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On Jan 12th, the government of Ontario issued new guidelines and restrictions for the province. Having reviewed the new guidelines, LSC already complies with the requirements, and will not be closing.
Since reopening in June, we have positioned ourselves to comply with the most vigorous health and safety requirements of the Region of Waterloo public health and the Ontario Ministry of Health, in order to remain open except in the case of a mandatory lockdown, as in the spring of 2020.
This has included:
As with every announcement of new restrictions, we understand that this will impact the library operations of our clients differently. Please contact Michael Clark if you require a pause to shipping, changes to receiving instructions, or anything other needs you may have during this period.
We are here to help in whatever way we can.
Stay safe and stay healthy. |
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For me, there are few things more soothing than getting lost in a good book and drinking an enormous cup of coffee. So when you find yourself moving to a new city, like I have just done (in the middle of a pandemic, no less‽) I find that reaching for an old favorite and returning to a familiar time and place within a story can be really comforting.
As a side note, did you know that Tom Hank moved ten times before he was ten? He credits always being the new kid to his developing his kind, unthreatening persona. And why he’s so good at acting, since with every move he had to slip into a new role.
To keep up to date with all of LSC’s latest offerings, please follow LSC on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter, our YouTube Channel, and now on Issuu.
In 2021, we will be transitioning the Green Memo into the LSC Weekly Update, delivered via MailChimp. If you want to continue to receive our weekly newsletter, and other notifications and updates, please take a second to update your profile.
Stay safe! |
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Happy 2021! Here’s to a better year going forward. However, the year that was wasn’t all bad, so to celebrate, we asked our staff for their picks of the best books and AV from 2020.
To round up our staff picks of 2020, Carrie P. in HR chose the album Slow Rush by the excellently-named Tame Impala.
To keep up to date with all of LSC’s latest offerings, please follow LSC on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter, our YouTube Channel, and now on Issuu.
In 2021, we will be transitioning the Green Memo into the LSC Weekly Update, delivered via MailChimp. If you want to continue to receive our weekly newsletter, and other notifications and updates, please take a second to update your profile.
Happy new year! |
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LSC will be closed for the holidays from Dec 24th, and will reopen on Jan 4th, 2021 (and be glad to leave 2020 behind). Merrys and happys from everyone at LSC to all of you. |
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With the winter holidays looking a little different this year for most people, we asked our staff to share some of their favourite winter holiday books, movies, and music.
“Ever since my kids were little, we started a tradition of watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on Christmas Eve while eating “fancy” appetizers (grocery store party pack). My girls love this short movie and even insisted on watching it the one year when my brother and family visited from the US and stayed past the appetizer dinner hour. The girls did not care that family was visiting. The movie went into the DVD player and we all HAD to watch it. We also own the book and will read it repeatedly leading up to the Xmas holidays; it never gets old or boring.
Now, I also have a personal tradition that I have had for at least the last 20 years (guessing here) and that is listening to Mary’s Boy Child from the Boney M Christmas album. As soon as Dec 1st hits, that song comes on in my car, my house, and during my run. I still own the CD but now also have the song on my phone for quick access. It is a classic that never gets old or boring to me.”
To keep up to date with all of LSC’s latest offerings, please follow LSC on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter, our YouTube Channel, and now on Issuu.
In 2021, we will be transitioning the Green Memo into the LSC Weekly Update, delivered via MailChimp. If you want to continue to receive our weekly newsletter, and other notifications and updates, please take a second to update your profile.
Merry happy! |
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Nearly a year ago, LSC announced that we would begin moving away from traditional subject headings that refer to Indigenous peoples in outdated, colonial ways. After some unexpected delays, we are proud to announce that this service will go live in January 2021.
As a non-Indigenous Canadian company, LSC recognizes Canada’s colonial history, and how existing library standards continue to subjugate Indigenous Peoples by perpetuating names appointed by settlers. Our headings will use their own self-identified names - for example, Cree is a title appointed by colonizers; the people themselves identify as Nehiyawak.
LSC has adapted the list of Indigenous subject headings created by Greater Victoria Public Library. We also acknowledge that the list is a work-in-progress which will continue to grow as we learn more, update or add new headings, and remove outdated and offensive headings. The list is not exhaustive or 100% accurate, but is a trustworthy starting point.
