Walt at Random

It’s really past time for me to do some “regular” posts–posts that have nothing to do with job searches and new books. I’ve got a list of candidates; maybe I’ll get to them as time goes on. Meanwhile, here’s a few random thoughts that don’t deserve individual posts. One bit of context: This is the second week of a two-week period of deliberate unemployment, intended to clear my head and refresh my energies so that I can do a great job for PALINET. So far, I think it’s working.

• If you’re waiting to hear more about my departure from OCLC RLG Service Center, don’t hold your breath. I never planned to write memoirs (and have now discarded most of the papers that could go toward memoirs), for the perfectly sound reason that I’m not in the pantheon of celebrated people. If I ever do write memoirish things that are more than casual posts, they’ll almost entirely concern my non-work library life. I had 39 years in the library automation game, most of them good years. That life is over. I’m focused on the future.
• I’ve now realized just how odd it was to state publicly that I was leaving a position not because “it was a bad fit” or “to explore other opportunities” or whatever, but because the position was being terminated. That’s almost as bad as admitting that I stopped writing “The Crawford Files” in American Libraries not because “three years was long enough” or “it was time to explore other kinds of writing” or “I was running out of appropriate topics” (which is, indeed, the actual reason I stopped writing “PC Monitor” for ONLINE at the end of 2006), but because the column was dropped by the publication. Oops. I did that too, didn’t I? Clearly, I was raised badly, never learning that “honesty is the best policy” has a big escape clause “…except when it could make you look bad.”
• Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve come to the conclusion that when somebody writes a post noting various problems that they’re having–problems that legitimately deserve some sympathy or empathy–and says they don’t want a pity party…well, most of the time they do sort of want a little tiny pity party, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
• When someone says “Nobody ever said…” with regard to some statement currently viewed as extreme, what they usually mean is either “Nobody ever used that precise set of words, although some people definitely wrote things that reasonable people would interpret that way” or “You shouldn’t actually look at the history–nobody should be held accountable for what they said two years ago.”
• There’s a big difference between not picking up on every tool that comes along and being unwilling to use new tools when they make sense. To my mind, for many people (myself included) the former is a way to maintain some kind of balance–in fact, we do not all need to know X intimately, whatever X happens to be. (I don’t need to know how to modify a Second Life avatar. Neither do most other librarians.) But being unwilling to adopt a tool that makes sense for a real-world application you have because you’ve never used it before: That’s a sign of rigidity and impending retirement that I hope never to suffer from.
• What? You want a real-world example? I never created a wiki–because I had no problem for which a wiki seemed to be the best solution. My new job will make heavy use of a wiki–actually, the wiki is the fundamental medium. I knew that before I applied for the job, and it appears to be the right tool for the job. So I’ll become a whole lot more familiar with the intricacies of one kind of wiki software–because it’s the right tool for the job.

That’s six little items, more than enough for now. I do plan to do more substantive posts. There’s no question that PALINET knows about this blog and about Cites & Insights–after all, the press release on my hiring mentions both of them. There’s no question that PALINET assumes I’ll continue blogging and publishing C&I, does not intend to censor or guide the content of either one, and assumes I won’t violate internal confidences or otherwise violate unstated blogging guidelines.

I would say blogging might be irregular as I dive headlong into the new situation come next week–but when has blogging at this here blog ever been regular?

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering: Yes, I will be at Midwinter 2008. Annual, too. Always barring various disasters, to be sure.

In a very minor way, it’s the end of a (personal) era. Around 2 p.m. I turned in my “fob,” card key, corporate credit card and calling card. Around 2:30, I left with the last box of personal stuff from the office.

The post title gives the time I spent as a systems analyst (senior programmer/analyst, always the same job title) at RLG (or after June 30, 2006 the OCLC RLG Service Center), beginning June 11, 1979.

I really began working more-or-less full-time as a library systems person in 1968–June again, if I remember correctly. That would bring the total to 39 years, three months, some days. I could honestly claim “five decades as a library systems professional” (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 0s) and was hoping for six–but things change.

