Monday, June 30, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/30/2014


Michael Conrad Hirt: A vanitas still life with a candle, an inkwell, a quill pen, a skull and books. Oil on Canvas.1630


Daily Thoughts 06/30/2014

I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library this morning.

I read a bit more of A Brief History of Seven Killings. The language is quite interesting, it moves between the Jamaican Patois of the ghetto and the middle class to American english and British english.  There is an interesting mix of settings, politics, with a dash of violence and crime.  The CIA is even present.

Web Bits



7 Surprises About Libraries In Our Surveys

Why It’s Difficult for Your Library to Lend Ebooks

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/29/2014

Emerson's Study Showing Books, Fireplace, and A Desk, 1888

Daily Thoughts 06/29/2014

I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I have started reading A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James which is set in Jamaica during the 1970s.  It is an advanced reading copy.  The book is going to be released on October 2, 2014.  I got the book at the Day of Dialog before Book Expo America.  It is a big book, 688 pages long.  The book is fiction.

Web Bits



Libraries As Publishers
I downloaded the Libraries as Publishers Toolkit
 


Turning Outward
http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blog/turning-outward

Inflatable Space

Watcch NASA's Rocket Powered Flying Saucer Test
http://io9.com/watch-nasas-rocket-powered-flying-saucer-test-live-h-1597430955?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
I found this interesting.  A balloon was used to raise an inflatable heat shield which would protect a Mars landing.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/28/2014

Pompeo Mariani, Reading In a Garden 1904-1905

Daily Thoughts 06/28/2014

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.

I took a minute to look at the Books section of Metro.  http://metro.org/books/

Web Bits



Why E-readers are the next iPods

New Data on the Long Tail Impact Suggests  Rethinking History and Ideas About the Future of Publishing

Friday, June 27, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/27/2014

Two Hands Holding a Pair of Books, Albrecht Durer
Daily Thoughts 06/27/2014

I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library this morning.  I also checked the displays and the gift books.

I read a little bit more of Create Your Future The Peter Drucker Way.  I looked at some of the websites which were listed in the book and found a few interesting articles about future trends.

Kabiru Mohammed came by to talk to me about Life's Portrait which is a poetry book he wrote.  He is reading from it on July 10, 2014.


IFTF: Maker Cities Shenzhen

Help Wanted The Future of Work In Advanced Economies

Disrupting Government: Why Countries Will Soon Have to Compete for their Citizens

Today has been a quiet day.  I am in the computer lab right now from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m..

I spent a little bit of time working on Evanced to set up the Adult Summer Reading program.

I am going on vacation for part of next week in July.

On the way home, I finished reading The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick. The book was written in 1992, over 21 years ago.  The ideas in it have a cold war feeling to it.  People in underground bunkers are making leadies, fighting robots, for the yance men who deceive them about the end of the nuclear war between east and west.  It is an interesting cold war parable.


Web Bits

The End of the Story Why Libraries Still Matter
http://www.forbes.com/sites/northwesternmutual/2014/06/19/the-end-of-the-story-why-libraries-still-matter/?ss=forbeswoman

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/26/2014

Miniature Manuscript Used as a Pendant, circa 1550, Walters Art Museum, Style of Giulio Romano (Italian, probably 1499-1546) Jacobus Romanus (Italian, 1515-1560)

Daily Thoughts 06/26/2014

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.

On the way to work, I read some more of Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way.  Bruce Rosenstein mentioned some of the awareness and focus activities which Peter Drucker did like The Relaxation Response which is a book by Herbert Benson, mindfulness, and the philosophy of self actualization.  He also talked about the concept of continuous learning.  I finished doing the worksheet which went with the seminar.  It had a few articles on it.  Creating the Future for Information Professionals http://metro.org/articles/creating-the-future-for-information-professionals/

I spent some time working on scheduling this afternoon.  I also worked on Evanced with some colleagues to set up the Adult Summer Reading Page.  I proctored an exam from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m..  I read a number of copies of Publishers Weekly while the student did the exam.

I put the book, The zero marginal cost society : the internet of things, the collaborative commons, and the eclipse of capitalism by Jeremy Rifkin on hold which looks like a bit of techno utopianism.

There is a play tonight called Sweet Lemonade in the rotunda gallery from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m..  It is loosely related to the play Annie.  There is also a computer class tonight for Android Tablets from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the computer lab.

The post office is at the library to register people for Passports this Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Web Bits


Librarians are becoming affordable housing advocates. Yes, you read that right.

This is article points out some of the things that are happening in libraries that are not much discussed.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/25/2014

Franciabigio, Portrait of a Man, 1522

Daily Thoughts 06/25/2014




 I read a bit more of Assholes A Theory by Aaron James.  Aaron James successfully describes the many varieties of assholes including corporate, boss, political, presidential, royal, corporate, self aggrandizing, cable news, delusional, and bankers.  The questions of why most are men as well nurture versus nature arises.  Ultimately the book points to culture.  I am finding it quite humorous in an intellectual way.

I also read some more of Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way.  I rather like the Peter Drucker quote, "The most effective way to manage change successfully is to create it." I also like the idea that day by day we create the future with our own actions.

This morning, I checked the library Twitter and Facebook.

I also checked out the book, The Truth Is A Cave in the Black Mountains A Tale of Travel and Darkness With Pictures of All Kinds by Neil Gaiman illustrated by Eddie Campbell.

I checked the displays and the gift books and chose a cd audiobook to be added.  I also spent a small amount of time talking about the planning committee with a colleague.   I did a bit of work in the oversize books as well.

The launch of the Adult Summer Reading Program is on July 2, 2014.  We spent some time working with Evanced which is the electronic sign up system for summer reading.

