Sunday, June 12, 2005

Good Attitude Rules - Revised

One of the subtexts of the OCLC Environmental Scan is the need for change. And, as a friend of mine once remarked, the only person who truly welcomes change is a baby with a wet diaper.

But this week, I came across a post on OCLC-CAT from Fred Reenstjerna. His library is about to move to the newest release of Connexion, our cataloging interface. (In the first version of this post, I mistakenly said they were transitioning from Passport to Connexion, but Fred tells me they did that years ago.) Here is Fred's invitation to the party to celebrate the move, posted here with his permission.

The Douglas County Library System’s [OOP] Technical Services Department will celebrate a WELCOME OCLC CONNEXION CLIENT UPGRADE party, with food and beverages, on Thursday next, 16 June 2005, in the Department, 1409 NE Diamond Lake Boulevard, Roseburg, Oregon USA. Readers of OCLC-CAT are invited to visit, especially if they bring a covered dish. Homemade mozzarella, an excellent salsa, and a dazzling array of other foodstuffs will probably be provided [the menu is at this writing undecided].


In OOP Technical Services, our motto is [with apologies to Alfonso Bedoya]: “Passports? We don’t need no stinkin’ Passports!” Believing firmly that Century 21 is a time and a place in librarianship, not just a real estate agency, we will celebrate the latest version of Connexion Client by singing the old cataloging standards, including “CatME and My Shadow”, “MARC Field Tags” [to the tune of the ‘Goldfinger’ theme], “OCLC Here We Come (right back where we started from)”, “Connexion” [to ‘Maria’ from ‘West Side Story’—“Connexion…I really like using Connexion…”&c.], and my personal favorite, “Constant Data” [to the tune of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’—as in the line, “Now we type gift notes faster, and faster (Constant data, constant data)”&c.].


We’re gonna party like it’s no longer 1999—that is SO last century, dudes and dudeettes. Join us in welcoming the 21st century to our professional practice!


/s/

Fred Reenstjerna

Frederick R. Reenstjerna, M.L.S., Ed.D.
Cataloging Librarian
Douglas County Library System
Roseburg, Oregon USA

This is a great example of how to make change welcome and fun. Thanks, Fred. I only wish I could attend this party, because it really sounds like a pleasure!

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