Archive for the 'professional' Category

things unknown

November 4th, 2010

Hours after a chat with Lesly yesterday about how things are done in one office at work, I remembered a story about an actor who was known more for his body than his acting ability (I can’t remember the guy’s name, or even what films he was in) who came up with what he thought was a pretty good prank on set one day: he’d take a gun loaded with blanks and pretend to shoot himself.

I’m sure it’s not the case on the most shoestring-budgeted indie films, but on any Hollywood film involving guns, there’s a gun expert. The gun expert is there to advise the crew on how guns are used (“don’t yank the trigger; squeeze it”) and, more importantly, how they should never be used. He sees the actor pick up the gun and put it against his head, and he starts shouting “no no no!” and the actor, apparently thinking what a great prank it’ll be, pulls the trigger. Bang, slump, thump: dead.

What he didn’t know was that even a gun loaded with blanks, going off against the side of someone’s head, has enough concussive force to kill the person instantly.

All of which is to say that as a librarian, I should know better than to make assumptions, especially about fields in which I’ve never worked.

Thanks, Lesly.

PSA: automatic formatting of holds lists

April 2nd, 2010

Some time back I read an article talking about how libraries all over the country were individually recreating the wheel, duplicating effort instead of building on someone else’s. There were various reasons for this mentioned: that some librarians didn’t want to feel obligated to maintain code put out in the public, that some were embarrassed about code they considered subpar, that some workplaces didn’t allow for that sort of sharing, etc.

In Florida, the work done by state and county employees, as well as municipalities, is all considered in the public domain. So in a spirit of sharing, in the hopes it will help someone outside our district, here’s this code I wrote in PHP to format holds lists generated by Sirsi-Dynix (a good system not to have, IMO).

The code is far from perfect, but on my laptop–with my laptop doing the processing, not sending the list out and waiting for a response–a 100-page report gets accepted, processed, and returned streamline in literally just a few seconds. So I’m considering it good enough to call “done” and move on.

The script can of course be modified or extended to fit your own needs, according to your own departmental breakdown and/or stack arrangement. The important thing is that I think it can give a starting point on how to approach the problem of overly verbose lists (it turns a 102-page report into a 66-page one).

With those caveats:


<?php
// check whether the form's been filled out
$list = ($_POST['list']);
$dept = ($_POST['dept']);

// removing extra line breaks at beginning and end
$list = trim($list);

// checking to see if there's actually a list
if (empty($list))
	{
	header("Location: workflows.php?status=notext");
	}

else {
	print "<html>\n<head>\n";
	print "<style type=\"text/css\">";
	print "body {\n    font-family:'Arial', 'Helvetica', sans-serif }";
	print "</style>";
	if ( (empty($_POST['dept'])) || (!isset($_POST['dept'])) )
		{print "<title>Holds list: All</title>";}
	elseif ($dept == 'youthserv')
		{print "<title>Holds list: Youth Services</title>";}
	else // Adult Services
		{print "<title>Holds list: Adult Services</title>";}
	print "</head>\n<body>\n";
	}

$jmedia = array();
$easies = array();
$jnonfic = array();
$jfic = array();
$ya = array();

$anonfic = array();
$av = array();
$afic = array();
$avhs = array();

$detritus = array();

// removing extra spaces throughout
$list = preg_replace('/( ){2,}/', ' ', $list);

// remove repeating header
// remove HOLD PICKUP LIST
$orig = "/HOLD PICKUP LIST/";
$list = preg_replace($orig, "", $list);

// remove Production date
$orig = "/Produced ([A-Za-z]{3}) ([A-Za-z]{3}) ([0-9]{1,2}) [0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2} ([0-9]{4})/";
// first try to store this as a variable for later output
preg_match($orig, $list, $matches);
unset ($matches[0]);
$produced = implode(" ", $matches);

// now remove Production date from header
$list = preg_replace($orig, "", $list);

// remove Production library
$orig = "/Library\:[ ]+[A-Za-z]+(\-[A-Za-z]+)?/";
$list = preg_replace($orig, "", $list);

// Converting line breaks
$list = preg_replace("/( )*\n+/", "<br />", $list);

