Below is a presentation on Academic Library Liaison Programs I gave with two other students for my Collection Development course (summer 08). It was a pretty successful presentation so I thought I would post it here. Fun.
Google Documents Presentation
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Elvis Room Interview (Repost)
I previously posted this on a defunct blog but I think its interesting so I thought I would carry this content over to my new blog. I have also been toying with the idea of writing a zine about NH punk history and some of this information is great.
The Elvis Room was a punkrock club in Portsmouth, NH and an important part of the New England punkrock and hardcore scenes of the 1990s. Because I grew up near Portsmouth and spent a lot of time in the city's record stores, coffee shops, and skate shops, The Elvis Room was a place that I (for better or for worse) now associate with coming of age, getting into punkrock, being 15, and all that crap. I was able to see shows at The Elvis Room (in 8th and early 9th grade) before I was able to go to Boston, Worcester, or Providence with older friends with cars. It ended up to be a relatively safe training ground for the following 3 years of driving all over New England to go shows.
In retrospect The Elvis Room booked a pretty limited selection of bands. I know I would have gotten bored with the club if it hadn't closed when it did or started to book more MA metal and hardcore like Converge and the Hydrahead Records stuff I was into. However, I got to see a lot of bands that were pretty important to me at the time and helped expose me to other (and mostly better) punk and hardcore bands. Here is a list of bands I remember playing The Elvis Room: Less Than Jake, Against All Authority, The Queers, Earth Crisis, Piecemeal, 40 Days Rain, The Showcase Showdown, Blank 77s, Anal Cunt, Atom and His Package, The Pinkerton Thugs, :30 Over Tokyo, The Trouble, August Spies, Scissorfight, The Unseen, The Pist, Hatebreed, Bruisers, Dropkick Murphys, Reach the Sky, Catharsis, Elliot Smith, and The Donnas. I know I am forgetting some. Apparently Milemarker, and Don Caballero played there too.
The Elvis Room suddenly went out of business when I was a sophomore (99?) in high school. It shut its doors (supposedly) because of rising insurance costs and rent, money spent on drug addictions, and generally poor business decisions. I have no idea if all of this is true. It was just the word on the streets. I also wouldn't be surprised if there was also a lot of pressure from the community to change things or leave. I remember vandalism, violence, underage drinking, and drug use being fairly prevalent in Portsmouth and often associated with The Elvis Room's crowd.
As some of you know, before moving to Pittsburgh, PA to start library school, I worked as a paraprofessional in a high school. The former member of The Elvis Room (and regular throughout its later years) taught in the same school department. This interview was done via email by some students I was working with for an English project. This is relevant because I did not write the questions (I mostly provided guidance), because the interview was done in school for school and was written from this perspective, and because no one intended for this interview to be published in any form (which is why there is no mention of this person's name). I decided to post this this because it seemed like it might be of interest to some people, because it provides a different perspective on a fairly well known punkrock club and its relationship to teens, and because New Hampshire punkrock history (outside of GG Allin and maybe The Queers) is underdocumented.
Other than some slight grammatical changes for readability's sake, neither the questions or responses have been edited.
Do you think that Portsmouth is missing something for its youth that its used to have?
Not really. I've only lived on the Seacoast for 15 years so I can't really say what things were like prior to then. I think there are probably more things for teens to be involved in now... whether they take advantage of what's out there is another story...
What was The Elvis Room? How did it start?
The Elvis Room was the brainchild of my ex-wife Dawn-Marie, Barbara Becht, Lori Baker, and myself. We wanted to create a coffee house in the same vein as the beat era coffee houses that could have been found in New York, San Francisco, etc. in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Dawn-Marie and Lori were the actual original partners in the enterprise and had met at a small business seminar for women.
What did you do at the Elvis Room?
I was not at the Elvis Room for very long (from the opening in May of 1992 until March of 1993) so I was more associated with the early years of the place than the later years. This was before they served alcohol. I opened the place most morning as worked until 3ish in the afternoon. Then I usually came back at night to help or run the open mics of music and poetry that we used to have. Having your own business means you don't really get much time off.
