This Book Is Overdue How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson

This Book Is Overdue How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson

This book is a feel good book about librarians. It celebrates what is wonderful about libraries. The book is very entertaining. Marilyn Johnson introduces the reader to many interesting facets of librarianship including blogging, book cart racing, zines, second life, boxing archives and other quirky, geeky, and artistic facets of librarianship.

There is a very strong future orientation to this book. It celebrates the new web 2.0 librarianship and the more participatory style of providing people what they want. The section on the move away from research in libraries was sad. I lament the passing of the old style New York librarian, especially the librarians described like David Smith who supported authors and writers, and John Lundquist who ran the Middle East and Asian studies branch of the research library.

Quite a bit is written on the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act gave access for the federal government to search library records. Marilyn Johnson wrote about a court case on seizing patron library records. There is also a section on librarians protesting a Republican convention in New York. Sometimes, there is a sense that librarians are very left leaning.

The entries on technology were very interesting. I found the section on blogging useful. Tame the Web and Free Range Librarian are both excellent blogs she mentions . The section on Second Life was not what I expected. Like many librarians, I view Second Life as a kind of Alice in Wonderland place. It does generate a lot of new ideas. However, in my experience, I get easily hypnotized by virtual worlds and cannot spend a lot of time in them.

There was a little bit on the problems in the library catalogs in Westchester county, New York. I can relate to this where I work. Technology is always an interesting challenge in the library setting.

There is a realization that libraries are becoming more like media centers. There is a shift from answering peoples questions to finding material which people want. This is partially due to the idea that circulation and head counts is the primary source of state funding.

The focus on circulation and crowds misses something. For example with New York Public Library it does not get more funding because of circulation, it gets more funding because of its prestige which I think comes from its special collections. Queens Library has much higher circulation and head counts than New York Public Library, but it does not get more money.

I am not sure the general public or politicians pay that much much attention to statistics or head counts as many librarians think. The public and politicians want to know how it affects them; can I get my resume done, can I use a computer, will I find the latest test book, can I get a computer class, where is the audiobook which will help me learn chinese, where is the drivers safety course, where is the latest action film or bestseller. In my, opinion finding out what people want and then providing it to them is what matters. Translating this into statistics may be more important than head count.

But, I digress, thoughts on prestige and funding are a separate topic. This book made me think. It showed how wonderfully quirky and entertaining librarians can be. It surprised me. The section on the boxing archivist and person cataloging zines was a bit of a novel experience to read about.

If I wrote about everything in the book, it would spoil your reading it. If you are a librarian or book person you should read this. For book people, you will definitely learn something new. It is clear that the author also has editing experience, she writes about it briefly in this book.

The structure of the writing is also excellent. There is a decent amount of dialogue, the paragraph lengths vary considerably, she also occassionally adds an extra line between paragraphs to indicate the finish of an idea, and Marilyn Johnson occassionally throws in questions to catch the readers attention and make them think.

The book is very well laid out and follows very smoothly from chapter to chapter. There are both notes about each chapter and a bibliography. The notes are worth reading. They include information about classes like "Five Weeks to a Social Library" or the journal of librarianship in Second Life, rezlibris.com

The acknowledgements include many names I recognize from people I have met. If you are a librarian in Westchester county, New York you will want to read this. It gives many names of people who are active in the library community.

The author has a website http://www.marilynjohnson.net/ . This is an excellent read.

Daily Thoughts 2/26/09

Rembrandt (1606-1669) "Rembrandt Drawing at a Window" Etching Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Daily Thoughts 2/26/2009

This is a really interesting article. http://kotaku.com/5160610/librarians-investigated-for-playing-rock-band . I am rather surprised that the librarians in Nebraska got in trouble for this. I think the Benny Hill theme song might have done it more than the Rock Band video game. A lot of libraries have video games as part of their collections these days. Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Dance Dance Revolution are some of the most popular video games to use in teenage programs. It gets teenagers to come into the library. We want them to come in and read and use books. Music video games are a lot better than most violent videogames. We have a video game machine, a Nintendo Wii which we use in some of our teenage programming. It looks like the librarians are testing the machinery to see if it works.

Right now, I have a day off. I am reading the Caryatids by Bruce Sterling. The writing is very dense for science fiction. It is saying a lot more than most science fiction novels which I read. The story is in a near future setting in a world torn apart by global warming and pollution. Much of what is being described is very relevant to some of the things which are happening today.

Today has been a quiet peaceful day. I had a chance to walk up to my library and drop off a few books, as well as do my exercises in the morning. I spent some time relaxing, reading on the computer. I read some more of David Drake's Starliner on the Baen free library. I am on chapter 3 of Starliner now. So right now, I am reading an ebook and a regular book at the same time.

Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

Alcatraz Versus The Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson

This book is quite special. Besides being a great story, it is a book about seeing the world differently. It shows how a change in perception can break you out of ruts and rough spots. The power of the main character, Alcatraz Smedry is to break things. He can break just about anything by accident. Door handles fall off in his hands, the stove breaks, the pots break, just about everything breaks in his hands.

When Alcatraz Smedry, who is in foster care, turns thirteen, he receives a special bag of sand from his parents. This prompts the evil librarians to steal it from him. it is very unique sands from the desert of Rashid.

Grandpa Smedry rescues him from being killed by librarians. Thus begins a fantastic adventure. The librarians are secretly controlling everything by providing misinformation about how the world really works. There are really six continents, dinosaurs are alive, and the whole world is a lie.

This book is wonderfully silly. Alcatraz Smedry reminds us that he really is no hero and that it was all a mistake. We learn that stairs are more advanced than elevators because they don't break and provide exercise, swords are more advanced than guns, and magic is as real as physics.

The book is filled with metaphors. One of the magics used in the book is oculation. Different eyeglasses give different powers. There are tracking lenses, fire lenses, and torture lenses. Different ways of seeing give you different powers. The world becomes a very different place for the main character, Alcatraz Smedry. Alcatraz even has a companion, Bastille who is his protrectress. Alcatraz and Bastille of course are the names of prisons.

One of my favorite settings is the giant library hidden inside the regular library. Imagine vaulted ceilings, cantaloupe shaped lamps, and overstuffed shelves with metal plaques at the ends proclaiming their contents.

I even didn't mind the caricatures of librarians. Imagine a lady in a black skirt with a bun and horn rimmed glasses, or a heavily muscled gentleman in a pink dress shirt with pink bow tie and sweater vest. It was done with just the right amount of silliness.

Despite being written for 4th graders, this book has a timeless quality to it. It is also 303 pages long which makes me question the rating of 4th grade reading level. I think it is closer to young adult. It is like the Cricket In Times Sqare, The Phantom Tollbooth, or Alice in Wonderland. In a modern sense, I might say that I liked it as much as Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. The fantastic elements are accessible to almost anyone. The setting is at the borders of our world.

Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review. I saw the cover and title and immediately grabbed it. It is a true "gimme" cover which makes you want to just grab it. It deserves to be read. There is even a second book in the series which just came out, Alcatraz Versus The Scrivener's Bones. I put it on hold already.

Morning Thoughts

Paul Cezanne, Porträt Gustave Geffroy, 1895 . I think the painting looks timeless, it could be a professors or an academics office today.

Morning Thoughts

This morning I walked up to my local library. It was drizzling outside. I got there at 9:50 a.m. and the library was closed so I walked down to the fruit market and bought some cuccumbers, plum tomatos, plums, and a piece of watermelon. I also bought some shaving razors. I almost got caught in a downpour on the way back to the library. It left me standing outside Walgreens for about fifteen minutes waiting for the rain to stop.

When I got to the library, I looked around for books on scheduling. I thought it would be part of time management books in the management section of the library. I found out it was in books on organizational skills. I picked up a copy of Organizing For Dummies by Eileen Roth and Elizabeth Miles. I am not incredibly organized. I like organizing other peoples things more than I like organizing my own things. I've noticed this is a common trait among librarians.

I also picked up two other books, Iron Man Demon In A Bottle by David Micheline, Bob Layton, and John Romita Jr. and Winning: The Answers Confronting 74 of the Toughest Questions In Business Today, Jack & Suzy Welch. Jack Welch was known as "Neutron Jack" because between 1981-1985 he fired over 100,000 people at General Electric.

I have started reading the Winning: The Answers. Each chapter begins with a question, followed by a short discussion of the answer to the question. I like the book so far because it is very straightforward.

Good Morning, Good Afternoon

Sarah Palin in a Salvation Army Apron...

Good Morning

I was reading more of The Sound on the Page. The last chapter I was reading was on personality in writing. Dave Barry one of my favorite writers was mentioned. My father sends me a subscription to the http://www.funnytimes.com/ (The Funny Times) every year, a liberal cartoon newspaper with editorial columnists. Dave Barry is one of the columnists. He is quoted in the book describing his basic modus operandi. Dave Barry takes every day ordinary annoying activities like standing in line for a drivers license and makes them funny. I have been told to put more of my personality into my writing. Somehow, my personality is supposed to make this blog shine.

The next chapter is about emulating other peoples style. I have a real hard time doing this. There is an egalitarian streak in me that pushes out the idea of adulating people, especially writers. I can't adulate people who hide in a corner of a room slamming words into a computer. Just kidding. Once again, there is a wonderful quote:

Gertrude Stein: "One writes for oneself and for strangers."

Good Afternoon

I ordered some more annual reports for our collection. A few book related ones were Barnes and Noble, The McGraw Hill Companies, and Readers Digest. The McGraw Hill company building is in Manhattan. McGraw Hill hosts events for libraries and publishers. I went there during Book Expo America for one of their events in their auditorium.

There is a new blog out, Librarians Against Palin. I am not fond of Palin. I find her stance on book banning problematic at best. http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com/

I spent some time reading The Chief which is the local civil service paper for Manhattan. It lists all the current job openings in Manhattan for civil service jobs plus many important union issues. It is one of the main ways that I order test books for jobs. They have long lists by title of what stays open and what is opening and closing.

We also keep clipboards of the listings of county jobs. Some of them are on white paper, and some of them are on a hideous pink collared paper.

If you are ever in Manhattan and want a civil service job, The Chief is the place to look.

Morning Thoughts, Society of Midnight Wanderers, Afternoon Thoughts

A Bookcase

Morning Thoughts

The process has started. I spent a little time this morning discussing the idea of collection development with the new director. She made a few suggestions for me to follow. I think things could become very interesting shortly. Tomorrow we have a meeting to discuss collection development at noon with my department. I have been working up to this slowly. I hope it gives me the break which I have been seeking for a while. I already have been handed more collection development responsibilities. This is what I hope I get more than doing more programming. The least I am asking for is a partial change in title to Reference/Collection Development Librarian.

I also handed in a few books which I had read this weekend. I read some more of Ken McArthur's Impact. It gave a suggestion to write down every single skill which I could think of that I had. If it was a skill no matter how trivial, I should write it down. Also, it told me to focus on doing five things every single day towards achieving a goal. I did not have to succeed at them, I just had to try them. Again, the exercises and the daily suggestion make it leagues ahead of many business self help books.

I think I found another event to go to. Metropolitan New York Library Council is holding a networking reception with a tour of the New York Public Library Schomburg Center For Black Culture. I think it will be very interesting to go to.
http://metronylibrary.augusoft.net/index.cfm?fuseaction=1011&CategoryID=2&SubCategoryID=44

Society of Midnight Wanderers

I wrote my first post to the Society of Midnight Wanderers. It is a form of poem if you can call it that called Backward and Forward In Time.
http://midnightwanderersociety.blogspot.com/2008/09/backward-and-forward-in-time-thoughts.html

Afternoon Thoughts

A couple of books came in for me which I reserved, Stalking the Unicorn A Fable of Tonight by Mike Resnick, and Green Investing by Jack Uldrich. Also, the film Persepolis came in through interchange. I am really looking forward to watching Persepolis, the graphic novel of the same title was quite enjoyable. I often write these things down so I can know what I read at a given time.

I also requested Too Many Curses by A. Lee Martinez. It is humorous fantasy. Earlier, I reviewed The Automatic Detective on this blog. I like his writing. It has a strong sense of sarcasm and black wit to it. He also wrote Gil's All Fright Diner. He can write humor in fantasy, science fiction, and horror settings.

Privacy And Controversy

Privacy or (The World Wide Web Is not Benevolent)

These are some reasons why I haven't plastered my name all over my blog.

I am very careful about privacy with blogs. Blogs from the beginning when they were first coming out were viewed as a recruiting tool by many companies. I know this because I was a sourcer for a short while seeking people out for recruiters. This is a rather controversial position to be in.

Librarians in human resources positions are rare, but very present. Recruitment research (sourcing) is a unique skill. I got to see many things about finding information on people on the web. Companies do look at what people write on the web. Letting it all hang out is a very bad idea in some cases. A blog is often structured very similarly to a resume.

In some ways, it is more complete because it describes the personality of the writer of the blog. It also often includes content like race, ethnicity, and religion which are not legally acceptable reasons for selecting people in the United States. People don't put this on their resume.

I am not an I disclose person. Darren Rowse who writes Problogger talks about this in his recent book. He acknowledges that he will not talk about his family or private life over the world wide web. This is a very good idea for many people.

