New updates will return ... eventually!

Hey folks, didja miss me?

Oh wow, has it really been almost two months since I last updated this blog? Geez, sorry about that ... ain't my face red!

Unfortunately, the dreaded "real life events" got in the way of our good times, and I had to take an unadvertised "sabbatical" to get things in order ... Now don't you all worry your pretty little collective heads over me, it was nothing serious. It's just that sometimes there are certain things that need to take precedent over frivolous things like updating a web site dedicated to the likes of Eleanor Twitty and Barbara Gordon (I know I know, I don't like it any more than you do, but it's true!)

However, here's the thing ... I'm not quite ready to put an end to that sabbatical just yet.

While the aforementioned "real life events" have been - for the most part - taken care of, I still need some more time to prepare these new "case studies" that have been piling up in my absence (and I've got some good ones lined up, trust me!) ... It's a pain to wait, I know, but I won't be satisfied with just tossing up anything on this site and calling it a day! No no no, each entry must be lovingly handcrafted and painstakingly verified, so that they may adhere to the high standards that you've come to expect from us here at LOYT headquarters.

Now, to be honest, I'm just not sure how long this could take ... Might start operations back up in a month. Or maybe two months. Or three.

Or longer than that, I'm afraid.

Sorry to be vague, but you'll just have to be patient with me ... In the meantime, they're still plenty of enjoyment to be had during my absence!

For example, if you're new to the blog or haven't checked up on us in awhile, there's quite a lot of stuff to peruse in the archives (over two thousand entries!) until I get back; feel free to hit the ol' "Random" link at the top of the page and see what you might have missed!

I also plan to update our Tumblr page every now and then, so be sure to keep an eye on that ... In addition, I've found that a lot of the older posts could use some updating (I'm not really happy with some of my earlier work when it comes to transcribing, plus a lot of the YouTube videos are now defunct or have been pulled down), so I might post some "remastered" versions of previous entries here and there (we'll see what time allows).

So in conclusion, I just thought I'd take a quick moment to let everyone know that this blog hasn't been abandoned (not yet, anyway) ... There's still plenty of librarians - real and imagined - that need to be cataloged here for posterity, so stay tuned!

I'm taking the rest of April off ...

Sorry folks, I apologize for the interruption in service, but I just need to take some time to recharge the old batteries ... I'm juuuuust about finished with graduate school, so I need these last couple of weeks just to make sure that everything is in order so that I can get that MLIS and move on with my life :)

So for the time being, I ask that you be patient, and use the rest of this month to peruse our extensive archives (there's some darn good entries there for your viewing pleasure!) ... If all goes well, regular updates should return during the first week of May!

Until then, my friends ...

Grand opening coming this Monday!!!

Man, I know I'm going to live to regret this ...

For anyone who follows my Twitter feed, you know that I've been working hard to format and catalog my collection of librarian-related YouTube videos (I'm almost done with the "Movies" category); you also know that I'm right in the middle of another semester of graduate school, so I haven't really had the time to make a lot of progress on this project, at least not as much progress as I would've liked before officially launching this blog.

Well, it's come to the point where I realize that I'm not gonna start this thing up until at least 2027 if I wait around for everything to be absolutely perfect, so it's time to bite the bullet and just work with what I've got ... which is actually quite a lot, frankly.

Hopefully, I'll eventually get to the point where every YouTube video is ready for posting, but - until that time comes - I'll simply share with you all of the good material that I've already accumulated ... With that being the case, I'm happy (?) to announce that the Librarians on YouTube blog will officially launch on Monday (Oct. 17th)!

Believe me, there are a LOT of librarians to be found on YouTube, some familiar to mainstream pop culture enthusiasts, others you may be experiencing for the first time ... So join me on this bibliophile-themed journey, won't you? ;)

Remember, keep the URL http://librarians-on-youtube.blogspot.com/ bookmarked, because the fun begins this Monday (hopefully there will be three updates posted every weekday, that's my goal) ... See you then!

