his mandatory retirement when the University held in his honour a two-day conference titled "The Poetics of Indeterminacy" and then conferred on him an honorary doctorate.

After retiring, Rajan continued to direct doctoral work in imperialism and post-colonialism until an advancing disability made that difficult.

In 1994 he delivered the Tamblyn Lectures for the University. This is a series that has been graced among others by Northrop Frye, Edward Said and Noam Chomsky.

In 1999 he published Under Western Eyes: India from Milton to Macaulay. This book is a scholarly interpretation of historical events such as Vasco da Gama's voyage to India and colonial documents such as Macaulay's Minutes on Education that were involved in the imperial discourse. Rajan focuses on the feminization of India by the West and the way in which India responded to that feminization, i.e., not by denying it but by making a virtue of it.

This study marks an important advance in documenting the understanding, or more correctly, the misunderstanding, of India . In this volume of unprecedented depth, it is Rajan's contention that the history of the West's perception of India commences with Vasco da Gama's voyage, and not with Kipling. By taking the narrative back to Vasco da Gama's voyage to India , Rajan gives the reader a proper perspective on the roots of Western perception of India and its consequences for both India and the West.

The turn from literary criticism to post-colonial studies in Rajan's career may seem abrupt to some observers, but it had been in the making for some time. It had anticipations and even roots in his previous work. For example, The Form of the Unfinished (1985) ends with a strong statement on the politics of the fragment and includes a note (p. 307) on misunderstandings of Indian thought. The post-script (a translation of Rig Veda X, 125 by Chandra Rajan) fortifies the shape of things to come.

More importantly, Rajan's paper, “India and the English Mystics,” which he read for the BBC's Third Programme and which was subsequently published in The Listener (November 20, 1947), anticipates much of what was argued by Edward Said thirty years later in Orientalism (1978). Similarly, The Dark Dancer arguably anticipates some of Salman Rushdie’s perspectives on expatriate writing, his “imaginary homelands.”In fact, Under Western Eyes might be viewed as a large-scale implementation of the propositions originally advanced in India and the English Mystics, where Rajan wrote:

Englishmen have gone out to India to make quick profits or carry the white man's burden. At their worst, they have been tyrannically arrogant and at their best benevolently paternal. But they have not understood; to understand a civilization is to see it on its own terms and within its native values; the British have seen only that part of Indian civilization which their imperial commitments made them see.

Surely, Rajan’s work on colonial history and post-colonialism will receive its due recognition in the years to come. Meanwhile, his reputation as a scholar of Milton , Yeats, and English poetry remains quite strong. In describing Rajan’s presence in the academic community as a “pure bonus,” Canada's other Miltonist and literary theorist, Northrop Frye, goes on to make clear that his contribution to that community is more than scholarly:

He is a most effective speaker at academic conferences, but his effectiveness is not itself simply academic; sincerity and authority have their own body language which is intelligible in itself. He is the kind of colleague who inspires a sense of security even in those at other universities who hardly ever see him; they still know that in his office or classroom at least, the job is being done right.

………………………………………………………………………
K. B. Gulati is Professor Emeritus of English at George Brown College, Toronto . He was Professor Rajan's student at Delhi University . More at: Literary Voice

19 questions for you to ask yourself

2007-06-05T17:38:00.000-04:00

[PS. While the following 19 are from the desk of a librarian, note that a librarian neither works from the outer space nor practices rocket science! The bottom line is: these questions can be for you, even if you are not a librarian, & / or wear any other hat]

By Mary Pergander, American Libraries Columnist
Working Knowledge: A Monthly Column about Life on the Job, Column for May 2007

Am I present and ready to work on time every day?
Do I minimize personal computer/e-mail/phone time at work?
Do I limit my work hours, take my breaks and vacations, and in other ways practice good selfcare?
Do I set and meet my goals, and keep my commitments?
Do I speak respectfully to and about others, even when they are not present?
Do I exemplify excellent customer service?
Do I use my time effectively and deliver high-quality results?
Is my work complete, timely, attractive, and well organized?
Do I work cooperatively and collaboratively with others?
Do I make good use of the time of coworkers?
Do I smile and acknowledge others?
Do I allow others to speak without interrupting?
Do I return all calls the same day I receive them?
Do I follow up on e-mails as promised?
Do I encourage others?
Am I open to feedback?
Am I honest and authentic?
Would I want to have myself as an employee?
Would I want to have myself for a boss?