// Removing extra line breaks
$list = preg_replace("/((<br \/>)+\s+(<br \/>)+\s*)+/", "<br /><br />", $list);
$list = preg_replace("/<br \/><br \/><br \/>/", "<br /><br />", $list);

// to get those stray extra line breaks (tried this other ways. no go.)
$list = preg_replace("/<br \/><br \/>[ ]+/", "<br />", $list);

// Removing copy number
$list = preg_replace("/copy\:[0-9]{0,4}/", "", $list);

// Removing type
$list = preg_replace("/type\:[A-Z]{3,}(\-[A-Z]{2,})?/", "", $list);

// Removing location
$list = preg_replace("/location\:[A-Z]{4,}\s{0,}<br \/>\s{0,}/", "", $list);

// Removing pickup library
$list = preg_replace("/Pickup library\:[A-Z]{3,}(\-[A-Z]{2,})?/", "", $list);

// removing line break between callno. and author
$callno = '/(<br \/><br \/>)([A-Z0-9\.\*\,#&-]+)([ ][A-Z0-9\.\*\,#&-]+)([ ][A-Z0-9\.\*\,#&-]+)?([ ][A-Z0-9\.\*\,#&-]+)?([ ][A-Z0-9\.\*\,#&-]+)?([ ][A-Z0-9\.\*\,#&-]+)?([ ][A-Z0-9\.\*\,#&-]+)?\s?<br \/>/';
$replacement = '$1$2$3$4$5$6$7$8 / ';
$list = preg_replace($callno, $replacement, $list);

$listarr = explode("<br /><br />", $list);

// first 'if' here does branch holds
if ( (empty($_POST['dept'])) || (!isset($_POST['dept'])) ) // branch
	{
		foreach ($listarr as $key => $value)
		{
			// group jmedia
			// send off CD JAZZ so all later CD J[A-Z] are in JFic
			if (preg_match('/^CD JAZZ/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($av, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/(SOFTWARE|DVD|VIDEO|CD) J[0-9]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jmedia, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(SOFTWARE|DVD|VIDEO) (E|J)/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jmedia, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group easies
			elseif (preg_match('/^E /', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($easies, $listarr[$key]);}
			// grabs CDs and Cassettes in area
			// must have grabbed E DVD and VHS first
			elseif (preg_match('/^([A-Z]+[ ])?E [A-Z]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($easies, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/SNUGGLE/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($easies, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group JNonfic
			elseif (preg_match('/^J[0-9]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jnonfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			// for the rare Jnonfic cassette.
			// CDs will be assumed in media section.
			// must have grabbed DVD and VHS nonfic first
			elseif (preg_match('/ J[0-9]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jnonfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/JBIO/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jnonfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^BRAILLE J/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jnonfic, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group Jfic
			elseif (preg_match('/^J[A-Z]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			// grab CDs and Cassettes
			// can't use just '/ J[A-Z]+'/ because
			// it grabs from all genres and callnos
			elseif (preg_match('/(CD|CASSETTE|DIGITAL|L\.P\.|TALKBOOK) J[A-Z]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jfic, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group YA
			elseif (preg_match('/^YA /', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($ya, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/ YA /', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($ya, $listarr[$key]);}

			// grab adult nonfic and bio
			// assumes no adult genres begin with E, J, OR Y
			elseif (preg_match('/^(\*)?BIO/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($anonfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($anonfic, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group adult CDs, CASSETTES, DVDs
			// grabbed CD JAZZ first
			// E, J, YA grabbed already and exited if/then
			// so it should be no problem
			elseif (preg_match('/^(CD|CASSETTE|DIGITAL|DVD|VIDEO|SOFTWARE|TALKBOOK) [A-Z]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($av, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(CD|CASSETTE|DIGITAL|DVD|VIDEO|SOFTWARE|TALKBOOK) (\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($av, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group adult fiction, genre, L.P., N.R., VF
			// assumes no adult genres begin with E, J, OR Y
			// BUT: E, J, YA grabbed already and exited if/then
			// so it should be no problem
			elseif (preg_match('/^((L\.P\.|N\.R\.|VF) )?[A-Z]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($afic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(VF) (\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($afic, $listarr[$key]);}

