Mummies with tummies

The oddest thing happened last Saturday. Every where I turned I saw pregnant women.

My eldest niece, darling little Hannah, came as usual for her dance class. The dance studio is in a shopping centre near my home. The usual routine is that the rest of the family will do their weekly grocery shopping at the supermarket while I watch Hannah at her dance class. Last Saturday, my sister-in-law joined me in watching Hannah dance. My sister-in-law is pregnant with her 3^rd child. The baby is due in October. Her tummy is fairly big but she doesn’t waddle as much as she did in the last 2 pregnancies. In fact she looked rather nice and comfortable in her baby-blue dress.

Then, I saw a lady in a spaghetti-strap denim top dropping off her daughter at the dance studio. At first, I just saw her back. She was bending down to get something and when she turned around to straighten up – there it was – a protruding tummy. Later on, as some other ladies came to drop off their kids or pick them up I started seeing more tummies. At first, it didn’t occur to me there was some weird pattern forming right before my very eyes. When you see one or two in one specific place, you don’t really think about it.

But then when I had to go to the supermarket to get Laura aka Peanut (the younger niece) who had fallen asleep on my brother, the number of pregnant ladies I passed was freaky to say the least. There were all sorts of shapes and sizes. One lady near the frozen foods section had a tummy that was small and sharp. Another who was at least 6 months pregnant struggled with a toddler in her arms while holding on to the hand of her 4 year old. Yet another wore a yellow baby-doll top with a frilly white border which suited her really well. There was a moment when I wondered whether I was imagining it all. Maybe, the ladies looked pregnant because of the clothes they were wearing. I mean the lady with the yellow baby-doll top – she could just be a little heavy around the tummy and the yellow top wasn’t quite so flattering after all?

So I started scrutinizing passing tummies while Laura slept peacefully in my arms. Yes, there were quite a number of women with baby-doll tops and billowy blouses. Some looked kinda like tummies with babies inside. Some looked like tummies. Period.

See – this is where fashion rules – when loose tops are the rigueur anything goes. Who cares what’s behind all that loose fabric or the rows of pleads? Asalkan fashion, boleh-lah (as long as it is fashionable, it will do).You need not worry about that extra little bit that hangs over your waist band showing. Pregnant? No need to buy budget-busting maternity dresses.

So you can’t really blame this blur bodoh if she starts seeing a parade of pregnant ladies, can you? Come to think of it, I do have a couple of baby-doll tops in my wardrobe I could dig out. Eh, I am not pregnant, ok!

 

Unleash Your Search Power!

 

LINC+

Our new and hotly anticipated enhanced library catalogue, LINC+, was launched on July 16th. This sleeker version seeks to provide users with a visually rich contents display and more features to enhance navigation. It sits next to our traditional LINC in our new library portal.

With LINC+, staff and students will find the availability of faceted searching, tag clouds, reviews and summaries, fuzzy searching, etc. all coming together to provide an improved user experience.

New Features in LINC+

That’s not all! More enhancements will be introduced in LINC+ and the library portal in phases. These cool enhancements include expanded search results from multiple sources, coverage information of e-resource titles, and a history of your loan record.

Want to know more about LINC+ and our Library Portal? Keep an eye out for our Portal Road Show in August. This road show will see librarians going from faculty to faculty, bringing the portal and its benefits to you.

Meanwhile, try it out for yourself at http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg!

 

Is Computer Science del.icio.us?

Hooray… finally the freshly baked and del.icio.us Computer Science Subject Guide (http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/lion/sg/en/cs/cs.html) is out from the oven for the Academic 2008/09!

Though not a comprehensive subject guide, we have pulled together a selective list of resources that are most useful for locating information in Computer Science. The resources are grouped under these categories: Databases, Journals, Reference Sources, Theses, Library Instruction & Tips, Internet Sources, Associations, and Patents & Standards.

You can use the Subject Guide as your Survival Reference for locating different types of resources that can meet your study and information needs:

• You may want to find out about the various Associations in the area of Computer Science
• If you are an undergraduate student, you may want to explore the various Encyclopedias and Handbooks to learn more about the subject areas:
• If you are a graduate student, you may want to explore the various Databases, Journals, Research & Citation, Theses, and Patents & Standards to understand the recent developments in the fields

To make it easier for you to access and share these resources with your peers, we have added the following 3 Utilities in the subject guide:

1. AddThis (appears as SHARE) - Add our subject guide to your Favourite, email it to your friends, add a link to it into your profiles in Facebook or MySpace, etc.
2. del.icio.us - Access the bookmarks tagged by resource types (http://del.icio.us/nus_computerscience), add me to your network, view and tag our resources into your profile, exchange favourites with us, etc.
3. RSS - Add an RSS to our del.icio.us profile so that you will be the first to know any updates or additions that we have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patrick Pu & Tan Kah Ching
Central Library

 

Fancy Hotel

Last Saturday, we went to a fancy 6-star hotel to celebrate our service award win. Yes, it was good fun, the food was good and the company even better. But I want to talk about the hotel.