“Amritjit Singh first foreign-born to win rare honor”

2007-06-01T11:49:00.000-04:00

English professor Amritjit Singh receives lifetime achievement award
ATHENS, Ohio (March 13, 2007) -- Ohio University Langston Hughes Professor of English and African American Studies Amritjit Singh will receive the 2007 MELUS Lifetime Achievement Award at the 21st Annual MELUS Conference this spring.

India Abroad, NYC -- Community Section – April 20, 2007
- Aziz Haniffa
Amritjit Singh, Langston Hughes Professor of English and African American Studies at the Ohio University in Athens , Ohio, was last month honored with the 2007 MELUS (Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature in the United States) Lifetime Achievement Award at its 21st annual conference in Fresno, California.
This was the first time MELUS has honored a foreign-born American professor with the prestigious award for contribu¬tions to ethnic American literary scholarship.
A national organization of college and university professors, MELUS states, “it is committed to expanding the definition and canon of American literature through the study and teaching of African-American, Latino-American, Native-American, Asian¬American and ethnically-specific European-American literary works, their authors and their cultural contexts.” Read the full story

A26-April 13, 2007—INDIA-WEST NATIONAL – US
English Prof. Receives MELUS Lifetime Achievement Award, a Staff Reporter
FRESNO, Calif. –– Professor Amritjit Singh, professor of English and African American Studies at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, was honored with the 2007 MELUS Lifetime Achievement Award Mar. 26, capping the 21st Annual MELUS Conference held March 22-25.
He is the first foreign-born American to receive the honor.
MELUS, the Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature, honors scholars with the Achievement Award for their contributions to ethnic American literary scholarship. Read the full story

Remembering my father, Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait, by Tasneem Ebrahim

2007-05-17T10:48:00.000-04:00

I remember the passing away of someone close to one’s heart is at all times a difficult thing. This is more so when that someone happens to be one’s own father: a figure so prominent in one’s life as to defeat any effort at recollecting a time when he was not there in one’s living memory – a memory that started off with one’s entry into this world. Indeed, next to one’s mother, the father remains the cause of that entry, the human source of preservation, of protection and guidance for one’s life, post the entry into it.

It is then not without the deepest sense of deprivation, sorrow and irretrievable loss, that this writer can hope to recollect the memory of the late Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait: a man, a personality, who while being the leader and public figure that he ultimately became, was also father to this daughter and to all her other siblings. Much, of course, has been said about his activism for the cause of the Muslim community in India over the past half a century of his dignified public life. In fact, nothing should be a better testimony to this than the fact that he was elected a record eight times to the National Assembly as a Member of Parliament. But, it is not one’s intention here to dwell upon the details of his steady growth in stature as a genuine Muslim – indeed, Indian – leader of our times. As his daughter, on the other hand, one’s purpose here is only to highlight those basic traits of the man which endeared him to all those who came into close contact with him. For, while even at a distance - even from mere hearsay - Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait commanded respect and admiration, for those who got to know him more closely, they could not but come away with a feeling of affection and love that bordered on reverence for the august personality that he undoubtedly was.