It is not just protecting my family which I think is important, but also watching my own identity. Limiting personal information on the world wide web is important. Not putting out credit card information, home addresses, and similar things protects you from identity theft. It also limits recruiter contact if you don't want to be contacted by recruiting agencies. When the recruiter tells you their name is Elvis and won't tell you who they are calling for, it is a good sign to stop being polite.

Also anything which you put on a website is subject to scrutiny or copying. It is very easy to extract information from websites using fairly simple software like websuckers which search out emails, phone numbers, and names. Webmole Targeted Contact Finder 4.1 is an example of this.

There are more advanced tools for extracting information like site rippers which copy a whole site from the internet then break it into pieces where pictures, documents, and various filetypes can be broken down and mapped out. Black Widow Siteripper is a good example of this.

This is one of the reasons spam is so ubiquitous. It is very easy to collect emails by subject on the internet. There is also the constant presence of spyware which is mainly commercial. You may not think of yourself as a valuable commodity, but you are. Your information sells products. I don't like solicitors and I don't like spam. Putting a lot of personal information on blogs invites them in. I have very few spam comments here.

If you leave loose files on the internet, including resumes, excel files, pdfs, and similar things if a searcher knows how to look they will find it. It is important to be tight with some of your information.

The internet is a permanent record in some ways. There are tools like The Wayback Machine which can go fairly far back in the webs history to look at websites. http://www.archive.org/web/web.php

Being a librarian with sourcing experience is fairly controversial. It was interesting while I did it, but not something which I would care to repeat. I find searching for books and buying books more interesting than searching for people. It taught me some interesting if obscure skills that have to do with internet searching.

Also, being a librarian with minor bookstore experience is quite controversial as well. Visiting bookstores and studying the history of publishing is a hobby for me. For example in our library, no librarian where I am currently working is allowed to work with the booksale. There is a retired librarian who works with the friends on the booksale, but she is retired. It is viewed as a conflict of interest between the Friends of the Library and the actual library.

There is a strong underlying ideal of separation between bookstores and libraries that is taught. This is a blog post from Library Juice from a library student. The ideal is freshly imprinted.
http://libraryjuicepress.com/blog/?p=262 . My views about the relationship between bookstores, libraries, and publishing are sometimes controversial.

There are numerous librarians who have experience with bookstores. Many have started their own stores. But, they usually separate completely from the library before they attempt to start a store. Or, they work part-time in a bookstore after they are retired.

It is very easy to claim that someone is stealing from the library if they are selling books. I am not selling books right now. This is true in almost every library I have been in. Theft is a real problem in public libraries.

Oddly, one of the most coveted positions in the library, is the acquisitions position. It is the position which interacts the most with publishers and bookstores. It is a great thing to visit bookstores if you are a librarian; just not to work there.

Games In the Lbrary Setting

Games In the Library Setting

One of my personal weaknesses is a liking for video games. I can get very obsessive about them. They have a kind of hypnotic effect on me much like tabletop games do everything from strategy to roleplaying.

I have seen a rather interesting thing happen. Libraries are purchasing video games for the teenagers. There was a Halo tournament at one of the local libraries. In a way this bothers me a little bit. I am still not sure the exact place of videogames in the library. The type of games being purchased are Xbox, Wii, and PS3 (Playstation 3) games. Nothing like Grand Theft Auto because of the problems with sexual innuendo and the M rating for mature content, but other things.

A few libraries have SimCity 4, Lego Starwars, and Starcraft on CD-ROM to check out. I think one of the local libraries has uploaded a variety of games for use for the teenagers in the teen section, things like Spiderman 3, and Ghost Recon for the Xbox. A different library has Playstation 2 games, Lara Croft Tomb Raider, and God of War among their titles. So they are just starting up on this process. I checked the catalog for the library system I work at and these are there.

Considering there are a variety of different formats for games, buying for a variety of different systems, pc, playstation, xbox, and nintendo could get complicated. I could see libraries buying for the two major systems, xbox and playstation.

CD-Rom games have been part of the childrens room for quite some time. They are mostly things like Little Bear, Thomas The Tank Engine, Reader Rabbit, Dr. Seuss's Kindergarten Learning System, and Carmen Sandiego. They are learning games to teach children geography, spelling, and similar things. I also can see where buying typing instruction software would not be a bad idea to lend out.

I am not sure the exact value the games would offer. I know it would be entertaining. In fact something like historical simulations could have value in a vague way like Civilization for the PC, Zoo Tycoon, or the various business simulations.

I am really not sure how a library would select videogames. There are some sites like http://www.gamerdad.com which rate games for children and parents. This is the ideal situation, some guy wants to play a game with their kid.

I have been looking at the concept. Apparently, the American Library Association started covering games on their website. http://gaming.ala.org/news/

What is more important is that there is a new program being created to combine gaming with literacy sponsored through the American Library Association. I think this is where it could get quite interesting.

Ah, here is where it gets interesting, American Library Association is mentioning a gaming night at a public library for teenagers. The games are not your typical shoot em ups, they are Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero II, and Sports Videogames. This is something which could be quite interesting if done right. The title of this articles gaming @your library.
http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/presscentera/piopresskits/nationallibraryweek2008a/gl08.cfm

I don't think I would have much of a problem with the Sims, sports, games, historical simulations, Dance Dance Revolution, Guitar Hero and Karaoke style games. I am still not too sure about the heavily violent war games like Halo in some ways.

I found a blog which looks kind of interesting. It covers games and libraries. The site looks to have been created in 2005, about the time when games were pushed as a format to enter libraries. http://libgaming.blogspot.com It lists lots and lots of resources on games in libraries.

I almost think this is a logical extension of librarians becoming fascinated with virtual worlds. I still am a little bit shaken by how many librarians are heavily into Second Life.

The reason I originally wrote this is that I went into Gamestop yesterday to see if there was anything which I wanted to buy. There was a game I tried out, Ufo Afterlight, the controls were so terrible that I plan on returning the thing.

This is just some thoughts.

Free For All Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library-- Don Borchert-- Comments

Free For All Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert is a slice of life book about working in a public library in an inner city Los Angeles neighborhood. It covers the career of Don Borchert in the library.

This book touches on the different personalities wandering into the public space that is the public library. There are the usual oddballs, the little old ladies that want to give you greeting cards and cookies when you find their books, the old eccentric gentlemen into space aliens, the wild kids who run around unattended when their parents drop them off until closing time.

Most of the people who come into the library are not sinister, they often just want a place to rest, or pursue their reading interests. However, there are often problems that occur because the library is a public space. The book touches on incidents in public restrooms, inner city gangs in libraries, people viewing porn on the public internet terminals, and the almost homeless or slightly mentally disturbed who need a place to spend their days. It points out correctly that a large part of library workers jobs is to diffuse anger, calm people down, and keep the place quiet.

