In the past few years, I've been noticing a trend amongst many of the smart, talented cataloging colleagues that I know -- they are are leaving the Cataloging profession.I think there are many factors at work, but I see a few trends:

• The shifted job: Their jobs have shifted even if their job descriptions or titles have not.
• The evolved job: Their jobs and official job descriptions have shifted from "Cataloger" to something involving bibliographic services, metadata, electronic resources, digital initiatives, etc.

In the past few years, I've been noticing a trend amongst many of the smart, talented cataloging colleagues that I know -- they are are leaving the Cataloging profession.I think there are many factors at work, but I see a few trends:

• The shifted job: Their jobs have shifted even if their job descriptions or titles have not.
• The evolved job: Their jobs and official job descriptions have shifted from "Cataloger" to something involving bibliographic services, metadata, electronic resources, digital initiatives, etc.

When I have a bit of free time (as if - ha!), I've been wandering around second life. Honestly, I still don't get it. I've been to a couple of academic/IT related presentations, I've gone shopping (for free clothes), and I've been to a few museums/art galleries. I'm still trying to see how I could use this for learning or teaching. I see some of the potential (emergency services training, language classes/conversation, virtual meetings, museums, interactive multimedia art projects, etc.) , but I'm thinking the technology is still too new to be of greater use by the general population.Why?

When I have a bit of free time (as if - ha!), I've been wandering around second life. Honestly, I still don't get it. I've been to a couple of academic/IT related presentations, I've gone shopping (for free clothes), and I've been to a few museums/art galleries. I'm still trying to see how I could use this for learning or teaching. I see some of the potential (emergency services training, language classes/conversation, virtual meetings, museums, interactive multimedia art projects, etc.) , but I'm thinking the technology is still too new to be of greater use by the general population.Why?

The Closing of Library Services... The Opening of Library Services (Free Webcast)Wednesday, Oct. 22, 3-5:30 pmBrewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive and director of the Open Content Alliance (OCA) and a critic of proprietary services like the massive Google Books project, will be the keynote speaker for the fourth John Seely Brown Symposium on Technology and Society sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Information. Mr.

The Closing of Library Services... The Opening of Library Services (Free Webcast)Wednesday, Oct. 22, 3-5:30 pmBrewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive and director of the Open Content Alliance (OCA) and a critic of proprietary services like the massive Google Books project, will be the keynote speaker for the fourth John Seely Brown Symposium on Technology and Society sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Information. Mr.

------The European funded MUVEnation project has just launched ‘Teaching and learning with MUVEs’. This is a one year postgraduate programme, delivered online, for future and in-service teachers who want to use innovative methods and tools to address learners motivation and participation issues in compulsory education. What impact can 3D virtual worlds, such as Second Life, really have on our learning and teaching settings?The course is free, but there are only 80 places.

------The European funded MUVEnation project has just launched ‘Teaching and learning with MUVEs’. This is a one year postgraduate programme, delivered online, for future and in-service teachers who want to use innovative methods and tools to address learners motivation and participation issues in compulsory education. What impact can 3D virtual worlds, such as Second Life, really have on our learning and teaching settings?The course is free, but there are only 80 places.