nichole's auxiliary storage

From Data to Wisdom: An Interview with Paco Underhill

Over at Boxes and Arrows, some exciting news (to me) about Paco "Why We Buy" Underhill's next project:

What kinds of projects will your firm be working on in upcoming years?

We’re about to start a series of projects with different public libraries across the country, looking at how a library moves somebody up the ladder from a novice to an intermediate to an expert and their usage of a library. We’re trying to think about the design and communication aspects of a library as a lifeline to what the idea of a public library is long term.

Real research! *swoon*

"Online editor shares tells of her favorite restaurants in the Eau Claire"

Despite the headline - classic UWEC Spectator - this Eau Claire restaurant review is a useful article for WAPL07.  (The first click is free, so read it all in one sitting.)

I'm eagerly anticipating a visit to Chicken Unlimited. Good lord, I hope it's still there. But now I may add Tacos Juanita and Pad Thai to my plans.

Children's Book Week: The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur

One book stands out as the one I asked my mom to read to me until the binding fell apart, even after I had it memorized, even after I was well old enough to read it myself.

It was The Value of Believing in Yourself: The Story of Louis Pasteur. It's one of the books in the ValueTales series, that staple of late 70's children's bookshelves.

There's a podcast about The Value of Believing in Yourself by the awesome folks at Just One More Book!!, which is where I learned that author Spencer Johnson is the Who Moved My Cheese and One Minute Manager guy. I'm embarrassed to say I never made that connection before.

I am still not sure why I fixated on this book. It's about how Pasteur developed the rabies vaccine and saved a little boy's life.

Perhaps it was as simple as the book's compelling story arc, inviting illustrations, and happy ending. Or the comfort of the familiar.

Maybe it was the pathos of the poor sick dog, teased and provoked by a thoughtless little kid (who then, of course, learns his lesson). I was one of those girls that cried more over stories of animals - especially dogs and horses - than over human suffering. Thank goodness we had a healthy, loving pet dog, or the rabid pup in the story may have given me a complex.

Possibly it was the idea of the "invisible enemy," the rabies germs, portrayed as dark blobs with sharp, gnashing teeth, comical little stick-legs, and dinner-roll feet. They were scary, but were ultimately defeated.

The ironic thing is, I wouldn't say I absorbed the lesson so very well. Most of the time I'm my own worst enemy. However, even now, when I daydream about roads not taken, my idle thoughts (unburdened by facts) are most often tinged with regret over not going into the sciences. My lack of confidence in math is what I think ultimately landed me in libraries. Maybe I should have kept reading ValueTales up through high school calculus...

MyOutdoors.net

Isthmus reports in "Log on to the great outdoors" about some Madisonians developing a sort of social networking site where people can share their outdoor adventures:

MyOutdoors.net was conceived by LeClair, 26, an English and communication arts graduate of UW-Madison who now works at the Madison Public Library while pursuing his English teacher’s certificate. “The social networking Web sites like Friendster and MySpace were inspirations,” he explains. “But the idea clicked when someone showed me pictures of a hunting trip.”

Worth keeping an eye on...and thanks, Isthmus, for finally getting your content online!

ALA librarian salary survey

Man, why are the mean librarians getting such nice raises?