Graeme Williams
@lagbolt.bsky.social
Retired software sales engineer acutely interested in public libraries, particularly cataloging.
Reposted by Graeme Williams
Yes, also one of *my* favorite books this year. Wonderful characters and a twisty plot.
back in may, i had the chance to interview Antonia Hodgson, author of one of my favorite books this year, The Raven Scholar. it’s a big book that, to me, heralded the return to massive page turners, and it was clever and twisting in ways that satisfied even this jaded reader. plus, it was just FUN.
September 20, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Yes, also one of *my* favorite books this year. Wonderful characters and a twisty plot.
Reposted by Graeme Williams
@renay.bsky.social Grabbed The Raven Scholar from the library because of your strong rec and it's so very very good. So readable, appealing characters, and honestly, such a great twisty plot and setting.
September 5, 2025 at 10:26 AM
@renay.bsky.social Grabbed The Raven Scholar from the library because of your strong rec and it's so very very good. So readable, appealing characters, and honestly, such a great twisty plot and setting.
To celebrate Pride Month, I ran some simple LGBTQIA test searches on the local public library catalog. I report the (disappointing) results here: lagbolt.substack.com/p/celebratin...
June 2, 2025 at 7:20 PM
To celebrate Pride Month, I ran some simple LGBTQIA test searches on the local public library catalog. I report the (disappointing) results here: lagbolt.substack.com/p/celebratin...
Not that there's anything wrong with charity, or "some giveaway".
Social Security is not charity or some giveaway. It's money people earned through years of hard work.
Now, Trump and Musk want to rip that away to fund tax handouts for their billionaire buddies.
So here's my message for them: get your hands off our Social Security.
youtube.com/shorts/wTC_H...
Now, Trump and Musk want to rip that away to fund tax handouts for their billionaire buddies.
So here's my message for them: get your hands off our Social Security.
youtube.com/shorts/wTC_H...
Social Security is not charity or some giveaway. It's money earned through years of hard work.
YouTube video by Senator Elizabeth Warren
youtube.com
April 1, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Not that there's anything wrong with charity, or "some giveaway".
Reposted by Graeme Williams
December 30, 2024 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Graeme Williams
Who wants a heavily-researched story about a guaranteed way to win a legal battle against someone with unimaginable wealth?
escapepod.org/2021/07/29/e...
escapepod.org/2021/07/29/e...
Escape Pod 795: Tiger Lawyer Gets It Right
Vladislav Argyle rested his head on the cool titanium surface of the plaintiff’s table. It dipped a little under the sudden weight of his skull, then hummed as the antigrav lifts adjusted their power…
escapepod.org
November 30, 2024 at 6:29 PM
Who wants a heavily-researched story about a guaranteed way to win a legal battle against someone with unimaginable wealth?
escapepod.org/2021/07/29/e...
escapepod.org/2021/07/29/e...
Reposted by Graeme Williams
Earnest post, but: a thing I like here is it’s okay to have moments of happiness in public without being broadly scolded, and I believe that sustaining this kind of humanity will be very important as we resist fascism.
We have to sustain each other. Making joy isn’t denial, it’s how we will survive
We have to sustain each other. Making joy isn’t denial, it’s how we will survive
November 12, 2024 at 1:22 AM
Earnest post, but: a thing I like here is it’s okay to have moments of happiness in public without being broadly scolded, and I believe that sustaining this kind of humanity will be very important as we resist fascism.
We have to sustain each other. Making joy isn’t denial, it’s how we will survive
We have to sustain each other. Making joy isn’t denial, it’s how we will survive
Why do public libraries have so many different ebook apps? And they're not so easy to use. I looked at a handful of apps. lagbolt.substack.com/p/how-to-los...
