i've discovered that i don't consider either the recent Orlando shootings or the same at Fort Hood to be any big deal.  am i just in a desensitized phase?  more likely i just chalk it up to "meh, more random gun violence."  the is america, land of the nutjobs, after all.

i love the phases i go through.  fairly content most times, alternating indifference/disdain/hatred for humanity, etc.  i remember reading a book about the doom/quake guys some years ago.  i think it was in a section about romero--it was mentioned that he'd be going about as normal, when some days suddenly "the switch flips" and he's a different guy.  not like a polar opposite or anything, but a definite personality change in some regards. 

that description struck home.  i go through the same thing a few times a year (sometimes more, sometimes less).  when my switch flips, the fuse gets shorter, the patience less, the condescension comes out, the attitude worse.  and the only cure is to stay away from folks as much as possible.  tough to do when one works with the public as i do (sometimes).  there will be a few exceptions, of course (very looking FW to the torchwood marathon! now if only i can catch up on season 2 beforehand!).  actually, that's the only exception i can think of at the moment.

i guess that's a sign of adulthood (or something)--being able to pre-emptively put yourself in time out so you don't have to take the fifth a lot. 

thank goodness i don't have classes anymore!

so this library system decides to drop dewey.  not just one library, a system of different branches.  good idea?  bad?  well, it doesn't suck as much as "let's put in a coffee shop" IMO.

Rangeview Library District, CO, First System To Fully Drop Dewey - 6/5/2009 - Library Journal

(lazy linkage, i know.  wonder if it even works.  tired.  you're informationally literate, so you can crossref that info.  or check my FB page, as that's where i threw it up first.)

so this district in CO goes with something called BISAC, which i need to look up.  used in bookstores, maybe not suitable for the library.  but--

fuckheads on wall street notwithstanding, the economy will not be getting better all that soon.  and for public libraries that need funding, that means justifying one's existence to the taxpayers.  (n.b., i'm coming from NJ; things may be different in your state)  and what else shows use better than circ figures? 

now, i'm no twopointohpian, but sometimes the system needs to change.  (LC system, i'm looking at you)  dewey may be clunky at times, and is usually altered or ignored in one way or another.  grisham or other popular fiction actually in the 800's?  or biographies filed by dewey?  probably not.  if your library's patrons browse more than search for specific texts (bestsellers do not count--reserves mean they won't make it to the shelves) then maybe some sections could be grouped in a general fashion like "self help" or "business advice" or "ridiculous political persuasion advice" (oops, but you get my drift).  throw those titles up front, near the new releases.  everything else can get a proper dewey number.

starting to ramble, so i'll leave that intro out there.  thoughts?

(crossposted to the usual suspect outlets LOL)