Canadian Apathy

Says it all no?

I sometimes despair that my fellow Canadians are too complacent and accepting of our leaders’ actions.  I was living in the US when Steven Harper chose to shut down Parliament the first time, using prorogation as the mechanism.  The fact that he is using it again less than two years later shows that he truly is a coward.  As soon as his party and their actions related to the torture of military detainees in Afghanistan were exposed, he again appropriated prorogation to shut down debate.  Even Mr. Harper’s own former chief of staff, Tom Flanagan, had this to say about Harper’s motivations. “Everybody knows that Parliament was prorogued in order to shut down the Afghan inquiry, and the trouble is that the government doesn’t want to explain why that was necessary.” Of course Mr. Flanagan doesn’t think that the torture of detainees was wrong but he did criticize Harper for not using “an adult defence” for these actions.  While I enjoy neocons sniping at each other, it is telling that it is occurring now.  Steven Harper is more focused on the Olympics and trying to maintain the mirage of Canadian goodness and Dudley Do Rightness.  Having the world’s media lurking in Vancouver and shutting down a contentious issue in Parliament are surely unrelated.   Right?

Distance Education blues

One of the programs that I work with has become particularly challenging due to the distance education program.  This program has students from across Canada registered here at the University of Calgary.  Ironically the services provided to those who live out of province are pretty well delineated.  Its the students who reside outside of Calgary but still within Alberta that present the challenges.  There are two other universities that provide some services and access to resources to some of these  students.  So that means that certain students have access to the collections of two university libraries while others do not.  These problems require communication between our three libraries and so far I have been successful with one of the other libraries.  I am hopeful that the third library will welcome my advances so that we can better provide support to these students.

Conferences

Many of my friends and former colleagues are in Boston right now at the American Library Association.  Last week I was feeling a bit down that I wasn’t going but I realize that it is really the rituals that I miss.  8:00AM meetings were never something I relished but hanging out with colleagues and talking about work, families, and their lives was as much a part of the conference experience as meetings.  I think that we talk about “networking” at conferences but in many ways we are maintaining connections that have been developed over years.  Conferences also allow colleagues to get to know each other better outside of a work context.   One my closest friends was my perpetual conference roommate and we had developed a conference pattern that suited both of us.  This same friend willingly treked with me to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico on numerous occasions to renew my work visas and I also miss our road trips.

I miss the experience of seeing new cities and meeting up with friends who have moved to other parts of the country.  I don’t miss convention centres which almost universally are buildings that drain your energy without giving you any way to refresh yourself.  It is the pubs and restaurants that we will flee to to recover our energy for the evening events which are also in large part why many of us enjoy the conference experience.  More opportunities for networking exist outside of meeting rooms than ever occur within them.  It is exciting to find out from others what other libraries have tried, will try, or would like to try and compare experiences.  I sometimes wonder what a  truly academic conference like MLA would be like but in truth I suspect that conferences serve the same purposes for academics as they do for librarians, ritual.

My former employer, the University of Houston Libraries, tries to help keep former staff connected through a “Drinks with the Dean” event which I have now attended as an outsider.  I have a hard time imagining my current library’s leadership having a similar event.  We all attend such different conferences that there isn’t a large group of people heading to any one event.  It is perhaps also symbolic of the differences between institutions that I earned my tenure equivalent primarily through professional service at the University of Houston while at my new institution it will be based on more traditional academic measures such as publishing and research.

I hope that all attending the American Library Association are enjoying themselves, staying warm, and tipping well.  We librarians have a reputation to uphold so I guess I should also add drink copiously.  Slainte!

Its time

I haven’t written on this blog for a year and a half and I honestly can’t explain why other than I didn’t necessarily think I had enough to say.  Also in some ways Twitter and Facebook have become a place for me to express myself, albeit briefly.  My new job is no longer so new and like most relationships there have been some rocky patches.  I am looking forward to working with my colleagues,  faculty, and students this semester and perhaps its this optimism which has inspired me.   In the past year and a half my life has changed for the better.  I have bought a house and I am rooming with two cats and their human companion.  I realize how much I enjoy having pets and other humans around 24/7  and this has required personal compromises.  Life is good right now and I am appreciating my blessings.