So for now I’m gainfully unemployed. Not for long, I don’t believe, but I’m taking two weeks before starting in on new endeavors. (I’ll announce that endeavor/those endeavors as soon as they’re finalized and approved as public knowledge.)

It’s been an interesting ride. I wasn’t part of the first generation of library automators, but I was part of the second wave. Some day I might write more about that–or maybe not.

I’ve worked with lots of first-rate people and generally enjoyed it thoroughly, learning and contributing along the way. Of course, I’ll continue to work with all those colleagues I’ve gained in the profession as a whole, since my “professional self” is the basis for most future plans.

I’ve never added a cloud to this blog or tried to do one for my writing in general…but, well

here’s one for my longform published output–that is, the items you’d find in WorldCat itself (not Worldcat.org, which includes a couple hundred articles as well as these “27 works in 35 publications”)

Thanks to Thom Hickey for pointing out this new feature at WorldCat Identities. Hickey, Lorcan Dempsey and crew continue to do really interesting things… Note that the words (at least some of them) link to their own identity pages. (Hmm. “Library science literature–Publishing” and “Library science–authorship” are much more exclusive clubs than “MARC formats.” That surprises me.)

I bet the cloud for a true polymath would be a lot more interesting…say, Isaac Asimov. Well, no, not so much…I guess there’s a limit to the size of the cloud or the number of works included–I don’t see “Bible” or “Shakespeare” in little tiny letters, and Asimov wrote important works on both topics. (Other than economics, there aren’t a whole lot of major topics Asimov didn’t write about…)

Interesting stuff.

I only wrote one post last week. It’s probably obvious why.

I am deeply indebted to to all of those who posted their own entries pointing to Post-ALA, Post-OCLC: What’s next?. I am humbled by some of the comments made in those posts.

Thanks, Charles W. Bailey, Jr.; thanks, Meredith Farkas; thanks, John Dupuis; thanks, Sarah Houghton-Jan.

Thanks, Steve Lawson; thanks, Rochelle Hartman; thanks, Chris Zammarelli; thanks, Laura Crossett.

Thanks to you too, Mark Lindner and Cindi Trainor and Seth Finkelstein and Iris Jastram.

Did I mention the thanks I owe to Simon Chamberlain and Jessamyn West and Steven M. Cohen and Linda Absher?

Oh, and Gary Price: What can I say?

I certainly need to thank Joshua M. Neff and Jennifer Lang and Steve Oberg and Marlene Delhaye (merci!).

Also thanks to DrWeb and Jennifer Macaulay and David Bigwood and Jennifer Graham and Peter Murray.

If I’ve missed anyone (including people who may yet do posts!), my apologies–and my gratitude. (There’s a phantom post from another Jennifer, but since the link yields a 404 I won’t cite it here.) Fixed: See preceding paragraph.

And, to be sure, thanks to all of you who commented directly at the post.

I’m not quoting from the posts because my head is swelled enough already. I have no comment on any comments made about specific employers, of course.

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So what’s happening?

• I’ve heard from a couple of people with interesting possibilities, at least one of which may prove to be compelling.
• I’m talking to them at ALA Annual in DC. (I’ll be there Friday morning, June 22, through Monday evening, June 26.)
• That’s an ideal time for anyone else who wants to talk to me about possibilities. Barring a truly preemptive offer, I won’t make any decisions before ALA Annual–but I could see making a decision right after the conference.
• If you or someone you know does want to talk to me then, send me email (waltcrawford@gmail.com) and we can arrange a time. Try to do that soon, and certainly no later than Thursday noon, June 21.
• I’ve never traveled with technology–no cell phone, no PDA, no notebook, no Blackberry. That might change for this occasion–I see an $80 texting-oriented cell phone with a modified “pay as you go” plan that might suit me just fine. If so, I’ll publish the number here or set up (yes) a Twitter mobile account for use during conference(s).
• I’ve thought more about what would constitute an “excellent” or “ideal” future, either with a core employer or piecemeal. It’s not primarily about the money. It’s about the employer, personal growth, adding value, and doing something worthwhile–and, to be sure, being fairly compensated for my work. I’ll let it go at that for now.
• Just to make things interesting, here’s a bribe an incentive: If you are provide the contact that results in an offer/arrangement that I take and regard as excellent (or, for that matter, if you make the offer), I’ll send you (or a library or library school of your choice, that wants them) autographed copies of all my books–now and in the future, as long as we stay in touch. Since at least one of the books is really unobtainable, that’s a unique offer. It’s up to whoever makes the offer/arrangement to let me know you were the contact.