Beyond the cherished memories of a childhood wherein the fatherly love and attention poured on his children came without asking – without any asking back in return – what shall permanently be etched in memory, perhaps, was his ability for self control without in the least being unaffected by the events and situations he found himself in, whether in his personal, family or public life. It was a trait remarkable for its presence in a man who faced the unending storms that visited his long career as the representative of a hapless minority in India. More than the trait itself, it was his perseverance with it - no matter what the provocation - that saw him climb a pedestal of human character where he stood unassailable by lesser human beings. In anger, or in sorrow, he exhibited that optimum, that elusive, balance of temperament so much so that it is difficult, even by the admission of his own children, to recollect an instance when he might have exploded in at least justifiable frustration. In many undeniable ways, therefore, Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait belonged to that rare class of people who owed their rarity to their perfection of manners and etiquette. In having lived in close company with him, one can hardly fail to ponder over that timeless admonition of the last messenger of God when he declared that ‘the best among you are those best in manners.’ Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait’s strengths were, therefore, of a very different kind from the strength and power associated with people of prominence today. Yet again, Prophet Muhammad’s words that ‘strong is not he who floors his opponent in a fight, but strong is he who in a fit of anger controls his temper’ is the best explanation for the strength of character exuded by the persona of Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait.

In remembering him, one must easily concede that in all his affairs Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait was meticulous, indeed, systematic. To this writer, it was among the simple joys of life to watch him manage his mundane, day-to-day affairs: his regulation dressing sense and style, immaculate as it was with his matching clothes right up to the headgear which was among the few gifts he heartily acknowledged and cherished, his unhurried, yet firm, deportment in arranging everything from his traveling suitcases to his pillow and bedding, and even his alignment of pen and paper after his having used them. In retrospect, one finds that his most trivial acts registered an indelible influence on the immediate members of his family, inspiring in them the true meaning of orderliness and systematization. As a natural corollary to this emphasis on order and discipline, his appreciation and respect for the value of time was likewise among the most unforgettable aspects of his character. Like this writer herself, the other members of his family will unfailingly remember that on appointments he would invariably be there before time. In later years, when he had to depend on others for traveling, he preferred to be accompanied by the present writer’s husband particularly because he was a stickler for punctuality himself.

As a communicator with, and well-wisher of, all those whom he came into contact with, Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait had never the need to be pretentious or artificial. Communicating with others came naturally to him: so much more the reason behind his popularity as a mass leader. It was in his nature to remember and address not just his acquaintances but even those related to them by their names: a gesture that was immediately reciprocated by the attention of those whom he so addressed. In fact, this was but part and parcel of his inborn talent in understanding the myriad masses that cut across a strikingly varied cross section of the public starting with his family members, party activists, kings and government heads, the rich and the poor, Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

It was his wont to encourage the goodness and talent that was in others whenever it was displayed before him. Himself a master in many disciplines, he would not be wanting in his warm praise for any achievement or effort that was done to his liking. His concern for the affairs of those whom he met was genuine, and was often punctuated by his personal attention and care. This saw him going out of his way to address and solve problems affecting others with a diligence that was remarkable for the rank that he possessed. Indeed, to him, it was perhaps exactly because of that perceived rank in society that he had to exert himself even more in the service of his family, his acquaintances and the public that he led and addressed.

On one particular occasion, when a recent marriage in the extended family was on the brink of termination, with the bride confined to her house in Bangalore, and her husband staying put at his native place in Cochin, Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait was immediately at his persuasive best. Despite his own busy schedules as a public figure, he personally visited both husband and wife individually and at their respective places of residence and, over time, engineered a certain warmth and affection once again between the two: a bonding that was just enough for them to get together again and to thereafter get on with their married life. He had spared no opportunity, no chance for dialogue, no relative from each side, wherefrom, and through whom, he could bring about a rapprochement between the young couple who already had had a child between them.

It is in this context of his commitment to the cause of others that, at least for this writer, one incident will forever stand out amongst her most treasured and touching memories of her father. It is touching in the sense that it came about a few days before he passed away forever from her earthly presence on the 27th of April, 2005. Having to travel to Calicut via Cochin on Saturday, 24th April, for the first state conference of the Indian National League five days later, he was supposed to have been accompanied by this writer’s husband, his preferred travel companion. But while this writer was busy helping him pack his suitcase for the coming journey, he turned to her at one point and referring to her husband, said: “Inshaallah, Shajahan will be back on the morning of April 27th.” He had known – and remembered - that the 27th of April marked his daughter’s wedding anniversary which, although not an event for celebration going by his strict principles, was an occasion wherein he sensed that husband and wife would prefer to be together. However, as fate would have it, by the evening of April 24th he was feeling uneasy and had to be admitted to Manipal Hospital where he finally breathed his last three days later.

