With the election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to the position of Pope, the insightfulness of the library profession has once more been demonstrated.

In a recent edition of Customs News, Michael Horne reported that the Customs Librarian was considered a long shot, adding that "a cardinal, who declined to be identified, explained that since the Pope should be a priest, the fact that the Customs Librarian has not been ordained does present a problem". This has been proven to be an accurate prediction.

As yet, there have been no statements issued from Rome on any proposed policy changes for the Vatican Library. However, the introduction of a graphic novels acquisition program is considered to be at even longer odds than the Customs Librarian's ascension to the papacy ...

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Under the librarianship classification of the OCLC's compilation of the top 1000 titles owned by member libraries, "the intellectual works that have been judged to be worth owning by the purchase vote of libraries around the globe", unsurprizingly the Anglo-American Cataloging Rules (current edition) holds top ranking.

But within the complete listing, AACR ranks only in 428th position. Always keen to help stuggling organizations such as OCLC, the Warrior Librarian Advisory Service recommends a make-over of the front cover - maybe with a magna style graphic. Also, they need to drastically reduce the cost. The current price is more than 10% of the whole book budget for some smaller libraries. And the content needs some major revision of the plot and character development ...

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Boston MA: Information Specialist Elaine C. Alligood announced "a sort of mid-career sabbatical opportunity in Cambodia, helping rebuild the Khmer cultural heritage destroyed by Pol Pot through working in the Library of the Center for Khmer Studies in Cambodia [not the one pictured here] for a few months. For someone in the right spot in their career this could be a wonderful adventure".

The Center for Khmer Studies (CKS), founded in 1999, is an international, non-governmental, not-for-profit membership-based consortium of universities, organizations and individuals, and is offering a "mid-career librarian" sabbatical/consultant opportunity to develop a strategic plan and goals to further develop the Center’s Library collections and staff for the future.

Those interested are asked to contact the director Philippe Peycam at phpey@khmerstudies.org, not Warrior Librarian ...

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The Punjab College Librarians's Association have demanded that the Ministry of Human Resource Development implement the revised career advancement scheme and fixation benefits, which were ratified in 1998.

There were also queries regarding the 36 vacant positions in various academic libraries, a request to confirm the status of those appointed between 1998 and 2000, plus a mention of those librarians of colleges that had been taken over in 1997.

At the special meeting, they also congratulated various members on achievements and also elected new office bearers. The incumbant president was re-elected ...

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The Tasmanian state opposition says education funding has declined 2.2 per cent as a proportion of government spending, and is contributing to a decline in literacy skills.

In response, the ruling state government says the Liberal Party is misrepresenting education funding.

Meanwhile both political parties are throwing around figures that could not fail to impress those with numeracy challenges. Which according to the opposition would be most of the state. "We've got these children that can't pass literacy and numeracy tests that are set by the State Government," said Liberals' Peter Gutwein.

The state's Minister for Education has responded to claims of falling literacy standards with "noe hits nort", but that could have been a problem with the spell checker ....

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Despite the best efforts of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance and the Fat Pride movement, the play Fat Pig by professional misanthrope Neil LaBute has hit the headlines.

The play features Helen, a witty librarian whose romance with a software executive is ruined because he's embarrassed to be seen with her socially because of her size, feeling it threatens his career.

Unfortunately the interest shown in the play by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg seem to indicate that a major motion picture could result. Why Helen had to be a librarian, but couldn't have been an accountant or a movie producer, has not yet been explained ...

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What a hugely significant time of year for a majority of the world's population; the election of a new Pope, AND the Warrior Librarian's birthday - both in the same week!

It's unlikely that Pope Benedict XVI has had time to set up an Amazon Wish List to assist his faithful followers in selecting appropriate gifts. However, Warrior Librarian readers who wish to show their appreciation for over four years of free access to WLW will not have a similar problem.

Those who have been busy lately should remember that there is no shame in sending belated gifts. A quick visit here will locate presents starting from a mere $3.99. Plus you won't have to worry about what wrapping paper to use, which card to get, or even a delivery address ...

Children's and school librarians may like to recognise the fact that the National Mental Health Association has declared May 3 Children's Depression Awareness Day.

The NMHA has some suggestions as to what might be appropriate. But hey! What about cutting these kids some slack, and letting them enjoy themselves in the library for once? After all, there isn't anything that can't be cleaned, fixed or replaced, given a large enough budget ...

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Although J.K. Rowling's new website opening page is a major diversion in itself, Stationery is Bad has a short flash animation that will appeal to anyone who has ever touched a pen, piece of paper, or stapler in an office-type situation.

Sure, the site is basically an advertisement for some pretty old Microsoft software, but the three free downloadable videos are almost certain to be popping up in PowerPointPresentations. In fact, a Warrior Librarian Workshop in May will feature one of them ...

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Both stupidity and the greatest genius are equally useful in shaping the destiny of mankind.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

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Reuters reporter Greg Frost reports on college students who successfully submitted an academic paper to the World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics.

The paper, which was composed by automated randomly generated gibberish,was in response to being flooded with spam-type email requesting papers for submission ...

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Parody not as witty as original

The compilation of Eats, shites and leaves: Crap English and how to use it was moderately amusing. This content was much funnier when first read in various places around the Internet a few years ago. Publisher Michael O'Mara Books - who notably have never provided Warrior Librarian with anything for review ....

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The Warrior Librarian's never-ending quest for ways to get a miniscule budget to make some impact on library necessities has taken a new direction; the possibility of black magic has now been considered. Although the most recent foray was not successful, one store did offer a possible lead.

The series of matchbox-sized Pocket Spells novelty items, includes the pictured Pocket Spells for Study with a book graphic on the front. The list of contents includes 'magic rocks' (which were found to be too small for throwing); 'magic botanicals' that didn't even come close to caffeine for effectiveness; and 'magic oil' which tasted suspiciously like olive oil.

But the 'mood candles' - intended to promote concentration - were a timely reminder to check the fire insurance paperwork ...

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In the words of Jack Nicolson, "it doesn't get much better than this". Two weeks leave with a birthday in the middle. But it's not all reading and getting out of bed at lunchtime - although that's been a major focus.

There's also been lunching with interstate library colleagues visiting Sydney; new bookstores to explore; the Sydney Writers' Festival program to parody and/or satirize; not to mention the ironing backlog which has been successfully ignored ...

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