Was the Elvis Room good for the community when it was open? Was it generally a positive thing?
I think it was. I come from a social worker background and Dawn Marie always cared deeply about kids. Prior to it becoming "punk rock bar" there were a lot of kids and families that used to come on a regular basis. During my shift I'd always get the middle school crowd around 2:30pm. I made sure that it was a safe place for them to be and I encouraged them to get their damn homework done. At night it was truly a place for everyone... that all changed when they started serving alcohol and opened up the other side of the room.
Would the Elvis room be good for the community now? What role did the Elvis Room have in Portsmouth?
If it was like it was in the very beginning... yes I think it would be. However, one would have to decide which Elvis Room one wanted... music club or coffee house. As far as it being "a place for the kids to go" that was baloney after it became a music club... then of course you had to be 18 to get in unless there was an all ages show it wasn't really a place for "kids" anymore.
Having said that... for a lot of 20 somethings and older teens the E-Room (as we used to call it) was an introduction to a real "music scene"... probably the closest this town will ever get to having a "scene" and all the stuff that goes along with it... stuff that kids don't typically want their kids doing.
Would you ever consider starting something like that up again?
I have often thought of doing it again but you have to remember that the time our only competition was Cafe Brioche (now Breaking New Grounds) and it was a lot cheaper then... our original rent was $750 a month if I remember correctly. Currently on that end of Congress Street the rent is in the thousands. It is a different town than it was in 1992.
What kind of problems did the Elvis Room have?
I know that in the later years there were a lot of drugs flowing through the place. People deny it, but they almost have to deny it. This is the part of the "Great Elvis Room" myth that nobody wants to hear about... a good deal of underage drinking went on as well. A fair amount of violence as is typical of most places that serve alcohol... but overall there probably weren't any more problems there than there were at State Street Saloon or Wally's during the same time period. Probably one of the worst things that happened (long after I was gone) was Barbara almost getting stabbed to death by some guy who had some severe mental problems. I can't remember how many times he stabbed her but he just attacked her out of the blue one afternoon. I think he'll be locked up for the rest of his life.
How was the Elvis Room's relationship to the community, police department, and other businesses?
Initially I think it was very good. I remember going to meet with the police chief at the time (Chief Burke I believe was his name) to explain exactly what we were going to do and that we planned on being cooperative with the police department. The mayor came by to do a ribbon cutting ceremony when we opened... so initially I think there were some good vibes from the community and "city fathers."
Breaking New Grounds opened several months after we did and we always had a good relationship with them. We both recognized that we were catering to a very different crowd. I think that even now you find people who own local businesses all very supportive of one another.
My sense is that the E-Room got a little annoying for the city after a while. Things seemed to spiral out of control toward the end... I suspect the city was happy to see it go just as they were probably happy that Wally's and Spin bit the dust, although no one would say it out loud.
Do you think there needs to be more for teenagers to do in Portsmouth?
I'll refer you to my first answer... but...
Has there ever been a time when there was a lot of stuff for teenagers to do?
Overall I think that most teens probably want to be out of the reach of adults (I know I did) but that is not entirely possible. Its an unfortunate reality that part of being a teenager is dealing with boredom... not all the time, but if i had a dime for every time I heard a teen say, "I'm bored" I'd be rich enough to have a secretary typing this up from me from my house in the Bahamas...
The question sort of implies that it's somehow my or the community's responsibility to find something for teens to do and I'm not sure I totally agree with that.... Even if someone did, I'm not sure what it would look like...
What can be done about this? Do you think a good solution would be to have a facility in downtown for teenagers that would appeal to teenagers?
These two questions seemed to go together so I merged them. There are two ways to look at this issue. One... someone can open a business that primary caters to teenagers thereby giving them something to do. Alternatively, the city or community as a whole can get together and spend the money to put something together there by giving teens something to do. The city has been unwilling to, unable or not interest in doing something like this. For someone to open a business and try to make a living out of dealing with teenagers on a daily basis... I do not see this as very likely. The Elvis Room was not geared toward teens initially but to 20-30 somethings (people my age at the time)
If you have any more information, stories, details, photos, recordings, etc. from this era of New Hampshire punkrock please share them with me.
