The ALA Staff Association’s Hot Dog Day fund raiser has been postponed. My colleagues are unable to contain their disappointment and frustration.

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“Like clergy and members of religious orders, librarians hold a sacred profession, albeit one performed in a secular setting.”

Intrigued?

After being mistaken for a nun (one too many times) and being introduced as “ministering” in the library, Jewish librarian and author Nancy Maxwell began to take note of the underlying similarities between the Library and religion. Her book, Sacred Stacks, explores how being in a library can be a spiritual experience. For a brief overview, check out her interview with Jenny Saxton:
Nancy Maxwell Interview on Sacred Stacks (6:49)

After reading Karen Schneider’s post on the ALA TechSource blog and Tim Spalding’s post on the Thingology blog, I put David Weinberger’s Everything Is Miscellaneous on my to-read list. This past weekend, I got a third take on the book from Amanda Chapel. See her review on her blog, Strumpette. (Fair warning: Strumpette, which targets the PR industry, is not a polite blog. Some readers will be amused by the attitude and language; some will not.)

You might also be interested in Weinberger’s guest post on Strumpette last August, on the topic of Internet transparency.

If you haven’t been watching the TED Talks that are now being posted online, you’re missing out. I’ve started watching one every (well, nearly every) Monday morning. These talks from the annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference are sometimes related to library or publishing issues, but they are always related to thinking big and taking risks. Plus I get a nice motivational kick in the pants when I see how much these speakers are accomplishing in their lives.

I watch the streaming video versions, but you can also download the video or just the audio to your desktop or to iTunes. Here’s a great one to get you hooked: Jeff Hawkins on how brain science will change computing. These should make for great patron recommendations: for students in search of a good paper topic, for commuters tired of trying to read on a bumpy bus or train, for joggers no longer inspired by “Eye of the Tiger”…

Pictured above: Hmm…what do you think? Leave a comment with your best out-of-the-box guess. I’ll post the answer next week.

I’ve answered a few questions this week from authors who are a bit confused by our job titles here at Editions. These titles are standard in the publishing industry, so it doesn’t often occur to me to explain the organizational relationships. Perhaps most confusing is the title of managing editor. What is the managing editor’s organizational relationship to the editorial director? How about to the acquisitions editors? The copy editors?

These relationships can vary a bit among publishers, but here’s the skinny at Editions: Our managing editor, Christine Schwab, reports to the editorial director (fellow blogger and my boss, Patrick Hogan) and is a peer to the acquisitions editors (me and, until recently, Laura Pelehach).

Christine effectively has one foot in editorial and the other in production. She takes what an acquisitions editor has deemed to be a final manuscript and

• evaluates the level of copy editing it will require
• queries any missing or unsuitable bits in the text or the illustrations
• preps the manuscript for copyediting
• hires and supervises one of our regular freelance copy editors
• facilitates communication between the copy editor and the author
• preps the copyedited manuscript for production
• reviews the proof layouts and vets the work of the proofreader

The “managing” bit in her title refers both to managing the copy editors and to managing the editorial aspects of the production process.

Some of our products are rather more complex than others, so the steps described above are a bit simplistic. Indeed, she wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t mention her work on Guide to Reference. She is not only vetting the copyediting and answering a raft of questions about the huge and idiosyncratic editorial stylesheet, but also training the copy editors to work within an online authoring system. Luckily for Editions, Christine is more than up to the task.

Christine joined Editions early last year, but she and I have worked together off and on in some capacity for 11 years now. We even shared adjoining offices for a while at the University of Chicago Press. Well, actually it was an office and an adjoining storage closet. (You might think that Christine had the short end of the stick there in the storage closet, but it depends on your perspective. I had the only window, but she had the only door.)

On GR, Christine works closely with associate editor Steven Hofmann . . . and this just got too complicated for one blog post. Look out, Steven. You’re next.