Daily Thoughts 01/31/2012

The Thick of the Plot (an elegant lady reading), signed, watercolour, 20 x 27 cm, George Goodwin Kilburne


Daily Thoughts 01/31/2012

Today was an impossibly busy day.  I finished reading Debt The First 5000 Years.  It is an interesting condemnation of our current economic system.  David Graeber says that our economic system has to change simpley because there are not enough resources for the world economy to continue running the way it is now.  He also says that the debt is unsustainable.  I agree with the idea that China is trying to turn the United States into a source for tribute.  It is a bit different.  David Graeber is not trying to convert people to his beliefs with this book.  He is rather trying to challenge people to think differently about money and commerce.  I found it very interesting if a little odd at points.

This morning, I checked the displays and the gift books.  We currently have three displays up right now;  one ongoing one for current events, a Black History Month display, and a display of books on publishing and writing. We had a lot of donations of classic books which may be added to the young adult collection.  I also spent some time talking to people about programming.  We are getting some equipment for programming. We are working on an annual calendar of events that may affect the library.  I looked through the American Library Association annual calendar, the New York Library Association calender, and a few other sites.

I also checked the Facebook and Twitter account this morning.  In addition, I spoke to a colleague about making sure the E-blast was done for a business program and a program by Shen Yun Performing Arts on Saturday.

I found out that Kenneth Davis will be at the New York Library Association Library Advocacy Day on March 6, 2012 which is interesting. http://www.nyla.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=64

I also spent some time gathering suggestions for future orders.  I checked the collection management sheet for patron requests this afternoon.  I did not get a chance to read the latest Publishers Weekly or Library Journal. It was simply too busy.

We had the Tuesday computer classes tonight.  As usual, I made sure the lab was properly set up and talked to the teacher.

Today was the last day for an Amnesty for lost fines at our library.  It made the day a bit interesting.

I am starting to think ahead to the coming year.  The Westchester Library Association Conference is on May 11, 2012.  The New York Comic Con is on October 11-14.  Hopefully there will be free Professional Passes for the professional day.  I am also hoping I get a chance to visit Book Expo America for at least one day.  Maybe I will get a chance to go to the Day of Dialog.

Daily Thoughts 01/30/2012

Daily Thoughts 01/30/2012

I updated the library Twitter and Facebook accounts today.  I had some time to look up a few things on the library and environment and 3D printing in libraries.

I also put the book Fab : the coming revolution on your desktop--from personal computers to personal fabrication by Neil A. Gershenfeld.

I went to my local library and read a few magazines.  The Bloomberg Business Week had an issue on 10/31/2011 with an article called Who's Behind The Mask on P.64 about Occupy Wall Street.  Part of the article was about David Graeber who wrote Debt The First 5,000 Years which I am reading right now.   David Graeber was one of the main starters of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Reading Debt The First 5,000 Years helps me understand why so much of the occupy movement is focused on banking, student loans, forclosures, mortgages, and other forms of financial inequity.

I also spent some time reading Consumer Reports.  I am thinking about buying a new computer.  The Inspiron i620 desktop from Dell has one of the highest ratings. Consumer Reports also confirmed that the iPad is still the best tablet.  Buying both a tablet and a new computer is expensive.  I am thinking about how to get it in the most affordable way possible.  I just bought a smart phone and a Kindle Touch.


Libraries and the Environment

The Social Responsibility Roundtable has a Taskforce on the Environment inside the American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/rts/srrt/tfoe/lbsc/librariesbuildsustainablecommunitiesthree.cfm


A number of libraries have been recently built on green principles.
http://www.greenlibraries.org/

This is a farily recent article on Green libraries
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/39d3v236#page-11

Linked In Recently Listed Sustainable Libraries as a group.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Sustainability-Librarians-3928605?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

The Sustainable Libraries Group on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/SustainableLibraries

Australian Librarian and Information Association Sustainability Group
http://www.alia.org.au/groups/sustain/ 

3D Printing and Libraries

Public Libraries, 3D Printing, Fab Labs, and Hackerspaces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCXlJ36x-q0


Bre Pettis Talks Libraries and Makerbots
http://jasongriffey.net/wp/2012/01/22/bre-pettis-libraries-and-3d-printing/
The Maker Movement has slowly began to try and create alliances with libraries.  I am thinking about visiting NYC Resistor to just see a little bit more about what it is about.

Fayettville Free Library Fab Lab
http://www.fayettevillefreelibrary.org/about-us/services/fablab


Web Bits

How Libraries and Bookstores Became The New Community Centers
http://www.newgeography.com/content/002629-how-libraries-and-bookstores-became-new-community-centers
This is quite interesting.  In some ways it is controversial.  The question becomes what kind of community center?  A center for culture, the arts, literature, and learning is fine in my book, but there are other ideas where things become a little more fuzzy.

Why Goodreads Gave Up On Amazon
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_goodreads_gave_up_on_amazon.php
You will notice that my Goodreads Widget is not working correctly.  None of the covers are showing.

Energy Plus Buildings and Net Zero Homes a Thought Experiment with a bit of Industriial Ecology

Energy Plus Buildings and Net Zero Homes a Thought Experiment with a bit of Industrial Ecology

Sometimes I get inspired for no reason to write about ideas that have to do with technology. I am in one of those moods right now.  I have no engineering background.  I just like the ideas.  They are a way to distract me from the every day world.  I am no expert on this.  I just have read a lot about it.

This is another exercise in blue sky thinking.  I am making things up for my own enjoyment.  It is the same reason I wrote the other pieces: Inflatable Space, A Turbine Powered Future, and The Turbine and the Battery..


A Company has started building Factory Made Net-Zero Homes in California.  http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/factory-made-net-zero-homes-california What is important about this is that is possible to standardize energy efficiency and alternative energy into a house so it can be mass produced.  This standardization could lead to a standard model for retrofitting existing homes so that they use little or no energy.

There is a second part of this picture.  It is also possible to build energy plus office buildings.  In Germany there already are office buildings that are energy plus.  The Solar Settlement is one of these.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlusEnergy

In France, there is a much larger planned building which is supposed to be energy plus.  Even if it is never built, it opens up a different model for development.  http://inhabitat.com/paris-building-to-be-worlds-greenest/

Combining housing communites that produce energy with office buildings that produce energy opens up interesting possibilities.  Residential and office properties could be used to help power local manufacturing and urban agriculture in addition to power plants.  This would allow a much denser and at the same time greener city center.  Every building at some point could be designed to fit into a much smarter grid for energy.

In my imagination, I could see a very green city with rooftops with greenhouses and urban gardens.
Part of this greater density would include aquaponics farms and urban agriculture.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/smallbusiness/19sbiz.html?_r=1&ref=urbanagriculture

A system like this could be described as a form of industrial ecology where energy flowed between homes, offices, urban agriculture, and light manufacturing.  Industrial ecology is an emerging field.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_ecology

When I am thinking of light manufacturing, I am thinking of emergent processes based on highly efficient lean, local manufacturing and advanced recycling systems.  Already, the beginnings of this are taking shape.

