Thoughts For Today

This morning we went to the mall for Mother's Day. It was actually very nice. You walk around the outside and sit on the benches. I got a chance to go into the Gamestop for a few minutes. Libraries have been buying games for Nintendo lately. We have a few of them, not too many. One of the libraries not far from where I work ran a Halo tournament as part of their young adult programming. It was a complete surprise.

I took a look at some of the games. Most of the games were too high powered for my computer. I really should upgrade my machine to a new model. I am being grouchy. New computers cost money and I don't like spending money. Plus a lot of the places which offer telecommute work on the side don't want you to have Vista, they have problems managing it. There was not a whole lot which I think I would get even for my own use. I think there is some value in the Sims, Guitar Hero II, Dance Dance Revolution, and even the game Civilization IV.

I am not sure about most of the other games. I have heard that if you play video games you get good fine motor skills. It is supposed to help surgeons. However, like most librarians I am a little bit conservative and I can't really think of why or how video games would fit in a library. I am curious on hearing other peoples views on this.

After going to Gamestop, the Bodyshop, and a few other places to wander around and look at things, we stopped by Boston Market and got some chicken. It was not too bad. There is something oddly satisfying about looking at things in little packages, even if you don't buy them.

Then we went to Barnes & Noble. We never buy anything. I did look around to see if there was anything I wanted to request for my branch. When I got home, using my internet connection, I tried to place holds for Space Vulture by Gary K. Wolf, Time Spike by Eric Flint, and Reaper's Gale by Steven Erickson. My library had none of these books. However, my library system did have The New Weird edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, and The Algebraist by Iain Banks. I also took a look at a few books on blogging which my library does not have Problogger's Secrets to Blogging Your Way To A Six Figure Income by Darren Weiss, and Increase Your Web Traffic In A Weekend by Jeffrey Lee Ford, Jr.. An awful lot of books that are already in bookstores are not in libraries.

I also took a look at the graphic novels section. There was not anything which I hadn't seen at the New York Comic Con already. I think Barnes & Nobles does a better job with manga than they do with graphic novels. They had a huge manga section.

I am seeing an interesting trend in romance where there are now a lot of vampire romances being written now. I almost want to read Mark of the Vampire Queen by Joe Hill. It is in the romance section. Unfortunately, it is not in my library yet.

It was nice to get out of the house and go to the open air mall and walk around. I don't like closed in air conditioned malls. They make me feel boxed in and they are often too cold.

Afterwards we made a short trip to the supermarket to get some groceries. Now, I am sitting at the computer writing my thoughts for today.

I am relaxing a bit my feet are sore. I have been walking a bit too much lately.

I took a look at Library Journal today. They have a short article called "The Parallel Information Universe." I must belong to this, I certainly read enough science fiction and fantasy. Maybe one day, I'll wake up trapped inside a Myspace page. No, but seriously they have an article on Myspace, Facebook, and Second Life.

It is the Second Life thing which got me. I actually have never used Second Life or the Sims. I admit it, I have tried some online games, but not the Sims or Second Life. Apparently, some public libraries have set up library services in Second Life. This sounds kind of over the top. I wonder if I should sign up for an account in Second Life so I can see what it is about.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6551184.html

The next dreaded step of course is providing services for ipods and other digital media devices like cell phones and blackberries in public libraries. They actually had a section on that at the Westchester Library Association conference.

I call it information soup, because you throw a hundred different things into a pot, ebooks, blackberries, wifi, laptops, blogs, myspage, facebook, magazines, traditional books, cell phones, ipods, dvds, videos, databases, internet access, cd-roms, playaways, copy machines, scanners, projectors, and a million other devices and you boil it up with a confused staff and you hope it will turn out to be something that the visiting library patrons will like and be happy with.