Status update!

Boy, haven't posted here in awhile ... so I hope you guys are following my Twitter feed:




Just a quick heads up ... I'm currently taking a summer course in the pursuit of my library degree, so the startup date for this blog (which is already WAAAY behind schedule, in case you didn't notice) is probably going to be pushed even further back to some distant point in the future.

Sorry about that, guys and gals ... I am making some progress (about a third of the way through my 130-odd entries in the "Movies" category), although I envision the "Short Films" and "Video Games" categories requiring a lot of time and effort. *sigh*

All I can tell you is to be patient and (once again) check the Twitter feed for sporadic updates on my progress ... Stay tuned, I promise* it's gonna be worth the wait.






* This promise is not a guarantee, void where prohibited.

Remember to follow us on Twitter!

I still need to get a few things squared away before this blog can officially go "live" ... Until then, I'll be marking my progress over on our Twitter feed, so be sure to check it out until the big day finally arrives!

A sneak preview ...

TITLE OF VIDEO

99:99

TEXT PROVIDED BY THE USER

Tags: TAG TAG TAG TAG TAG TAG TAG

Added: 99 years ago

From: USER

Views: 999,999,999

This will be where the transcript of the video will go, if one is necessary Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

---

From google.com:

This is where background information about the video, taken from an outside web source for the purposes of context, will go (again, if it is necessary) Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

About this blog

INTRODUCTION

What image pops into your head when you hear the word "librarian"?

Let me guess - the stereotypical bespectacled old lady with a bun in her hair and a finger to her lips ready to shush anyone and everyone ... Am I close?

Well, librarians are a bit of a sensitive lot (whoops, there I go with the stereotyping myself!); the profession as a whole has put a great deal of time and effort into breaking those old traditional "stigmas", by attempting to highlight the breadth and variety of individuals - young and old, male and female, etc. - that make up this unique and extremely vital vocation.

Still, there is a definite archetype that has been established within our culture when it comes to what a librarian is "supposed" to look/act like, and that figure has permeated the representation of this field for more years than I care to count ... Whether it be film and television, or more modern media outlets like video games and the internet, you can find the librarians' profession portrayed (even ridiculed) with the same basic broad strokes.

So, not to put too fine a point on it, but that's where this blog comes in ...

THE PLAN

Ever since I myself (full disclosure!) began pursuing a Master's Degree in order to join the ranks of the full-fledged librarian, I've become fascinated with the portrayal of this profession in popular culture, particularly those depictions which have made their way onto Youtube ... As such, I decided long ago to begin cataloging as many instances of these representations as I could find on the popular video-sharing site.

A daunting task, to be sure, but I gladly accept the challenge ... And, truth be told, there are a LOT more portrayals of librarianship on there than I ever could have imagined!

Of course, there's plenty of the familiar (i.e. unflattering) stereotypes on there, but dig deep enough and you can actually find some honest-to-goodness attempts to portray the profession in a positive light (some posted by librarians themselves, some not); you just need to take the time to look ... or follow this blog, either one ;)

These portrayals can consist of fictitious characters (television, cartoons, movies, etc.) or real-life flesh-and-blood librarians (news stories, promotional videos, vlogs, etc.) ... Whatever the genre, whatever the format, I'm just looking for YouTube videos that someone out there felt was worth the time and effort to post for a world-wide audience as a representation of the profession (either in a positive or negative light)!

THE SUBJECT AREAS

This has been an ongoing "project" of mine for the last couple of years, so I've built up a pretty sizable database of YouTube clips. In order to make them easier to navigate, I've broken things down into the following categories ...

Television: As the name implies, these are fictional librarians that have appeared on TV shows.

Cartoons: Again, this is pretty straightforward stuff ... Librarians in this category are in animated form (either traditional pen and paper, CG, claymation, etc.).

