Kyle Banerjee's Blog

There are a zillion videos on the Internet, but there’s one in particular that I think is worth watching. In it, a popular professor from Carnegie Mellon named Randy Pausch shares some thoughts in his final lecture (76 min). There is also a condensed 10 minute version that was broadcast on Oprah, but I highly recommend the listening to the full version if you can. The reason it is his final lecture is that he will succumb to pancreatic cancer in a short time.

I learn from everyone around me, but there are a few individuals who I have always looked to as a source of inspiration. In addition, there are a handful of people who were in my life for only a short time (maybe as little as a few hours) who said something that burned itself into my brain forever. I never met Randy, but the full length lecture makes me think that if I did, he would have been one of the people that really affects how I do things.

One of the problems that most of us suffer from is that our priorities are all screwed up. We dedicate ourselves to the grind, passively let opportunities go by, and spend our time and energy on things we don’t even value to the detriment of what is most important.

Many of us don’t act like we have any sense until we’re about to lose it all. For example, when peoples’ houses are on fire, they grab the dog, a few pictures hanging on the walls, and the drawings the kids made from the fridge. No one thinks about the plasma TV or the other garbage that we value only because of its cash value or the status it confers upon us. When we’re not in crisis, we treat the true gold in our lives like crap and vice versa.

Randy’s lecture reminded me of the last conversation I had with a colleague who passed away after a battle with cancer a few years ago. Despite the fact that she was exhausted, in pain, and knew she literally had only a few days left, we still had a great time together and even wound up laughing. That she was able to have fun in such a situation is one of the reasons that she’s one of the people I model my own behavior from.

The fact is that we’re always on borrowed time, and we should act like it. Fortunately, it appears that Randy had this figured out long ago so he’ll be able to leave without regret even though he is a young guy. Anyway, check out his lecture. He won’t tell you anything you don’t already know deep inside, but he may remind you of a few things that are always worth keeping in mind.

Of all the conferences I’ve attended over the years, my favorite by far is code4lib. It’s like no other. The level of passion and sense of community is far greater than you’ll see elsewhere. The spirit of invention, willingness to work hard, and desire to help others reminds me where the bar for excellence really is. Plus it’s just plain fun.

Organizers for other events should be taking notes. Long talks at code4lib last 20 minutes. Short talks last 5 minutes. This means that you get exposed to great ideas fast and if a presentation is a dud, you’re quickly in the clear. Presenters assume that if you’re interested in something, you’ll follow up on your own so spoonfeeding is unnecessary. As a result, you don’t lose time repeatedly reviewing the basics.

Barely over 200 people went this year, but it seems like every time there’s something interesting going on, people from code4lib are involved. Just since last week, I’ve met with totally separate groups to plan for LOCKSS throughout our consortium, discuss uploading our digital collections metadata to the Talis platform for experimental purposes, and discuss specifications that will improve interoperability between library systems with vendors and the DLF ILS task force. Participation from code4lib participants was disproportionate at all of these venues even though the conference has no actual connection.

In other words, if you’re into library technology, code4lib is really a great place to learn, meet interesting people, and get involved with some pretty cool projects.