One also remembers that his last three days in hospital were days of heavy rain. The streets outside Manipal Hospital, where he practically lay on his death-bed by his room window, were enveloped in an untimely gloom and wetness. But despite the wet and gloomy weather outside his seventh floor window, Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait would surprisingly see through it the beauty of a resplendent spring: a scene that he would repeatedly describe to those attending to him in his room. Perhaps, in further visions of what was to come, or maybe because of these visions, he would read aloud prayers of forgiveness (istighfaar) to God in front of all who visited him, and would ask each visitor to confirm whether he had read the prayers aright. His preferred travel-companion – this writer’s husband – who was there in uninterrupted attendance till the end would remember later that on the night before he passed away, his father-in-law would thank him profusely for all that he had done for him, before he finally asked him to retire to bed. But, in every following hour till the hour of his passing at around 5: 30 AM, he would awaken and enquire with his son-in-law about the time. Earlier that evening he had insisted that his youngest son, Siraj Ebrahim, take down his written statement that was to be read out in his absence at the first state conference of the INL due to be held a couple of days later at Calicut. Seeing his father’s condition, Siraj Ebrahim had reminded his father that he could take down the statement the next morning, but Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait had been strangely adamant that he must do it then and there. ‘There is little time left to wait:’ he had counseled his concerned son. Uncharacteristic of him, the statement, when its dictation was finally over, was unusually long, covering, as it did, a host of issues confronting the Muslim community not just in India, but throughout the Muslim world.

Uncorrupted to the very marrow of his bones, Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait never had it in him to possess what was not rightfully his. Indeed, even if this was the only thing known about him, it was sufficient to prove that even in corrupt times such as these, a clean and morally strong politics - of which he was a prime exponent - was still quite a possibility. In later years, this writer’s husband would complain that his father-in-law would diligently strive to repay even a ten-rupee currency note that he had borrowed from him. Before he passed away, he had handed him a bank-cheque which he had, in his hurry, forgotten to sign. The amount written across the cheques was a loan that had to be repaid to his son-in-law who, to this day, has preserved that unsigned bank-cheque as a token of the fondest memories he has of Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait – the man, the father, the husband, the politician, the leader, the visionary and the patriot all of which he easily and undeniably was.

---------
PS. This article has appeared in Young Muslim Digest, May 2007, print version.

See:

Complete profile and ideas: Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait Akbani, 1922 - 2005; and
Muslims in India have to begin again Somewhere by Mohammad Siraj Ebrahim, Young Muslim Digest, April 2007: Click here

See also a prvious message in this blog about my mentors. See:

Prof. Isaac Sequeira, 1930 - 2006

ALA Emerging Leaders Poll - Survey

2007-05-04T00:02:00.000-04:00

Hello!
I'm one of the ALA Emerging Leaders this year, and I'm part of a work team that is looking at options for “rebranding the library profession in the digital world.” We've decided to survey as broad a spectrum of library professionals as possible in order to see what we think of ourselves.

Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey. We'll be presenting the results and a plan of action as a poster session at ALA annual conference.

The URL is: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=371423757475

Please feel free to forward this onto other librarians.

Thanks!
-Brendan

Brendan A. Gallagher
Network Support Specialist
Bibliomation Inc.
32 Crest Rd.
Middlebury, Ct 06762
phone: 203-577-4070 x119
http://www.biblio.org/

Words of Wisdom from Technology Guru Bill Thompson

2007-04-29T11:24:00.000-04:00

[The following is an extract] Interview with Bill Thompson,* technology columnist for the BBC, March 6, 2007, Posted by gaurav

You know Mr. Thompson, even libraries have sort of shifted. They are increasingly interested in providing Internet access.

