CALGARY, AB Becoming a first of its kind in Canada, the Calgary Public Library is utilizing “guerilla marketing” to catch the interest of supermarket shoppers in Calgary. The unique campaign is targeting Real Canadian Superstore shoppers as part of the Everything You’re Into campaign by placing clever ads in the store’s deli and produce sections, according to CPL’s assistant marketing manager April Ganger. “We wanted to take a bold and fresh-faced approach and remind people to rethink their library. We have something for everybody,” she said. The ads, placed earlier this month, appear in all 10 Calgary Real Canadian Superstore... Continue reading

Image by Brandon Godfrey via Flickr VANCOUVER, BC Librarians in Vancouver are being warned to solicit only official Olympic sponsors for any Games-themed events they organize next month, and to cover up the names of any competitors - even slapping tape on offending logos on audiovisual equipment. The memo, written by marketing and communications manager Jean Kavanagh, tells staff to avoid such companies as Pepsi or Dairy Queen - neither of which is an official sponsor, unlike, say Coca-Cola or McDonald's. And she suggests taking unusual steps to avoid displaying the logos of non-sponsors, writing: "If you have a speaker/guest... Continue reading

EDMONTON, AB Photograph by: Walter Tychnowicz, edmontonjournal.com Postcards were the Facebook of the early 1900s -- a single photo and a few words to keep in touch with friends and family and update them about life in the West. Indeed, the University of Alberta is so interested in-just in these extremely brief and personal bits of history that it spent $100,000 on a collection of 15,000 postcards from the Prairies. In December, it posted the whole works online for the public to enjoy. All of the postcards have been put online on the Peel's Prairie Provinces website, (peel.library.ualberta.ca/images),where guests can... Continue reading

If acquisition is no longer a priority, important national treasures may well be sold abroad, possibly lost to the citizens of this country for centuries. Books have significantly changed the world and Canada so many times it seems absurd to have to argue their importance, to have to explain the necessity of compiling as complete a record of our past as possible. Unless the LAC believes that this has already been accomplished? That they have acquired requisite ‘documentary heritage’ enough to adequately ensure our ‘advancement’? via nigelbeale.com Nigel Beale on the possibility that the National Library and Archives of Canada... Continue reading

WINNIPEG, MB Ever dreamed of having your name immortalized on a parking meter? How about on a city bus ticket or a heart defibrillator in the back of an ambulance? Winnipeg is banking on a few takers. The city that recently toyed with the idea of corporate-sponsored pothole repair is launching a new campaign aimed at raising money by selling off the naming rights of virtually any city service. Everything from the city's library books to dog licences to memory sticks used in police cruisers is up for grabs. Kalle Lasn can think of a dozen reasons why the sponsorship... Continue reading

Shot with my Hipstamatic for iPhone Lens: Roboto Glitter Film: Ina's 1969 Flash: Off Sent from my iPhone Posted via email from cecily: mobile me Continue reading

via www.youtube.com "I don't want to hate but that's All you've left me with A bitter aftertaste and a fantasy of How we all could live ... " Continue reading

If familiarity breeds your contempt, that's fine. That's essential. If you saw the movie and you hated it, or you read the book and you hated it, or you watched the show and you hated it, get out there and holler. Holler. Argue vigorously, refuse to settle. That's part of how vibrant cultures are built. But if unfamiliarity breeds your contempt, then it contributes little to the discussion. In short, this year, let's not do this. Let's not prize the things we don't know anything about and show them off like a bottle-cap collection. "I can't believe anyone reads John... Continue reading

If you're angry about race, but not particularly interested in understanding why, you probably like Crash. If you're black and believe in the curative qualities of yet another "dialogue around race," you probably liked Crash. If you're white and voted for Barack Obama strictly because he was black, you probably liked Crash. If you've ever used the term "post-racial" or "post-black" in a serious conversation, without a hint of irony, you probably liked Crash. via ta-nehisicoates.theatlantic.com Continue reading

Librarians don’t necessarily create Canadian Culture, but we definitely nurture it and promote it. Libraries stopped being mere reading rooms decades ago and are now cultural hubs in the communities they serve. Like publishers, librarians are on the ground pushing and promoting Canadian culture to the wider public. via michael.steeleworthy.ca In this thoughtful post, Michael Steelworthy discusses Canadian culture and the librarian's role in safeguarding that culture. Continue reading

A few shots from the holiday spent with hubster's family. Posted via web from cecily: mobile me Continue reading

Friendship is devolving, in other words, from a relationship to a feeling—from something people share to something each of us hugs privately to ourselves in the loneliness of our electronic caves, rearranging the tokens of connection like a lonely child playing with dolls. The same path was long ago trodden by community. As the traditional face-to-face community disappeared, we held on to what we had lost—the closeness, the rootedness—by clinging to the word, no matter how much we had to water down its meaning. Now we speak of the Jewish "community" and the medical "community" and the "community" of readers,... Continue reading

See the full gallery on posterous A section of compact shelving that is usually kept closed was open when I walked past this morning. Posted via email from cecily: mobile me Continue reading

I need to clean my desk. Posted via email from cecily: mobile me Continue reading

Posted via email from cecily: mobile me Continue reading

See the full gallery on posterous Posted via web from cecily: mobile me Continue reading

Shot with my Hipstamatic for iPhone Lens: Lucifer VI Film: BlacKeys B+W Flash: Off Sent from my iPhone Posted via email from cecily: mobile me Continue reading

To say I'm excited about having this poster in my cubicle is an understatement. Posted via web from cecily: mobile me Continue reading

(via Reuters, and a Vancouver Sun story about President Obama being accused of ignoring Black Americans.) Continue reading

This comment was posted as a response to a story on The Griot about the world's smallest baby. Continue reading

via www.youtube.com YES. Continue reading

via www.youtube.com Continue reading

Reverie from Ed Moore on Vimeo. I used to not care that my dSLR didn't shoot video. I'm starting to rethink that. (Not that I could ever make anything this good, you understand... Continue reading

via tweetie Posted via web from cecily: mobile me Continue reading