There is no advantage of shipping long distances with 3D Printing.  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/technology/14print.html?pagewanted=all The 3D printing process has already made possible things like the Urbee http://www.stratasys.com/Resources/Case-Studies/Automotive-FDM-Technology-Case-Studies/Urbee.aspx


I could imagine the light manufacturing centers as an extension of the spaces like the modern Hackerspaces http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Hackerspaces , the MIT Fab Lab  http://cba.mit.edu/about/index.html, or even the commercial systems called Tech Shops.  The Maker Movement plays into this in my imagination as well.  Part of this is purely a little imaginative and utopian (that wonderful no place).


I like to think that there could be highly efficient green cities focused on local manufacturing.  I can imagine a green tree lined city with urban greenhouses, alternative energy powered office buildings, net zero homes with well tended gardens, community gardens, light manufacturing centers, libraries, parks, small shopping districs, wide boulevards with room for walking and light transportation.  A livable place.

Daily Thoughts 01/29/2012

Reading by the Shore, Charles Sprague Pearce, circa 1863-865
Daily Thoughts 01/29/2012

I spent some more time this morning reading Debt the First 5000 Years.  David Graeber right now is describing how bullion or coinage is more portable and a more reliable way to deal with soldiers and armed mercenaries who cannot be trusted with credit.

I spent some more time updating the Twitter and Facebook account for the library.

I also read some of the latest news on Occupy Wall Street it saddens me.  Oakland California has a history of radicalism and problems with the police.  It was not just a flashpoint, it was a bonfire waiting to happen.  I am glad to remain an observer, because even more I realize that this movement is more about protest than solving peoples problems.



Web Bits

The Bookstores Last Stand
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/business/barnes-noble-taking-on-amazon-in-the-fight-of-its-life.html?_r=2

This may affect libraries in a big way.

Daily Thoughts 01/28/2012

Harper's Magazine cover by Edward Penfield, June, 1896

Daily Thoughts 01/28/2012

I had a chance to update the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library this morning.  On a more personal note, I went and got a haircut which has nothing to do with this blog.

29% of US Adults Own a Tablet or an E-reader
http://mashable.com/2012/01/23/19-percent-adults-tablet/
E-reader software is also available for the PC and Personal Digital Assistants (another word for Smart Phones).  This means that anyone with access to a computer or laptop probably has access to E-reader software.


The Mount Vernon Writers Network has updated their website with biographies and pictures.  http://www.mvwn.org    It is looking excellent.


Unpopular Mount Vernon LIbrary Director Leaves
http://www.lohud.com/article/20120127/NEWS02/301270018/Unpopular-Mount-Vernon-library-director-leaves-confidential-deal
I can only hope that we find someone positive who will be good for both the community and the library.

I read some more of Debt The First 5000 Years.  The author is writing about Early Medieval Ireland where a persons honor and social status was measured in terms of cumal or slave girls.  This was translated into cattle and silver.  People literally had to pay debts of honor for insulting or harming another person.  The greater ones social status the more value in terms of cumal.  I found it interesting that to be a noble one had to have at least five cattle.  This was before money was a regular medium of exchange.  This book is full fascinating tidbits of information that I will probably will never use again.


Web Bits

J.R.R. Tolkien and George Orwell Removed from the Public Domain
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/j-r-r-tolkien-george-orwell-removed-from-public-domain_b45725

Moore's Law Publishing And Why Michael Fraser is right about generation Y.
http://blog.publishingtechnology.com/digital-solutions/moores-law-publishing/#.TyQaxj9uAkM.facebook 

How Will Social Media Effect the E-book
http://socialtimes.com/how-will-social-media-affect-the-ebook_b88288

Daily Thoughts 01/27/2012

The love letter. Oil on canvas, framed as oval. 61 x 51 cm, August Leopold Egg, by 1863.  It has a nice romantic flair to it.

Daily Thoughts 01/27/2012

This morning I read some more of Clark Howard's Living Large In Lean Times.  He is writing about insurance and mortgages.  I am finding it very easy to read on the Kindle Touch.

I spent some time updating the Facebook and Twitter accounts.  I also spent some time checking the displays.  I am putting together a display for writing and publishing.  A colleague is working on a display for Black History Month which includes books and dvds.

The book, Leviathan Wakes came in for me to read by James S.A. Corey.

I am looking at the Penguin Speakers Bureau http://www.penguinspeakersbureau.com/  I found it because of a catalog sent to my library from Penguin books.

I also am reading through Publishers Weekly right now.  I found a science fiction book I am planning to read.  The book Exogene by T.C. McCarthy should be interesting.  It is the sequel to Germline which is a military science fiction novel.  Another book which caught my eye is Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology, and the Fate of the Nation by James Howard Kunstler.  It is coming out in June of 2012.  James Howard Kunstler is the author of The Long Emergency which is a book about how America will systematically decline because of peak oil and excessive resource use.  In my view, this does not have to happen, there are solutions to our problems both social and technical.

I spent some time talking to a gentleman who works with Shen Yun Performing Arts.  They are doing a presentation on classical Chinese arts on Saturday, February 4, 2012 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the community room.  It is Chinese New Years right now, the Year of the Dragon.

I spent some more time looking through Publishers Weekly.  There is a new book by A. Lee Martinez who writes humorous fantasy and science fiction that verges on slapstick at times, Emperor Mollusk versus The Sinister Brain.  A. Lee Martinez reminds me a bit of Robert Asprin.  Another book which caught my attention is Local Dollars Local Sense How To Shift Your Money From Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity by Michael H. Shuman.  This is a very timely book.

On the way home, I finished reading Howard Clark's Living Large in Lean Times.  What it basically does is show you different places where you can save money from a variety of different sources by either coupons, bidding, or special deals.  The one drawback to this kind of book is that immerses you in advertising to get the special deals.

I am feeling a bit of relief.  Today, many people where I work got their pay reinstated after a challenge to a reduction in force including myself.  I feel as if I have my position back.  This makes me feel much more motivated.  I am still sad for the people who were let go.  I think things are getting a bit better for some people.

Web Bits

Joining a Noble Profession From the Bell Tower
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/01/opinion/steven-bell/joining-a-noble-profession-from-the-bell-tower/

Occupy 2.0 Changes Tack
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/1/27/occupy-protest-libraries-walk/
It is interesting that the Occupy Harvard group is supporting the library against layoffs.

 Occupy Cal Protesters Claim Victory in Reinstating UC Berkeley Library Hours
http://dougoakley.blogspot.com/2012/01/occupy-protesters-claim-victory-in.html

Daily Thoughts 01/26/2012

Daily Thoughts 01/26/2012

This morning, I read some of Clark Howard's Living Large in Lean Times on my Kindle Touch.  I am very much enjoying reading on the Kindle, it is very easy to do.  This book is about how to save money on all kinds of things; everything from health care to electronics to groceries.