Yeah, it is and it is search rather than structure. And you know the fact is that search tools make it easy to be lazy and we are a lazy species and therefore we will lazy and we will carry on being lazy until we are forced, until something bad happens because of our laziness at which point we will mend our ways. Continue reading in Interview with Bill Thompson -Part IV - Fragmented Information

* Bill is a regular on BBC TV and Radio and started the Guardian Newspaper's first website. Source: David Hamilton - Blog

See also my related posts:

The Ubiquitous Reference Service & Return On Investment

Searching Revisited: Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal, etc.

Searching Is Polarized; Will The Five Laws Get a New Revised Version: Every Search Engine Its Searcher

Information Seeking Behavior - Quote of the day

Go to the library - ways to survive life without the Internet

Ideation: The Birth and Death of Ideas

2007-04-08T09:24:00.000-04:00

I always wonder where do ideas come from. I know that ideas form wisdom, but where to find an answer (about source of inspiration) is a billion dollar question. My librarian's wisdom would take me to The Dictionary of the History of Ideas. But thanks to Nimmi, she brought a book to my notice that has some corporate touch in it (see below).

PS. Thanks to Aa..ha! [Thinking Inside The Blog!]
... Here are some more tidbits from the book....
- Ideas are classified as Problem Solution, Evolutionary, Symbiotic, Revolutionary, Serendipitous, Targeted, Artistic, Philosophical and Computer-Assisted Discovery.

Book Description
Douglas Graham, a leading expert in the field of innovation, shows business leaders how to realize step-ahead ideas and Thomas Bachmann, a financial innovator shows how he has put innovative ideas into practice

PUNCHLINE: In 21st century someone may think that they can cook ideas in a microwave, of course--why not: WATCH the video and decide yourself

Continuous Learning: Making it a Priority...Period

2007-03-23T05:40:00.000-04:00

This prescription comes via the Blog of Dr. Eric Schnell @ The Medium is the Message, and includes: Professional Literature, Blogs, Webcasts, Podcasts, etc.
Read the details

See also:

Things I'm thinking about speakers and speaking @ Speak Schmeak

Related posts from my blog:

Go to the library - ways to survive life without the Internet

How To Prepare For An Interview

Introvert and Looking for a Job - You are not alone

Job Pathfinder - Join the race

Leadership Basics for Librarians and Information Professionals

2007-03-04T00:37:00.000-05:00

A book just out in the market. A review of this may appear here, later. And, a review is scheduled to appear in Journal of Web Librarianship
Leadership Basics for Librarians and Information Professionals, by Evans G. Edward, and Patricia Layzell Ward. Scarecrow Press (2007) Description:
"With the start of the 21st Century, information services around the world are facing a host of challenges and changes unique to this era of exponential technological growth. However, this change is further compounded by the high turnover rate in senior positions. Focusing on leadership, this text--ideal for young, emerging managers and supervisors--is meant to guide future leaders in making the appropriate choices and decisions in response to and in anticipation of the competition."

See also:

Mentors and Mentees in Librarianship

Success and Motivation: What I learned from Bobby Knight

2007-02-19T10:50:00.000-05:00

You said, and Im paraphrasing: "Everyone has got the will to win, its only those with the will to prepare that do win" Full article

SLA Leadership Summit 2007

2007-01-23T12:24:00.000-05:00

Read more updates and related stuff by Connie Crosby @ Library Leaders Blog, Connie Crosby and Connie Crosby Links including some recent interesting posts, such as:

OLA Super Conference 2007

Grooming Next-Generation Leaders

A Visible Pathfinder for Increasing Blog Traffic in 2007

2006-12-26T10:33:00.000-05:00

The wise learn from their own experiences but the truly intelligent will learn from someone else's!" - Benjamin Franklin.

My 2007 resolution for return-on-investments in blogging is to have a two-way traffic. The prescription is, please:
1. post a comment--aka, visual signature--in this blog on whatever subject (spam and phishing EXEMPTED)
2. turn on your blog comments' button; I will reciprocate not once, but every post that you create in 2007. This is my own idea of live and let live. I do reciprocate; my 2006 ledger shows Bloggers, such as, Sukhdev Singh, K. G. Schneider, Nancy White, Nirmala Palaniappan, David Tebbutt, Peachy Limpin, Thomas Brevik, Steven Edward Streight, Neil Patel, Diane Levin, and more.

