Education and clarity of thought

On TV today I heard a character say, "Education! Of course I believe in education. As long as it doesn't get in the way of clear thinking."

Last night I think one visitor to the reference desk had neither education or clear thinking. Here is the exchange (enhanced for maximum humor.)

Visitor: Is this the library?
Librarian: This is the library. May I help you?
Visitor: Yes. I'm looking for the library.
Librarian. This is the library.
Visitor: I looking for room L131 in the library.
Librarian: Room 131 is downstairs. It's the testing center, not the library. The library is on the second floor.
Visitor: I was told L131 was in the library. How do I find it?
Librarian: L131 is in the library building on the first floor, but the first floor is not the library.
Visitor: Oh! How do I find the library building?
Librarian: You are in the library building. You need to go to the first floor. As you enter the building L131 is on the right.
Visitor: Thanks, but the security desk told me L131 is in the library. Where is the library?

The first task of the placement test is finding the test center. Fail that and you will be letting the lack of clear thinking interfere with education.

Finding an artist

Last week a fellow librarian asked a question about an artist that she had scant information. Here is her question:

I have a group of pen and ink drawings by the Israeli artist David that I want to donate to a local group. They would like to know something about the artist. Each drawing is from a different book of the bible, all from KETUVIM (Writings), JONAH, RUTH, ECCLESIASTES, ETC. Does anyone know what I am talking about and can tell me about the artist? A google search has not been fruitful.

Since I knew the answer right away with just a moment to double check my memory, I wondered if others would know the answer. Of all the people I asked over Shabbat, no one remembered the book that contained these drawings. Then I posed the question to my students in a reference class. I wanted to know how they would approach solving this problem. None of the students had an answer. Do I have special knowledge or just a very focused memory?

Let's examine the question to figure out what is known and what one needs to know to figure out the answer. 1) We know the drawing are pen and ink, but there is no way to search by type of drawing. Let's use this information later.
2) The author has "David" in his name. We don't know if this is his first name or family name. Since the librarian said the artist was Israeli, one can surmise the article signed the drawing with Hebrew letters. But that may not be correct. A search of "david" as a family name in the Encyclopedia Judaica or using Google does not help with the answer. There are too many hits on "david" as a first name to be of use.

3) We know the drawing or from books of the Ketuvim section of the Bible. The question only includes three of the books. Had the question included all the book represented in the drawing this would be easier to answer. This is a case of: read this list and tell be what does not belong. All books listed are read in the synagogue some time in the year. All are from one section of the BIble. However, there is no easy connection for these three titles. Perhaps if the questioner listed all the books prepresented, the search would be easier. If we say "Jonah" does not belong in the list, we are left with "Ruth, Ecclesiastes, etc." From the question we have no idea how many books are represented by "etc." We ask what Ruth and Ecclesiastes have in common. They are part of the "five scrolls or hamash megillot." If we search "five scrolls" "hamash megillot" AND "jonah" will find so clese matched, but none that fill all the requirements. If you search five megilloth and jonah david The first hit will point you to the book: The Five Megilloth and Jonah, by H. L. Ginsberg (foreword), Ismar David (illustrator). This book is out of print, but it is on my shelf.

Looking at the book we can see the each of the Biblical books has a pen and ink drawing by Ismar David. I remember that the publisher, JPS, sold the drawings in a portfolio. This portfolio containing the drawings on heavy paper is most likely what the original questioner has. Searching Ismar David will point to a whole book on his life and work: The Work of Ismar David, by Helen Brandshaft, David Pankow; Contributor Helen Brandshaft. Published by RIT Cary Graphic Arts Press, 2005. There is also a web site with a short bio of Ismar David. http://library.rit.edu/cary/CCimages/IsmarDavid.pdf

At what point does "sehel” kick in?

Part of the job of the librarian is to balance resources and the needs of users. Part of the balancing involves having a circulation policy that is fair. Books need to be available for all users. What happens when the needs of one reader conflict with the needs of another? What happens when the library staff tries to enforce the library rules?