The usual career eccentricities of civil service public librarians are touched on. Public librarianship is often a career for the public intellectual or artist. Once a person becomes a librarian in a public library, it becomes very hard to get rid of them. Most public libraries in the United States are unionized. There is the usual talk about library romances, staff intrigue, long hours, and odd proclivities. Most librarians become librarians because they love books and information.

As an aside, not part of the book; I personally think of the library as its own kind of separate space like a bar or an airport. Time is different in libraries. You can set the clock approximately fifteen minutes ahead in many librarians minds. Also, it is a kind of neutral ground, where people can hide from their troubles in peace. In the book, the librarians end up helping many stray teenagers and others get back on their feet.

This book is quite fun to read. It includes all the things which people don't talk about. The book seems to be a pastiche of many different peoples experiences written into a single persons experience. I think the depiction is somewhat accurate. I've had some pretty unusual experiences as a public librarian.

There is a bibliography in the back of the book which can be quite humorous. For example, Chapter 25: Senior Librarians cites How To Buy A Franchise by James A. Meaney. There are also several recommended reading lists in the back. One of my favorite childrens books, The Cricket In Times Square by George Selden is on the list.

Some people will hate this book because he says some not so nice things about homeschoolers, librarians, and other people. This is the kind of book that will cause extremely positive and negative reactions. I think that you might want to borrow this book to see if you like from a public library before you buy it. Other people will say it is too mild mannered and not extreme enough. They are looking for titillation. I happened to enjoy reading it a lot.

Thoughts for the Day

I often think about how long it takes to receive items in interlibrary loans. I can't predict when new items will come in. They tend to come in batches.

I had an odd reference question about a lawyer today at the library. Apparently, the old trick of being both a lawyer and a priest was being played out. First, you get a law degree, then you get ordained, then if you are truly ambitious, you get registered as an auxiliary (volunteer) policeman. This allows you to do a lot of things which your average citizen cannot in the United States, not pay taxes (your law office is your church), consult your law clients as their spiritual counsel, and show your fraternity with the local police. Watch for this kind of thing carefully.

I placed a few items on hold in my attempt to read 6 graphic novels for the graphic novel challenge. The first is Billy Hazelnuts by Tony Millionaire, and the second is Castle Waiting by Linda Medley. Castle Waiting has an introduction by Jane Yolen. It is the story of what happens after Sleeping Beauty wakes up. I am looking forward to reading it.

I really like Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey. The graphic novel won the Eisner Award in 2004.

I found something to read on the train home today. Detective Story by Imre Kertesz. Apparently, the author won the Nobel Prize for Literature. It is a very brief work, only 112 pages long. This is a good size for a train read. The book is also about the size of a small paperback, even though it is a hardcover. It should be very convenient to read.

I did a minor change to my blog. I searched google using the link search to find who was linking t my blog. I added a couple of sites to my Link Exchange in my sidebar. The first is The Singing Librarian, a rather interesting librarian blog. The other is Monday Morning Power about how to have a very positive mental attitude. The blog can be fun, funny, and uplifting to read.

Thoughts For Today

I haven't been doing a huge amount lately. I cut up scrap paper into small pieces for patrons to take notes on and picked up some reserve slips for people calling in to make reserves for items to be held at the front desk. It has been a quiet day so far.

On the train in I read a little bit more of Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon. So far, it has been light entertaining space opera with a military touch. I rather like Elizabeth Moon's writing because she has had some military experience as a United States marine and is definitely interested enough in her subject.

Having read a whole bunch of books on grammar and writing recently has changed my reading experience. Now, some books seem much less well put together; others seem to be much better crafted. Reading about writing changes the readers experience.

Sometimes small things of interest pop up in the regular news. Apparently, a Finnish person returned their library book 100 years later anonymously. It is a nice light article. This seems to happen occassionally. People sometimes return their grandparents books which they had laying around the house.


http://uk.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUKL1180241320080312

I have been getting various emails from New York Comic Con updating me about what is happening at the convention. If you are a librarian in New York, you can register to attend the conference for free as a professional. I am going on April 18. They had panels on manga, anime, and comics librarianship which were going to the last time I was there. They have been sending me various free movie offers for forthcoming films which are interesting. Unfortunately, I don't have time to go to the films. I saw a really interesting article in Library Journal online. Neil Gaiman is doing an evening to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.


Book News: Neil Gaiman NY Comic-Con Reading To Benefit Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6540270.html?desc=topstory

I took some time to read a little bit of professional literature. I went through my stack of four publishers weekly. The March 10, 2008 Publishers Weekly is especially interesting. It is a green publishing issue. On Pp. 26-32 there is an article called Toward A Greener Future by Jim Milliott. I found it very interesting. Some of the initiatives including e-galleys, and giving editors ebook readers to limit paper use sounded effective. There is also a push to use more recycled paper in books. For example, Random House intends to use 30% recycled paper by 2010.

The sponsor of these changes is an organization called the Green Press Initiative; http://www.greenpressinitiative.org/ I think this is a step forward. I saw, no surprise, Gary Hirshberg, advertising his book Stirring It Up, which I reviewed earlier in the March 10,2008 issue of Publishers Weekly.

Information Overload, Shrek The Third

This is one of the four Three Stooges shorts that they failed to renew copyright on in the 1960's.

Sometimes, I have to stop reading because I have read so much during the previous week that I get information overload. Usually, I stop for one or two days so I can let what I have read gel in my head. I often do memory exercises to handle the amount of books which I read. Very basic eidetic memory exercises like the method of eidos.

The story of the eidos is that a Greek was at a banquet hall and he left the hall. Shortly after he left an earthquake struck and caused the hall to collapse. Eidos sorted out who was at the hall by systematically trying to remember the hall and the pillars which held up the roof. He would place different people next to the pillars to identify who was in the hall. Through this method of memorizing the location and placing people inside the location, he was able to identify all of the attendees at the banquet.

Memory was considered the fourth canon of rhetoric in ancient Roman times. It was considered essential to be able to memorize very long speeches because of the limited amount of written material available. As part of this it included the ability to have learned a wide variety of subjects as well. The combination allowed for very flexible speaking ability without reliance on cues.

Anyways, this seems to be a bit off subject. I watched a film today, Shrek the Third to let my mind rest and not read any books. I have also watched the first two films, Shrek and Shrek 2, I really didn't watch it to review the film. I watched it for the same reason people watch Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges, or Gilligan's Island. To relax and zone out a little bit.

A lot of people come in to check out videos and dvds for this express purpose at our library. They want to see things which have no redeeming value as cultural objects but will help them relax and tune out. Things like the Merry Melodies Foghorn Leghorn, Ren and Stimpie cartoons, and the Honeymooners.

