Walking Paper

In the latest Multnomah County Library Newsletter, a nice little plug for RSS. Good for people who are already in the RSS know, and good for those still get to discover the joys.

• starbucks to close 600 stores. one i know of in PDX. PDX coffee snobs rejoice. (though the new pike’s place roast is good when i’m in DC.) #
• i know the jrhigh comp users in the library well enough that i can send them on errands to mail things and pick up food. they <3 it. #
• Menomena – Boyscout’n: http://www.last.fm/music/Menomena #

PS3 Fanboy links to an article from the NYT titled The Shootout Over Hidden Meanings in a Video Game.

The content in question is the very engaging (and slightly complex) Metal Gear series.

Is the Sisyphean mission of Solid Snake — to rid the world of a robotic nuclear tank called Metal Gear — a parable about the futility of war or about its necessity? A critique of America’s domination of the global stage? A metaphor for the struggle between determinism and free will?
…
Others object to the sheer density of the story, spanning seven games released over 20 real-world years, that players are asked to master [emphasis mine]

PS3 Fanboy adds:

Just as films have evolved into an acceptable means of telling a full, gratifying story, it won’t be long before video games achieve the same distinction.

It is nice to know that I’m not the only one concerned with the messages that public signs send. In his post Two very different takes on public sculpture and art Håkan Bruce at writes about the two different experiences he had at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park and Chicago’s Millenium Park:

Seattle
Nice landscaping, nice setting, nice sculpture, but the lasting impression wasn’t made by the art, it was made by a sign (actually, about 10 signs):

…
Chicago
Contrast this with Chicago’s Millennium Park. Public art and architecture that is entirely interactive.

A fountain that spits on you…

The post is about public art but the larger lesson is about letting people engage with spaces in ways that come naturally. 48pt Word document signs around the library impact (probably negatively) the way people engage with you and the space.

Today there’s a thread going on AskMetafilter about Netflix for books. Many have chimed in promoting using the public library and ILL, but Mefite I EAT TAPAS is a detractor and currently has the final word:

Funny, here’s how the Inter-Library Loan process works in my city (which is a major urban center):

1) Check the web site to see if a book is available. The listing for the book appears. The library has multiple copies. The copies are labeled:

MISSING — the book has not been returned.
DUE M/D/Y — the book is due on a particular date. These dates are usually in the past. After a couple of years, it will be marked MISSING.
CHECK SHELF — this also means that the book is MISSING.

2) Use the online form to enter your library card, the book, and the branch you want the book to go to.
3) Nothing happens. Wait several months.
4) You notice that a book is now listed as CHECK SHELF at a local branch. Having lost faith in the ILL process, you try to visit that branch, but it is closed for the weekend to a local festival.
5) You run to that branch on the Thursday it’s actually open past 6pm, push through the barren shelves, and notice that the last remaining books are Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock and a Sweet Valley High book from the 80s. The book is not on the shelf. The librarian shrugs and changes its status to MISSING.
6) You go home and order the book used off of Amazon for $.01 plus shipping.

I’m sure other people have library systems that actually work, but please don’t assume the poster is insane for wanting to use a commercial lender as an alternative. I’d be interested in a functional alternative to my local library myself.

I’ve been really interested lately in the fact that public libraries across the country (and world) each provide vastly different experiences. I can’t help but think that some consistency would do us good, but wow, how can that happen with the myriad factors that influence individual libraries?