The Mount Vernon Writers Network is doing a membership drive.  We currently have fifteen members and are seeking more members to join our network.  We especially are looking to add published authors from the Mount Vernon, New York area.  http://www.mvwn.org/

I spent a little time this morning updating the Twitter and Facebook pages for the library.  A colleague has started working on the email blasts for events as well which should help us get out more publicity.

I also spent a little bit of time checking the displays.  We had the Computer Lab for Academic Use today from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  I spent some time helping people get some pictures from the internet and search for jobs.

This evening we had a play, The Trageday of Ethalia by Kabiru Mohammed which was an amateur production.  It was a different crowd than I originally expected.  The crowd was very much intergenerational with children, teenagers, and adults.  The play was in a medieval setting.  It was a play about tragic love and royalty.

Web Bits

In One Community, Residents Challenge Library Spending on Ebooks
http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/01/ebooks/in-one-community-residents-challenge-library-spending-on-ebooks/
This is another article on the challenge to ebook spending.  I think there is still a lot that needs to be considered when purchasing ebooks.

Daily Thoughts 01/25/2012

Horatius reads before Maecenas, 1863, Fyodor Bronnikov

Daily Thoughts 01/25/2012

On the train to work, I read some more of Debt The First 5,000 Years.  I am reading about how debt obligations sometimes lead to enslavement.  There is a bit on the African slave trade and how many of the people on the Atlantic slave trade were enslaved as debtors then sold to be brought to America.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I also spent some time working on flyers and the eblasts.  I have an issue of Publishers Weekly and the latest issue of the New York Times Book Review to read.  I also picked out some graphic novels for the Graphic Novels Club this afternoon.

We are doing the Computer Lab for Academic Use today from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon.  It has started to fill up very quickly.  A number of the people from the Tuesday computer classes come in to practice in the lab.

We discussed Kyle Baker at the Graphic Novels club who wrote Plastic Man on the Lam and How to draw stupid and other rules of cartooning.   Kyle Baker reminds me a little bit of Aaron MacGruder who wrote the comic strip Boondocks.

Two books came in for me to read, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries and The Price of Civilization by Jeffrey D. Sachs.

On the way home, I read the latest New York Times Book Review and the January 23, 2012 Publishers Weekly.  There were a lot of interesting books being announced.  I saw an advertisement for Paolo Bacigalupi's new book coming in May, The Drowned Cities.  Another book which caught my attention was Change Comes to Dinner:  How Vertical Farmers, Urban Growers, and Other Innovators Are Revolutionizing How Americans Eat by Katherine Gustafson coming out in April published by St. Martin's.  There is already a website for the book with a blog. http://www.changecomestodinner.com/Book/Home.html

Daily Thoughts 01/24/2012

Bookstore, Washington, D.C.  Date Created/Published: 1937 Nov. Part of: Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection (Library of Congress)
Daily Thoughts 01/24/2012

I have been steadily reading more of Debt The First 5,000 Years.  Right now, the author is writing about religious debt in the terms of the bible.  He is describing how debt drove many people into slavery.  Part of this process is on occassion freeing people from debt slavery so they can go back to being peasants.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts.  We are also working on the E-blast to announce programs.  Part of this process is working on a consistent brand and logo for all of our marketing materials; flyers, social media announcments, email notifications, and website.

I also checked the displays this morning.  I am going to be sitting with someone to discuss the Nook today.  It will be a learning experience.

I am working on a number of flyers for events that are coming up very soon.  We have the Computer Lab for Academic Use Today from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  We also have two computer classes one from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and one from 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

I spent some time today going over the Nook with a patron.  I also helped some colleagues with a display for African American history month.

The book, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman came in for me to read.

On the way home, I read some more of Debt The First 5000 Years.  The author is writing about blood money and bride prices.  Both of these have greater social value than monetary value.  It is very hard to place a value on human life in purely monetary terms.

Web Bits

The Political Price of Austerity
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/books/review/the-age-of-austerity-how-scarcity-will-remake-american-politics-by-thomas-byrne-edsall-book-review.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
After reading this article it made me want to read The Age of Austerity.

People's Library Presentation at ALA (American Library Association) Midwinter conference
http://peopleslibrary.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/peoples-library-presentation-at-ala-midwinter/

Detroits Monteith Library Branch to Reopen in February
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/detroit-monteith-library-branch-to-reopen-in-february-20120120-ms
This was partially the result of Occupy Detroit protesting.

Daily Thoughts 01/23/2012

Yeats at Petitpas Scene depicts artist John Butler Yeats eating, drinking, and smoking with his friends at a long narrow table in an outdoor seating area of Petitpas restaurant in New York. Hanging over the table is a bright pendant lamp, which illuminates the faces of the artists, poets, writers, and actors seated around the table. In the background a Mlle. Celestine Petipas stands by the table, a bowl of apples and oranges held in her hands. Artist: Sloan, John, 1871-1951, painter. Medium: Oil on canvas.


Daily Thoughts 01/23/2012


I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I also spent a little time talking to people about the E-blast and the program tonight for preventing forclosure from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

I read a bit more of Debt the First 5,000 Years.  I rather like the idea that credit was invented before coinage.  The Egyptians and Sumerians would issue credit based on the silver bullion in their temples.  Coinage came later. There are also some interesting ideas about how taxation creates debt obligations to empires and states.  Debt is more than just money, there are also social and religious debts.

I put the book, Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey on hold.  It was part of the RUSA 2012 Reading List http://rusa.ala.org/blog/2012/01/22/2012-readinglist/

• Mount Vernon Inquirer Article about the Budget from January 13, 2012
• http://www.mvinquirer.com/2012_budget.htm
• The Mount Vernon Public Library got $3.6 million dollars for 2012 the budget which was $100,000 more in funding than last year.

Web Bits

Tablet and E-book reader Ownership Nearly Double Over Holidy Gift-Giving Period
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/E-readers-and-tablets.aspx
We are getting a lot more requests on how to download library E-books.

Low Income People Versus E-books Controversy Shows Why The DPLA (Digital Public Library of America) Library Should Care More About the Needs of the Nonelite
http://www.teleread.com/library/low-income-people-vs-e-books-controversy-shows-why-the-dpla-library-should-care-more-about-the-needs-of-the-nonelite/ 

Moving Towards A Hybrid Market E + P
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/retailing/article/50304-moving-toward-a-hybrid-market.html
In my view, there is a place for both.  I think I will always prefer graphic novels in print as well as heavily illustrated, art books, instructional books, and oversize books as print books.  I think plain fiction and books with not a lot of illustration are better as E-books.


What Future for Occupy Wall Street from the New York Review of Books
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/feb/09/what-future-occupy-wall-street/?page=1

Daily Thoughts 01/22/2012

Daily Thoughts 01/22/2012

I finished reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  The book is quite elegant.  It is both lovely and tragic.  The ending was very different than what I expected.

