Ruby Galvez, RL

AI Cannot Read Cursive?  There is a quiet irony in our time. Artificial intelligence can summarize books, generate essays, detect patterns in medical scans, and recommend what you should watch tonight. Yet many AI systems still struggle to reliably read human cursive handwriting , especially when it is informal, personal, or stylistically unique.  That is not a flaw. It is a clue. And perhaps, a warning. 1. Why AI Struggles With Cursive AI reads best when text is: Typed Standardized Predictable High contrast Cursive is the opposite. It is: Fluid Personal Inconsistent Expressive Each person’s cursive develops quirks over time. Letters connect differently. Loops vary. Spacing shifts. What looks elegant to you may look like abstract art to a machine. Printed text is uniform. Cursive is human. That difference matters. 2. The Dying Practice of Cursive Many schools have reduced or eliminated cursive instruction. The reasons are practical: ...

Libraries are designed to create order. Knowledge, however, is not.  Misclassification does not always mean someone made a mistake. Often, it reveals deeper structural tensions in how information is organized. Below are four core reasons it happens. 1. Interdisciplinary Content The book genuinely belongs in more than one class. Modern scholarship does not respect neat boundaries. A single book might combine: Psychology and economics Technology and ethics History and sociology Health and philosophy Library classification systems, including LCC, require one primary location. A physical book cannot sit in three places at once. So the cataloger must decide which subject dominates. That choice reduces complexity. Interdisciplinary books are not rare exceptions anymore. They are increasingly the norm. Classification systems, however, were built in a time when disciplines were more clearly separated. The system expects tidy categories. Authors often deliver intellectual hybrids. 2. Select...

If you hear the word “occult,” you might imagine dark rooms, candles, and someone whispering Latin badly. But in library science, the occult often sits quietly under LCC Class G — the section for Geography, Anthropology, and Folklore . Why? Because many occult works deal with myth, symbolism, ritual, cultural belief systems, and human attempts to understand the unseen. In other words, they are less about flying broomsticks and more about how people make meaning. Here are ten notable occult books that can reasonably fall under LCC G , especially within folklore (GR), customs (GT), or cultural anthropology. 1. The Golden Bough – James George Frazer Frazer’s massive comparative study of myth and religion explores magic, ritual sacrifice, fertility rites, and sacred kings. It is not a spell book. It is anthropology with a dramatic flair. Why LCC G? Because it analyzes myth and ritual across cultures. This comfortably sits in folklore and anthropology (GR). 2. The Hero with a Thousand Face...

I did not set out to fix my wardrobe. I was just tired of negotiating with it every morning. My closet was full, but I wore the same few things. The rest stared back at me like a group project I never agreed to join. I had already tried the usual advice: declutter, be ruthless, imagine an ideal self who attends brunch more often than I do.  None of it stuck. Then I realized the problem was not the clothes. It was the lack of a system.  I am a librarian. When something does not work, I do not add more space. I reclassify. Again, I remind myself that I am a librarian. When something is chaotic, my first thought is NOT “buy more storage.” It is “this needs a system.” My closet did not need more hangers. It needed cataloging. Librarians do not panic about having too many books. They decide where each book belongs:  current , non-current , or archive .  So I tried the same method on my wardrobe. The Library Method, Explained Without the Jargon In libraries: Current ...

There is a La Union Books and Arts Exhibit right now at the SM City La Union, and this got me thinking. Every city has its share of storytellers. Some write novels. Some write long social media captions that probably should have been novels. I personally think a city with no active writers feels a bit empty, like a place that only knows traffic and billboards but has no imagination. A writing culture is not optional. It is the difference between a town that thinks and a town that merely exists. If you want to encourage a writing culture where you live, start by following these 3 steps: Step 1: Make writers visible. Invite local authors to your library, schools, community centers, and yes even your neighborhood book clubs. In fact, book clubs are one of the easiest groups to involve, because they already read, already discuss stories, and usually already have snacks. A sponsored book club event featuring a hometown author can do more for visibility than a month of posters. And honestly,...

1. The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz This book says energy is more important than time. Weird, right? But it makes sense. The authors say we should work like athletes — focus hard for a bit, then take real breaks to rest and recharge. Instead of running on empty all week, you learn to build routines that give you energy, not drain it. Basically, it’s saying: stop acting like a robot and start acting like a human who takes naps. 2. Getting Things Done by David Allen If your brain feels like a messy desk full of sticky notes, this book is your cleaning guide. David Allen teaches you how to put every task, idea, or reminder somewhere safe — so your mind can finally relax. Once you’ve written everything down, you can actually focus on what’s in front of you instead of wondering what you forgot. It’s for people who want to feel calm, in control, and slightly smug about their tidy to-do lists. 3. The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker Peter Drucker is...

If your organization is working toward ISO accreditation—or trying to maintain it—you’ve probably heard the phrase document control more times than you care to count. But before your eyes glaze over, let’s break it down. ISO standards (like ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for environmental management, or ISO 27001 for information security) are built on the idea of consistency, traceability, and accountability. None of that works without proper documentation. And documentation doesn’t stay proper on its own. It needs structure. That’s where document control comes in. So, how important is it? In short: it's everything. What Is Document Control in the ISO Context? Document control refers to how an organization manages its critical documents—such as procedures, manuals, forms, and records—so that they are: Correct (the latest version) Accessible (to the right people) Secure (from unauthorized changes) Traceable (who approved, changed, or accessed them)...