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That’s about it.We return now to our regular posting (with at least two more posts this week maybe more).I’m working on COAP2: This Time It’s for Keeps, a special (oversize) pre-Annual issue of Cites & Insights that’s devoted to a single topic and mostly, but not entirely, reprints. It should be out this week.

And did I mention my gratitude? Thanks again.

A few days ago, I had a respectable showing in Worldcat.org–26 items, I think, including my 15 books, Cites & Insights and some presentations that were cataloged in various AV forms.

Now I have 243, more or less (the “more” is if you just search for Walt Crawford, since there are a few dozen cases where Walt and Crawford show up as something other than a single author).

The difference is that a whole bunch of articles have been added. My American Libraries articles and columns show up early on, with books intermixed. Further down, Online columns and articles pop up–as do, eventually, my “disContent” pieces from EContent. There’s also a few others–actual Refereed Articles, stuff from Library Hi Tech.

I’m impressed.

Full disclosure: I work for OCLC, and I knew about the Registry project (some colleagues have been involved). Neither of which has any influence over my decision to write this post or what I have to say. (I think my track record’s good enough that I shouldn’t even need to say that, but…)

OCLC just introduced WorldCat Registry. Here’s the start of the extensive About page:

The WorldCat Registry is a Web-based directory for libraries and library consortia. It is an authoritative single source for information that defines institutional identity, services, relationships, contacts and other key data often shared with third parties. With it, you can:

• Create and manage a profile that centralizes and automates information sharing with vendors and others—you don’t maintain multiple identities, and their data is always up-to-date
• Get greater Internet visibility for your collection and services through syndication of your data over a variety of Web services including WorldCat.org

The registry is seeded with profiles for all OCLC member libraries (and others), but it’s not limited to OCLC members–any library can add a profile (or add to their existing profile).

I already knew that the Registry could be enormously useful for some things I wanted to work on (some things in possible future work, some things at home). I wasn’t expecting the extent to which it’s been populated, however.

Namely, I did a local search–Mountain View Public Library. After choosing the California entry from the list of four results (which appear to include duplicate entries for the library in Mountain View, Missouri, probably because of orthography differences and source-material differences), I clicked on my local library’s profile and did a little exploring.

The unexpected, which I anticipate finding very useful: the “Administrative Information” page. It offers the basic funding and circulation numbers for MVPL. I found similar numbers for the Missouri MVPL (a much smaller library in a much smaller community), and assume they’re there for many institutions.

Great stuff. I can use this directly. It’s clearly set up to be useful through other applications. Turns out the MVPL numbers are considerably more impressive than I expected (the library’s well funded–better funded than I expected, and I’m delighted my tax money is going there!–and quite well used as well).

Give it a try. Lorcan Dempsey just blogged about it, which alerted me to its being in production.

I got a sneak preview of this a little while back, and now Thom Hickey’s writing about it in Outgoing, his blog, so I guess it’s OK for me to mention it.

I thought it was fascinating when I first saw it–not only fascinating but useful. That impression hasn’t changed.

You really should read Thom’s post and try it out for yourself. It has a summary page for each person in WorldCat–and for some animals and fictional characters as well. The summary page can be surprising and revealing. (OK, Thom, where did that review of First Have Something to Say come from? It’s not in Worldcat.org…)

Checking Terry Pratchett, I see I’m even more woefully behind on the Discworld books than I thought, and am reminded of how many other books he’s written–and I got there from Neil Gaiman (I loved Good Omens–what can I say?), who’s no slouch either.

Good stuff. What more to say?

Since I haven’t provided an appropriate About page yet [Since I hadn't provided an About page until Saturday, December 16, 2006], I should provide a disclaimer that’s conceivably relevant to this post.

This is my personal blog. It does not reflect OCLC views or policy.

