Chinese Canadian Library Weblog

Communication skills is ranked the #1 skill for career advancement according to a 1999 survey. [Yes, communication skills is a set of skills.]

Want to learn more about the Toastmasters and improve your communication skills? Come out to the contests at the
District 21 (BC Province) Fall Conference. It’s more entertaining, rewarding, (and cheaper) than going to a Comedy Club. For $15.00, you are going to be entertained by the 10 top speakers from different clubs in the Province!

Time: Saturday November 18th, 7:00 – 9:30 pm, Humorous Speech Contest. $15.00.
Sunday November 19th, 9:00 – 10:30, Table Topics Contest. $15.00.
Location: Metrotown Hilton, 6083 McKay Avenue, just off the Metrotown Skytrain Station. I will be there. Hope to see you there, too!

For more information: http://www.toastmasters.bc.ca/conf/2006-fall/

I was thrilled to hear Heather’s voice over the weekend! Ian predicted wrong; Heather didn’t sound like homesick. She enjoys being a new member of the friendly team at McGill. She’s staying in an empty two-bedroom now, free! and will move into her own place next month. She said the pace is much faster now, working as a full-time professional, loads to learn and to think forward.

Linda asked me to post this event. Looks useful for any kind of librarians.

VICTORIA – British Columbians will have better access to more information thanks to a new virtual reference library service called AskAway, Education Minister Shirley Bond and Advanced Education Minister Murray Coell announced today during the Libraries in Dialogue with Government conference.

Read the entire article here.

– You understand the phrase “Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine, on the chesterfield.”

– You eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.

– You drink Pop, not Soda.

– You know that a Mickey and 24’s mean, “party at the camp, eh!!!”

– You know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway.

– You drive on a highway, not a freeway.

– You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.

– You know that Casey and Finnegan were not part of a Celtic musical group.

– You get excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.

– You brag to Americans that; Shania Twain, Jim Carrey, Celine Dion & Mike Myers are Canadians.

– You know what a toque is.

– You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

– You know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always pronounced “Zed”.

– Your local newspaper covers the national news on 2 pages, but requires 6 pages for hockey.

– You know that the four seasons mean: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road work.

– You know that when it’s 25 degrees outside, it’s a warm day.

– You know how to pronounce and spell “Saskatchewan”.

– You perk up when you hear the theme song from ‘Hockey Night in Canada’.

– “Eh?” is a very important part of your vocabulary, and is more polite than, “Huh?”

– You understand these jokes, and forward them to all of your Canadian friends, and then share them with others because you’re friendly like that!

上次聚会时谁敢想象短短的几个月后我们会有如此之大的变化？我们不仅丰富了工作经验和有更光明的前景，而且缩短了彼此间的距离。真的很开心！

By Todd Gilman
Chronicle of Higher Education Tuesday, October 3, 2006

An interesting article on which argues that students trained by professors and librarians who cooperate and affirm each other’s role fare better than those forced to bear the brunt of troubled relations. Todd identifies several reasons why they may not work well together and some questions faculty might want to ask their students to see if/why they need to work with librarians.

Heather is back in town. We decided to have a dinner party instead at 6:30 pm. Public librarians who will be working that day can also attend. Big Brother, Henry will make an annoucement at the party and so will Zhang Ying. Let’s try the new Korean restaurant at Landsdown Mall:

Kyung Bok Palace
景福宮
604-207-1120
#720-5300 No.3 Rd, Richmond, BC

London, Ontario
October 10-12, 2007

Theme: The Library in Its Socio-Cultural Context: Issues for Research and Practice

Abstracts of 600-800 words, including references, are due by February 1, 2007 to the Conference Chair, Dr. Gloria Leckie (address noted below).

It is a longstanding truism that for too long, too much library research has been focused inward, on practices, means, and ends articulated in our own logic and language. Research which accounts for the social and cultural contexts of libraries is much needed and will expand this horizon by more fully integrating the insights and methods of other fields to inform library practices and research, with a view to improving service to users. Libraries do not stand outside of their communities, schools, universities or organizations – and those institutional contexts are themselves powerfully affected by the social and cultural contexts of the societies they inhabit.

The goal of Library Research Seminar IV is to stimulate and share research on libraries and the people who might benefit from them, utilizing many disciplinary perspectives which allow for analysis and insights into libraries in their various contexts. For example, the context of school reform efforts like No Child Left Behind powerfully affects the direction, funding, relationship to curricula of school libraries, and library research should address the fiscal, ethical, or educational implications of this context.

We invite papers that critically explore:

-the intellectual contexts that inform library research and practice
-the local, community contexts that shape the development and implementation of library programs and services
-the policy issues and general social forces shaping libraries
-the broad cultural trends affecting libraries
-multi- or interdisciplinary perspectives on the everyday contexts of libraries affecting their collections, services, budgets, user groups, external relations etc.

on October 7th, and farewell to Heather. Two poeple have showed interest in the cruise. Shall we go for the lunch party? and so who ever likes to get on the boat can still catch it in Granville Island at 5:30. I need to get hold of Xiaomeng for details, but this way, we may have two smaller parties on the same day. Shall we have Chinese or Western food? I would like to book a place some time next week.

Too bad for those who have to work that day. We can continue to celebrate after this term when we have more good news. Keep it up!

Please take a look of the previous posting