These things will never get high ratings, but many of them will be watched far more than some of our better art films. Low comedy rarely gets good ratings from reviewers, but that is not why people watch it. National Lampoons Family Vacation, American Pie, and Norbit have little if any redeeming value.

It is the same reason that children check out books of Knock Knock Jokes, Knock Knock Who's There? Lettuce, Lettuce Who? Lettuce in and you'll find out. Or people create faux book titles like The Yellow River by I.P. Freely.

It is the same reason people ask for Jason versus Freddie, people want an visceral experience at the basic emotional level which does not require a lot of thought. It took me a while to get this. I used to resent people taking out really awful trashy films like Bride of Chucky. The conversation might go:

Do you have Rambo?

Let me check. Um no.

Do you have American Pie, The Naked Mile?

Yes, we have American Pie, but there is a waiting list.

Place me on the holds list.
Alright. Can I have your card?

Here is my card. Do you have Bride of Chucky? that was such a fantastic movie, even better than Leprechaun.

Let me check. No, we don't have Bride of Chucky.

Wait, let me think. No, yes I remember what I want. I need "I Dream of Genie". That was such a great show.

We have I Dream of Genie Season One and Season One Two.

Place me on hold for "I Dream of Genie." Wait, I remember a show I used to really, really like. Do you have "Welcome Back Carter"?

No, we don't have that, can I suggest a show that just came in. We got the first season of Kojak.

Hey, that sounds wonderful, put me on hold for that.

Alright, you have reached your hold limit of twenty items.

Thank you so much for helping me.

I got angry enough a couple times to ask people why they wanted a string of bad B movies while I was working at the reference desk. The answer I got was "I just want to turn my brain off and relax." or "I have been thinking all week at work and I don't want to have to think anymore for a while." Or, the most reliable one, "It brings back memories, I like to remember watching these things on tv. It was so wonderful." Sometimes, people just like to come to the library to check out lots of films.

Another class of film that gets very little respect from critics are comic morality plays. These really do deserve a little more respect. They aren't about being artsy. Tyler Perry is a very good example of a person who writes films that are not critically acclaimed but have a positive message. Movies like Diary of A Mad Black Woman, Medeas Family Reunion, Why Did I Get Married?, or Daddy's Little Girls are not high theater, but they offer comic relief with a strong moral lesson, somethng missing from many of todays films.

Book Lust-- Recommended Reading For Every Mood, Moment, and Reason-- Nancy Pearl -- Review

Book Lust Recommended Reading For Every Mood, Moment, and Reason by Nancy Pearl (Sasquatch Books, c2003) is a selection guide for choosing books to read. Nancy Pearl is the Director of the Center for the Book and Programming at the Seattle Public Library. There is a library action figure done of her.

Nancy Pearl wanted to be a librarian since she was ten years old. She is a constant reader since she was very young.

This is an A to Z subject guide for books broken down into subject headings like Cat Crazy, Graphic Novels, and Irish Fiction. Each subject heading has about a page and a half of recommended readings. She suggests that someone should not read more than 50 pages into a book they don't like.

Most of the books being discussed are mainstream fiction and nonfiction. The subject guide is pretty comprehensive. The only subject which I found missing which we get a lot of questions about at our library is "urban fiction" books about street life, sex, drugs, and money in the ghetto. Authors like Noire, Zane, Eric Jerome Dickey, and Omar Tyree.

The focus is on the absolute best books by mainstream authors for fiction and nonfiction. Authors like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, George Macdonald Frazer, and Milan Kundera are discussed. The fiction comes from every part of the globe, Mexico, the Middle East, Africa, Ireland, Japan, Australia, China and many other locales. Fiction titles include romance, science fiction, fantasy, and westerns. She admits she is not a big fan of horror.

I also noticed that some of the more controversial titles are not included. For example Henry Miller and Anais Nin are not included in the section on sex books. The section on Robert A. Heinlein mostly focuses on his juveniles. While Stranger in A Strange Land is mentioned, Starship Troopers is not.

Her selection of favorite authors includes Jonathan Letham, Iris Murdoch, Richard Powers, Connie Willis, Rex Stout (Nero Wolfe), Gore Vidal, and Ross Thomas. These are all fairly mainstream novelists. I rather like Nero Wolfe myself.

Her popular romance section includes a few regency romances and popular novelists like Judith McNaught and Victoria Holt. It takes some courage to suggest romance novels. Many librarians and editors look down their noses at romance books.

In her graphic novels section she mentions a few comics lit titles that are popular like Maus and Maus II and Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Boy on Earth. She does not have a section on manga in this book.

Nancy Pearl's selection of popular science books is also quite good. Guns, Germ, and Steel by Jared Diamond is quite good. If you get a chance also read Collapse by Jared Diamond about what happens when a civilization exceeds its environmental carrying capacity.

Among the hundreds of listed books, I found a few titles to put on hold which I will look at to determine if I want to read them:

Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonders: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice On Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology by Lawrence Weschler.

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

Freedom in Meditation by Patricia Carrington.

This is actually quite good. I usually am able to only find one book among selection lists to read.

She does a really good job of selecting mainstream fiction and nonfiction titles. If you are looking for more controversial writers like Audre Lord, Samuel R. Delany, or Charles Bukowski look elsewhere.

Nancy Pearl now has a deluxe library action figure of her with books, book carts, and a computer. It takes a real heroine to promote literacy and books these days.

A Collection of Convention Name Tags.

Like many people I have attended a number of conventions throughout my career. I have saved the name tags for many of the conventions I have attended. I have a nostalgia for these things. There is something memorable about attending professional conventions even if you are not part of the profession at the convention. Also, the name tags have little or no value in and of themselves.

Collecting name tags is like collecting free bookmarks, they are inexpensive, interesting, and bring back memories. People wax nostalgic about what they have done, even if it wasn't so great when they were doing it.

I keep them in a plastic ziplock bag. It is an old ziplock bag and does not preserve their condition. But, this is not why I am keeping the name tags. I am not thinking that my name tag collection will one day have astronomical value and be prized by collectors the world over.

I like going to conventions. I find them interesting. I will now name some of the convention name tags I have.

I attended my first library convention in 1991, I was a page working in the library as well as a college student. I know, it sounds funny, usually pages are often teenagers with acne. It was the California Library Association. I wasn't sure yet that I wanted to be a librarian. Being a page is a funny experience. You put books on shelves, pick up books off the tables and do little odd jobs for the librarians.

