Warning signs, warning signs

      12 Comments on Warning signs, warning signs

Just a quick question for those of you who work (or have worked) in academia—if the Director of the University Libraries feels compelled to seek out the circ desk people at midday and warn them that the University Provost will be in the library in the afternoon… how seriously should I take it as a warning sign of deep, serious dysfunction?

And whose dysfunction?

Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.

12 thoughts on “Warning signs, warning signs

  1. Catherine

    …how often is the Provost usually in the library?

    a) Often. (this could be a sign of dysfunction. or just random weirdness on the part of your UL)
    2) Sometimes. (not sure what’s up with that.)
    III) Never. (Probably your UL just wants to be sure that y’all look like you’re working. Er, more than you usually do, of course, because of course you always look like you’re working, right? Right?)
    delta) Never. (Your UL probably just wants you to be able to direct the Provost to whatever meeting room s/he is headed for, since obviously s/he has never been there and doesn’t know where to find it.)

    Reply
    1. Vardibidian Post author

      I would say 2–although as far as I know only for meetings. And yes, I think the Director of the Libraries wants us to make sure we aren’t just actually busy but looking busy.

      Thanks,
      -V.

      Reply
  2. Stephen Sample

    What provisions does the library have for dealing with heatstroke?

    ‘Cause if you’re wearing ALL your clothing, I suspect you’ll keel over within 15 minutes.

    Not to mention the whole “being unable to move” thing.

    Reply
  3. Dan P

    Every day that more comments on this post come to me via RSS is another day that I’m earwormed all day. Hear my voice. Move my hair. I see it, but I pay it no mind. I hope you’re concentrating.

    I’ve got money now
    I’ve got money now

    Reply
  4. Michael

    RSS? I should look into that. I just leave a tab open for every post I want to follow, quit and reload the browser every couple of days, and then skim through the tabs to see if anything has changed.

    Reply
  5. Dan P

    RSS? It’s Tivo for the internet! It’s what let me see that you’d made this post instead of having to remember to go back and check a particular comment thread on a particular site. (I’ll spare you the rest of the RSS rant.)

    Google Reader is a fantastic take-it-anywhere RSS reader which they’ve decided to kill off, so no joy there. There don’t seem to be any really strong contenders for the succession, but most mail clients (Thunderbird, e.g.) have a way to subscribe to RSS feeds as well.

    Reply
  6. Vardibidian

    Which reminds me–who has a good replacement for Google Reader? I don’t want to use a mail reader, don’t care very much about using it from my phone, and I want something that is set up to take me to the actual web page (at one or at most two clicks) rather than something set up to download and read offline. Anyone want to help a fellow out?

    Oh, also: hear my voice, hear my voice.

    Thanks,
    -V.

    Reply
  7. Dan P

    In a panic, I just joined Old Reader, NetVibes, and Feedly. So far, Feedly (in “cloud mode”) is looking the best.

    Reply

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