How to lose the ebook war [1]
Recently I was on a six-hour plane flight and I wasn't willing to pay for Internet just to read an ebook. I have seven ebook apps on my tablet [2], four from libraries and three from online bookstores...
lagbolt.substack.com
February 22, 2024 at 8:33 PM
Why do public libraries have so many different ebook apps? And they're not so easy to use. I looked at a handful of apps. lagbolt.substack.com/p/how-to-los...
@kateelliottsff.bsky.social I received your email from Buttondown. I am now completely buttoned down. Also I loved Unconquerable Sun (and the sequel) and everyone should read it.
January 20, 2024 at 4:04 PM
@kateelliottsff.bsky.social I received your email from Buttondown. I am now completely buttoned down. Also I loved Unconquerable Sun (and the sequel) and everyone should read it.
I just wrote something about how #cataloging can take part in #publiclibrary events like celebrating Native American Heritage Month. lagbolt.substack.com/p/celebratio...
January 4, 2024 at 8:17 PM
I just wrote something about how #cataloging can take part in #publiclibrary events like celebrating Native American Heritage Month. lagbolt.substack.com/p/celebratio...
Reposted by Graeme Williams
what if I started printing out zines and putting them in little libraries
December 30, 2023 at 3:06 AM
what if I started printing out zines and putting them in little libraries
I posted an article on SubStack about how hard it is for me to keep track of what books I've read - and how the #publiclibrary loan history feature doesn't help because it's not searchable, and anyway the information isn't in the right place. lagbolt.substack.com/p/what-i-wan...
What I want for Christmas (from BiblioCommons)
One of the truisms of the internet age is that a web site is evaluated, not against web sites which do the same thing, but against all web sites. One simple way this happens is feature by feature. Onc...
lagbolt.substack.com
December 11, 2023 at 7:45 PM
I posted an article on SubStack about how hard it is for me to keep track of what books I've read - and how the #publiclibrary loan history feature doesn't help because it's not searchable, and anyway the information isn't in the right place. lagbolt.substack.com/p/what-i-wan...
Reposted by Graeme Williams
@neilhimself.neilgaiman.com I just watched the wonderful Babylon 5 episode you wrote and you included lines from one of my favourite poems 💖 "parting is all we know of heaven,
and all we need of hell" 💖 I loved the episode so much, thank you for this! What a lovely surprise!
and all we need of hell" 💖 I loved the episode so much, thank you for this! What a lovely surprise!
December 7, 2023 at 9:21 PM
@neilhimself.neilgaiman.com I just watched the wonderful Babylon 5 episode you wrote and you included lines from one of my favourite poems 💖 "parting is all we know of heaven,
and all we need of hell" 💖 I loved the episode so much, thank you for this! What a lovely surprise!
and all we need of hell" 💖 I loved the episode so much, thank you for this! What a lovely surprise!
Reposted by Graeme Williams
Possibly controversial opinion: of all the ways of conveying information and opinion on the internet, video is by far the least efficient and effective. If you've got four hours of material, write a freaking long-form essay.
December 4, 2023 at 10:34 AM
Possibly controversial opinion: of all the ways of conveying information and opinion on the internet, video is by far the least efficient and effective. If you've got four hours of material, write a freaking long-form essay.
Reposted by Graeme Williams
i've been going to the library since i was a tiny child and i still feel like "hahaha yes >:)" whenever they let me walk out with books for free
November 2, 2023 at 6:13 PM
i've been going to the library since i was a tiny child and i still feel like "hahaha yes >:)" whenever they let me walk out with books for free
Reposted by Graeme Williams
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." --Frank Wilhoit
What would you say if you saw it in another country?