I also started reading Debt The First 5000 Years by David Graeber.   David Graeber is an activist and anthropologist.   He views the current system of debt as unsustainable and unjust.

The book, Clark Howard's Living Large in Lean Times came in for me to get from the Westchester Library System Digital Media Catalog.   It is a book of tips on how to save money.

Someone suggested that I take a look at http://www.obooko.com which is a site which allows people to create free ebooks.  There are a lot of creative commons titles on the site.

Daily Thoughts 01/21/2012

Conan Doyle Forward Facing Photograph


Daily Thoughts 01/21/2012

I read some more of The Night Circus last night.  I like that there are so many different types of magic and showmanship in this book.  There are illusionists, contortionists, clock makers, fortune tellers, and even a few real magicians.   There is a thin line between trickery and magic in this book.

I spent some time looking at the Programming Librarian Blog.  There is both a section on grants and a generic calendar for library events.  http://www.programminglibrarian.org 

ALA Midwinter 2012: Adding Kindle Compatibility Expanded OverDrive’s U.S. Library Network by 36 Percent  

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/01/industry-news/adding-kindle-compatibility-expanded-overdrives-u-s-library-network-by-36-percent/

I am very glad that I purchased a Kindle Touch.  It has been very useful for my job and I have found it entertaining to read books on it as well.

ALA Midwinter 2012: Better World Books and Ingram Team Up to Create Library Revenue

http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/01/funding/ala-midwinter-2012-better-world-books-and-ingram-team-up-to-create-library-revenue/  

We use Better World Books for some of our discarded items.

I put The Librarians Guide to Micro Publishing on request through interlibrary loan.
http://books.infotoday.com/books/Librarians-Guide-To-Micropublishing.shtml

I also placed holds on The price of civilization : reawakening American virtue and prosperity
by Jeffrey Sachs and The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

We are having more people coming in with self published books.  We also have the Mount Vernon Writers Network which has quite a few people with self published books.

Daily Thoughts 01/20/2012

[Students in the Reading Room of the Library of Congress with the Librarian of Congress, Herbert Putnam, watching] Date Created/Published: [1899?]

Daily Thoughts 01/20/2012

I read some more of A Nation Rising by Kenneth C. Davis on the way to work.  I am reading about the the Monroe Doctrine and how it affected Native Americans.  The author is writing about the wars with the Seminoles in the 1830s in Florida.  He is describing how African Americans allied with the Seminoles in Florida to fight United States troops.  It is an interesting account.

I checked the displays this morning and updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts.  I also worked a bit on the flyers for programs as well.  I read the latest Booklist to see what was new.  We are going to put up a new display next week for February.  February is Black History Month.

The book, Who's In Charge? Free Will and the Brain by Michael S. Gazzaniga has come in for me to read.

I worked on a few flyers for upcoming author events.  I met with William Bowden this morning to get a copy of his photograph and a picture of the front cover of his new book.  We are having William Bowden coming on February 14, 2012 to read from his book, Soul Sister Sister Sonnets II.  We are also having Bimpe Fageyinbo on March 13, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. reading from her memoir, "So Maybe, That's the Bee's Weakness."

I also had a chance to look at The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow by Cory Doctorow.  It is a science fiction novel licensed under Creative Commons.
http://craphound.com/gbbt/Cory_Doctorow_-_The_Great_Big_Beautiful_Tomorrow.pdf

There is going to be a staff party tonight which should be entertaining.

I had a chance to finish reading A Nation Rising while I was waiting for my ride to the staff party.  It was very enjoyable reading.  Kenneth Davis was seeking to expose parts of our history that were not well covered in standard history books.

The staff party went very well. It was very much a reminder that we are looking forward to a brighter future.  The library I work at currently is seeking a new director.  We are in a transitional phase where we are working with tbe board of directors while they are seeking a new director.  The food was good and the music was excellent.  I had a chance to talk to a few people I had not seen in a little while.

Daily Thoughts 01/19/2012

Trinity College Library: the "Long Room" in the 18th Century, Watercolor of James Malton

Daily Thoughts 01/19/2012

On the way to work, I read some of A Nation Rising by Kenneth Davis.  Kenneth Davis is writing about Aaron Burr and his trial for treason for which he was acquitted.  Aaron Burr was accused of trying to create his own empire in Mexico and the southwest in the 1800s.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts as well as provided some statistics on my programs.  I am thinking about doing a sign up sheet for the computer lab.

I spent some time talking about the website with a colleague.

We have the Computer Lab for Academic Use today from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  I spent some time helping people look for jobs, print out resumes, sign up for email accounts, search the Lexis database for company information and use the teaching programs in the lab like Professor Teaches Excel, Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor and Learning Express Software Tutorials.

We also have the Mount Vernon Writers Network from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. tonight.The Mount Vernon Writers Network worked very well tonight.  The attendance is slowly growing.  It has been a full year that this program has been running as of tonight.  The Mount Vernon Writers Network now has a new logo, some marketing materials, and a few more new members.  We will be having William Bowden reading from his new book, Soul Sister Sonnets II on February 14, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m..  I am hoping that this will go very well.

On the way home, I read some more of A Nation Rising Untold Tales from America's Hidden History.  Kenneth C. Davis is writing about slave revolts.  He specifically writes about the Creole and the Amistad, two ships where the slaves revolted aboard the ships.  He also describes many accounts of how the Native Americans allied with run away slaves to fight settlers.

Web Bits

P. Craig Russell has a Kickstarter project teaching graphic storytelling.  I very much like his artwork.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/251462428/p-craig-russells-guide-to-graphic-storytelling 

Creating The Library of Tomorrow From the Ground Up
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2012/01/creating-the-library-of-tomorrow-from-the-ground-up/ 

A Bit More Occupy Stuff Because I am Interested

Occupy Cal Protests with library Sit-In
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/education&id=8511925

Occupy Detroit Update on Library Fight
http://occupydetroitfrontline.blogspot.com/2012/01/update-on-library-fight-victory-for.html

Occupy Wall Street Library Update
http://killingthebuddha.com/ktblog/ows-library-update/

Occupy Comics: Art + Stories Inspired by Occupy Wall Street
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1817933359/occupy-comics-art-stories-inspired-by-occupy-wall

Daily Thoughts 01/18/2012

[Thomas Jefferson, 1743, 1826, reading rough draft of Declaration of Independence to Benjamin Franklin] Date Created/Published: 1897.
Daily Thoughts 01/18/2012

On the train to work, I finished reading Tony Wheeler's Badlands A Tourist on the Axis of Evil.  The last section is on Saudi Arabia.  I was surprised at the degree of separation between men and women in this society.  I also read some more of The Night Circus.  The imagery is fantastic.  I like the idea that real magic is hidden as illusion in this story.