Other organizations have started this process as well. We hope that Library and Archives Canada (LAC) continue their work toward building a national standard, made in consultation with the hundreds of Indigenous nations across Canada. When a national standard is available, LSC will adopt those headings.
Stage One
At the same time, LSC’s cataloguing team will update old records internally with the new headings. This will take time, but will ensure any new purchases of backlist material will contain the new headings. This will happen at no additional cost to your library.
Stage Two
LSC is very proud to be part of this movement, which we feel is made in the spirit of the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A comprehensive list of the headings is available upon request – please feel free to reach out to Michael Clark with any questions or concerns. |
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For several years now I’ve been tracking my reading on Goodreads, and as a result, the site offers me reading suggestions based on what its algorithms think I like, and they aren’t alone. Virtually every service that I use from Amazon to Netflix to Spotify uses increasingly sophisticated algorithms to figure out what I like and make purchasing/watching/listening suggestions based on that information.
As much as it disturbs me that they know so much about me, at least I have to make the choice to take them up on their suggestion. Amazon doesn’t just automatically send me stuff because they think I like it, and nobody can force me to watch/listen to something if I don’t like it. But what if they could?
As for the citizens, well they needed a total makeover too. Afterall, you can’t just have ordinary people living in Qualityland. The consultants decided that every boy would be given the surname relating to his father’s job, and every girl her mother’s occupation at the time that they are conceived. If your father/mother is a doctor or a lawyer, you’re laughing. Of course, there also ends up being names like Prisoner and Cleaner, but we don’t need to talk about them.
For all intents and purposes, Qualityland is a utopia. A universal ranking system determines your ability to find a job and your social standing. Finding a partner is automated, and if your ideal match changes, the system will break up with them for you. Self-driving cars just know where you want to go, and you don’t need to worry about shopping for yourself anymore because TheShop (essentially Amazon) can do it for you. See something on TV that you like? Simply tell your Qualitypad (iPad) to order it for you, and boom- it will appear at your door in a flash. TheShop’s algorithm knows what you want without you even having to ask, and it’s automatically delivered to your door.
Unfortunately, the system doesn’t quite work for everyone. One day, Peter Jobless (you can guess what his father’s occupation was), who works as a machine scrapper in QualityCity receives a product from the shop that he is certain he neither needs nor wants. I won’t tell you what it is, but I’ll give you a hint- it’s pink, shaped like a dolphin, motorized, and definitely not for children.
Peter attempts to contact TheShop to return it, but discovers that this is practically impossible because machines don’t make mistakes. The algorithms are never wrong, and if they sent it, he most certainly must have wanted it. This leads Peter to start questioning the accepted norms, and how things work. Why are humans becoming less human while machines are becoming more so? What ensues, is a quest to meet with the head of TheShop to prove that they did in fact make a mistake and get a refund on the product that he very definitely does not want. The quest is set against the backdrop of an election where the choices are crazy right-wing celebrity chef and a hyper-intelligent, socialist robot.
Interspersed throughout the novel are news bulletins, guidebook entries, and of course comments from readers which results in the comment function being closed due to “a large number of idiotic comments”. Sound familiar?
The notion that machines can be mind-readers isn’t as crazy as it sounds. My entertainment apps already curate recommended lists based on what it assumes my tastes are, and I’m bombarded with suggestions from Amazon for products I might like based on what I’ve purchased in the past. If Amazon started sending me products based on what they think I want, I can’t even imagine what I might end up with. The problem with these algorithms is that in only ever showing me what I already know I like, I’m never exposed to anything new. The same is true of information, and this is the central point of the novel. If you’re only ever exposed to information and people who confirm your beliefs and opinions, it becomes a vicious circle. Our viewpoint becomes narrow and unchallenged, and anyone who doesn’t share those views has to be wrong.
The novel is a brilliant satire full of dark humour. Think 1984 but much more comical. The author has been aptly compared to Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut, and it offers a sharp commentary on capitalism, our dependence on machines to think for us, and celebrity culture. It also challenges the narrow internet bubbles in which we increasingly exist. It’s a novel that I haven’t stopped thinking about and one of those hidden gems that I would recommend everybody read. HBO also recently announced that Mike Judge (Office Space, Silicon Valley) will be adapting the book into a limited TV series, which is another good reason to pick it up.