			// things not grouped elsewhere
			else
			{array_push($detritus, $listarr[$key]);}
		}
	}

// this below to give E/J/YA items only.
elseif ($dept == 'youthserv')
	{
		foreach ($listarr as $key => $value)
		{
			// group E/Jmedia
			// do nothing for CD JAZZ so all later CD J[A-Z] are in JFic
			if (preg_match('/^CD JAZZ/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}
			elseif (preg_match('/(SOFTWARE|DVD|VIDEO|CD) J[0-9]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jmedia, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(SOFTWARE|DVD|VIDEO) (E|J)/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jmedia, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group easies
			elseif (preg_match('/^E /', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($easies, $listarr[$key]);}
			// grabs CDs and Cassettes in area
			// must have grabbed E DVD and VHS first
			elseif (preg_match('/^([A-Z]+[ ])?E [A-Z]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($easies, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/SNUGGLE/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($easies, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group JNonfic
			elseif (preg_match('/^J[0-9]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jnonfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			// for the rare Jnonfic cassette.
			// CDs will be assumed in media section.
			// must have grabbed DVD and VHS nonfic first
			elseif (preg_match('/ J[0-9]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jnonfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/JBIO/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jnonfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^BRAILLE J/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jnonfic, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group Jfic
			elseif (preg_match('/^J[A-Z]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			// grab CDs and Cassettes
			// can't use just '/ J[A-Z]+'/ because
			// it grabs from all genres and callnos
			elseif (preg_match('/(CD|CASSETTE|DIGITAL|L\.P\.|TALKBOOK) J[A-Z]+/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($jfic, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group YA
			elseif (preg_match('/^YA /', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($ya, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/ YA /', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($ya, $listarr[$key]);}

			// officially do nothing for these, so $detritus will work
			elseif (preg_match('/^(\*)?BIO/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}

			// officially do nothing for these, so $detritus will work
			elseif (preg_match('/^(CD|CASSETTE|DIGITAL|DVD|VIDEO|SOFTWARE|TALKBOOK) [A-Z]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(CD|CASSETTE|DIGITAL|DVD|VIDEO|SOFTWARE|TALKBOOK) (\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}

			// officially do nothing for these, so $detritus will work
			elseif (preg_match('/^((L\.P\.|N\.R\.|VF) )?[A-Z]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(VF) (\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}

			// things not grouped elsewhere
			else
			{array_push($detritus, $listarr[$key]);}
		}
	}
else // ($dept == 'adultserv')
	{
		foreach ($listarr as $key => $value)
		{

			// CD left out:
			// must test for CD JAZZ first
			if (preg_match('/^((CASSETTE|DVD|VIDEO|L\.P\.|SOFTWARE|DIGITAL|BRAILLE) )?(E|J|YA)/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}
			elseif (preg_match('/^SNUGGLE/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}

			// grab adult nonfic and bio
			elseif (preg_match('/^(\*)?BIO/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($anonfic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($anonfic, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group adult CDs, CASSETTES, DVDs
			// grab CD JAZZ first b/c later range skips it
			// must have seen E, J, and Y first and exited if/then
			elseif (preg_match('/^CD JAZZ/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($av, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/CD (J|YA)/', $listarr[$key]))
			{}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(CD|CASSETTE|DIGITAL|DVD) [A-Z]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($av, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(CD|CASSETTE|DIGITAL|DVD) (\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($av, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group adult VHS, SOFTWARE, TALKBOOK, V.F.
			// must have seen E, J, and Y first and exited if/then
			elseif (preg_match('/^(VIDEO|SOFTWARE|TALKBOOK|VF) [A-D]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($avhs, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(VIDEO|SOFTWARE|TALKBOOK|VF) [F-I]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($avhs, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(VIDEO|SOFTWARE|TALKBOOK|VF) [K-X]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($avhs, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^(VIDEO|SOFTWARE|TALKBOOK|VF) (\*)?[0-9]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($avhs, $listarr[$key]);}

