November 2002: Contents

Editorial
Budget Axe Eliminates iSchool Students
dMLIS Students Finish Successful First Quarter
The Scoop on Joe Janes
Book Review: Don Quixote's Delusions: Travels in Castilian Spain
On Humanity and Knowledge Management
Information and Society: Information Hoarding
Book Review: Writing Resumes That Work: A How-To-Do-It Manual
New medical library 'a delightful place to spend the summer': A Directed Fieldwork experience.

Welcome to the second issue of the Silverfish for the 2002-03 academic year. By now, everyone is deep into their coursework and related projects, eager to see, perhaps, how things are going to take shape. A reading for one of my classes made an interesting analogy about repairing the airplane while flying it. This is certainly true of the Silverfish.

You'll find a number of excellent stories and columns in this issue. I cannot thank my staff enough for the excellent work they've done. The first issue was pretty much thrown together by a few people, but this issue reflects the collaboration of nine staff members, the ALISS officers, and one contributor.

Putting together this issue was not easy. In addition to expanding the Silverfish from a quarterly to a monthly publication, ALISS has also implemented some new pre-publication protocols that - indicative of people working together - have inevitably lead to some misunderstandings between some of the officers and myself in regards to the purpose of the Silverfish. Clarifying these issues remedied the misunderstandings and led one officer to suggest an editorial stating to the iSchool community the Silverfish's purpose. So here it is:

The Silverfish is an online student newsletter with an obvious human-interest angle. It is NOT an academic journal. While we are striving to include provocative, well-written articles, this content will not and is not expected to be on the same level as scientific and academic research. The staff's involvement with the Silverfish is extracurricular. We do not have the time nor desire to present the type of formal material here that would elicit citations (attribution will be included where appropriate) and academic research. Students already have enough of that type of material to read for their classes. We want to make the Silverfish more casual and leisurely.

This is not to say that we are going walk on eggshells. The Silverfish will deal with serious and controversial subject matter when appropriate. While reviewing submissions for publication, the ALISS officers and Senior Editor will not get involved in academic debates about whether the author's interpretation of a concept is correct or consistent with our own, much the way the iSchool faculty debate the meaning of "document" and "information." To put it simply, we are not going to go there. Accuracy of details - as opposed to interpretation of concepts - will be reviewed.

Anyone in the iSchool community wishing to voice disagreement with something published in the Silverfish is always welcome to contribute an article as long as it is free of personal attacks. We do not want to create a climate where people are afraid of getting flamed for voicing their opinions and interpretations of any given subject matter. Remember, the basic tenets of intellectual freedom allow for divergent points of view.

As stated elsewhere in this publication, Silverfish content is protected by copyright law, and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise utilized without the prior written consent of the author. Copyright is retained by the author. All rights reserved. Editorial positions on the Silverfish staff are considered leadership positions. Authors are responsible for their own content and should be contacted directly with any questions or concerns.

The purpose of this editorial is not to present a formal mission statement, but to make very clear our perceived purpose of the Silverfish. Like I said last issue, this is YOUR student publication, so feel free to submit content for publication. And keep in mind that while your experiences, perceptions, and opinions might not seem interesting enough to you for publication, others who come from different backgrounds and experiences will most likely be interested in reading about them.

Michael Harkovitch
Silverfish Senior Editor

Budget Axe Eliminates iSchool Students
By Steve McCann

"We were fat that was easily trimmed" was how Amanda Hirst put it. Just as fall quarter was beginning, several iSchool students experienced the grim reality of a recession in Seattle by losing their student librarian jobs at Seattle Public Library... FULL STORY

dMLIS Students Finish Successful First Quarter
By Sarah Bosarge

On Sunday, November 3, at 11:59 p.m. PST, the inaugural cohort of distance MLIS students heaved a collective sigh of relief as our first quarter officially came to an end. Projects and papers finished, we could start to look back with satisfaction on what we'd accomplished, and ahead to the next two and a half years with a little more certainty... FULL STORY

The Scoop on Joe Janes
By Katy Shaw

Since Joe Janes is up for tenure this year, the staff at the Silverfish decided to ask him a few questions about his life at the iSchool…and before. Want to know what his new book is all about? Ever wonder what kinds of movies he likes to watch? Now's your chance to find out... FULL STORY

Book Review: Don Quixote's Delusions: Travels in Castilian Spain
By Joan Hutchinson

Forget tilting at windmills-just finding time to read for pleasure while in school can seem like the Impossible Dream. So I find it rather optimistic (and a little quixotic) that Silverfish editors expect to lure you away from your studies with book reviews... FULL STORY

On Humanity and Knowledge Management
By Aaron Louie

All the information technology, corporate strategizing, and technological forecasting can never change the fact that we are human. We have beliefs, feelings, intuitions, and values -- and continue to hold to these no matter how irrational or dangerous they may be... FULL STORY

Information and Society: Information Hoarding
By Beth Lahickey

Welcome to the first "Information and Society" column. This is a place to examine information issues in a social context (think LIS 550). This month I would like to discuss the phenomena of information hoarding... FULL STORY

Book Review: Writing Resumes That Work: A How-To-Do-It Manual...
By Amanda Hirst

Finding myself nearing the end of a job, and a graduation date looming in the not so distant future, I thought it was time to dust off 'ye olde resume'... FULL STORY

New medical library 'a delightful place to spend the summer': A Directed Fieldwork experience.
By Liisa Rogers

This summer I worked full time for three months, as a Library Technician at the Murray Memorial Library of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, Oregon... FULL STORY

Submissions Requested

Are you interested in sharing your knowledge with the rest of the student body? Have you attended any conferences or taken an interesting or worthwhile class outside of the department? Would you care to review nearby bars for us? Send your Silverfish submissions to aliss@u.washington.edu.

Silverfish content is protected by copyright law, and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, or otherwise utilized without the prior written consent of the author. Copyright is retained by the author. All rights reserved.

Edited by Michael Harkovitch

Silverfish Web Design by John W.N. Buell