PUNCHLINE: Increasing Blog traffic is a major concern, even for many Gurus [e.g., Adrian W Kingsley-Hughes' Three simple actions that doubled my website traffic in 30 days]
Previous post:

Visualizing Comments on Blogs

Visualizing Traffic At My Blog Via Mapping The Pathways

Blog As A Teaching Tool

Idea courtesy: Bloggers Compose Their Yearly Ledgers, By Jeralyn; and How to Pay for Blog Comments, @ usability blog of John S. Rhodes; So what'd you get? by Ryan Block

Technorati Tags: blog comments 2007 blog blog traffic 2007 resolution 2007 blogging popular bloggers popular comments top bloggers Reward-program return-on-investments

Peabody Library Leadership Institute Update

2006-12-14T05:11:00.000-05:00

Dear Colleague,
You are invited to apply to attend the 2007 Summer Institute for Academic LIbrary Leadership at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. The Institute will be held from July 8-12, 2007. It focuses on the higher education context in which libraries exist. Institute faculty are leaders in the fields of higher education and
academic librarianship. For more information and an application, go to:
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ppi/institutes.php?id=13
or, go to http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ppi
Applications received by March 1, 2007 will receive priority consideration.
Sincerely,
Sharon Weiner, M.L.S., AHIP
Peabody Library Director and Academic Library Leadership Institute
Co-Chair
230 Appleton Place, Peabody #325
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN 37203-5721
615.322.8096 (phone) 615.343.7923 (fax)

Community Builders: Six for 2006

2006-11-27T13:45:00.000-05:00

Choose person of the year
Toronto STAR CONTEST,
Nominations wanted for Community Builder 2006, Nov. 26, 2006. 01:00 AM

Time has Person of the Year. A&E has Biography of the Year.

Include your name and phone number, and your nominee's phone number, for verification. You can't nominate yourself, and you can only nominate one person. Nominations that do not follow these guidelines will be disqualified.

The nomination deadline is Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. Click here

ALA Emerging Leaders 2007

2006-11-26T01:15:00.000-05:00

"Emerging Leaders 2007 will welcome and train 100 new librarians to get a jump-start in leadership. EL’07 kicks off with a day-long session during the 2007 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. Afterward, it will grow and develop online for six months, culminating at the 2007 Annual Conference in Washington, D. C. Applicants will commit to participating in all three elements of the program!"

"We will expect the new leaders to put their leadership skills to use by accepting a term of service on an ALA or chapter committee, task force, working group, or project team.

The goal is to have 100 new librarians ready to participate in leadership in the Association, one of its divisions or state chapters."

***Selected Applicants for Emerging Leaders 2007*** details and the logo courtesy: Leslie Burger

See also

LITA's blog Emerging Leaders 2007

Emerging Leaders Blog

PS. Thanks to David's Random Stuff for this info.

Prof. Shalini R Urs's Contributions to Digital Librariansip

2006-11-06T07:46:00.000-05:00

Dr.Shalini R.Urs
Executive Director, International School of Information Management
University of Mysore, Mysore, India
Email
Website

NDLTD leadership award to Prof Shalini Urs
MYSORE, DHNS: Friday, June 04, 2004

Manasagangotri’s Department of Library and Information Science Chairperson Prof Shalini R Urs has been awarded the first annual NDLTD leadership award.

The award has been instituted by the International Software Company - ADOBE - for the exemplary work to support the ETD initiatives all over Asia, said a press release issued here on Thursday.