I have still been thinking about possibly getting an iPad.  I am looking at iPad The Missing Manual.  I just read the latest Publishers Weekly.  Gail Carriger has her new book, Timeless coming out in March.  I rather like the Parasol Protector series.  This is the final book in the series.

I checked out the book Debt The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook page for the library.

I joined the email mailing list for Gluejar which is a new idea for ebooks. http://www.gluejar.com/

We had the Computer Lab today from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.  I spent some time helping people look for jobs and helping people print documents. Some of the applications online can take several hours to fill out.

 I also synched the wireless network so I could get some books from the Westchester Library System Digital Media Catalog.  I now have This Changes Everything on my Kindle Touch.  In addition, I downloaded a few free titles from the Kindle Store including Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider.

I have noticed that there are a number of sites that have gone dark in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).  When I was in the computer lab, we could not get to Craigs List for example.

Web Bits

Why SOPA Still Needs Work
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/opinion/mcdiarmid-sopa-legislation/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Daily Thoughts 01/17/2012

Herbert Putnam in his office. Librarian of Congress Date Created/Published: [between 1890 and 1910]

Daily Thoughts 01/17/2012

This morning, I read some of Tony Wheeler's Bad Lands A Tourist on the Axis of Evil.  Tony Wheeler is the founder of  Lonely Planet travel guides.  He travels to a variety of places as a tourist that are somewhat closed to westerners.  The book is entertaining.  So far, I have read about visiting Afghanistan, Albania, Burma, Cuba, Iran, and Iraq.  There are constant little reminders that these places are potentially dangerous and one has to watch what one is doing carefully.  However, the people are also friendly and interesting.

I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  We are also working on the website and the e-blast.  I gave a colleague my collection of monthly calendars so she could check what we had done during the year.

We had the Biography Book Club today.  I talked about the book The Life and Legend of Jay Gould.   We also talked about the book The Warmth of Other Suns:  The Epic Story of America's Great Migration.  One of our patrons suggested we might want to change the focus of the book club to books on current events.

I spent some time making calls to people about the Mount Vernon Writers Network http://www.mvwn.org  to confirm their attendance.  I also showed another colleague Tumblebooks which are E-books for children.

I spent some time at the beginning of the Intermediate Computer Class this evening talking about the E-readers.  I showed the Kindle and the Sony E-readers to the people at the class.  I am going to be going over the Nook with the career counselor who comes to visit on Tuesdays next week.  It should be interesting.

On the way home, I read some more of Tony Wheeler's Badlands.  In both North Korea and Libya, Tony Wheeler had to travel as part of a group of people with a guide who directed what they could see.  Everything was well planned beforehand.  There is quite a bit of historical commentary thrown in with his experiences visiting these countries.

Web Bits

20 Heroic Librarians Who Save the World
http://io9.com/5671047/20-heroic-librarians-who-save-the-world

Book Clubbing: On Living and Learning In Bookstores
http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/11965/book-clubbing-sonya-chung-on-living-learning-in-bookstores.html

Daily Thoughts 01/16/2012

Portrait of French poet, journalist and writer, Anatole France, 1906 [picture] / Anders Zorn
1906.


Daily Thoughts 01/16/2012

I spent some time updating the Twitter and Facebook accounts of the Mount Vernon Public Library.

I also finished reading Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson.  William Gibson is known for having coined the term cyberspace.  This makes him very influential with all things internet.  He often writes about how people interact with computers. This includes digital film and virtual reality.   He has a wonderfully cosmopolitan feel to his wirting.  The essays are set in Vancouver, San Francisco, San Diego, Singapore, and other cities.  This makes the writing sophisticated.  The essays in this book are very short two to three pages.  For me this is just the right length.


Today is Martin Luther King Jr's Day of Service.  Many people today are doing service to help others in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.



Day of Service Honors Martin Luther King Jr. from CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/16/us/mlk-day/index.html


My first hold came in for an electonic book.  I downloaded it to my Kindle for PC program.  For some reason, I had a little bit of trouble transferring it to my Kindle Touch, I have an older PC which did not recognize the new device.

The electronic book was This Changes Everything Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement, Edited by Sarah Van Gelder of Yes! Magazine.  The book is quite short 88 pages.  I also believe it does not quite represent the different viewpoints of Occupy Wall Street.  It is more like a snapshot of parts of the movement.  There were definite exaggerations with figures.

We learn that Adbusters planned the first protest as a protest against Wall Street involvement with government on September 17, 2011.  I question Sarah Van Gelder's statement that Adbusters is anti-capitalist, they are more focused on being against large publicly traded businesses, not against small business.  The initial protests seemed to be focused on separating big business from big government.

I also found Sarah Van Gelder's focus on drawing from foreign sources for the cause of the movement to be not completely accurate.  Saying that the protest came out of the Arab Spring and European economic protests is only part of the story.  2600 which is a hacker movement provided large amounts of computing power to Occupy Wall Street.  Also the forclosure crisis drove large parts of the movement.

I am not a huge fan of the general assembly idea. I think Occupy Wall Street has moved well beyond the 1960s.  I think that some of the traditions being described are not just anarchist, they are about more recent movements focsued on participatory government. This was not even touched on in This Changes Everything. If you take the time, the reader will find a strong Brazilian influence in Occupy Wall Street, especially emanating from places like Porto Alegre in Brazil.  Another element which is glossed over is the concept of the "electronic commons" or shared civic spaces available through the use of computers.  The people who are runing the Occupy Wall Street sites seem to have a very strong grasp of this.  They also seem to be able to use social media to reinforce this very well.

The one thing I found to be very interesting was the end of the book which focused on describing solutions to the problems of housing, economic contraction, and jobs.  Before this book, I had heard very little about how to solve the United States economic problems from Occupy Wall Street.  This book writes about solutions.  It reminds us that the United States belongs to its citizens.  It also reminds us that there are limits to speculation and tax havens.

I liked reading the book, but found it to be much too short, not inclusive enough, and too slanted.  There should have been more about the different groups that participated including unions, church groups, and nonprofit groups.  I also think it did not discuss many of the issues deeply enough.  There was not enough about the forclosure crisis, the student loan crisis, the bank bailouts, and environmental issues that drove many people to come support the movement.

There is a clear message that we need to reinvest in communities.  Part of this is asking people to put their money in local banks, buy from local businesses, and fund community investment in local government.  There are also demands for less outsourcing of jobs overseas, closing overseas tax havens, and breakup of monopoly businesses.  This is what was good about this book.

I also found that there was not enough about the intellectual underpinnings of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  There was nothing on the Occupy Wall Street Library, Cornel West, or the various writers, poets, and artists that supported the movement.

Hopefully, there will be a more complete book coming out soon on Occupy Wall Street.



