Al Bell and the long tail (or tale)

Mike Kilen, a reporter for the Des Moines Register called me a week or so ago to talk about an old blog post of mine that has gotten a lot of response. (Mike's article is here: What Ever Happened to Al Bell? Inquiring Facebook fans want to know.)

The post, "Did You Know Al Bell" (Jan 29, 2007), wasn't about technology or libraries. It was an off-hand remembrance of a fellow who came to small Iowa schools to give "assembly" programs back in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.

As of today, this small post has generated 159 comments - nearly all from Boomer generation Iowans who shared fond memories of Mr. and Mrs. Bell's travelogues.

The "long-tail" theory says that no matter how obscure the topic, there is a group of individuals interested in it (and a market for it). From now on, Al Bell will be my true-life example of the long tail.

But I believe the real lesson to be learned here is just how great an impact single educators can have. Comment after comment to the post remark on how Al Bell opened the eyes of small town Iowa kids to a larger world, making global traveler and citizens of many of us.

Next time you go home thinking your teaching day has been a disaster, that a career in selling industrial chemicals would have been both more rewarding and lucrative, and you wonder if anything you've ever said to a kid has made the least difference, think of Al.

I suspect all teachers have a greater and more lasting impact that we will ever know.

Shameless commerce posting

People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.
Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865), in a book review

A review of my latest book that appeared in School Library Journal, March 2010, p. 188:

JOHNSON, Doug. School Libraries Head for the Edge: Rants, Recommendations, and Reflections. 196p. illus, bibliog. Web sites. CIP. Linworth. 2009. pap. $35. ISBN 978-1-58683-392-3. LC 2009022053.

Eighty long-running "Head for the Edge" columns in Library Media Connection and its predecessor, Technology Connection, are collected here, in topical clusters dealing with professional issues relevant to both veterans and newbies. Reading much like threads in Johnson's "Blue Skunk" blog, the columns are reflective, conversational, and characteristically humorous. Often looking through the lens of a learner, colleague, or administrator, the author believes that "the librarian will always be the sole determining factor of quality of the library program." In the chapter "Professional Skills and Dispositions," he offers advice on handling constructive criticism and challenges us to be mindful of exhibiting the same dispositions for which we grade students, such as displaying positive attitudes and communicating persuasively without being combative. In "Technology and Libraries," columns focus on adapting to change, the future of books, and why we should demand features such as federated and concordance searching of all holdings and texts, readymade citations, and customizable social network spaces from automation system designers. This forward-thinking approach is evident in one column from 1995, called "The Future of Books," in which Johnson imagines a book with a network jack, backlit screen, rechargeable battery, and touchscreen dictionary (12 years before the Kindle!). Chapters end with quotes, questions, and self-evaluative reflection that readers will be inspired to mirror. For all practitioners.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY

and another very sweet review here...

bj's review

rating:

bookshelves: professional, psla-2010

status: Read in February, 2010

Everyone knows Doug Johnson from his many articles, columns, and blog (Blue Skunk) that asks, cajoles, and charges librarians to change, embrace web 2.0 and technology, and add some humor to this new world of digital and information literacy. The great thing about this book is that his rants, recommendations and reflections date back to 1995, yet they seem like they were written just yesterday! He is thankful for the comments, criticisms (yes, criticisms!!!) and praise from his readers, and fellow librarians. I highly recommend this book to all librarians, it is a must read, fun, and enlightening about the benefits of the latest trends, web 2.0, and technology from the director of media and technology at I.S. D. Mankato (Minnesota) Public Schools. I have so many sticky notes on the pages, this book looks like a porcupine!

Anyone who has ever voluntarily reviewed a book has saved humanity countless hours of lost time. Jewels in the crown to all who write them.

Museums and humility

Since the museums are now open in Tallinn, the LWW and I have spent a fair amount of time in a number of them over the past couple days.

The most interesting exhibit, I thought, was at the city museum in Old Town that we visited this afternoon.

It doesn't look like much. About the size of a trophy case, each shelf of this display was devoted to the excavated remnants of a single century in Tallinn - starting in about the 13th century, if I remember.

These are some examples of the primitive materials used in centuries gone by - bones and pottery and crude metals.

But what gave this display its genius were the top two shelves - devoted to the detritus of the 20th and 21st centuries...

Yup, ketchup bottles, beer cans, margarine tubs, and finger nail polish brushes - those primitive remains that our descendents will wonder about in the coming centuries.

There is a pharmacy museum here that has exhibits of jellied leeches, dried dog feces and other miracle cures and health additives of the 14th century. Will there be a similar display of Maloxx, Viagra, and Ibuprofen in a couple hundred years?

I have always been fascinated by portraits, as well. Would either of these 18-19th century characters look out of place on today's streets?

or

Intelligence, vanity, and individuality all seem to have been with us a very long time.

A good museum ought to remind us that perhaps we're not so advanced after all. That even if we think we are oh-so modern in our perceptions and attitudes and understandings, the human race has still a very great deal to learn. And perhaps always will.

Of course some commentators, like this Finnish pop artist of the 60s, take a less subtle approach to portraiture...