SHALINI R URS: Brief Biodata
Dr. Shalini Urs has been teaching library and information science at the University of Mysore, Mysore, India since 1976, where she serves as professor. Her areas of interest are – Digital Libraries and Electronic publishing, Electronic Theses and Dissertations and Metadata. She directs the Vidyanidhi Digital Library and E-scholarship Portal Project. The Ford Foundation and the Microsoft Corporation sponsor Vidyanidhi. Vidyanidhi vision is to evolve into a National Information System for Doctoral Dissertations in India. Through Vidyanidhi she has jumpstarted the ETD movement in India and is spearheading the movement to evolve appropriate policy frameworks- copyright, submission, archiving, for doctoral theses and implementation mechanisms. Vidyanidhi is currently focusing its R & D efforts towards Unicode and XML implementation for Indic scripts, Cross Language Information Retrieval and Topic Ontologies.

Shalini spent six months at Virginia Tech as Fulbright Scholar and team-taught with Prof. Ed Fox a course on ‘Digital Libraries’ during the fall of 2000. She has been closely associated with NDLTD since 2000 as Steering Committee member. She is also closely associated with the ETD efforts of UNESCO. . Continue reading

From other bloggers about Dr. Shalini Urs

Leadership Theories and Styles: Some Choices for Librarians as Change Agents

2006-11-02T00:23:00.000-05:00

CONTENTS OF THIS POST:
A. The Informed Librarian Online;
B. Leadership Studies Materials in Libraries, University of Richmond

The November 2006 issue of The Informed Librarian Online.
GUEST FORUM
Leadership Theories and Styles:
Some Choices for Librarians as Change Agents
by Peter Hernon and Nancy Rossiter

As the twenty-first century unfolds, libraries are coping with myriad issues, some of which relate to the changing information needs and information-gathering behavior of their user communities; are developing and maintaining new services; and are engaging in more community partnerships to support their role as learning organizations that support knowledge/information creation and use. These assorted activities complicate a simple definition of a library as merely a provider of information and knowledge. It is common for library directors and members of their senior management team to describe their roles and accomplishment in terms of change management or creating an agile organization that best serves the parent institution or organization. As change agents, they might be called managerial leaders—managers who are leaders within their organization and within the broader community in which the library functions.

Leadership for senior managers or team members involves attributes such as trust, creativity, adaptability, innovation, and imagination, whereas individuals engaged in management, perhaps as an oversimplification, focus on problem solving, effectiveness, efficiency, and continuous quality improvement in the services offered. Over time, different leadership theories and styles have gained favor. Three of the most relevant for present-day libraries are emotional intelligence (EI), transformational leadership, and situational leadership. The purpose of this essay is to highlight these theories and to illustrate some of their commonalities.
Full article

Leadership Studies Materials in Libraries, University of Richmond
Hello,
I am trying to identify academic librarians who select materials in the area of leadership studies. I am working as a consulting editor with Sage Reference on the development of some new leadership reference tools. I am compiling an email list of librarians who might be interested in providing some feedback on ideas for new titles.

Thank you for your consideration of my request. Please reply directly to: lmcculle@richmond.edu
Lucretia McCulley
Liaison Librarian for Leadership Studies
University of Richmond

My previous post:

CREATING LEADERS

The Informed Librarian Online: Save the Time of the Librarian

Current Awareness Sources: The Informed Librarian Online

Emotional Communication Interface - Revisited

Books and senses - visualization conceptualized again

Technocrati Tagsemotional-intelligence informed-librarian Leadership leadership-librarians librarians-leadership library-leadership

Dr. N B Pangannaya: Life and times

2006-10-04T10:04:00.000-04:00

Balakrishna N Pangannaya( -2006)

SRI N B PANGANNAYA, 100 THYAGARAJA ROAD MYSORE 570004, Phone: 2449244

Prof. N. Balakrishna Pangannaya who died due to multiple organ failure on October 1, 2006.
He was quite active and had no sign of any illness.
He attended to the professional work at his office at Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) even on the Friday, September 29, 2006.
It is evident that he was contributing richly to the good cause of the profession till his last breath. See a detailed last minute report of his life at Mr. Shivakumar's blog

A Mysorean; Masters in Library Science (Benaras Hindu University); Doctorate (Mysore University); former faculty and Chairman, Mysore University, LIS Department; a teacher, research guide and a businessman

He was my teacher, in Library School at Mysore University, who taught me the passion and showed me how to sustain it for life.