Web Bits

The Coming War on General Computation by Cory Doctorow
https://github.com/jwise/28c3-doctorow/blob/master/transcript.md

Daily Thoughts 01/15/2012

Daily Thoughts 01/15/2012

I finished reading The Ecotechnic Future Envisioning A Post Peak World by John Michael Greer.  He writes about how over several generations our society will collapse because of loss of access to critical resources like petroleum.  In his view fossil fuels will not be replaceable.  I disgree with this.  He outlines how our society will start to lose its culture, faith in science, and people will actually have to start preserving many of our ideas for future generations because of an eminient decline over several generations.

There is quite a bit on how cultures failed then declined.  John Michael Greer talks about the cultural losses when Rome fell.  He describes which knowledge was saved and which knowledge was lost.  I found it very interesting.

I think there are new solutions coming into play based on systems thinking which will solve many of our current environmental and energy problems.   For example, there are new forms of ocean based energy which are only minimally tapped. The Pelamis Wave Power is an excellent example of this.  http://www.pelamiswave.com/aboutus/about-us  There is also high altitude solar energy and wind energy.

A solid example of high altitude wind energy generation are energy kites.  http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/5538 Another example of high altitude solar power is Stratosolar.  http://www.stratosolar.com/  This has a number of advantages over space based solar power systems. High altitude solar energy can be repaired more easily and doesn't have to be launched into orbit which is a tremendous expense.

I think there is more than enough energy, it is just from more diverse sources than people previously used. 

Solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass are mapped for the United States with potential resources http://www.nrel.gov/gis/biomass.html.   High altitude wind energy, ocean energy (wave, tidal, and otec) is not included in the equation.  Also, there is not enough discussion of small scale hydroelectric or distributed hydroelectric that does not block rivers.  If you go to the fringes, there are questions about solar power satellites as well.

In a similar way, I think people are starting the process of rethinking manufacturing around much more localized venues.  There is a real desire to bring manufacturing back home to the United States..  http://makerfaire.com/  The Maker movement is very much geared towards this.  Also, 3D printing technology is advancing rapidly.  http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/jamais-cascio/open-future/material-issue
This has reintroduced more local centers of innovation that are not necessarily that mainstream.  People are building spaces like Techshops, Hacker Spaces, and Fab Labs.  There is tremendous potential for innovation. http://www.fabathome.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

As an afterthought, I would like to say there is quite a bit of interest in sustainability in the library community.  I recently joined the Linked In Group for Sustainability Librarians and am following the blog Sustainable Libraries http://sustainablelibraries.org/ 

I have started reading Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson.  William Gibson has a wonderful ability to make sentences.  This is one of the reasons I have liked his writing so much.  Occasionally he comes up with incomparable ones.  Here is an example from P. 45 of this book. "It indicates a kind of maturity, an understanding that every future is someone else's past, every present, someone else's future."  You have to love this ability to weave words.  It is why I liked reading his science fiction novels so much.

I read some more of Distrust That Particular Flavor.  William Gibson makes the statement that he is going to meet Alberto Manguel in Spain and that Alberto Manguel new Jorge Luis Borges personally.  This sets my mind wandering.  There is something wonderful about William Gibson, Alberto Manguel and Jorge Luis Borges connected together through even the most tenuous of threads.

Congressional Quarterly Researcher has a Research Report on the Occupy Wall Street Movement.  It should be interesting reading.  Katel, Peter. “‘Occupy’ Movement.” CQ Researcher 22, no. 2 (January 13, 2012): 25-52.

Web Bits

Mountains of Books Become Mountains
http://www.visualnews.com/2011/12/22/mountains-of-books-become-mountains/

Daily Thoughts 01/14/2012

Ein Stillleben mit einer Korbflasche, einem aufgeschlagenen Buch, Karten und einer Tonpfeife, Öl auf Leinwand, 30 x 20 cm, 1840
Daily Thoughts 01/14/2012

I updated the Twitter and Facebook announcements for the library.

I also read some more of The Ecotechnic Future.  I do not agree with the author about his statements on hydroponics.  I think there are some very promising hydroponics systems being developed for urban settings like the one used by Gotham Greens http://gothamgreens.com/our-philosophy/   I however agree with some of his statements. It is absolutely true that in some cases, organic farming is cheaper than conventional farming because it does not use as much chemicals or petroleum.  For example, I can go to my local supermarket and buy Greenway generic organic products; apple juice, tomato based pasta sauce, pasta, and canned green beans cheaper than the conventionally produced similar products.  I also enjoy going to local farmers markets which have very high quality produce, often better than I can get at the supermarket.  Organic greenhouses ultimately allow urban agriculture to be cheaper in many ways than conventional farming because they cost less for transportation, require less chemicals, and produce a higher quality product.  This is also true of urban aquaculture.

I spent a little time playing with my Kindle Touch.  We have 7 day checkout or 14 day checkout for E-books. This means the book expires in 7 days or 14 days.  E-books are not designed to be returned early. If you are number 5 on a holds list, there are four people ahead of you.  This means you would have to wait at least 28 days. It means there is more of a wait for electronic content.  It is also very easy to put yourself on waiting lists for material  I have four E-books on hold right now. We also have Tumblebooks through the Westchester Library System which is a set of online kids books.

Daily Thoughts 01/13/2012

[North Reading Room, west wall. Detail of mural by Ezra Winter illustrating the characters in the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.] Photograph shows right half of the mural. According to the inscription, this mural on the west wall shows (left to right): '... the clerk of Oxenford, reading his beloved classics; the manciple; the sailor; the prioress; the nun; and three priests.' (Source: On These Walls by John Y. Cole. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1995, p. 79). Date Created/Published: 2007.

Daily Thoughts 01/13/2012

On the train to work, I read some more of The Ecotechnic Future.  John Michael Greer is describing how as we move into the future with dwindling fossil fuel supplies, travel and energy sources will become much more local.  People will work much closer to home, commute shorter distances, rely on more urban agriculture and gardening, and be much more efficient with energy and resources.  This is something that I am seeing happening more.  It is much easier to recycle, find farmers markets, and get more energy efficient products.

This morning I checked the displays and gift books.  I also spent some time scheduling author visits.  We are having some poets come.  Also, on May 8, 2012 we are having Ellen Datlow coming to talk about editing her anthology, Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe. It should be quite interesting.


I did not have any computer labs today so I spent some time reading Publishers Weekly and Library Journal.  Nothing stood out as far as articles.


I also spent some time talking about grants and computers.

The book, Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson came in for me to read. It should be very entertaining.  It is William Gibson's first nonfiction book.

Historian and Famous Author Kenneth C. Davis Speaks at Mount Vernon Public Library
http://www.mvinquirer.com/kenneth_c%20davis.htm

On the way home, I read some more of The Ecotechnic Future.  The author correctly tells us that there is no example of a green society right now.  It is a process which people are trying to create.  He is correct, alternative energy is an experiment that sometimes works, but often does not.  I like the idea that we should experiment as much as possible and try different ways to create green technology, the solutions are not here yet.   I also like John Michael Greer's statement that capitalism and socialism are both based on consumption and production and have little to do with ecology.