The Elvis Room was a punkrock club in Portsmouth, NH and an important part of the New England punkrock and hardcore scenes of the 1990s. Because I grew up near Portsmouth and spent a lot of time in the city's record stores, coffee shops, and skate shops, The Elvis Room was a place that I (for better or for worse) now associate with coming of age, getting into punkrock, being 15, and all that crap. I was able to see shows at The Elvis Room (in 8th and early 9th grade) before I was able to go to Boston, Worcester, or Providence with older friends with cars. It ended up to be a relatively safe training ground for the following 3 years of driving all over New England to go shows.
In retrospect The Elvis Room booked a pretty limited selection of bands. I know I would have gotten bored with the club if it hadn't closed when it did or started to book more MA metal and hardcore like Converge and the Hydrahead Records stuff I was into. However, I got to see a lot of bands that were pretty important to me at the time and helped expose me to other (and mostly better) punk and hardcore bands. Here is a list of bands I remember playing The Elvis Room: Less Than Jake, Against All Authority, The Queers, Earth Crisis, Piecemeal, 40 Days Rain, The Showcase Showdown, Blank 77s, Anal Cunt, Atom and His Package, The Pinkerton Thugs, :30 Over Tokyo, The Trouble, August Spies, Scissorfight, The Unseen, The Pist, Hatebreed, Bruisers, Dropkick Murphys, Reach the Sky, Catharsis, Elliot Smith, and The Donnas. I know I am forgetting some. Apparently Milemarker, and Don Caballero played there too.
The Elvis Room suddenly went out of business when I was a sophomore (99?) in high school. It shut its doors (supposedly) because of rising insurance costs and rent, money spent on drug addictions, and generally poor business decisions. I have no idea if all of this is true. It was just the word on the streets. I also wouldn't be surprised if there was also a lot of pressure from the community to change things or leave. I remember vandalism, violence, underage drinking, and drug use being fairly prevalent in Portsmouth and often associated with The Elvis Room's crowd.
As some of you know, before moving to Pittsburgh, PA to start library school, I worked as a paraprofessional in a high school. The former member of The Elvis Room (and regular throughout its later years) taught in the same school department. This interview was done via email by some students I was working with for an English project. This is relevant because I did not write the questions (I mostly provided guidance), because the interview was done in school for school and was written from this perspective, and because no one intended for this interview to be published in any form (which is why there is no mention of this person's name). I decided to post this this because it seemed like it might be of interest to some people, because it provides a different perspective on a fairly well known punkrock club and its relationship to teens, and because New Hampshire punkrock history (outside of GG Allin and maybe The Queers) is underdocumented.
Other than some slight grammatical changes for readability's sake, neither the questions or responses have been edited.
Do you think that Portsmouth is missing something for its youth that its used to have?
Not really. I've only lived on the Seacoast for 15 years so I can't really say what things were like prior to then. I think there are probably more things for teens to be involved in now... whether they take advantage of what's out there is another story...
What was The Elvis Room? How did it start?
The Elvis Room was the brainchild of my ex-wife Dawn-Marie, Barbara Becht, Lori Baker, and myself. We wanted to create a coffee house in the same vein as the beat era coffee houses that could have been found in New York, San Francisco, etc. in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Dawn-Marie and Lori were the actual original partners in the enterprise and had met at a small business seminar for women.
What did you do at the Elvis Room?
I was not at the Elvis Room for very long (from the opening in May of 1992 until March of 1993) so I was more associated with the early years of the place than the later years. This was before they served alcohol. I opened the place most morning as worked until 3ish in the afternoon. Then I usually came back at night to help or run the open mics of music and poetry that we used to have. Having your own business means you don't really get much time off.
Was the Elvis Room good for the community when it was open? Was it generally a positive thing?
I think it was. I come from a social worker background and Dawn Marie always cared deeply about kids. Prior to it becoming "punk rock bar" there were a lot of kids and families that used to come on a regular basis. During my shift I'd always get the middle school crowd around 2:30pm. I made sure that it was a safe place for them to be and I encouraged them to get their damn homework done. At night it was truly a place for everyone... that all changed when they started serving alcohol and opened up the other side of the room.