Ithaka Report available

The Ithaka organization has published their findings from a 2006 survey of both faculty and librarians about scholarly publishing and how technological change has changed the faculty/library relationship. The studies, Ithaka’s 2006 Studies of Key Stakeholders in the Digital Transformation in Higher Education raise some interesting questions for academic libraries. One of its recommendations is that academic libraries need to be clearer about what they are doing to help faculty understand exactly what the library can and is providing.

“An important lesson is that the library is in many ways falling off the radar screens of faculty. Although scholars report general respect for libraries and librarians, the library is increasingly disintermediated from their actual research processes.”

and

“In the case of the library, both the library leadership as well as individual librarians should be reaching out to faculty members, formally and informally, to understand the nature of their teaching and research projects, and how their needs are being met or could be met better.”

This process can not happen if librarians sit in their offices or at the desk waiting for faculty and students to come to them. We have to provide relevant help at the point of need and we have to determine what that help should consist of both in person and online. Asking our faculty what they need from us should be an ongoing process and the more librarians understand of these needs, the more effective we can be. if we allow ourselves to become invisible to those we serve we make ourselves redundant.

Olympics coverage

Well, Canadian broadcasters often rely on their captive audience for coverage of events like the Olympics.  However, I think I can safely say that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) is kicking NBC’s excessive ass.  I am amused when NBC excitedly announces that yet another event is about to occur where the Americans will be victorious.  Watching the semi-final (who came up with that term?) 4 X 100 relay heats (again, who?) I watched the American team drop their baton, as did two other teams.  I watched this an hour ago on the CBC channel and NBC was gushing about how this team “couldn’t be beat” by anyone in that field five minutes ago.  Same time zones in both countries.  My favourite part was watching Trinidad and Tobago, Japan, and track powerhouse, the Netherlands spank the Americans, twice.

What the hell?

“To keep the good of the patient as the highest priority.”

From the Hippocratic Oath

I was warned that finding a family doctor in Calgary was going to be difficult, little did I know that upon finding one who would accept me as a new patient I would have yet another obstacle. I realized that this wouldn’t be as simple as walking in to an office I really had no idea the hurdles I would have in this process. No names will be given in this tale due to my wanting my mother to continue getting medical care.

• My mom asked her gp if she would be willing to take me on as a patient when I moved here in July. Her doctor said yes, I believe provisionally at least.
• Calling every day for two weeks resulted in me believing that not only did this doctor not want new patients, they weren’t serving their current patients that well with a voicemail menu from hell that led in circles back to the original message with no opportunity to leave voicemail.
• Having finally reached the receptionist last Monday, I was informed coldly that she would have to confirm this with the doctor before adding me. I had no problem with that but her customer service skills could stand some sharpening. She informed me that she would call me back once she had spoken to the doctor.
• Having waited two days, I called her back today to check on progress. Without asking my name she informed me that I would not be added as a patient as the doctor had said no outright.
• Somewhat bewildered I mentioned that my mother had understood that as she was a patient, her doctor had agreed to add me. The receptionist did a 360 and then asked for my name. She told me much more warmly this time that of course I could become a patient.
• Somewhat relieved I asked when I might be able to make an appointment with this doctor. The receptionist told me December. Apparently this doctor is going off on leave until December but there would be locum doctors that I could see.

• Finally, yes, I could get my prescriptions filled. The receptionist asked me what prescriptions I needed refilled so I told her a list which included birth control. Total shutdown on her part, the Dr. (I use the term loosely) did not prescribe birth control of any kind.

Having lived in the religious soup that is Texas I have never run into a doctor refusing to write a prescription for birth control. I would not begin to wish to try and guess what other services this doctor doesn’t provide to women specifically. Religious beliefs aside, how could any physician be so narrow minded in their views? I appreciate that she (yes she) has been an effective doctor for my mother but obviously I need to find a physician that can tolerate the fact that premenopausal women might not actually want to bear a child as a consequence of having sex.

Children and Higher Education

What's to be added?

Source: www.pbase.com/munichpride/image/49844677

There was a post today on Guardienne of the Tomes about an Inside Higher Ed career advice piece to a graduate student who was feeling guilt about not spending enough time with her 3 year old. I have mixed feelings about Guardienne’s comments and feel that her not having any children herself, empathy may not be high on her priority list. Her comments included the following, “Needless to say, any prof teaching graduate classes worth his/her salt will say no.” This in reference to professors allowing a toddler in the class on a regular basis. I agree that a child that young would be less than likely to remain quiet and not disrupt the other students and/or professor. Interestingly she singled out graduate classes, I would assume that any class, undergraduate or graduate, would likely be disrupted by a 3 year old. However, there are always exceptions to any and all situations. I have attended campus meetings where someone had their infant in a carrier seat and still managed to be productive during the meeting. How would a parent leaving to deal with a child be any different than those who wander in and out going to the bathroom or to take a call?