Literature: Okay, this one might be a little confusing - I was going to call it "Books," but many people seemingly believe that books and librarians are indistinguishable from one another, so I went with the broader term "Literature" ... Anyway, this category has to do with fictional librarians found in books, librarians who have written books, poetry featuring librarians, etc.

Comics: I felt that comic books (or "graphic novels" if you prefer) deserved their very own category separate from "Literature", so that's what you'll find here ... traditional comic books, comic strips, web comix, and so forth.

Movies: There have been entire volumes dedicated to the portrayal of librarians on the big screen (amazon.com), so this category should contain plenty of entries to keep you entertained ... or horrified ;)

Short Films: Rather than dealing with a theatrical release (like the previous category), these entries are shorter in length and not necessarily crafted with a Hollywood budget ... Everything from independent shorts to homemade affairs shot on a handheld camera, these portrayals of librarians are more of an "intimate" affair than you'll find in your local moviehouse.

Theater: Entries in this category deal with librarians as they are portrayed in plays, Broadway shows, one-man performance pieces, etc.

Video Games: The field of "interactive entertainment" has a surprisingly diverse number of librarian characters just waiting to be explored ... Everything from ColecoVision and arcades to the latest home consoles will be cataloged here.

Hobbies: Do you have a Nancy Pearl action figure (mcphee.com) sitting on your desk right now? If so, then you'll probably enjoy this category, which highlights librarians featured in such activities as toy collecting, trading cards, and alternate reality games (ARGs) ...

Music: These are either songs about librarians, songs written by librarians, music videos featuring librarians, and so on.

Radio: This category will feature librarians (both real and imagined) that have appeared on radio stations throughout the country.

Commercials: These can be either professionally-made TV ads, or promotional videos created specifically to be posted on YouTube.

Humor: Looking for a good librarian joke ("Two media specialists walk into a bar ... ")? Or how about a comedy sketch featuring an argumentative patron? Then this is the category that you'll want to be checking out.

Other: A necessary "grab bag" for those entries that do not fit any one specific category ... 

Each blog entry will feature a label that corresponds to whatever category I feel best represents the YouTube clip in question, in order to make browsing the archives an easier and (hopefully) more pleasurable experience ...

DEFINITIONS

I'd also like to take this opportunity to make it clear what exactly - in my mind - constitutes a YouTube clip "worthy" to be added to this list (bear with me a sec):

Now, I've run into a lot of YouTube videos which throw around the terms "library" and "librarians" rather indiscriminately ... For example, does this (youtube.com) look like a librarian to you - as the description would suggest - or rather a lady working at a bookstore?

Therefore, in order to avoid such misleading characterizations, my (rather simplified) definition for a "librarian" is someone who works in a lending library ... In other words, while the character in question might not - strictly speaking - be in possession of an MLIS, it's still close enough for me ;)

That means that para-professionals, library assistants, student workers, and the like are all fair game ... Also, I'm going to disqualify all YouTube videos that do not portray libraries which actually loan out materials to the public, since personal libraries/private collections do not usually hire dedicated staff to keep their volumes in order; I might stretch that definition now and then for "special" occasions, but for the most part I will be sticking with lending libraries (public, academic, etc.) only. Sorry, "Beauty and the Beast" fans (youtube.com)!

ENJOY!

Well, I guess that about does it for my little introduction ... I must admit, though it can be a bit time-consuming, I've actually had fun compiling this list, so I hope you'll have just as much fun looking over it and trying to find your favorite librarian character!


I plan on updating three times a day every weekday, so if you want to make sure you don't miss the latest entry, try "liking" us on FaceBook or following our Twitter and Tumblr feeds ...

I still need to tie up some loose ends before this blog can officially go "live," but I hope to begin posting entries sometime in March ... Stay tuned!

Oh, and one more thing for the lawyers ... If you happen to be browsing the archives of this blog one day and feel that one of the videos found therein has violated your copyright, then you need to contact Google (youtube.com) directly or the individual YouTube users themselves; I am in no way responsible for the posting of these videos, I just catalog 'em.