			// group adult fiction, genre, L.P., N.R.
			// must have seen E, J, and Y first and exited if/then
			elseif (preg_match('/^((L\.P\.|N\.R\.) )?[A-D]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($afic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^((L\.P\.|N\.R\.) )?[F-I]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($afic, $listarr[$key]);}
			elseif (preg_match('/^((L\.P\.|N\.R\.) )?[K-X]/', $listarr[$key]))
			{array_push($afic, $listarr[$key]);}	

			// things not grouped elsewhere
			else
			{array_push($detritus, $listarr[$key]);}
		}
	}
// end removals

// clean up detritus so later if/then will work
$detritus = implode("<br /><br />", $detritus);
$detritus = trim($detritus);

	if ($dept == 'youthserv')
	{
		print "<p>HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>Media</strong><br />\n";
		print implode("<br /><br />", $jmedia);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>Easies</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $easies);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>JFiction</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $jfic);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>JNonfiction</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $jnonfic);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>YA</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $ya);
		print "</p>";
	}
	elseif ($dept == 'adultserv')
	{
		print "<p>HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>Nonfiction</strong><br />\n";
		print implode("<br /><br />", $anonfic);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>A/V</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $av);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>Fiction</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $afic);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>VHS</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $avhs);
		print "</p>";
	}
	else // branch
	{
		print "<p>HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>E/J Media</strong><br />\n";
		print implode("<br /><br />", $jmedia);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>Easies</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $easies);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>JFiction</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $jfic);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>JNonfiction</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $jnonfic);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>YA</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $ya);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>Nonfiction</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $anonfic);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>A/V</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $av);
		print "\n<br /><br />HOLDS " . $produced . " // <strong>Fiction</strong>";
		print "<br />" . implode("<br /><br />", $afic);
		print "</p>";
	}

if ((!empty($detritus)) && ($detritus != "<br /><br />"))
	{
		print "\n<p><strong>Entries that didn't get grouped:</strong>";
		print "\n<br />The following items were on the holds list but couldn't be placed.";
		print "\n<br />If you're seeing this message it's because there is a bug in the program.";
		print "\n<br /><br />Please copy everything below this line and ";
		print "<a href='mailto:";
print "/* YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS GOES HERE */";
print "?subject=HOLDS " . $produced . " for ";
		if (($dept == 'youthserv') || ($dept == 'adultserv'))
			{print $dept;}
		else {print "branch";}
		print "'>email it to "
print "/* YOUR NAME GOES HERE */"
print "</a>.  Thank you!";
		if (($dept == 'youthserv') || ($dept == 'adultserv'))
			{
			print "<br /><br />\n<em>These items may or may not be part of your list:</em>";
			}
		print "<br />" . $detritus . "</p>";
	}
print "</body>\n</html>";

Big thanks to AskMe for their help in figuring out how to approach this project.

Death Note

December 22nd, 2008

I’ve just begun reading Death Note and like it but have, less than halfway through the first volume, just got that sinking feeling that I know how it ends. Cnegvphynel, V org gung Y genpxf qbja Yvtug naq gung Yvtug qvrf, gung Elhx hfrq gb or uhzna, naq gung Yvtug nsgre uvf qrngu orpbzrf n Fuvavtnzv.

I’m hoping that, as with M.T. Anderson’s Feed, I’m incredibly wrong.

Still, I’m enjoying the book so far. Maybe Ohba will surprise me.

font weekend

September 7th, 2008

I used the Proctor Zeus font yesterday to make some signs at work.  In so doing I found that at larger sizes some of the characters show small angles where I’d meant for them to have nothing but curves.

Now I’m going through the fonts glyph by glyph, finessing the letters and digits.

It’s dull work, though valuable, so I’ve also started a second entirely different font that I’ve had in mind for awhile.

Proctor Zeus

September 2nd, 2008

Font is done, coyly described as “in the style of a popular children’s book author” or somesuch.

It took about 60 hours total, though most of that was due to inefficiency: these were the first four fonts I’d made and so I was unfamiliar with both the process and the software. Also, though it’s a decorative font, I decided to go ahead and make the regular font, “italics,” “bold,” and “bold italics.” (The scare quotes are on those because the other fonts are really just different drawings of the same characters: a hack to allow an easy way to swap one B for another that’s slightly different, etc.)

