Friday, June 15, 2007

I'm On The Outside Looking In - Day 6

It was ok for a while but I'm cut off from the Blogspot.com domain once again. Just as well. I have a final tomorrow and I need to reduce the distractions available to me. But I gotta tell you, it is hard to snuggle up to the Anglo-American Rules for Cataloging, Revision 2.

You have to use the AACR2 abbreviations for places of publication for the states. They are in the old style postal format. W. Va instead of WV for West Virginia. One down and 49 more to go.

The punctuation is a killer. For example, if I need to describe the physical dimensions of a book I have to type:

300 BB $a 100p. : $b ill. ; $c 23cm. which translates into the book has 100 pages, has illustrations and is 23cm in dimension.

The above is probably not correct. I always get one or two punctuation marks wrong.

And the difference between an authority file, authority record and authority control? You don't really want to know. I'm supposed to know and I'm not even sure what a book is anymore. Tomorrow I have to catalog a book for the final.

I'm doomed. So, I'm not that bummed about Covad, AT&T and the frigging techno glitch that is cramping my style.

Chocolate. I need chocolate.

7 comments:

  1. Who doesn't need chocolate? Every time I try to think about life in general I want to reach for a brownie, somehow wishing it had arms to hold me, also. That would be neat.

    Reading your physical dimensions description of a book was a headache; sorry you have to deal with that, but it must interest you in some form or fashion, right?

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  2. I work in a library and still don't have a clue as to the difference between an authority file, record, or control. Good luck on your final. I'm sure it will be over quickly. Take chocolate to munch during your exam. (You can always share with the professor...) ;)

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  3. Chokolate was originally used as a drug in the early 18th century. People felt "high" after eating or drinking chokolate.
    Love
    Oskar

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  4. First I was afraid,
    I was petrified,
    Kept thinking I could never live
    with "Cutter" by my side.....

    But YOU,
    YOU will survive,
    Library School will fade
    In into the past
    And you'll drive on by.....

    O.k., so I can't come up with any more smarmy lyrics to "I Will Survive!" You will survive Library School and all the joys AACR2 can bring. Good luck! Shannon

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  5. The good news is that the exam and the class is over. I have to tell you I was nauseous on my way to class, queasy as I was taking the exam and barely ambulatory after I turned it in. I crashed and sleep the rest of the afternoon.

    It went fine. For the record, it was an open book test. My classmates and I were taking no chances. You should have seen those notebooks. Tabbed by MARC, ACCR2, WorldCat examples and multiple systems to find what we needed ASAP.

    We had three hours. We needed all the time we could get.

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  6. chocolate can only be appreciated one way at this time of the year and in this heat , from the fridge HHHHHHHMMMMMMMM.....
    chocolate

    steve

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  7. Good luck on your final.

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