The next library convention I attended was in 1992 while I was volunteering at SPD-- Small Press Distributors in Berkeley, California. I wasn't in library school at the time. I went as an exhibitor with Small Press Distributors. I don't particularly remember the convention that well. All I know is that I have the name tag. I shelved the books in back at Small Press Distributors. I always have been good at shelving books. I tried to do the basic office work, but I really wasn't that good at it. I'm not the best at office work.

I didn't go to library school until 1993. At the end of library school, I attended library legislation day. I still have the name tag from Library Legislation Day in Penssylvania. I went to speak to Diane Feinstein and got to talk to her briefly about the importance of libraries. I remember being scared out of my pants and being very zealous at the same time.

In 1996, I went to the International Space Development Conference as an exhibitor, I was helping a small bookstore which has since folded. It was quite interesting. The best part was the astronomical art. You could get really beautiful photographs of space for very cheap.

I also have a button which simply says Exhibitor Mystery & Science Fiction Book Fair. I have no idea what the button is for. It is just a curiosity. I have been to lots of small book fairs. One of my favorite small book fairs was the paperback collectors association. They had a lot of old paperbacks. My favorite old paperbacks are the ACE doubles-- two science books in one printed in the 1960s.

The next convention button I have is from when I was working at an ISP during the internet boom. It was for PC Expo 2000. PC expo was very interesting. There was a ton of hardware and software, most of it didn't make much sense because it was during the internet boom. I remember wandering around the Jacob Javits Convention Center and thinking how humongous the place was. Also during 2000, I went to Internet World. This was a weird experience, there was a lot of experimental stuff for the time, micropayment systems, online photo sites, and a lot of stuff that never saw the light of day.

My next button is from 2005, it is for Book Expo America, the largest book exposition in the country. I went as a librarian. It was a lot of fun to go and look at the different publishers.

I am going to the New York Comic Con in April 2008 as a professional. They give free passes to professionals. If you are a librarian who is interested in comic books or graphic novels this is a lot of fun to attend. Like Book Expo America, you can get a lot of freebies to bring back. They also give out lots of little knick knacks, book marks, pens, and other things. You get to see a lot of the professional comic book artists. They had panels for librarians on manga, anime, and graphic novels in the library.

When I go to conventions I usually plan a little bit beforehand. I get a floor map of the exhibits and circle which exhibitors I am goint to look at and ask my colleagues if there is anybody they would like to me look at. I also plan which panels I am going to watch in advance. I try to go in early the first day so I can get an idea of what the convention will be like. I always like to check to see if there is a restaurant near the convention before I go in. Convention food prices are always too high except for the reserved areas with coffee and bagels for attendees. I also pick up a lot of stuff. The stuff I don't want, I'll leave for my colleagues to look at sometimes. I'm often asked to summarize what I learned at the panels so I take a notepad and pen with me.

I try and walk the whole convention floor so I can see all the exhibitors, even if only for a brief time. Sometimes, I'll collect business cards just to have them. I also try and get to the more popular panels about an hour early. There have been a few times where I still haven't been able to go in and see the speakers.

Advanced Reading Copies.

An Advanced Reading Copy is a stage between the manuscript which the author wrote, and the final publication. It is used to check the quality of the final work before it is published.

Usually an advanced reading copy will be trade paperback in size and have a glossy finished paper cover. In bookstores and libraries they are usually sent with a letter asking about any suggestions for final revision of the book. In big libraries with central branches, they usually have several bookshelves of advanced readers copies. Most of the time they say Advanced Readers Copy not for resale on them. Libraries cannot add them to their collections because of the notice.

Librarians will look over the Advanced Readers Copies to see how many of the book they will buy for a whole library system. Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library, and New York Public Library all have central collection development departments as do most very large city library systems.

Independent booksellers often ignore advanced readers copies, they are busy selling books and often don't have time to read for pleasure. They often have an unread pile of them behind the counter. Sometime, they give them to their assistant to read. Or if the ARC is by a really famous author, they will stick it in a closet somewhere, because it might be worth something to someone some day.

ARCs of famous authors like Steven King are valuable. They are not supposed to sell it because of the notice. This is sometimes ignored. Usually to be considerate, most booksellers wait several years after the book is released until the item is collectible, have the item signed then sell it.

Often after meetings, the librarians will take a few minutes and pick up some of the advanced reading copies to read. They are meant to be distributed to get a first impression of a book before it is published. The more professionals in the book trade who read it and give an impression back to them the happier the publisher is.

If the librarian or bookseller is considerate and the review sheet is still in the ARC, they will send back a review of the Advanced Readers Copy to the publisher with comments like, the sword fight on page 53 read like a fight with a fencing blade not a broadsword, or I didn't like the poem on page 56 it didn't match the tone of the story, or you spelled cope verde wrong three times, it is cape verde. These will most likely be some of the final revisions before publication.

If the author liked the review, they may even send a signed copy of the book to you. This is rare, but it has happened to me once with a short review. They will also ask the bookseller to tell them how many copies of the book he or she might want to buy in the future.

Advanced Readers Copies are also handed out at the big book conventions. If you go to Book Expo America, each booth will have copies of their latest forthcoming to be published book in Advanced Readers Edition format. They hand out hundreds of them to generate buzz from the attendees. There are stacks piled up on the floor, on tables, in book racks, and on display stands for people to look at and handle. There are more than most people can even look at in passing. You could take home a hundred pounds of them and still barely scratch the surface.

If you go to author events or readings at a convention like Book Expo America, they will often have the latest ARC of their book at a reading or presentation. You are supposed to take one so you can read the book and tell your friends how great it was.

____________________________________________________________________

The logo in this blog is my new logo for Entrecard which I designed. I hope it looks decent. I had to replace my hit counter last night because it broke.

Here are some more thoughts about entrecard has a very large number of users. However, they don't have a very wide readership. For example, currently in the category of books, there are only 3 members, in the category of writing there are about 14 members, and the category of art there are 12 members, and in the category of education there are 8 members. This is not a whole lot of membership for the arts. While I get a lot of traffic from there, I don't get enough repeat traffic. It would be nice if more artistic people "like you maybe" joined the network.

Sometimes widgets and counters stop working because the code on blogspot gets changed, or the producer of the widget has problems with their server. This is the first time this has happened to me. I am thinking of redesigning the banner at the top of the page. I think it needs to have a little more lightness to it.

Sometimes I sound like a pitch man, but that is what I am doing selling myself and my blog to you.

To Read or Not To Read-- NEA Study

The United States Library of Congress

This is a commentary on the NEA-- National Endowment for the arts study, To Read or Not To Read, A Question of National Consequence, http://www.nea.gov/research/ToRead.pdf . This is an incredible study, it shows that American reading and writing skills are declining in every category. People are losing their interest in literature in general. If you want to think of it this way on the web, not a single keyword in the top ten lists of keywords includes books or literature. Movies and music, but not books.

