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May
Welcome...
I have been writing a weekly newspaper column since 1987.
For 3 years, it ran in the Greeley Tribune. Since then, it has run in various subsidiaries of the Douglas County News Press. I still have most of my columns in digital format.
For many years, I only gave myself one rule: try to work the word "library" into every piece. My intent was to think in public about just what librarianship means at the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st.
May 20, 2010 - praise the entrepreneur
I know who created most of the new jobs in this country over the past ten years. I know how many job-makers we're talking about.
I know how old they are, what gender they are likely to be, and a little bit about their background.
I know where they live.
May 13, 2010 - he's back!
What should you do when you have a strong response to something you read in the paper?
Let's say you like a particular column. You can pen an approving letter to the editor, or send a glowing email or voice mail to the writer. It is pleasant to find people with whom one agrees. Too few of us take the time to compliment others, and thereby build communities of interest and mutual support.
May 6, 2010 - library card passport to museum
[This week is yet another wonderful guest column, this one by one of our "behind the scenes" librarians making great things happen for our patrons.]
05/06/10 Looking for Adventure? - Deb Margeson
Who doesn’t want a little adventure in their lives? Especially if it’s free.
May 28, 2009 - there's a world of librarians
I just returned from the final "Members Council" meeting of the international library company, OCLC. Henceforth, it will move to a model based on new regional and global councils. It's the end of one era, and the beginning of another.
May 21, 2009 - copyright is an outrage!
A friend tells me that the local political party dominating his hometown has a toggle switch: outrage ON. Outrage OFF.
Our experiment today is to see which of these real life library situations flips your switch.
May 14, 2009 - Libraries mean business
by Rochelle Logan and Jamie LaRue
A couple of years ago the Douglas County Manager of Economic Development, Meme Martin, met with library representatives to talk about the business databases we buy. She wanted to know if we would consider augmenting those subscription services to support new "economic gardening" efforts at Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock.
Our interest was piqued. We wanted to know more about economic gardening. (It means, in brief, growing the seeds of businesses that are already planted in the local community.)
Libraries exist to serve their communities -- residents and business owners alike. And we're always interested in mutually beneficial partnerships.
May 29, 2008 - DNA tells the history of mankind
For our 25th wedding anniversary, I gave my wife a framed version of a beautiful photograph she took of a pond in Berlin.
She asked what I wanted. I said I wanted to have my DNA tested. After 25 years, I said, you deserve to know who I am.
So she ordered the testing kit from National Geographic's Genographic Project (see www.nationalgeographic.com/genographic), and I dutifully swabbed the inside of my cheeks with the scraper. It will be some four to six weeks before I hear back. It cost about $100.
So those rumors about Indian ancestry -- truth or myth? Are there any other surprises? I chose to follow the paternal line (my paternal grandmother's father was supposed to be full-blooded Cherokee).
National Geographic also sent a quite wonderful DVD about the genetic history of the human race. Dr. Spencer Wells is a most engaging host, who gallivants around the globe exploring and explaining human genetic change.
Here's the broad thesis of modern genetics: we are all Africans.
