Getting Oriented

...And now I've been oriented. We had two great orientation presenters, but I knew a lot of the non-benefits-related info, and by the time we hit insurance details after lunch, my brain officially declared itself on Sick Leave Without Pay.

To recover myself when it ended at 3pm, I've been reading up on library publications and blogs, and I came across an article on library humor. Yes, Virginia, there is a whole category of what is known as library humor.

Here's my favorite Great Moment in the History of Technical Services, "1916: Jean Arp, Marcel DuChamp and others mount an assault on the traditional definition of art. Catalogers attempting to describe their work respond with the invention of metadada."

And no kidding, there's a Bibliography on Library Humor hailing from Italy--and I'm pleased to say they mention Unshelved. Thanks to Norman Stevens for citing this in his Informed Librarian Online article this month.

And don't forget the Laughing Librarian -- one of the best recent posts? Kiddy Kages that parents check children into while at the library. I chuckle with evil glee.

Unrelated Banter

• "6.6.06" -- Is this the cheesiest marketing campaign ever? And is Julia Stiles one of the strangest casting picks for the mother of a six-year-old boy in a horror movie, or what?
• Need some cute in your life? Go to Cute Overload and delight.
• Catherine of Alexandria, one of my favorite saints (along with my thesis-subject St. Veronica, and the droll "I'm done, turn me over" St. Lawrence-on-the-grill), happens to be the patron saint of libraries, librarians, and archivists. This makes me happy--who wouldn't want their patron saint to be an outspoken, well-educated 18-year-old who had to be beheaded because she didn't die on the wheel?