Would the Elvis room be good for the community now? What role did the Elvis Room have in Portsmouth?
If it was like it was in the very beginning... yes I think it would be. However, one would have to decide which Elvis Room one wanted... music club or coffee house. As far as it being "a place for the kids to go" that was baloney after it became a music club... then of course you had to be 18 to get in unless there was an all ages show it wasn't really a place for "kids" anymore.
Having said that... for a lot of 20 somethings and older teens the E-Room (as we used to call it) was an introduction to a real "music scene"... probably the closest this town will ever get to having a "scene" and all the stuff that goes along with it... stuff that kids don't typically want their kids doing.
Would you ever consider starting something like that up again?
I have often thought of doing it again but you have to remember that the time our only competition was Cafe Brioche (now Breaking New Grounds) and it was a lot cheaper then... our original rent was $750 a month if I remember correctly. Currently on that end of Congress Street the rent is in the thousands. It is a different town than it was in 1992.
What kind of problems did the Elvis Room have?
I know that in the later years there were a lot of drugs flowing through the place. People deny it, but they almost have to deny it. This is the part of the "Great Elvis Room" myth that nobody wants to hear about... a good deal of underage drinking went on as well. A fair amount of violence as is typical of most places that serve alcohol... but overall there probably weren't any more problems there than there were at State Street Saloon or Wally's during the same time period. Probably one of the worst things that happened (long after I was gone) was Barbara almost getting stabbed to death by some guy who had some severe mental problems. I can't remember how many times he stabbed her but he just attacked her out of the blue one afternoon. I think he'll be locked up for the rest of his life.
How was the Elvis Room's relationship to the community, police department, and other businesses?
Initially I think it was very good. I remember going to meet with the police chief at the time (Chief Burke I believe was his name) to explain exactly what we were going to do and that we planned on being cooperative with the police department. The mayor came by to do a ribbon cutting ceremony when we opened... so initially I think there were some good vibes from the community and "city fathers."
Breaking New Grounds opened several months after we did and we always had a good relationship with them. We both recognized that we were catering to a very different crowd. I think that even now you find people who own local businesses all very supportive of one another.
My sense is that the E-Room got a little annoying for the city after a while. Things seemed to spiral out of control toward the end... I suspect the city was happy to see it go just as they were probably happy that Wally's and Spin bit the dust, although no one would say it out loud.
Do you think there needs to be more for teenagers to do in Portsmouth?
I'll refer you to my first answer... but...
Has there ever been a time when there was a lot of stuff for teenagers to do?
Overall I think that most teens probably want to be out of the reach of adults (I know I did) but that is not entirely possible. Its an unfortunate reality that part of being a teenager is dealing with boredom... not all the time, but if i had a dime for every time I heard a teen say, "I'm bored" I'd be rich enough to have a secretary typing this up from me from my house in the Bahamas...
The question sort of implies that it's somehow my or the community's responsibility to find something for teens to do and I'm not sure I totally agree with that.... Even if someone did, I'm not sure what it would look like...
What can be done about this? Do you think a good solution would be to have a facility in downtown for teenagers that would appeal to teenagers?
These two questions seemed to go together so I merged them. There are two ways to look at this issue. One... someone can open a business that primary caters to teenagers thereby giving them something to do. Alternatively, the city or community as a whole can get together and spend the money to put something together there by giving teens something to do. The city has been unwilling to, unable or not interest in doing something like this. For someone to open a business and try to make a living out of dealing with teenagers on a daily basis... I do not see this as very likely. The Elvis Room was not geared toward teens initially but to 20-30 somethings (people my age at the time)
Here are some Elvis Room related links:
- The Elvis Room on MySpace (top Pinkerton Thugs image stolen from here)
- An Article about its closing from The Portsmouth Herald
If you have any more information, stories, details, photos, recordings, etc. from this era of New Hampshire punkrock please share them with me.