Web Bits

Libraries Succeed by Constantly Evolving
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-h-hildreth/the-future-of-libraries_b_1204446.html

Daily Thoughts 01/12/2012

Gerard ter Borch the Younger, The Reading Lesson, 17th Century

Daily Thoughts 01/12/2012

I read a bit of The Night Circus on the way to work.  The writing is elegant and stylish, not something you often see in a fantasy novel.  The magicians don't throw fire, they exist in dinner parties, salons, shows, circuses, and other entertainments.

I also started The Ecotechnic Future.  The author is talking about the end of oil and how our civilization is not quite ready for it.  He claims that oil is not replaceable with current technology.  I disagree with him in some ways.  I think that we have not exploited ocean based energy that well as well as high altitude wind energy.  There is a lot more that can be done.

In addition, I started reading Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis.  I am enjoying it.  Kenneth C. Davis has already mentioned the writers George Frazier and Joseph Campbell.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.

Kenneth Davis is coming to do an author talk tonight.  He write this article in the Westchester Journal News  http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012301120016   Library 'shaped me,' author says.  Writer to speak, sign books in Mount Vernon.  He will be here at 6:00 p.m.

There is another budget meeting for the City Council tonight, but I'm working tonight.  Please support the library. http://cmvny.com/2012/01/11/special-city-council-meeting-to-adopt-2012-budget/

Kenneth Davis came to read tonight.  It went well.  Kenneth talked about his childhood in Mount Vernon and the importance of the library and reading.  He also talked about the start of his writing career.  His first book which was a bestseller was Don't Know Much About History.  He also showed us some of his new children's books.  He took questions from the audience about history.  His focus was on the presidential elections this time. There were different questions about Eleanor Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, the great depression, primary source material, and hidden history.

I bought A Nation Rising which I had signed.  Mobile Libris which is a mobile bookseller sold quite a few books to the people who attended.

Web Bits

Harper Launches Digital to Print at Retail Today
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/50166-harper-launches-digital-to-print-at-retail-today.html

Daily Thoughts 01/11/2012

[Owl above door to center reading room on fifth floor. Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.] Date Created/Published: 2007.
Daily Thoughts 01/11/2012

On the way to work, I finished reading Boomerang by Michael Lewis.  The last chapter is about economic failure in California.  It has bits on Arnold Schwarzenegger as well as some thoughts on the bankrupt city of Vallejo, California.  The book shows how the financial crisis in Europe has come back to haunt the United States.

I also read a little bit more on the Kindle Touch.  I decided to pass on the ebook Practically Radical by William C. Taylor.  

I started reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern.  It is a fantasy with a lot of style to it.

The book Tony Wheeler's Badlands A Tourist on the Axis of Evil came in for me to read.

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I also sent some emails out to people who might be interested in doing readings at the library.

The Computer Lab is open from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 pm. today.  I downloaded a few more  ebooks for the Kindle that are free, The Art of War by Sun Zi, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Wired to Care How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy by Dev Patnaik, and Don't Know Much About Mythology by Kenneth C. Davis.   Kenneth C. Davis will be at our library on December 12, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/KenDavis

The book, The Ecotechnic Future by John Michael Greer came in for me to read.  It should be quite interesting.  I also helped another person on the Kindle Fire today to show them how to download ebooks from the Digital Media Catalog.  More people are coming in to ask about this.
There is a City Council Hearing on the Budget going on right now on January 11, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.  If I was not working I would be there right now.  http://cmvny.com/2012/01/09/adopted-budget-2012/

Daily Thoughts 01/10/2012

1973 U.S. Postal Service stamp in honor of Robinson Jeffers


Daily Thoughts 01/10/2012

This morning, I read some of Michael Lewis Boomerang Travels in the New Third World.  This book is a tour guide to national financial collapse.  The author visits different countries and describes how their economies collapsed.  So far as a reader I have visited Finland where banking speculation crushed the economy, Greece where excessive civil service positions and not paying taxes destroyed the economy, and Ireland where speculation in real estate created a giant housing bubble which collapsed.  It is interesting reading.

I also read some more of Disrupt Think The Unthinkable on the way to work on my Kindle Touch.  The author is writing about the nine minute business pitch made to clients to sell ideas. 

This morning, I checked the Facebook and Twitter accounts.  I also talked to a colleague about central library district funds.  The displays and flyers are in order right now.

I also spent some time sending a few queries to local authors about doing author talks at our library.

I got another call about how to use the Kindle Fire to download free library books.

I put the book, Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson on hold.  It was reviewed in the New York Times Bestseller List.  Seth Godin has a new book We Are All Weird which has gotten very little coverage.  It was released in September of 2011.

On the way home, I finished reading Disrupt on the the Kindle Touch. A constant theme was that it was a good idea to look for everyday activities to improve that most people don't even think about.  I am beginnning to like the Kindle Touch.  I even tried out a free word game called Jigsaw Words.

I also read a little bit more of Boomerang.  Michael Lewis is writing about how German banks helped create the economic mess in Greece, Ireland, and Finland.

Daily Thoughts 01/09/2012

Reading Boy, Eastman Johnson 1863

Daily Thoughts 01/09/2012

I finished reading The Nook Book this morning.  I learned a little bit more about the Nook.  You can use Barnes and Noble as a publishing platform with PubIt.  PubIt converts your documents into Epub format so you can sell them.  http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=pi_reg_home

I lent The Nook Book to a colleague this morning.

I also read some more of Disrupt this morning.  The author reminds us that you need to test your products with the real people who will use them.  He also compares prototyping to Mr. Potato Head which is an apt description.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern came in form me to read.  It is a fantasy title.

I checked the displays this morning and printed up some more flyers for events.  I also spent some time checking on supplies which we have; cups, napkins, coffee, etc.

I spent a little bit of time showing a person how to download books from the Westchester Library System Digital Media Catalog to their Kindle today.  A lot more people seem to be coming in with Ereaders lately.

I am looking at Readers' Advisory Service in North American Public Libraries, 1870-2005 right now.  I think people will still want recommendations whether or not the books are ebooks or print books. 

I am looking at the city budget.  http://cmvny.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Adopted-Budget-2012.pdf  The library has been offered $3.6 million this year in 2012.  There was a $3.5 million budget in 2011.  In $2010 there was a budget of $4.1 million.  It is something to think about.

Daily Thoughts 01/08/2012

Daily Thoughts 01/08/2012

I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I like to read the local papers and see if there is anybody worth connecting to or friending from the standpoint of the library.

I have been reading a a little more of Disrupt.  There is a nice reminder that an opportunity is not a solution.  Nothing is executed yet.

I read some more of The Nook Book an Unofficial Guide.  It got me to look at Pandora which is a way to make personal radio channels on the internet.  I also spent a bit of time trying to get the Nook for PC program to work to no avail. It is a bit buggy.  I learned that Nook has separate applications for textbooks (the Nook Study), and children (Nook Kids).  They appear to be quite different than the regular reader.  I also learned that the Nook is the only E-reader directly attached to a physical storefront.  While the user of the Nook is in Barnes and Noble, special deals are offered and the Nook functions and Barnes and Noble functions as a Wifi hotspot.