I read The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains A Tale of Travel and Darkness. It is an odd book.  The pictures are paintings and the story is almost a tall tale or folk tale about revenge with a circular plot.  It seems to have a strong Scottish or Irish influence to it.

I also read a bit more of Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way.  The second chapter talks about how there is often a lag between news and how it is effecting events.  This leaves an opportunity for people to pay attention and take advantage of things which are currently occurring that may have future impact.  It is an interesting thought.

Web Bits


What Does Amazon Want from Hachette Pretty Much Everything
http://www.mhpbooks.com/what-does-amazon-want-from-hachette-pretty-much-everything/


Inflatable Space

 Company Successfully Tests Space Tourism Balloon
http://news.yahoo.com/company-successfully-tests-space-tourism-balloon-191909889--finance.html;_ylt=AwrBJR9tb6tTWV8ARljQtDMD 

I rather like this idea.  It shows that the idea of a manned rockoon to space is more feasible.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/24/2014

Portrait of the Polish poet Jan Lechoń, Roman Kramstyk, 1919

Daily Thoughts 06/24/2014


On the way to work, I read some more of Assholes A Theory.  Aaron James is writing about obnoxious politicians right now.  It is quite funny.

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I also did some work with the computer classes for July and August.  Westfair Rides came by which was the organization I went to in Mamaroneck.  They dropped off some flyers.

I checked the displays.  I also checked the gift books.

I read the latest copy of the New York Times Book Review.

I am going to an event today for My Metro Members.  It is a careerism type of thing.

myMETRO Exclusive: Remaining Relevant in a Changing World, the Peter Drucker Way
http://metro.org/events/511/

Before I got to Metro New York Library Council I stopped by The Strand Bookstore for a few minutes.  I Bought a copy of The Penultimate Truth by Philip K. Dick.

There was a networking session before the event started.  I got a chance to talk to a few people in advertising.  They were describing the disappearance of newspaper libraries.  The speaker, Bruce Rosenstein had worked at USA Today for more than twenty years until they shut the newspaper library down.  He reminded us that it was not just librarians whose future was changing but a lot of people including journalists.

Bruce Rosenstein is a specialist in Peter Drucker .  He talked about  the book, Create Your Future The Peter Drucker Way.  There was a worksheet that went along with the talk.   The worksheet had a list of different things to compile about your life. I also bought the book and had it inscribed.  I always read the books that I have inscribed.

Bruce Rosenstein was talking about how to prepare for the future.  He reminded us that we are preparing for our future every day in the present.  He also described how Peter Drucker was one of the first people to use the term Knowledge Worker.

He also recommended the book, Drucker and Me: What a Texas Entrepenuer Learned From the Father of Modern Management by Tom Buford as an example of mentoring.

There was some discussion of the entrepreneurial mindset and MOOCs.  I enjoyed the talk.  I think it will be helpful for me to read the book. 

I started on the first chapter of Create Your Future the Peter Drucker Way.   It is more than a book about preparing for the future; it also talks about concepts like creating a legacy, planning for the future of an organization, and planning for a future beyond your current occupation.


Web Bits

Pediatrics Group to Recommend Reading Aloud to Children From Birth
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/24/us/pediatrics-group-to-recommend-reading-aloud-to-children-from-birth.html?_r=1#

Monday, June 23, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/23/2014

Voyage d’un Petit Parisien de Paris à la mer by Constant de Tours [Constant Chmielenski]. Paris, Société Française d’Editions d’Art, L.Henry May - G. Mantoux, c 1898. Binding by Paul Souze. Cover design by Leon Rudnicki

Daily Thoughts 06/23/2014

I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I checked the displays this afternoon.  I also placed an order for new books.  I did a little bit of work on programming which is coming up.  There is a play reading on June 26, 2014 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. called "Sweet Lemonade." in the community room.

I am reading the book Assholes A Theory by Aaron James.  It an ethical investigation mixed with a bit of dark humor.  The book is in the tradition of On Bullshit by Harry G. Frankfurt, Princeton University Press, 2005.

I joined another LinkedIn group on librarianship called Library Management & Procurement.

Web Bits

How A Public Library Set Me Free
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-a-public-library-set-me-free/2014/05/16/f94db978-da1c-11e3-8009-71de85b9c527_story.html

Library Insists Conservative Site Was Not Banned from Its Clinton Archive
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/library-insists-conservative-not-banned-200723163.html;_ylt=AwrBJR76EKhTdlYA6cXQtDMD

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Daily Thoughts 06/22/2014

The Boy's King Arthur: Sir Thomas Malory's History of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table, Edited for Boys by Sidney Lanier (New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922). Scanned by Dave Pape.  Cover Art by N.C. Wyeth.

Daily Thoughts 06/22/2014

I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.

I read a bit more of Capital in the Twenty-First Century.  Thomas Piketty is writing about social programs supported by government in three areas, pensions, education, and healthcare.  Earlier, he criticized the Forbes magazine list of billionaires as being not accurate.  Forbes list of billionaries http://www.forbes.com/billionaires/#tab:overall   This may have contributed to Forbes writing critical articles about the book.

I watched The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug today.  It was a fun action movie.  It did not have the depth of the book, The  Hobbit, but had a lot of interesting fantasy elements in it.  I like how Benedict Cumberbatch voiced Smaug.


Web Bits

Go There How Hosting a Controversial Program Impacted My Library
http://programminglibrarian.org/go-there-how-hosting-controversial-program-impacted-my-library#.U6bK4bGzNzo
We hosted the Muslim Journeys Bridging Cultures program.  The bookshelf and dvds were quite interesting.

 Check it out: Florida University Library to Lend Drones to Students
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/21/us/college-lends-drones-to-students/index.html 

New Library Technology Gives Readers Book Previews
http://www.gloucestertimes.com/local/x1927801468/New-library-technology-gives-readers-book-previews