We are in essence creating our own Fahrenheit 451 by turning away from the habit of reading. As people buy less books, they become less of a commodity and they lose their importance in our minds. This study says even if we are reading, 35% of the time we are distracted by something else, the computer, music, email, the telephone, or any of another plethora of available media. We live in a distractive instant gratification environment which reinforces itself.

Teens are not reading, they are watching television, listening to music, or using one of a million different devices to fill their time, the ipod, the iphone, the pager, the portable psp play station, or the portable computer. When they come into where I am working, they head in to sign up for the computers, mostly to do "graphical research", look for images, anime, cartoons, drawings, or music, very rarely for books. And if they are at the library, a lot of the time, they are not there to get books, they are there to get videos, talk to their friends, or get on the computer. Reading is an assigned habit focused on reading the classics which many of them find dull, complicated, and harrowing. I can see the statistic that half of Americans don't read for pleasure writ clear every day I come in to work.

It is mostly the older Americans who are coming to us to get reading materials for pleasure, the middle aged and the teenagers don't do it so much. And those who do come up to talk to us, often talk about the large amount of books they have in the home. The more books they have, the more prosperous they often are.

In the study, there is a lot of material on how those who have a lot of books in the home do well in school, move up into management, are more likely to be involved in civic activities, and are more likely to succeed in life. This does not just reflect in America, it reflects in our place in the world.

Finland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden all have higher reading scores. This may translate into being more competitive in the international marketplace because quite simply they are better able to use the tools given to them. In my opinion, if Americans don't address the central issue of education for competence in reading and wrting we will lose out in the end.

Our prisons are filling with illiterates. There are far more people in prison who are illiterate than on the outside. It must be manly to not read books.

On a most important note, employers consider reading and writing to be essential skills in the workplace. 93% of employers consider the ability to read and write critical. They seem to be looking for the ability to write with clarity and accuracy to be very important.

When people read less it impacts my profession badly. We are partially funded by circulation statistics, how much people use and read material. So, if you are in a library take that book out when you go home.

The more people that use our libraries, the more money we get. This creates a downward spiral with less funding for libraries as people read less. Will they go to a bookstore instead? Even the bookstores seem to be carrying less reading material and is diversifying into other products, audio books, videos, and software. The bookstore is becoming a media center.

This is a personal example. I used to go to Forbidden Planet in Manhattan to look at science fiction books. They had rows and rows of science fiction boks. Now, they have one book case full of science fiction books, have introduced video games, increased the amount of Manga, a foreign import, and expanded their action figures. People aren't reading the fantasy and science fiction books they were once known for so they had to change considerably.

Even in places where there is a successful bookstore, they are not focusing on literature necessarily, they are focusing on tie-ins, a further sign of distraction. You go see Harry Potter, buy the book by J.K. Rowling, visit the web site, and maybe even listend to the sound track. Media is now a complete package where you have to listen, concentrate, and read. A bookstore is a business, at least that is the way we normally think of it. However, this is changing. A lot of bookstores are folding.

Many of the surviving bookstores are becoming nonprofits and inviting in other forms of entertainment. Nkiru books in Brooklyn, New York for example, an African American bookstore changed into Nkiru cultural center. Housing Works, one of the most successful used bookstores in Manhattan uses its proceeds to help homeless people with AIDS-- Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome. It takes donations and sells them. It is a really high quality bookstore. I have seen other bookstores starting to change their status to nonprofit.

So what is happening with those young adults who are not reading, how are they making it through the school system. They can now listen to their assignment, plenty of them come in requesting the complete audiobook of Lord of the Flies, or if they really can't be bothered and can't understand Hamlet, they rent the video instead of reading the book. Reading is a difficult skill for a lot of people.

Less than a third of American teenagers are reading daily. This is problematic. I like to think that as an adult people will at least read the morning paper each day, or listen to someone reading it to them.

We need to do something. I think part of that something comes from the world wide web. People are turning to the internet to do a lot of their writing and reading. The study mentions newspapers losing ground to the internet. The study states the internet is less formal, less edited, and less linear than newspapers. In a way, I approve of this. My grammar is far from perfect, and I do have quite a bit to say. If blogs weren not available, I would not be able to say it to you.

Also people are turning to places where they can talk about themselves like myspace.com, there are over 98 million myspace.com pages a huge amount of writing and reading if you think of it. Also facebook.com has over 17 million pages. The internet is a giant collaborative open book. It gives people an opportunity to express themselves that simply wasn't there before, like I am expressing myself now.

I think the internet is quietly generating a new generation of readers. We can see it in the explosion of interest in urban fiction which comes from the street from people who you normally don't think of as readers and writers. It is violent, full of sex, drugs, and darkness in many ways, but it creates new readers. With the availabiliity of the internet and computers, it opened whole new opportunities for people who would not normally be reading. I can see the hunger for many people who want to read Zane, Noir, Omar Tyree, Chunichi, and other urban fiction writers.

There is a real renaissance in African American writing and reading. This site http://www.aalbc.com/, has grown tremendously since one of my colleagues saw it at Book Expo America in 2005.

People want reading, they just want it to be relevant to their experience. I think a lot of publishers are out of touch and are not producing material that jibes with every day American experiences. I will probably take the time to read "A Free Life" by Ha Jin, because it looks like it reverbates with the American experience. America is becoming a more diverse society. Publishers are just beginning to wake up to change. We are starting to see change with more international writers becoming available in American like Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Umberto Eco, Isabel Allende, and Jonathan Carroll who has an amazing personal website http://www.jonathancarroll.com/ .

Also we are seeing a real explosion of poetry. Poetry in print from small presses has just exploded in availability because it is so easy to print books. It is also a form of free expression which takes well to the web. I was at a workshop, Poetry In the Branches, and the presenter said that were five times as many poetry books being printed as there were ten years ago.

We can now print exactly what people want when they want it. Maybe, bookstores and libraries need to be a little more flexible in how they get books to people. With companies like http://www.lightningsource.com/ , it is possible to print books just in time and on demand. We are not far from a future where books become instant as well. Instabook http://www.instabook.net/web/content.php?content.5 . This will change things considerably. It will lead to a different place and job for books and reading in the world.

Maybe we can reverse this trend. I am not quite sure how, but it needs to be done to keep Americans educated, employed, and free.

This is my daily rant. How did this start? I went to my library and found my library card was expired and I needed to go back the next day to renew it so I could take out some books. I found an article about To Read or Not To Read and decided I should look at the study and comment on it instead of going in to the library and getting a book to read. Sometimes, a little bit of the busman's holiday can be bit overwhelming. After all, this study has a chance to have a real impact on me.