Next week is crunch time for the budget.  I am as always hoping for good things to happen for the library budget.  Hopefully, the city will have it ready so they can pay civil servants by the end of the week.

I also put the book Tony Wheeler's Badlands: A Tourist on the Axis of Evil on hold.

Mount Vernon Hopes to Finalize Budget by Mid January Plan Contains 4.9% Tax Hike, No Layoffs
http://www.lohud.com/article/20120106/NEWS02/301060018/Mount-Vernon-hopes-finalize-budget-by-mid-January-plan-contains-4-9-tax-hike-no-layoffs



Web Bits
Take This Book: The People's Library at Occupy Wall Street by Melissa Gira Grant
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/melissagiragrant/take-this-book-the-peoples-library-at-occupy-wall
This was successfully funded.  I did not buy a copy.  Maybe I will get a chance to look at it one day.

Occupy Wall Street Library Adds Hundreds of Books
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/occupy-wall-street-library-adds-hundreds-of-books_b45088
The Occupy Wall Street Library now has more books than when it was removed from Zucotti park.  I am also going to guess that soon the occupy movement will have more money because of all the free speech lawsuits.

Daily Thoughts 01/07/2012

Keeping up with science Poster promoting the study of science, showing a microscope, open book, and an eye. Date Created/Published: Ill. : Federal Art Project, WPA, [between 1936 and 1939]
Daily Thoughts 01/07/2012

I have been reading Disrupt Think The Unthinkable To Speak Transformation In Your Business by Luke Williams.  I got it free from the Kindle Store.  I am reading it on both the Kindle Touch and the Kindle for PC program.  It is the nice advantage of synching.  The book is about innovation and ideas.  I like the description of using post it notes to make thoughts physical.  Paper makes thoughts physical more so than computers.

This morning, I spent some time going over the Kindle Fire tablet.  It is the second Kindle Fire I have been asked about how they work.  It was quite interesting and quite a bit more than the Kindle Touch.  The manual was 548 pages long.  There were all kinds of things which you could do on it that were content focused.  I am thinking right now about the Apple Ipad.

The book Boomerang Travels In the New Third World by Michael Lewis came in for me to read.

I am working at the library this Saturday, January 7, 2012.  The library has started opening the first Saturday of each month.  Hopefully with better funding we will be able to open every Saturday.  Money is very tight right now.

William Gibson has a new set of essays out called Distrust That Particular Flavor which I put on hold.  It is his first collection of nonfiction essays.

I am taking a few minutes to apply for the reviews center Beta from Library Journal.
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/reviews-center/reviews-center-login/

On the way home, I read some more of The Nook Book.  Nook has an easily rhyming name, Look, look there is a nook, it is not quite a book  I also read some more of the book, Disrupt.  Much of the book is about design and the ideas behind innovation in design, not just business. 

I have been thinking about buying an Ipad.  There are some very personal reasons for me to do this.  I may be getting one quite soon.

Web Bits

Occupy This: Graphic Novels About Economic Justice, Social Movements & Historical Revolutions
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2011/12/collection-development/occupy-this-graphic-novels-about-economic-justice-social-movements-historical-revolutions/

Daily Thoughts 01/06/2012

Daily Thoughts 01/06/2012

I spent some more time getting used to the Kindle this morning.  I downloaded a few games for the Kindle.  There are some lightweight apps available to the Kindle Touch.  It also includes an experimental internet browser, MP3 player, and Audiobook player built into the Kindle.  I also tried logging into the Overdrive catalog directly from the Kindle and found it quite difficult.  I might have to sync the library books from the Kindle for PC program in order to get library ebooks. 

I also spent some time playing with the Wifi at a small cafe in our neighborhood.  It was interesting.  In order to use Kindle you have to open an account with Amazon which includes credit card information.  I checked for free ebooks in the Kindle store.  There are over 45,000 of them.  Some of them are quite current.  There is a lot of erotica in the free ebooks.  I downloaded 30 free ebooks to my Kindle.

Right now, I am sitting in my local branch library on their computer.

I am at home, I just finished synching my home computer with my Kindle.  I now have 35 books on my home computer and 35 books on my Kindle.  The Kindle also has two games on it.  A few of the titles are Endgame The End of the Debt Supercycle and How It Changes Everything by John Mauldin and Jonathan Tepper and Saving For Retirement Without Living Like A Pauper or Winning the Lottery by Gail Marks Jarvis.

I went to Barnes and Noble and picked up the book, The Nook Book An Unoffical Guide, Second Edition by Patrick Kanouse.

Daily Thoughts 01/05/2012

In the gallery of reading room, Library of Congress, Photograph showing portrait statues of Moses by Charles Henry Niehaus and Isaac Newton by Cyrus E. Dallin on balustrades in main reading room.  Date Created/Published: 1900

Daily Thoughts 01/05/2012

Everyone has new years resolutions.  I resolve to read a graphic novel every week.  I read Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim yesterday.  It is a beautifully drawn black and white comic in the slice of life tradition.  The book won the Eisner, Harvey, and Ignatz awards which is quite an accomplishment.

The characters were wonderfully done. I especially liked the main character Simon's romantic interest in a blind girl in high school. There was also some excellent lighthearted humor.  The story was very much about growing up as well.  There were some photographs of real places in the back of the book which Derek Kirk Kim used to draw the comic from.

Derek Kirk Kim describes how he was drawing from his own life to draw this comic in an essay at the back of the book as well.  There is a little bit of strong language, but it is not in bad taste.  It is more humorous than anything else.  Derek Kirk Kim has a blog at: http://derekkirkkim.blogspot.com/

I requested the book, The Ecotechnic Future: Envisioning A Post-Peak World by John Michael Greer.  I rather like reading this kind of material.  It makes me realize people are thinking of solutions which are much longer term than what is currently happening.

There is now a circulating museum pass for the Children's Museum in Manhattan which can be checked out from the Reference Desk.

I finally did it.  I went out and bought a Kindle Simple Touch today for my own use.  It is a first step towards moving into the 21st century.  They had a special at Target for $99 reduced from $139.  It is sitting on the computer table right now charging.  I am contemplating purchasing an Ipad and an android cell phone.  I think it was the right move for me to do.  It was quite frankly a bit of a nervous thing to do.

I sat down and read the users manual from front to back for the Kindle Touch.  It is fairly straightforward.
A lot of it is very similar to the Sony E-reader.

I am going to make sure that there are a few computers with Kindle for PC in the Computer Lab.

Web Bits

Occupy Poetry! Starting the New Year With Inspiring Words
http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2012/01/in-the-bookroom/occupy-poetry-starting-the-new-year-with-inspiring-words/