The hotel looks like a bunker from outside – all shiny steel and closed-up. If not for some sculptures outside, you would not know it was there. You see, I had arrived early for the do, courtesy of a very kind couple. So while everybody was busy with something or other, I went off on a little saunter around the place.

Inside the hotel, it is like any other hotel – airy and spacious. What distinctively stood out were the artworks.

I am not talking about the large pieces of Chen Kaizhen or Chua Ek Kay gracing most of the wider walls (specially commissioned by the hotel, mind you). But rather the more intimate pieces tucked away in little corners. There were a Cheong Soo Pieng, a Georgette Chen and a Chen Wen Hsi all hung at the lobby. As far as I am concerned, these pieces chipped away a little bit of the veneer of corporate-ness of this nondescript, rather impersonal hotel. It seems as if the owner of the hotel wanted to exert a bit of her/his personality by choosing from her/his presumably sumptuous collection, these little gems – perhaps to share with us the pleasure of having them around.

And such a pleasure it is to gaze upon the swirls of a Georgette Chen Beijing scene in this bunker of a hotel. I would have preferred one of her more vivacious still-lifes but then I suppose the owner wanted a more calming and understated piece. The small Chen Wen Hsi seems more personal compared to some of his pieces in our museums. The Cheong Soo Pieng of a group of ladies stuck out despite its faded color. The hotel had reframed these pieces as all of them seem to share the same sort of gilded frame. What a shame.

In a little nook upstairs where they have some very comfortable sofas were 2 Miros. Lovely, happy Miros. What a joy to see them! And get this – in a Chinese restaurant – tucked away in one its private corners is a little Jasper Johns. Oooo… I love Jasper Johns. But this piece, not so. But it’s a Jasper Johns and that’s enough for me to stare at it for a long while.

So, when do you suppose the owner is going to bring out more little gems? I am reminded that it is a hotel and not a museum or a gallery. Oh well… By the way, there used to be a Jimmy Ong at another hotel but then, if it is a hotel, it may not be there any more.

 

My Aunt

My aunt’s animated face in full color jumped out at me when I flipped through yesterday’s newspapers. “She’s writing again?” Hey, don’t get me wrong – I love my Aunty Poh. She’s the only aunt who appreciates my Mum for who she really is. That is one single quality of her that many do not see. Thanks, Aunty Poh.

No, we do not share similar writing styles. Although, we do like to tell stories (Ok, can you hear that high pitch scream of protest?). We both enjoy observing life as it goes by and we take delight in telling people about the little things that we see, hear, love or hate. She tells it a lot better than I do, of course. She started blogging before I did but she doesn’t quite know that she is doing it. Funny lady.

Anyway, will you please tell them to choose a better photo next time, Aunt?

 

PHDs

Tell me – should I be worried? No? Well, my panic level just went up a notch last Monday at the PHD orientation.

Prior to the orientation, I had asked lecturers teaching PHDs this semester what they wanted me to cover in my briefing. Two of them replied. One felt Web of Science must be mentioned. The other thought plagiarism. So I did both.

With PHDs, I always go for the loose and casual instead of the scripted. As far as I am concerned, PHDs are a highly motivated, focused lot. You teach them one thing and they grasp it in a second and ask you 2, 3 questions in return. They have stuff in the old noggin that will throw you out of orbit and man, you sure have to keep up. That’s the fun part.

So, tell me, should I be worried when they tell me they have not heard of Web of Science? Plagiarism? The room was quiet and still. No, I guess I shouldn’t worry. Right?

 

Welcome, PHDs

Yesterday, I saw a flock of five white egrets flying by just as I started my morning walk towards the bus stop. They glided by with an elegance only we could dream of but could never recreate.

If this was to be a start of the months ahead, what a delightful start it is! Our new PHD students are arriving and our orientation program with them will begin on 7 July. They will start their preparatory classes soon. We are again privileged to be invited to welcome them to our library and to introduce them to our many resources and services.

I get all warm and fuzzy when it comes to the PHDs. They are a nice, small, cozy group. When I arrive for their welcome lunch, I see bright, eager faces mingling with the seniors and lecturers. They ask lots of questions and are a friendly lot. When I start my orientation talk with them, all eyes would be focused on what I have to say and what appears on the screen. Even after a sumptuous lunch, they do not nod off. Don’t you just love them?

But still, the proof of the pudding is when we start connecting when we meet up to discuss how to effectively do literature searches. As we continue with follow-up sessions, we start getting to know each other better. I find myself learning a whole lot from them. You can’t beat a one-to-one when it comes to learning.