More specifically, I don’t know anything about the workings of netLibrary–and I’ve stopped speaking and writing about those aspects of the ebook field that (to the best of my limited knowledge) might involve netLibrary, because there’s no good way to deal with the possible conflicts.

I’ve been on record for years as saying that ebooks should take over a chunk of the textbook market. That’s a personal perspective. The notes about the size of the digital text market are based entirely on public information.

Similarly, even if I was inclined to write about online catalogs–which I’m not–I wouldn’t at this point, since there’s a whole can of worms that I don’t wish to open.

I’m pleased to note that Ross Singer’s Umlaut has just been announced as winner of the Second OCLC Research Software Contest. (The link is to OCLC’s announcement.) (Ross Singer is at Georgia Tech; Umlaut is currently running on Georgia Tech’s catalog. Details are available from the link.)

Umlaut is an interesting approach to OpenURL link resolution, using a number of innovative techniques (and a number of OCLC and other web services) to provide better results–and specifically to get the user directly to full text whenever that’s feasible.

In the spirit of a recent post, you could say it’s an unusually elegant “mashup” (or combination) of various web services to improve effective online use of library resources.

I participated in this year’s judging, along with three old friends and acquaintances (Liz Lane Lawley and Roy Tennant, both of whom I’ve known for more than a decade, and Thom Hickey, who I’ve certainly known of but only recently gotten to know better). The others also judged last year’s competition, and unanimously agreed that this year had a stronger (and larger) group of entries. The judging process was interesting and a little intense; the conference call that concluded the process was collegial, frank, and a true meeting of minds

Congratulations, Ross–and thanks, Thom, for asking me to judge.

Dr. Kilgour, founder of OCLC (among other things), died yesterday. The obituary is here (that page also has a link to a forum where people can leave their own observations).

I was barely acquainted with Dr. Kilgour (and certainly never knew him nearly well enough to dream of calling him “Fred”). I’m part of the second generation of library automation; Dr. Kilgour was part of the first generation. (I was also nowhere near at the level of importance where I’d be rubbing elbows with Dr. Kilgour under normal circumstances!)

The only significant in-person memory I have is of the LITA President’s Program at the 1993 ALA Annual Conference. I’m sure it was 1993, because I was LITA President at the time, and the program celebrated LITA’s 25th anniversary by having three former LITA presidents speak–well, actually, they were all ISAD presidents (Information Science and Automation Division), because the name change to LITA didn’t happen that far back.

The speakers:

• Steve Salmon, the very first president, 1966-67. [Sticklers will note that this means the 25th Anniversary program was a year late. Sticklers will be correct. These things happen.]
• Barbara E. Markuson, 1979-1980.
• Frederick Kilgour, 1973-1975, the only LITA / ISAD president ever to serve a two-year term (as I remember, this was because the person who would have been president when Dr. Kilgour was Vice President / President-elect became the division’s Executive Director instead).

In a poignant note, the VP when Kilgour was president, and president in 1975-76, was Henriette Avram, whose death shortly before this year’s ALA Annual Conference sparked tributes at the LITA 40th Anniversary Past President’s Breakfast.

I certainly met Dr. Kilgour at that point; I’m not sure whether I’d ever met him before. Meeting him was a pleasure and an honor.

Unfortunately, I don’t remember much about the speech. Due to medical and scheduling issues, the agreement was that speakers would only come up to the podium as they were speaking–but I was sitting on the podium, the lone occupant at a table, paying attention throughout the three speeches. And, of course, not taking notes. I do remember that Dr. Kilgour was warmly received (as were all three speakers).

The field will miss him.

Note the category on this post–probably the last time that category will be used, and probably the last post I’ll make while employed by RLG. (Unless I do the next “megapack” disc mini-review before midnight tonight…and yes, one’s coming, but probably not today.)

“27 and change”? That’s how long I have been/was at RLG. My vita turns out to include a small portion of what I’ve actually worked on during those 27+ years, and offers little sense of the changes during that time. Nor will I bore you with that long list of successes, “failures” (projects that didn’t result in ongoing services, and “negative successes” (cases where I helped make the case not to proceed with a project that appeared certain to do more harm than good).