He also initiated me into the area of Library History--that eventually led to my D.Litt degree (Agra, 1999). So great was his contribution in my life.

Pray that his soul rest in peace, Amen.

Publications

Use of Internet by the Academic Community : A Case Study, Pangannaya, N.B. 2000

Google

CREATING LEADERS

2006-09-22T23:10:00.000-04:00

updated Nov. 1, 2006

OLA Super Conference, 2006, Session: 108
Management & Issues; Values & Vision [past event, PowerPoint has interesting content]

[PPT]CREATING LEADERS: THE IMPACT OF LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMS ON THE SUBSEQUENT LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR OF LIBRARIANS
Daniel Phelan, Team Leader/Manager, Collections Services Team, Ryerson University Library.

Even Monkeys Fall from Trees: Strategies for Effective Leadership
January 18 - 21, 2006, Houston, TX USA
SLA's 2006 Leadership Summit was held in Houston, Texas USA, January 18 - 21. If you were not able to attend, you may still want to see some of the information from these exciting two days.
Keynote Speaker: Doug Lipp
Author & International Expert on Leadership
PUNCHLINE:
Don't miss to read the observation by Nirmala Palaniappan, a Knowledge Manager, on another article that is about Leadership and change:
Vigilant vs. Operational Leaders, Thursday, September 21, 2006

I sort of liked this article as it tries to differentiate between mundane leadership and vigilant leadership. It is a story of risks and attitudes that encourage/discourage risk-taking and long-term thinking....reminds me of one more thing that I came across somewhere....it's about getting out of your comfort zone and seeing reality for what it is. Read the article

[PS. Thanks, Dr. John Jaeger, Reference Librarian, for the following info.]
Recently the Commission on the Future of Higher Education issued a
report that sharply criticizes the current state of higher education in
the U.S., and it has received a great deal of attention and has
generated a lot of discussion. A pre-publication copy of the report: "A Test of Leadership: Charting the Future of U.S. Higher Education"

Leadership Resources Dr Bob Swisher, School of Library and Information Studies, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019

The online and printed resources listed below follow a three tier scholarly communications model: knowledge, new research information, and reference tools. Knowledge and New Information are partitioned into Content (reports, articles, books) and Finding Aids to content.

Six associations representing university groups have responded to the report, acknowledging the need for changes

Inside Higher Ed has a helpful discussion of this topic

Leadership and Design Matters, A listmania at Amazon

Prof. Isaac Sequeira, 1930 - 2006

2006-09-07T22:48:00.007-04:00

This post is regularly updated (last updated May 29, 2011)

The Swimmer, for Isaac Sequeira, 1930-2006,
by Prof. Amritjit Singh

Here comes a A certificate of appreciation from the USEFI:

Ohio prof who pioneered study of pop culture dies Ray Browne, an Ohio university professor who was credited with coining the phrase "popular culture" and pioneering the study of things such as bumper stickers and cartoons, has died. He was 87.

Isaac Sequeira Prize

Sad News: Prof. Isaac Sequeira Passes away - Sept 7, 2006 --

Noted academician and former director of the Indo-American Centre for International Studies (formerly American Studies Research Centre, ASRC) at Osmania University Campus, Hyderabad, India.

The funeral is on 13th evening at St. joseph's church, Hyderabad. contact: 30281848 / 23226392

For messages, comments SEE the bottom of this page (comments sections).

Tribute to Isaac Sequeira, The Hindu, Sep 21, 2006
Osmania University Centre for International Programmes will organise a memorial meeting to pay tribute to Prof. Isaac Sequeira, former Director, IACIS on September 25.
The meeting will be held at 3.30 p.m. at the OUCIP, Osmania University Campus.

Other biographical sketches:

Ali Mohammed Ismail Akbani

15 Dec 1916 - 21 Dec 2002.

My dad visiting ASRC

Ebrahim Sulaiman Sait Akbani
1922 - 2005

Prof. Ganesh Bhattacharyya
1932 - 2006

Prof. Khaja Jalaluddin Biyabani 1956 - 2003