Welcome, PHDs. And thanks!

 

Screams, Slippers & 200 Freshmen in Central Library

If you were in the Central Library this past Monday afternoon, you might have been wondering why there were packs of young, panting students running up and down the library. No, they were not participants in a local episode of The Amazing Race. In fact, they were some of the 200 FASS freshmen attending their Arts Club Orientation Camp.

Central Library was one of the stations in their campus tour segment and we were given 15 minutes with each group of students. We were of course looking forward to meeting these new students and having the chance to interact with them more closely. Despite the limited contact time, we devised a short game that was a library version of Treasure Hunt. After a brief presentation by a librarian, students had to decode a list of book and journal references, identify the item locations by searching LINC, and quickly bring these items back within 6 minutes.

From the muffled screams, turbo-flapping of flip-flops, steely determination on their faces, and triumphant looks at the end, it was clear that the freshmen enjoyed this segment. It was also heart-warming (and not a little surprising) for us to see students so excited about looking for library resources. Suffice to say that we were duly impressed and pleasantly surprised by the results. All groups did admirably, considering the fact that none of them had previously used LINC or visited the Central Library. The props each group carried as a sign of camaraderie only served to make the experience more amusing to onlookers. Imagine sprinting down two flights of steps in slippers and a cardboard pitchfork strapped to your back!

It was a great three hours that provided us with valuable insights and encouragement. It is indeed possible for us to have fun with our users while teaching them important skills at the same time. We look forward to more of these sessions in the future!

For more pictures, please go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26715601@N07/sets/72157605817485988/

 

Status Report

Last weekend, I went on a date. (Yes, librarians do go on dates too, you know). Somehow or other, this date seemed to have generated quite a bit of interest. I suppose this is because my gentleman friend happens to be my colleague and one-time boss. And these interested parties had in their own ways contributed to the date. As such, they figure a status report was due.

When I got back to work, I was warned to expect questions, questions and more questions. Thankfully, the questions were not so pointed. As much as I want to “siam”, I know that there is no hole I can crawl into when it came to colleagues who make it their business to find out things (and neither of them are librarians, can you believe it?).

The date wasn’t really a date per se. He and I have been friends for years. We were celebrating his “big” birthday. It was not an obligatory celebration but a time to enjoy good food and good company. The French food was way over-priced but the setting in lush gardens in the middle of our city was worth it.

We have not had personal time together for a long while now due to various family commitments. So having the quietness and comfort of talking with and listening to him was like balm to a tiring week. Conversations stirred towards silly jokes, personal observations of life and our interest in the beauty of form. For once, I could quote an example of beauty in which we both seem to agree on. He said I must have been mesmerized. He would have been too (and drooling buckets) if he saw what I had the pleasure of seeing (and what a pleasure it was!). But then, knowing his standards, I am not too sure now.

The interested parties may like to know – we had a good time as we always do. End of status report.

 

The beauty of charcoal

Museums rock. You can not possibly leave a museum without a sense of awe. Especially art museums. Beauty, even if it is in the eye of the beholder, is never over-rated.

Take my little walk-around at the SAM recently. I went there for Xu Beihong. But ended up overwhelmed by a spectrum of styles of 3 artists in my fave medium, charcoal.

What took my breath away was not Xu Beihong’s huge piece of a foolish old man trying to remove mountains but his small, delicate, careful charcoal renderings of himself, Gandhi, an Indian lady and others. As I look at the few soft, fine lines criss-crossing to give form to the strength of character or the elegance of a posture, I can imagine the intensity of the artist’s concentration and the skill of his hand.

Then there was Alberto Giacometti’s quick sketches of Annette. His continuous, scribbly curves of an Annette seated and staring out at me spoke in quiet tones of the silent energy of a static form. I can’t really see Annette’s features or her expression but you get a sense of wide-eyed hesitancy but yet you know from his other sketches you see the confidence in her poses.

I ended my little walk with a Jimmy Ong.

I was floored. I felt my heart dropped and all I knew of form, of strokes, of techniques, slided languidly from me. I mumbled repeatedly, “How did he do that?” It was an incredibly awesome piece of dark, forceful swirls coming together to form a man sitting in the middle surrounded by two resting animals. He is bending towards one of the animals, his gestures suggesting a conversation he is having with one of the animals (that and the title “Hearing the Master’s Voice”). It was a composition of rest but it vibrated with dormant energy and movement. It was a contradiction of what I saw and what I felt. Jimmy Ong’s charcoal works always seem to overwhelm and writhe with intensity but I must say, this SAM piece is one of his most inspiring works.

For a moment, his piece stripped away all earthly pretensions and reminded me of the sublime beauty that sits in the heart of every created work.