Libraries

Libraries are the cornerstone of civilization, the repository of knowledge and the center of any good community. Of course, I might be biased, as I've worked in a library for five happy years...

NO I'M NOT. LIBRARIES ARE AWESOME. GO CHECK OUT A BOOK ALREADY. 

Jump to: 

• Library Life
• The Oasis
• RDA Training

Library Life

The excellent webcomic Unshelved has already captured the agony and the ecstasy of working reference in a public library. I, however, work with catalogers, that special breed of librarian who hardly ever have to interface with the general public. This environment has its own unique brand of crazy, which I have sought to document here.

The Oasis

My office is called the Oasis. Unfortunately this does not mean I work in a lush, verdant watering hole surrounded by hostile desert. Rather, it means I work in a windowless room buried in the bowels of the library, lurking, like the Minotaur, near the center of the stacks labyrinth. It is nearly impossible to find, unless you're looking for something else entirely, in which case you will find yourself wandering past its door over and over again. It is the most awesome office in the world.

Here are some mini-comics celebrating daily life in the Oasis. They were written for a very specific audience (i.e. my co-workers), and thus are unavoidably laced with inside jokes and references. My apologies in advance. 

A Week in the Oasis

Another Week in the Oasis

RDA Training

In March 2013 the library where I work started using the new RDA cataloging standard. This involved attending many, many, many various PowerPoint-based training sessions to learn the new systems and processes and other fancy buzzwords. Two of my long-suffering colleagues were on one of the RDA committees and inspired most of the following material.