The almost decade-long study across multiple library types into the intrinsic motivational imperatives of professional cataloguers was completed last week, and is published exclusively here for the edutainment of WLW readers.

Whilst not yet in final publication form, the wide ranging study began in 1999 when a cataloguer at the NSW State Library was asked during a morning tea break "don't you find it a bit boring?" The study was completed last week when a cataloguer from an academic library was asked the same question - hopefully couched in a more politically correct manner.

To ensure academic rigor for this report, the Wikipedia entry for the topic was accessed. Who knew that the entire secret to the mysterious world of cataloguing could be encapsulated into two paragraphs? And to think so many spent countless hours struggling through OCLC publications and sweating over exam results at Library School.

However, to return to the research, both of the information professionals surveyed returned pretty much the same response, "No" ...

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University of Adelaide Law faculty member Allayne Webster has broken ground so dry that even wombats couldn't tunnel into it.

Her book Our Little Secret has generated no less than 4 postings on at least one library listserve, which for laconic Australians is tantamount to a groundswell of opinion.

Webster says of her writing of the book " ... I felt like every day that I opened the newspaper, all I read were brief stories on young children or teenagers who had been sexually assaulted or abused. The reports were always so clinical - and to convey such a terrible act in only a few lines seemed not to do the topic justice. What happened to these young people? How did it affect them? What values did society place on them? What misconceptions did they face? How did they move on with their lives? A novel can be about simple entertainment or it can be about taking you on a journey. A good novel can have the power to change you. I want Our Little Secret to change people. I want it to help people of all ages understand the devastating effects of sexual abuse ..."

As a result of the professional discussions, folk with the book in open stack are going to leave it there, whilst those who have it on closed access will probably do the same ...

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Online comic, print publication, and product store organisation Unshelved have announced the winners for their second annual Pimp My Book Cart competition. 129 contestants entered the competition, a 25% increase over last year's entries.

Great work, but some folks would be thinking that anyone can make the standard drab trolley look better; a piece of ribbon here, a touch of whimsy there, a dab of $20,000 worth of flashing lights and auto body work. Wouldn't it be really exciting to raise the creativity bar to previously unknown heights? What about a Pimp Our Encyclopedia Collection, or Pimp Our Pencil Sharpeners, or ...

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Having now screened nationally twice on Australian TV, the reviews are coming thick and fast from the mainstream media.

The official ratings system showed that the comedy lost 200,000 viewers in its second week, dropping to a million (which is still one for every 22 viewers of the country's entire population, statistically). But in a nation famed for its appreciation of sport, the Melbourne Cup TV coverage had its lowest audience this decade. Even the cricket could manage only 794,000 viewers on Saturday. One pundit proposed that the drop in TV viewing in general may be related to the current saturation coverage of the election campaigns.

Tim Elliot, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, noted that " ... With their antique ambience, earnest attendants and unlikely mix of patrons (silence nazis [sic] and hormonal students), libraries would seem rich pickings for comedy writers. Yet this series is hit and miss ...".

An unusual but witty review wins the WLW Award for Unusual and Witty Reviews; The Age newspaper from Melbourne published its commentary with DDC references for each paragraph. Even the title, "Having a Lend" is clever, if you're familiar with Australian idioms ...

Go here to watch the last episode of The Librarians >>>