LibraryThing and DVD Aficionado
Here is a paper on LibraryThing and DVD Aficionado from my first semester of library school. My professor suggested I post it in this blog. It is sort of an informal usability study of both sites. I am not sure how interesting a read it is (most of the value was probably in the doing), but I am taking her advice and posting it below. Relevant accounts for this paper have been deleted so screenshots are included.
LibraryThing on Facebook.com
DVD Collection as of 01/21/08 (larger at time of project)
Introduction
I have large DVD collection. It has grown quite a bit in the last couple months, and I have been having a harder time keeping track of titles that I already own and titles that intend to purchase. As a result, I solicited recommendations for online sites used to catalog DVDs. This Topic Report is an exploration of the usability of two popular websites that help users catalog personal collections. The first is site I looked at was LibraryThing, which has been traditionally used for books and printed material, but which could be adapted for a DVD collection. The second site I looked at is DVD Aficionado, a popular website specifically used for the DVD format in all its incarnations (HD-DVD, DVD Audio, and Blu-Ray Discs). Both sites are free for members, but, through monetary donations, users can gain access to more features.
One goal of this experiment is to see how well the structure that LibraryThing provides users for their print material could be adapted for DVDs and other information items. There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding this issue. Arguments on both sides can often be found on the message boards of LibraryThing. It seems that much of the argument on the side of adding functionality for other items would allow a greater cross-referencing power between formats (books made into movies, videogames made into books, songs used in movies, etc.). The argument against this evolution tends to be elitist in nature. Users worry about how such a change would alter the bookish culture of LibraryThing. This argument mirrors ones often heard in the LIS field about the adaptability of libraries and the future roles that librarians can fill.
Further questions that I consider in this experiment concern the adaptability of both LibraryThing and DVD Aficionado, how their catalogs differ, who provides content, who are the catalogs geared towards, and how well each of them accommodates the diverse needs of their users.
My LibraryThing Collection
My DVD Aficionado Collection
While both formats look similar, we can immediately see a fundamental difference between the two sites. LibraryThing has columns for tags, ratings, and viewing and editing information about the title. The format is interactive with several views that can be used. Metadata and records can be altered with just a couple mouse clicks. Links at the top of the page take the user to other social or work areas that fall under the umbrella of LibraryThing. On the other hand, DVD Aficionado has a different focus. The collection view lists special features that can be found on DVDs, and links to where the cheapest price can be found. There are also links to particular DVD publishers so that collectors can search the catalog by making use of an under-utilized piece of metadata. There are no tags on this site. DVD Aficionado provides genres for all titles and a limited number of subfolders can be created for a collection. The red arrow points to the standard list of available folders as well as the two that I created for my collection, “samurai” and “Italian exploitation stuff.” It is also important to note that the photos provided by DVD Aficionado are uniform, while LibraryThing’s images are not.
The focus of DVD Aficionado is primarily on collecting DVDs and finding bargains on DVDs rather than on directly connecting users to other users or allowing users to customize their collections and records to suit their preferences or needs. The alternate view of collections that DVD Aficionado provides is on the basis of genre, which lets users see only the films that fall within specific genres and subgenres. Users can see how many actual DVD discs are contained in their collection by clicking “Count Discs” or the number of different titles by clicking “Count Titles.” These functions are useful when collections are comprised of many multi DVD or film sets, but also have the added bonus of allowing users to more accurately account for or compare the size of their collections. (See image below)
Cataloging
I started this experiment by cataloging a few trade paperback comic books using LibraryThing. I assumed that doing this would help introduce me to the structure and features of the site. I also thought that cataloging specifically comic books would introduce me to a population of LibraryThing users who would be as particular about the items in the catalog as DVD collectors. Cataloging twenty comic books was easy and took less time than I had imagined. I searched for my items by title and occasionally by ISBN. The records, while not necessarily complete or perfect, were certainly usable. It did not take long to adapt these records to make my collection more uniform. Most of the issues I encountered pertained to the
My DVD Aficionado Collection (Alternate View)
alphabetization of my collection due to inconsistent punctuation in titles. The tag clouds associated with each work were useful and the “common knowledge” metadata contributed by users seemed like it could be useful for the site in the future, but I preferred my own tags to ones suggested. However, I was immediately struck by the fact that many of the book recommendations that LibraryThing made were already cataloged and in my collection. I found is surprising that a search for a title did not provide information as to whether that item is already in my collection. I accidentally cataloged the same title several times and wound up with multiple identical entries.
