Alicia
Alicia
@penguinarae.bsky.social
Probably not in the mood to hear about how great libraries are.
Today I bring you an elementary school-level English instruction, as insultingly failed by RDA. Aka, why this sucks, entry level edition:
“relationship designator: see relationship element
relationship element: an element that relates two RDA entities.”

NEVER DEFINE A WORD USING ITSELF OR A VARIANT
November 21, 2025 at 4:37 PM
RDA Official reads like a series of if/then statements but in text form: narrative Python. That’ll make a good set of rules!

…oh wait.

Anyway, idk where 6.2.2.10.3 is because it doesn’t refer to Original, and Official doesn’t have chapters. Thanks for the ref LC, very helpful.
November 19, 2025 at 5:53 PM
LC subject heading complaint (because I have to document these somewhere):

A book of insults has the subject heading “invective”.

“Obscene words” exists as a subject heading, but not “insults”. Not even “offensive language”.

As a former classic lit bookworm, that’s a new word for this 40 y/o.
November 14, 2025 at 4:36 PM
*head in hands*
I’m gonna need you (waves vaguely but pointedly in an arc) to not for a good, long while.

Just…not.

*sighs in broken on possibly all fronts*
November 3, 2025 at 9:11 PM
event planning psa:

1. tell staff arrival & departure times, especially for non-standard work days.

2. have placements & duties planned out to 30 minute intervals.

3. winging it beyond 10% is NOT OK.

4. not setting expectations for whether extra time counts as make-up or “suck it up” is NOT OK.
October 17, 2025 at 7:28 PM
pslf is one of the main motivators to any rage I hold.

first, the “full time” bullshit. am millennial: I couldn’t get a ft job until I went to grad school a decade later.

then:
- plan switcheroos
- pause with no credit
- save death

now: no info as to whether consolidation zeros the count!
October 15, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by Alicia
Write the book you would like to see someone pull from a higgledy piggledy pile in a secondhand shop 63 years after your death and say, "This looks fucking weird. I think I will buy it for Joan."
January 28, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Living and working in a house of cards, waiting for the jenga game to end and knock it all down.

My tired is tired.
September 11, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reposted by Alicia
don’t feel good.

I want mozz from arby’s but nothing else. but I’m hungry. and it’s raining. and a fountain drink from 7-11 maybe.
August 16, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Today on the desk:

Recommending the addition of 655 7 polemics $2 aat and 500 note for self-published in a record review.

Because sometimes that makes sense for near-unreadable arguments about the main cause of the Civil War.
August 12, 2025 at 7:55 PM
dear hiring managers,

I’m not applying if you want a reference from my current supervisor. He has no idea what my job is and I’m not inclined to open myself to potential retaliation for trying to escape.
August 5, 2025 at 10:07 PM
“my boy only breaks his favorite toys”, but it’s about a job

“oh, here we go again”

“puzzle pieces in the dead of night, should've known it was a matter of time”
July 31, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Alicia
The oldest Gen Xers are 60, not 64. The oldest Millennials are 45. A category including ages45-64 includes 3 representative generations, not one.
Just because there are 4 categories doesn't mean they're broken down by generation.
Once again, Gen X is super wrong, but they're confidently wrong.
July 31, 2025 at 11:44 AM
If I hear one more thing about the library at Alexandria I’m gonna fuckin’ lose it.

It. Wasn’t. A. Great. Loss.

It. Took. Centuries.

I don’t caaaaaarrrrreeee.
July 29, 2025 at 2:59 AM
one team member has to learn how to catalog a daguerrotype.

the other, a map cataloger, has a broadside/print.

me, special collections, learning serials.

format party (and nobody knows how to do the thing, I am having A Time)
July 28, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by Alicia
OCLC laying off staff due to AI and federal cuts.

www.nbc4i.com/news/local-n... Dublin-based nonprofit lays off 80 central Ohio workers, cites AI and federal cuts | NBC4 WCMH-TV
Dublin-based nonprofit lays off 80 central Ohio workers, cites AI and federal cuts
DUBLIN, Ohio (WCMH) — A Dublin-based organization that manages the Dewey Decimal System and partners with libraries worldwide has laid off dozens of central Ohio employees, citing the rise of…
www.nbc4i.com
July 28, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Alicia
Our scanners sleep. 😴 The stream doesn’t stop. 📡

Outside scanning hours (Mon–Fri, 7:30 AM–midnight PT / GMT+8), our #livestream rolls on with historic footage, NASA photos & slices of everyday life from the #InternetArchive.

👀 Watch anytime ➡️ www.youtube.com/live/aPg2V5R...
lofi Archive radio 🎞️ beats to scan/read microfiche to
Off Hours? Watch a 2hr stream at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gibUecoF1bEEver wonder how government documents, locked away on tiny sheets of microfiche, b...
www.youtube.com
July 26, 2025 at 4:02 PM
wompwomp
time to rewrite serials shenanigans for my own notes

because look, someone made flowcharts.

cataloging would be a lot better if the instructions were half flowcharts, diagrams, and pictograms
July 25, 2025 at 7:56 PM
highly recommend a pop playlist from 1998-2007 at the dentist.

“livin la vida loca” during numbing for a filling was a great distraction. recovery to “the scientist” and “soul meets body”? lovely.

(nitrous helped too.)
July 24, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Cookbook cataloging note:
“Mousses” are under desserts.
If your mousse is made of broccoli or blue cheese, it is merely “Cooking”, I guess.

Or a salad, according to this 1958 horror.
July 22, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Add another checkmark to the maybe aro/ace/demi pile.

Saw somewhere it could also just be nd shenanigans. Either way, ick.

I’m too old & tired to want more than general companionship anyway AND as long as it works like a cat.
This question RULES and I think I could answer it a thousand different ways, but I’m gonna go with this WILD fun fact I learned from @annzhao.bsky.social’s story for Being Aro (coming next year!) about how according to a study, the average hetero college student has 5 crushes in a 7 month period. 🤯
What's the most interesting thing you've seen or learned by creating space for ace authors?
July 21, 2025 at 4:02 PM
If anyone knows how to handle bound-with serials, especially when it’s a few issues of different titles (and 1820s old), please dm me. My monographs-trained brain cannot compute, I lack documentation (local or otherwise), and have questions. 😭
July 17, 2025 at 1:51 AM