Having taught graduate students myself, it is hard not to overempathize with parents, single or otherwise. I have had a student drop my all day class due to their internal conflict over how this affects their relationship with their child. I have also had graduate students bring their children to class with permission on occasion. Now, personally I think that forcing any child to spend even a few hours in a class that they have zero interest in would be torture for them. The only time the other graduate students were concerned/upset was the day that we were discussing intellectual freedom and academic libraries which led to a discussion about limiting pornography which led to an intense discussion about academic freedom and what that entailed. It was one of the most best discussions in my class, ever, and a student approached me at the break expressing concern that another student’s son had been listening. I explained that as he had been quiet and didn’t disrupt the discussion there was no reason to ask that a 13 year old leave the room. I also noted that it was the parent’s role to determine what their child was ready to be exposed to, not mine or hers. I acknowledged that she had a right to feel uncomfortable but that those were her feelings to deal with. Let me note that others in the class thought that the young man looked exceedingly bored throughout the entire discussion.

I attended some of my mom’s lectures with her while she was working on her degrees and I also got to spend time with her in an art studio. These memories are really strong ones for me and I remember them fondly, although the lecture on phallic representation in the Ashanti culture was a little confusing since I was 12. I remember the other students turning around to look at me during the lecture looking concerned. How could they know that my mother never limited my exposure to “real life” and allowed me to form my own opinions about art from my own level of understanding? I thank her for encouraging me to have an open mind and to learn from any and all opportunities.

Canadian government slashes arts and culture funding yet again

Hope no one on stage wants to travel outside Canada

Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada at Winnipeg’s Folklorama 2008

Source: www.pm.gc.ca

It seems bizarre to me that I have returned to a country that runs surpluses in its budget every year and still can’t find funding for Canadian arts and culture. Canada made a point of protecting its cultural industries in our trade agreements like NAFTA but the current Conservative government is slicing and dicing programs that promote and grow Canadian artists and art. On the CBC website this story outlined the cuts in program funding. I wrote in a previous blog post, Disturbing Legislation that I hoped the federal government of Canada didn’t have nefarious purposes in mind while trying to push through Bill C-10. Well, I think it is rather obvious that this government and its leadership does not see any point in the promotion of Canadian culture and artists who don’t represent a very narrow viewpoint. After living for almost seven years in the United States you would think that I wouldn’t be surprised by such antics but sadly my higher expectations for Canada are being worn down by the current federal government. I am writing my MP today telling them that this continuous barrage of cuts only serves to weaken us a country and diminishes our international standing rather than protecting it.

Intellectual freedom tensions

On the CBC website today there was a story about the Alberta Human Rights Commission dismissing a complaint against Ezra Levant for republishing the controversial Prophet Muhammed cartoons that caused a global uproar in 2005, in his Western Standard magazine. The complaint was filed by the Edmonton Council of Muslim communities whom Mr. Levant refers to as “radical” on his blog. I went to school with Ezra Levant during my undergraduate degree but never had a class with him, thankfully. Even then, it was far easier to ignore his rantings for the irrational crap they were and are. However, having lived in the US for a few years and having worked with the IF community within the American Library Association, my perspective on free speech has changed.

On a personal front, the vicious and delusional rantings of someone like Ezra Levant bother me. As a librarian, I support his right to publish his ideas while staying within the hate speech law which I am sure he understands thoroughly being a lawyer. That doesn’t stop him from skating on the edge on occasion. In Canada hate speech has been criminalized and I agree that, “advocating genocide, publicly inciting hatred, and wilfully promoting hatred” towards identifiable groups justifies criminal charges. Reprinting even controversial cartoons in his personal magazine doesn’t meet this standard even if that was his goal. I think the fact that the Western Standard has ceased publication speaks to the fact that the majority of Albertans and Canadians don’t support Mr. Levant’s extremist positions. Perhaps the best thing that we can do until he can be criminally charged for his evangelism, is to ignore him. That will likely be far more painful, take away an audience for his views.