To keep up to date with all of LSC’s latest offerings, please follow LSC on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter, subscribe to our new YouTube Channel, and now on Issuu. We also encourage you to subscribe to the weekly Green Memo, and we hope you check back each and every week on this site for our latest musings on the publishing world.
Happy Reading! |
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So, there was an election south of the border, if you weren’t aware. Little thing, barely mentioned on the news *deactivates sarcasm filter*. Which gets me in the mood for presidents from history and from the world of fiction. And so, to add another distraction log onto the fires of 2020, I plunge into the backlist and think about past and pretend presidents of the elephant in the room.
It is a helpful guide should you ever travel back in time/be confronted with zombie presidents. It might be very important one day to know that you could have definitely taken Millard Fillmore in a fight, a man so hated that upon assuming the presidency after Zachary Taylor died (you also could have beaten Taylor in a fight) his entire cabinet resigned, his party abandoned him, and ultimately caused the downfall of the Whig party. “Please know”, O’Brien writes, “that after his presidency he also formed the Know Nothing Party, a political party that was sort of okay but mostly racist, and during his presidency he causally protected slavery. Because Fillmore wasn’t just boring and a bad president, he was a d**k.”
Which fictional presidents are your favourites? More than that, which fictional characters would you love to see run for president? Send your answers to mclark@lsc.on.ca.
To keep up to date with all of LSC’s latest offerings, please follow LSC on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter, our YouTube Channel, and now on Issuu. We also encourage you to subscribe to the weekly Green Memo, and we hope you check back each and every week on this site for our latest musings on the publishing world.
Fictionally Yours, |
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Yesterday was Indigenous Veterans Day. Wednesday is Remembrance Day. While we do not close for these dates, we do take a moment to reflect and to remember on the brave and valorous individuals who have fought and sacrificed, across history and the world. May they never be forgotten. |
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As much as I hate to admit it, my family is a video game family. As much as I said I would never EVER be “that Mom” who would let their child engage in such a thing, I am that Mom. And as much as this pains me to write this, I myself, have succumbed to the world of video gaming. Much like many other things, I blame the virus.
As much as I’m enjoying myself right now, I still don’t think I’m a true ‘gamer’ and I’ll eventually get bored of this too, but I do get the fascination with games and can understand how people get hooked. It’s a fun way to pass the time, and right now it’s a great way to connect with other people while being socially distant.
With the holiday season approaching, this is the time of year for the biggest, most talked about titles, as well as the new video game consoles. This year both Microsoft and Sony have new consoles releasing November 10th; the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Of course with the new consoles, there will be new games. While the PlayStation 5 is backward compatible (meaning it can play PS4 games as well), the Xbox Series X is cross-compatible.
It features something called ‘Smart Delivery’, which allows the user to get the best version of the game for the console they are playing on. This is very cool, because that means that one game will work on both consoles. The new games coming out for Xbox One and Xbox Series X are being sold as one individual disc, the ‘Smart Delivery’ feature allowing the disc to be played on either console.
This is just a very short list of a longer list of titles coming out this November and December. For the full video game release list check out slist #43578.
To keep up to date with all of LSC’s latest offerings, please follow LSC on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter, our YouTube Channel, and now on Issuu. We also encourage you to subscribe to the weekly Green Memo, and we hope you check back each and every week on this site for our latest musings on the publishing world.
Happy gaming! |
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LSC Library Services Centre 31 January 12, 2021 |
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Nicole Defreitas 1 January 11, 2021 |
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Rachel Seigel 18 November 23, 2020 |
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Michael Clark 16 November 16, 2020 |
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Karrie Vinters 6 November 3, 2020 |
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Sara Pooley 5 October 19, 2020 |
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Selection Services 2 September 14, 2020 |
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Stef Waring 12 August 24, 2020 |
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Jamie Quinn 2 July 27, 2020 |
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Angela Stuebing 2 December 16, 2019 |
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Dale Campbell 1 June 24, 2019 |