Comments on: Manic

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:34:24 +0000

Nathan,
Thanks for listening to my show. I’ve been listening to your DTV show, and enjoying it. The article you mentioned sounds like something I’d like to read. Is it on the internet somewhere?

My bookstore has been emulating a library for quite some time now. We have chairs everywhere for people to sit in, and read for free. Some of our stores nationwide even have big comfy chairs for people to relax in. As a result, we now have some customers who show up almost daily, who sit down and read all day long, use our bathrooms, and never buy so much as a drink from the cafe. I can identify them by sight, and even know what they like to read.

And, I have tried to redirect some people to call the public library for the answers to their random questions, but it does not work well. People get offended that I am not helping them, or, they pretend they don’t understand what I am telling them to do, and they ask their question a different way. Others simply say “Ok, I’ll do that” and call the store back fifteen minutes later, hoping to get a different bookseller on the phone than the one they spoke with before.

I don’t mind helping people if I know the answer off the top of my head, and it’s quick. However, the people who take up lots of time are actually costing us money, (in terms of labor, and also because if we are helping them with a random reference question, then we aren’t out there selling something to a paying customer). It’s just not fair.

Good luck with library school!

By: Nathan Lott

Nathan Lott — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:08:59 +0000

After listening to Hyper Nonsense for a while, I decided to start listening to this one. This was the first show I started with. I think I may have listened to a few during NaPodPoMo. Anyway, very good episode. About your frustrations with the callers you are receiving at work. I found it very interesting the questions you are getting because they sound like reference desk questions a library might be getting. I just took a reference course this past summer–I’m half way through library school. Maybe the next time you get those questions you can refer them to the local public library. One of the articles I had to read for class is how many people now are beginning to treat the bookstore like the library and apparently some libraries are starting to emulate bookstores by adding coffee bars and bookstores are emulating libraries by adding comfortable seating. It was an interesting article.

By: Jen

Jen — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:04:48 +0000

I had no idea, Colin, that the whole “The Big Boy did it” thing was from a book. Interesting. This makes it even more amusing to me, everything considered.

A big thank you to both Colin, and Rowley, who have sent me lovely emails providing both technical support, alternative ideas, and a sympathetic ear concerning the whole “IODA Promonet Hates Me” discussion.

By: Colin G

Colin G — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:23:55 +0000

The whole ‘big girl’ thing was actually a reference to a book by one of my favourite authors. ‘The big boy did it and ran away’ is a favourite excuse for very young children caught doing something naughty in Scotland. Christopher Brookmyre is a Scottish author who always has great titles for his books and he called one of them ‘The Big Boy Did It And Ran Away’. When I record my shows it’s pretty much a stream of consciousness and when I was looking for an excuse for being so easily led by you that book title came to mind.

I agree that Promonet is a poorly designed site and I only use it when I’ve heard a track on another podcast. Occasionally I will trawl through the ‘Just Added’ section of the site to see if I recognise any of the band names, but I never listen to the clips.

I do one VidCast a year featuring my 10 favourite videos for tracks that have been played on my show and I always ask permission from the bands even if they are on PMN or Promonet. I didn’t have any problems with the one I’ve done so far.