Blogs

The Ithaka faculty survey for 2012 is out. Just like in 2009, the faculty don’t think much of the library - except for the news that humanities faculty are a little more inclined than in the previous faculty survey to start their research using a library catalog. As in 2009, the library’s most valued function is to pay the bills for content, and even that function is less important than it was when the survey was last conducted. I can't help wondering - could it be because libraries have less money and the bills are higher?

I'm really bad at chess. My little brother was always amazing at the game, and was somehow always a few steps in front of me. I'd snag one of his knights, and this would cause him to capture my queen and put me in check. I had always thought that the reason he was so good was because he cheated or knew some trick to the game that I didn't. It was the same way with Risk. While I focused on conquering countries with funny names, he conquered everything else... and eventually me.

Did any of you catch Thursday's EDUCAUSE Live webinar Changing the Culture of an IT Organization, Whirlwind Style? The discussion was hosted by Yale's Jane Livingston, Associate CIO and Karen Polhemus, Director, ITS Organizational Change Management - and was (beautifully) moderated by NC State's CIO Marc Hoit.

There was a time when university presses, defined not as enterprises but as simple printing facilities, had as primary function the publication/diffusion of research texts produced at the university with which they were affiliated. One of the primary text forms to be published was the doctoral or magisterial dissertation.

One man leaves New York going West at 100 mph. Another leaves Chicago going East at 120 mph. Where do they meet? The answer is, of course, jail, since they are both driving much too fast. This joke occasionally shows up as a “free” problem on my math exams, and typically draws groans when the students learn the answer. However, it also reminds me of some very fond memories of times spent with my mother working either algebra or geometry problems during the years I was in school.

One of the oft-unspoken norms around here is that economies of scale exist, so bigger is more efficient than smaller. Another, of course, is that efficiency is a good thing. But a temporarily overlooked (at least, by sustainability wonks) report out of the Edison Electric Institute seems to say that neither scale nor efficiency is necessarily advantageous.

We all know the old joke about the drunk who’s looking for his keys outside the bar at night. He’s looking near the streetlamp, even though he dropped them half a block away, because the light is better there. If we look where it’s easy, instead of where it’s likely, it’s easy to predict the results.

Did anyone think of urine?