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Posted March 21st, 2008 by Daniel
"How do you undo nerve gas?" "How do you make rope out of human hair?" "Would you mind checking out this rash?" These and other burning reference questions are answered in this National Library Week (April 13-19) homage to the 7.2 million questions answered weekly by the nation's public and academic librarians. Starring Shad Kunkle and shot at lovely Morton College Library in Cicero, Illinois. Click here to watch the rest of the National Library Week videos! Transcript (Opens in new tab or window).
Runtime:
1:55- Add new comment
- 16166 views
I thought it was...
..very funny and quite clever!
Since I'm an old relic, some of those questions took hours, if not weeks to answer pre-Internet.
No complaints here!
Some of those are really
Some of those are really interesting questions :)
You need a video with the ANSWERS!
The answers!
OK, here's a stab at some answers, in order of how they were asked:
-No.
-XXXXL.
-One. Two. Three.
-To the left, behind the copier.
-I'd rather not.
-Four.
-It's a trick question: You should never brush a monkey's teeth.
-Genetics!
-One-hundred-and-thirty-nine.
-Knowledge of weaving + lots of human hair + LOTS of spare time.
-The bear, no question. Having the bubonic plague actually works in its favor.
-Insect dating habits? See comments below.
-I'll take no less than $5.50.
-No.
-My mind is too blown to answer this one.
-You don't.
-No, thank goodness.
-Vampires. Next question?
-I give up.
Any librarians out there think they can do better? Let's hear your answers.
Cite your sources
Cite your sources
Videos
Is there a way we could have these playing on one of the computers in the library during National Library Week? Just playing one after another, over and over, as a full-screen display?
Thank you.
another thought...
Here's another idea: download all the videos to the computer where they are to be played, then use a video player that supports playlists and looping to play through them all. This is one that supports those features, is available for dang near every computer platform, and is free:
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Go for it.
You're welcome to use the videos. Each video can be played full-screen by clicking that little TV icon below the play-screen. But I'm not sure how to set it up so that they will play in a continuous loop.
A possible option would be to download the individual movies so you can edit them together onto a DVD. Instructions on how to download any ALF video are right here:
http://alfocus.ala.org/how-download-al-focus-videos
I hope this helps.
Viewing on campus cable station during NLW
I'm from an academic library, and would like to get permission to have this spot played on our campus TV station during National Library Week. Is that possible?
Yes.
I'm sure we can work something out. Contact us at alfocus@ala.org and let us know what you need.
What, no subtitles?
I'm disappointed that ALA doesn't seem to have added subtitles or had consideration for accessibility issues with the videos. Or did I miss a link that would make this more accessible for the hearing-impaired?
we're working on it
Great question. It's something we're aware of and we're looking for resources that would allow us to do this, since we don't have the resources to do it manually. If you have an idea that might do the job at an affordable cost, we'd love to hear about it.
Online Captioning Resource
Check out Joe Clark's Best Practices for Online Captioning. I've heard good (cheap) things about doing it yourself with SMIL for online video.
I don't know enough about
I don't know enough about resources that would allow creation of subtitling, but I'm asking from personal interest and am frustrated as an ALA member to be unable to use these.
Insect dating habits
There IS indeed a book on insect dating habits: "Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation" by Olivia Judson.
once again...
It's National Library Week, not National Librarian Week. Answering ref questions is a small part of what libraries do. Someday, I hope your egos can sustain the shock of that realization.
not just ref questions
True. But that's why there's 8 of these instead of just one.
I've seen three...
...and they're just juvenile. But I guess this is what passes for librarian humor.
OK.
You seem to be in the minority. Feel free to stop watching them.
Reference Should Rock YouTube
These are great videos -- the reference and the "game on" video.
I wonder what sort of viewage might be obtained from the general public if these are promoted / placed on YouTube!
A suggestion.
:) Mr. George of Athens GA
YouTube
Mr. George: they are on YouTube already! In addition, AL Focus is about to roll out a fully functioning YouTube site. It should be ready in a week or so.
Shad-Rock
Super Video, I was wondering how one goes about inviting ghosts to a party for my recently deceased grandfather.
Good one.
Good one. We'll consider that question for next year's videos.
Next up, Letterman!
Shad, where were you during the Writer's Strike? They could have used you on the late night tv shows.
Keep fighting the good fight!
A comrade in arms
this is just right for the
this is just right for the college crowd. fast paced, off-beat, and short. very effective.
Don't you want to hug him?
Those nice video's do we need!
I've posted it on my blog. http://essen2punt0.blogspot.com
I work in a Dutch library and of course we like those interested and wel behaved clients to. ;)
as always
Shad is a hoot! Amazingly, this wasn't too much "acting" on his part - just being himself! Love it, Shad! Laurie (Neff) Swanson
Library Week video by Kraus
Shad Kunkle is the bomb!! I want to see more of that guy!
Aunt Jo