“and change” also looks to the future. I’m still not sure what I’ll be doing for OCLC–but I’m pretty sure it won’t be what I’ve been doing (except for transitional work), and that’s almost certainly a good thing. (My final job at RLG, designing and implementing internal activity reports and salvaging/refining/completing customer reports, was not one I would have chosen, but it was another change that turned out to be interesting and worthwhile in its own right.)

A few weeks ago (May 31) we had the final RLG picnic/BBQ, with a commemorative T-shirt and chance to take leftover conference tchotchkes (we did a great “www.rlg.org” refrigerator magnet/clip once, along with all the pencils, magnifying rulers, RCM puzzle, and various other stuff). A bunch of “alums” (people who’d already retired or left under other circumstances) showed up.

Wednesday, we had the final RLG pot luck. I’ve never been much for the noontime potlucks, particularly after I was cut to 75% time and took off early most afternoons. This time, I went.

Today, there’s a final something-or-other going on that began at 4 p.m. at a beer-and-burger place up in the hills. I didn’t go, for a variety of reasons. (I’m not much for that kind of farewell, and I’m even less for either driving home after even one drink or hanging around there without drinking. And this being my last “part-time Friday,” I left work at 11 a.m.; it would seem odd to go back at 4 p.m., even if “work” is at a hangout.)

Monday, some portion of the remaining/ongoing staff will be there starting the long transition–probably not all that many, given that Tuesday’s July 4 and lots of people will take their first personal day under new employment to make a 4-day weekend. I’ll return to full time at that point.

Some time this weekend, or maybe later, I’ll reorganize my personal website to make appropriate affiliation changes. That process will continue, to be sure, as we get OCLC.ORG email addresses, as things firm up and change, as life goes on.

It’s been one heck of a run. I’d hoped for 30 years at RLG, but I don’t believe anyone made that landmark. Maybe a new milestone should be “six decades in library automation”–which means working more-or-less full time until 2011. That doesn’t seem implausible. (”Six decades” does not mean 60 years in this case; it means I’ll have been doing this stuff continuously and within six different decades.)

With any luck at all, you’ll see me as excited about my future at OCLC as I’ve been at times about events at RLG. With a little more luck, you’ll see me more excited about the future.

Meanwhile, it’s the weekend.

That’s right–the last* Cites & Insights** will be appearing well before ALA Annual: Based on other uncertainties, I’ll say “no earlier than Wednesday, June 14, and no later than Tuesday, June 20,” with the most likely dates being Thursday, June 15 or Sunday, June 18.

*This will be the last C&I with a masthead saying “written and produced by Walt Crawford, a senior analyst at RLG.” RLG’s members approved the merger, so my last day as an RLG employee will be June 30–because that’s the last day RLG will have employees. Don’t cry for me, whether in Argentina [46 readers so far this year] or elsewhere: I’ll start working for OCLC on July 1, going back to full-time from the 75%-time position I’ve had since last fall. Sure, I lose more than 1,000 hours of sick leave in the process–but that’s a tribute to my general good health, and would happen in any job change.

The bad news: I have to change health providers, I drop back to no accumulated vacation (but get paid for the vacation I had), I’ll have to reacclimate to full-time work, I’ll miss some of the great RLG people who aren’t signing up for the transition, and the initial period–the “transition” of RLG services and stuff to OCLC–is likely to be somewhat difficult, just as the last month has been difficult. The good news: In the long run, I think there’s a good chance I might be working with (and certainly working for) a broader range of libraries, including the public libraries I admire so much–and that I might even have a job that’s a little more in line with my professional activities. And, to be sure, there are great people at OCLC as well.

**This will be the last substantive issue for this academic year. I’m sticking with the plan I announced a couple of months ago. Balance in copyright was last issue’s primary theme. Balance in libraries and librarianship–which you could consider a contribution to the ongoing discussion of web services and other new library tools–is the primary theme of the forthcoming issue. I don’t intend to have an issue as big as the Midwinter issue, although I’d love to have that much readership; at the moment, though, I have more text in the four draft essays (not including Bibs & Blather), so I’ve got a lot of editing to do. The August issue will be one most readers can cheerfully skip, a probably-short issue devoted to typography and design issues.