Here’s the story -- A library patron borrowed books from branch library #1 last February and still has not returned them. Automatically the library system billed the patron for $445 and put a hold on the account. The patron went to branch library #2 and wanted to take out more books. The system would not let the patron check out books and the circulation person is not allowed to over ride that kind of the fine. The fine must be cleared with the business office at library #1. The patron became irate and yelled at the circulation staff. The library director was not in the library at the time.

The patron was so irate that she went to the president. The president sent an e-mail to the library director saying, "Please tell me why this student can not take books out?”

The library director wrote back and said there are 445 reasons why she can’t check out books.

The president wanted to know where the policy was written saying the students who own fines can’t check out books.

The district policy is: Persons who have a delinquent account will have a delinquency service indicator placed against all records. Students with delinquency service indicators will not be allowed to register or receive transcripts, degrees or certificates until their outstanding balances have been resolved and the service indicator has been released.

This should be “common knowledge.” That is a policy that is obvious. At what point does “sehel” (common sense) kick in?

Jewish Chaplaincy

My son and I just finished studying a unit on the struggle to commission Jewish chaplains for the military and hospitals during the Civil War. The original federal law allowed only for Christian chaplains. The struggle for the appointment of Jewish chaplains was an important beginning of the formation of a united front for American Jewry and a precedent setting incident in the history of religious freedom in American law. I had forgotten that in February 2005 I wrote a Librarian's Lobby column on Jewish chaplaincy (http://home.earthlink.net/~ddstuhlman/crc80.htm), where I mentioned something about that struggle. Today while doing a Google book search I found that someone quoted my article in his book on chaplaincy. In the book, Leadership Paradigms in Chaplaincy, the author Joel Graves not only quotes me on pages 70-71 but also grants me the title, "Rabbi." I wish it was that easy to be granted the title.

I don't consider myself an expert in the subject. I was just writing some thoughts after hearing a sermon in shul about the need for chaplains in today's hospitals.

A Monty Python moment

A Monty Python moment

Sometimes patrons of the library are so off the wall, their story needs to be told for everyone to enjoy. Last night a real zinger of an exchange went on. I had to bite my tongue to avoid laughing out loud.

I can't repeat it all but it was something like this. Richard is the librarian.

Richard: May I help you?
Lady: Can you help me? Where is the office?
Richard: Which office would you like?
Lady: Where is the office?
R: Is there someone you want to see?
L: Yes, where is the office?
R: Do you want a faculty office?
L. Where is the office?
R: What would you like to find in the office?
L. The office.
R: Do you want the GED office, registrar, or continuing ed office.
L. : Yes, the office.
R: Do you want the business office?
L. Yes, the office.
R: Do you want to register for classes?
L. I just want the office.
R. Ok. The security office is on the first floor, let me show you the way.

Richard finally got rid of her by politely showing her the stairs to the first floor.

Yarmulke Part 2 : Head Gear in General

Shana tov everyone,

So far I've been working on the question of yarmulke and Jewish head gear for 6 weeks. The more I investigate the more I find out is unknown. Here is the link to part 2 : Head Gear in General. Please consider this a work in progress. Changes and corrections are always possible.

The topic this month for Librarian's Lobby September 2008 is Head Gear in General
http://home.earthlink.net/~ddstuhlman/crc101.pdf


May everyone have a happy and sweet new year.

Tetragramaton in St. Louis

A couple of weeks ago the St. Louis Jewish Light published a magazine with an article about St. Louis Jewish history. ("Historic Heritage" by Jamie Sokolik. St. Louis Jewish Light , September 2008 vol. 61. no. 36 pages 22-30,48)The writer made a comment that the tetragramaton name for God appears on the outside of the St. Louis Old Cathedral. She thought it was misspelled and did not know why. Upon examining some old Bibles I am not so certain this is a mistake.
The letters look like yod-chet-vav-chet instead of yod-hey.

While viewing Library of Congress' web site for Hebraica I saw a picture of a Bible published Amsterdam --Biblia Hebraica (Amsterdam, 1667).

Note the four-letter name of God, the Tetragrammaton, surrounded by light, at the head of the title page. This edition was aimed at both Jews and Christians. The letters look just like the inscription on the Church. I don't know if the church caligrapher was copying from a Bible like this, following a tradition of not writing God's name, or just made an artistic error, but I would not be so quick to say that he made a mistake.