They’re Unicode fonts, but they don’t have the full 1674 glyphs: I thought I’d have to know both Yiddish and Hebrew to stylize those characters without risking morphing them into something they’re not, so I just left them alone. I also didn’t add the Romanian characters, but if there should ever be a need for them I’d be willing to go back and add them.

The fonts all validate, for whatever that’s worth: no off-curve extreme coordinates, no contours with incorrect direction, no intersecting coordinates.

They look very good in Photoshop, not so good in MS Word.  But they print from Word with much finer detail than they’re shown with on screen.

The Proctor Zeus fonts are available here.

update: I had a redirect in the .htaccess file wrong earlier; it’s fixed now and font downloads work as they should.

a fount of tedium

August 29th, 2008

Work continues on the font.  At this point I’ve spent about 40 hours on it over the last few weeks, from inking to scanning to cleaning up the letters, to importing the glyphs to removing extraneous points and curves to validating and testing.

I’m done with the regular and italics, halfway through the bold, not yet started on the bold italics, and thoroughly tired of the work.

Reviews

August 29th, 2008

Years ago, shortly after Crash came out (the one about racism in L.A., not the one based on the bad pun on auto-eroticism), I wrote a piece about the film.  It was a strongly felt criticism of the film as absurd, crass, predictable, and manipulative; and while I was pleased with my writing at the time I realized later that it had some serious failings.  The most serious of the failings was that the review was as much about my reaction to the film as it was about the film itself.

Recently I fell into nearly the same trap in reviewing the graphic novel The Walking Dead on my library’s internal forum: I judged it predictable and overwrought, glossing over important ethical concerns while pretending to take them seriously.  The criticisms engaged with the text more than in the piece on Crash , but I still judged the work against my expectations rather than against what we can determine about the author’s.

I don’t want to get into the ‘death of the author’ debate, though it’s certainly worth acknowledging that the author’s intentions aren’t always clear, even to him- or herself.  What I do want is to give authors a fair shake.

I’m not a fan of the Pauline Kael approach to criticism, where the writer is as forceful a presence (and sometimes more forceful a presence) as the subject.  But apparently I’ve been writing with that same approach without realizing it.

It’s retrospectively obvious that everything said says something not just about the subject but also about the person who says it.  If you’ve read much of their work you’ve probably noticed Leonard Maltin’s aversion to violence, Roger Ebert’s occasional free pass to derivative storylines in films on uncommon subjects.

In both of those cases I accept the author’s personality as part of the review, but what I want for the things posted here is to determine as much as possible what the work is trying to do and to judge the work against those intentions.  I’m puzzling over how those reviews are best written, not at all sure if or when I’ll find out.

graphic novels presentation

July 31st, 2008

The thing at UF for Dr. Lamme’s class went well, though Dr. Lamme couldn’t make it because she was sick.  Her daughter showed up, took roll, and read a chapter from a very interesting book (whose title I forgot to get) about a boy and a girl whose parents argue a lot and whose father is impulsive and temperamental.

I started my presentation at 5:30 and wrapped it up at 5:50.  There were a few questions after, one about Alan Moore’s disparaging of Marvel and DC (I explained that he was known for being a good writer but also cranky and opinionated).

That was a good question which led into a question about Marvel and DC’s place in comics history, which was something I chose to leave out of the exceedingly short section on comics history.  In short–yes.  Marvel and DC are both very important to comics history in the U.S.: for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, The X-Men, The Hulk….  They’ve certainly helped popularize comics; no question of it.  I left their works out of the recommendations as well because most people in the group I first presented to had the idea that comics consisted almost entirely of tights, capes, and biff-bam-boom.

The final question was about Calvin and Hobbes (I explained that I loved it but decided that, in addition to leaving out manga and almost every superhero comic, I should also leave out comic strips).

The final slide in the presentation was about other sources for reviews of comics and graphic novels, which typically include the subject matter, recommended age groups, and a few panels of art.  I hope that it served as a decent reminder that a 20-minute presentation on such a big subject is no more than a Cook’s tour, and certainly not a decade in Europe.