***What? You actually thought I was shutting down C&I just because of job disruptions? Or maybe that OCLC frowned on the publication? Wrong on both counts–and I know I have loyal readers at OCLC, as I apparently do here (this blog shows 1,613 sessions from oclc.org since May 1).

I can’t say for sure how things will go over the next months and beyond, but I’m pretty nearly certain that “regular” C&I issues will resume in mid to late August, that is, with a September issue. And I’m only a little less certain that the September issue will feature Looking at Liblogs, a new take on last year’s single most discussed article.

Coming soon: A post regarding that probable feature and what you can do now to help (or at least clarify) it.

[Modified to break up a ridiculously long paragraph. No text changes.]

Given that I’ve managed to turn out a pretty substantial C&I (and install a needed new search report at work, and various other things), some of you must be wondering about the status of this earlier post.

The easiest answer might be the brief “Bibs & Blather” essay in the new C&I, which won’t appear as an HTML separate–except here, I suppose:

The final section of last issue’s BIBS & BLATHER was “Here’s the Plan…” I recognized that I need a break—and that most of you take a break in summer. I planned a June issue with copyright balance as a major theme, a July issue (just before ALA) with library balance as a major theme, and then a “non-issue” for August, focusing on the typography and design of C&I, which most of you would probably skip. Meanwhile, I’d relax, read, contemplate, and do some long-range planning.

As some of you know, events over the past few weeks made contemplation and long-range planning a trifle difficult.

I won’t say everything’s resolved for the long term. I will say that I’m not obsessing over the situation and am inclined to believe things will work out.

The major theme of this issue is indeed copyright and balance. The two essays here aren’t all that I had in mind; that would have required far too much space. More related essays may follow.

As things stand now, the plan continues—although that plan may not leave as much room for “reading, relaxing, going on short trips, organizing music, and all that.” We shall see.

Short term, expect continuity. Longer term—that’s harder to predict, but isn’t it always?

I hope that helps.

Time for a coffee-break post–not one giving more details about the planned merger (because I still don’t know much of anything), or about how a “merger” of 1100 people and 70+ people works in practice, or about the comparative roles of OCLC and RLG.

Instead, a brief, informal comment about one major reason (perhaps the major reason) I’m still at RLG after almost 27 years:

The people.

Not all of them, not all the time–but RLG people are some of the best, most capable, most caring people I’ve had the pleasure to work with.

Development/systems (which I’ve been part of for most of my tenure hearhere, although not all of it) includes a fair number of degreed librarians (most analysts, quite a few programmers and managers), and an even larger number of people who care about what we do–about getting it right, following standards, providing as much innovation as we can afford, working with and for our members and users, and working as an efficient, effective, human team.

I stand in astonishment at the sheer talent of some of the people in dev/systems, including names you’ve probably never heard.

It’s not just development/systems. The RLG Information Center (RIC), our front-line user assistance folks, consists of thoughtful, professional people devoted to providing the best possible customer service. I believe RLG has a reputation for doing exactly that (and take pride in the part I’ve played, from time to time, handling Eureka feedback and troubleshooting problems discovered by usres). It’s the people who make that happen.

The same could be said in every division–membership programs and initiatives, product management, operations, even F&A.
The quality of the people, both as workers and as people, is one big reason that quite a few of us have been here for quite a long time. I’m not the employee with the longest tenure (I think I’m #6, actually). I’ve talked to some recent additions who noted that they keep working here in part because the other people are such good people and care so much about what we’re doing.

That’s a coffee break’s worth of appreciation: Long overdue, but here at last.

I don’t write about RLG (where I currently work and have worked for almost 27 years) all that often–for a variety of reasons.

There are exceptions. This is one of them.

We heard about this about 150 minutes ago as I write.

“This,” for those who don’t bother to click through, is the announcement that RLG and OCLC plan to merge.

And that, other than the title of this post, is all I can say at this point–not because I have any secret decoder ring, but because I don’t. Don’t bother to ask: I am devoid of insider information.