I chose four diverse DVDs to catalog initially. The first was Alphaville, a French film. The second and third were different editions of Seven Samurai. The fourth was a rare out of print edition of Robocop. I assumed that cataloging and tagging items as “DVD” would be easy because LibraryThing provided form that was adaptable and user-friendly. However, cataloging was quite difficult. I had to create records for two DVDs from scratch and the other two entries had to be rewritten.
The hardest part of cataloging was deciding what information was important to me as a collector. With these four films I decided that it was necessary for their title indicate that they were part of The Criterion Collection, as this series of DVDs is one that I specifically collect. I also wanted to indicate what number was assigned to each DVD by Criterion. I decided that the “Author” field would be for directors, and that I would use the “Other Authors” fields to create “Actors” fields. I then used Amazon, The Internet Movie Database or PittCat to find any extra information I needed. I adapted my “Publication” field format from a PittCat record and stole summaries from IMDB. I also decided that I would use the “Comments” field for information about the original theatrical release, original title, alternate titles, and running time. Cataloging in LibraryThing was difficult but the format is easily adaptable. However, this took quite a while.
I was able to catalog 250 DVDs using DVD Aficionado in the same amount of time that it took me to catalog my comic books and four DVDs in LibraryThing. The difference was remarkable considering how outdated DVD Aficionado looks and how little helpful information is easily provided to get users started. I searched for items either by title or UPC code. A title search would bring up a list of multiple international editions of the same film. I was able to differentiate between them by region number, publisher, special features, or an image of the cover. I found that looking at covers was often the fastest way to catalog as users had made note of very subtle differences in the design of different editions. I knew which edition of Mulholland Drive I had because my copy had a slightly foggy image and this distinction was noted in the item’s description. DVD Aficionado’s search function was often less than helpful. It required at least three characters to conduct a search and counted punctuation. Only exact matches yielded positive results.
I did not have to alter any records, but I found that this could be done. DVD Aficionado also contains a large message board called Film-Talk. It is in this forum that users can request that records be altered, suggest alternate editions of DVDs, and provide scanned images of DVD packaging. The forums are closely monitored and there appears to be a strong sense of community to be found here, despite the cold minimalist appearance of DVD Aficionado. This is also where users can speak directly to the person who runs DVD Aficionado to help guide it with their criticism and suggestions. Paying users are also able to add DVDs to the catalogs, and have more freedom when it comes to editing entries and assigning genres for their own DVDs.
LibraryThing in My Blog
One of the strengths I found in using LibraryThing was that it was easily integrated into other online arenas with little formal computer knowledge. In this way LibraryThing more fully caters to the needs and interests of its users. In just a few minutes I was able to integrate LibraryThing into a blog I had just created. LibraryThing provides an easy and customizable tool for integrating the user’s collection into his or her blog. I designed mine so that it would display the four items that I had tagged with the word “DVD.” Clicking on the item brings the user to my LibraryThing collection.
LibraryThing Blogging Tool
LibraryThing on Facebook.comLibraryThing also created an application for Facebook which allows users to insert a list of recently added tagged books into their Facebook profiles. After creating a LibraryThing account, I was excited to try this application, but I was quickly disappointed. The list that LibraryThing integrates into Facebook profiles only contains 5, 10, or 20 books and does not included any photos. Clicking on the list brings the user to my LibraryThing collection. It does not appear that this application is a priority of LibraryThing considering how much it pales in comparison to Flixter, a movie oriented review site that is not unlike LibraryThing. Flixter is visually appealing, has as many social features as LibraryThing, and is fun to use. Facebook seems as though it should be a good way to gain support for LibraryThing as a collective internet project and let new communities of users catalog books, but this opportunity is not taken advantage of.
Flixter Application in Facebook
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