Daily Thoughts 02/24/2016

Vanitas Still Life Peter Claesz, 1660

Daily Thoughts 02/24/2016

I finished reading Stoned Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World by Aja Raden today.  I am reading about watches.  There is the story of the invention of the wristwatch and how it became a valued item.  The book is very interesting.  I enjoyed reading it.

I checked the displays and the gift books in the morning.  We had two representatives from Bibliotheca, the company that bought out 3M visit us today.  They were discussing the cloud library system as well as self checkout systems.

I also talked to Ingram today.

I also spent some time discussing weeding and programming.  In addition, I went over some customer service issues with my staff.

Tonight there is an Intermediate Microsoft Access class in the computer lab from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

I started reading Postcapitalism A Guide to Our Future by Paul Mason.  The central tenet of this book is that there is a conflict between the information economy and the market economy.  There are three obvious things the authors points out; information technology reduces the need for work, information goods are infinitely replicable and are disruptive to the marketplace, and there are new forms of collaboration like Wikipedia which create new ways to generate value.  I already don't like parts of Paul Mason's arguments.  He uses the term neoliberalism which I find to be a morass of inconsistency.

Web Bits

How the Humble Index Card Foresaw the Internet
http://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/a19379/a-short-history-of-the-index-card/

President Obama Announces His Intent to Nominate Carla D. Hayden as Librarian of Congress
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/24/president-obama-announces-his-intent-nominate-carla-d-hayden-librarian

Now Available A Library of Opportunity
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/02/23/now-available-library-opportunity