I took a walk to my local library again today, but found it was closed. I guess, I should have called beforehand. Tomorrow is Turkey Day, so it will be closed. The walk was very nice though. It gave me a chance to stretch my legs. I always liked walking better than driving.

I went back again to my library at around three o'clock, it was open. I got a new library card, paid a few dollars in fines, and went and sat down at the free computers for an hour. It is kind of funny sitting there acting like a library patron. I also picked up four books to look at: The Alton Gift by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross, The Atomic Bazaar, The Rise of the Nuclear Poor by William Langewiesche, a graphic novel called American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, and The Bonehunters A Tale of the Malanzan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. I have not started reading any of them yet. I might start tonight. Signing off and wishing you well for now.

Librarianship, Bookselling, and Publishing

The library of the Nautilus with a picture of Captain Nemo.

Creating The Customer Driven Library Building on the Bookstore Model by Jeannette Woodward is about how to improve libraries by understanding how retail bookstores work. The central tenet of this book is that the best way to improve libraries is through better customer service. The book claims that many of the customer service practices of bookstores can be adapted by libraries. Jeanette Woodward says that libraries need to look at their bottom lines and see how statistics and qualitative surveys on what library patrons want can be used to improve service in libraries. Serving the patron and the community become the central goal of the library.

There are detailed sections on how to display materials, improve signage, and generate positive publicity. It challenges the traditional idea that the librarian knows best and claims that what the patron wants is more important. If the library patron doesn't get what they want, they go elsewhere, usually to the local bookstore. Things like how to run a cafe in a library setting, adjust hours so they meet patrons needs, and use staffing so that technology is used effectively are written about.

It claims that the library patron needs to feel safe, have fast service, feel good about their visit, and be informed about what happens in their library. This should be written into the mission of the library.

This is an excellent book that tackles many thorny issues in the public library. It is well worth reading for both librarians and booksellers.

This post is particularly about the relationship between libraries, bookstores, and publishing. One of the review links I have posted is to Bookweb, the newsletter of the American Bookselling Association. Bookweb has quite a few news articles as well as information on what the best books are for selling in the independent bookstore.

The ABA, American Booksellers Association, also sponsors, Bookexpo America, the trade show for American publishing. This show occurs every other year in New York City at the Jacob Javits center. It will be in New York in 2009. I try to go every year it is in New York city, http://www.bookexpoamerica.com/ . The price is incredibly cheap $75.00 in US dollars three days. Close to the same time as the Bookexpo, there is the Day of Dialog between librarians and publishers. You have to register several months in advance to get tickets for the Day of Dialog. http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6457224.html . I easily pay for the cost of the event in the amount of free sample books which I end up sending back to where I am working, about sixty pounds of free new books.

Quite a few librarians attend the event in addition to booksellers and publishers. Most of the librarians are either collection development or reference librarians. I usually meet several different people who I have worked with at one point or another when I go there. It takes about a day and half to just walk around all the booths in the Jacob Javits Center. There is every kind of book, comic book, ebook, and book related material there.

Last time I was at this thing in 2007, I got to here a panel by publishers on science fiction in the library setting, as well as pick up a few free books like Armageddon Reef by David Weber, and the graphic novel, Invincible for myself. During the Day of Dialog, George R.R. Martin, the science fiction writer, was one of the invited speakers.

In April 2008, I will be going to the New York Comic Con, http://www.nycomiccon.com/ which offers free admission to professionals, librarians are considered professionals so I get to go free. Last time I was there, there were professional discussion panels on anime, manga, and graphic novels in the library setting. What is different about the New York Comic Con from other comic conventions is that the main purpose of the convention is to meet and talk with all the different comic book publishers like Fantagraphics, DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, and others.

I am a big fan of comics lit, that is things like Maus by Art Spiegelman, the comic book adaptation of the Ring of the Nibelung by P. Craig Russell, the Cartoon History of the Universe by Larry Gonick, a biography of Kafka by R. Crumb, and many other works. I don't read a whole lot of superhero comics.

I collect what are called "ground level" comics, things that are not quite underground comics, and not quite mainstream comics. People like Vaughn Bode, P. Craig Russell, and Richard Corben. My focus in collecting is mainly science fiction, fantasy, and horror comics.

Another convention I will attend is the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art Festival on June 7 and June 8 in the Puck Building in Manhattan. This convention once again is very affordable to attend. Once again, this convention is not like most other comic book conventions, it focuses almost entirely on independent comic book publishers. There are tables from people like Fantagraphics, Soft Skull Press, Last Gasp, Drawn and Quarterly and illustrators like Craig Thompson. Last time I was at the festival in 2005, I got to meet Sara Turner of Make Like a Tree Comics. She has a really excellent free science fiction web comic caled File 49 http://mlatcomics.com/file49_index.html . This really satisfies my fanboy urges.

I haven't had a chance to visit MOCCA-- Museum of Cartoon and Comic Art in New York, but I recently looked at their listing of comic books on the internet. http://www.librarything.com/profile/moccany . They also have a catalog. http://www.librarything.com/catalog/moccany . Maybe, on my next vacation I will get a chance to visit.

I have plenty of thoughts on the more low brow aspect of the librarians and booksellers. One of these things is the public library fundraising booksale which usually comes with cupcakes, cookies, and coffee which is done by the "Friends of the Library." At almost every such event, you will see pickers, or bookscouts who are trying to find special books to sell either on ebay, or to their local bookstore. Most are older gentlemen or ladies who have experience with this kind of thing. It is a hobby for them which brings in some extra money. For the most part they are curmudgeons with a slightly grumpy hands off my stuff attitude. They also attend church rummage sales, flea markets, used bookshops, second hand goods stores and other such venues.

Anyways, this is a piece of my post for the day.

_________________________________________________________________

Another link which I am posting is http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/ this is a news aggregator for the alternative energy industry. If you are interested in alternative energy, this gives very up to the minute news.

__________________________________________________________________

I really haven't thought of anything new to post about improving my site statistics. I'll come up with some more later today.

Alright, I posted a few comments by myself to myself in the comments section. Right now, I am not worried about comment spam and link dropping. Please comment-- remember no porn, no truly gratuitous violence, no super hateful spews, flaming and different opinions are welcome. I like a little debate. It makes the world go around. If you want to put in a link to your blog please do. I will gladly post a comment in return on your blog. Thanks. Talking to myself. Wow.

Anyways, there is so much that is so easy to miss. I just updated my complete profile. It is so easy to miss stuff on this site.

While I was looking at Google Groups help for blogs, I found several blog review style groups in Google, Blogger Review, Blogger Help Group, and Blogger General Discussion where you are supposed to post your URL and ask for comments. I then looked for some web sites that reviewed blogs, there is Bloggeries Blog, and The Weblog Review so far.