Trump/allies are "prepar[ing] to take control of the government in a way unseen in modern presidential history" by installing "Trump loyalists who may see the law as malleable" & "view White House authority to direct the Justice Dept. as proper"
Trump/allies are "prepar[ing] to take control of the government in a way unseen in modern presidential history" by installing "Trump loyalists who may see the law as malleable" & "view White House authority to direct the Justice Dept. as proper"
Trump’s Allies Want a New Style of Lawyer if He Returns to Power
Politically appointed lawyers sometimes frustrated Donald J. Trump’s ambitions. His allies are planning to install more aggressive legal gatekeepers if he regains the White House.
www.nytimes.com
November 2, 2023 at 6:55 PM
"Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." --Frank Wilhoit
Reposted by Graeme Williams
FFS people, I can't believe I have to keep re-upping this. Do NOT use 'lame' as a derogatory term. Words matter. Insults like gay and lame can kill. If you’re not gay or lame, you might not see the grinding damage that’s occurring below the waterline to those who are.
♿️ Allies: repost please.
♿️ Allies: repost please.
Lame is so gay — a rant
Using lame as a derogatory term is as dangerous and ill-considered as using the term gay in the same context. I know. I'm both: I'm a dyke and I have MS. I walk with elbow crutches. I am, literally, l...
nicolagriffith.com
October 24, 2023 at 10:45 PM
FFS people, I can't believe I have to keep re-upping this. Do NOT use 'lame' as a derogatory term. Words matter. Insults like gay and lame can kill. If you’re not gay or lame, you might not see the grinding damage that’s occurring below the waterline to those who are.
♿️ Allies: repost please.
♿️ Allies: repost please.
Reposted by Graeme Williams
The NYT ran w/this 💩 instead of a librarian’s on the need for open access. “Libraries are beholden to the communities they ostensibly serve (& on which they rely for funding) & their prevailing values…”
Let’s not pretend these calls are based on “prevailing values.” www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/o...
Let’s not pretend these calls are based on “prevailing values.” www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/o...
Opinion | This Is Why I Hate Banned Books Week
Its proponents trade on the moral currency of defiance, but in practice they are highly conventional.
www.nytimes.com
October 1, 2023 at 1:20 PM
The NYT ran w/this 💩 instead of a librarian’s on the need for open access. “Libraries are beholden to the communities they ostensibly serve (& on which they rely for funding) & their prevailing values…”
Let’s not pretend these calls are based on “prevailing values.” www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/o...
Let’s not pretend these calls are based on “prevailing values.” www.nytimes.com/2023/10/01/o...
It's so frustrating that #library patrons can't submit enhancement requests to library software vendors. I just discovered that TLC's CARL•Connect doesn't give any indication if someone is waiting (i.e., has a hold request for) a book that you have out. How about it, TLC?
September 16, 2023 at 10:16 PM
It's so frustrating that #library patrons can't submit enhancement requests to library software vendors. I just discovered that TLC's CARL•Connect doesn't give any indication if someone is waiting (i.e., has a hold request for) a book that you have out. How about it, TLC?
Reposted by Graeme Williams
what could possibly have led to this drop in enthusiasm? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
www.washingtonpost.com
September 9, 2023 at 12:57 PM
what could possibly have led to this drop in enthusiasm? www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Reposted by Graeme Williams
L Chan's @lchanwrites.bsky.social "Billable Hours for the Disputed Rights of the Chosen One" on Wyngraf's site is fun, because the story unfolds through the form of a fantasy law firm's "invoice": https://wyngraf.com/2022/07/01/cozy-flash-billable-hours-for-the-disputed-rights-of-the-chosen-one/
Cozy Flash: “Billable Hours for the Disputed Rights of the Chosen One”
The esteemed firm of Babbitage and Esqueaken is pleased to present Your Highness Alphonse I, Regent of the Hundred Isles, warlord of our glorious campaign against the known world, billable hours for y...
wyngraf.com
August 18, 2023 at 10:06 PM
L Chan's @lchanwrites.bsky.social "Billable Hours for the Disputed Rights of the Chosen One" on Wyngraf's site is fun, because the story unfolds through the form of a fantasy law firm's "invoice": https://wyngraf.com/2022/07/01/cozy-flash-billable-hours-for-the-disputed-rights-of-the-chosen-one/