Saturday, March 30, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/30/2013



Daily Thoughts 03/30/2013

I read some more of Publishing E-books for Dummies.  I am reading about two e-book creation software programs that are free, Calibre which creates epub documents, and i-books author which is a free app which can create multimedia ebooks.  These are both useful to know about.

I also spent some time on the social media for the library and on Linked In.

I took a break to take care of some things around the house.

I learned about the move of the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art to the upper eastside and the decision to become part of the Society of Illustrators which I think will make the museum even better.
http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120904/soho/sohos-museum-of-comic-cartoon-art-relocates-upper-east-side

Web Bits



Amazon Will Acquire Goodreads
I am a member of Goodreads.

The Fair Use/ Fair Dealing Handbook

“First Do No Harm” My Interview With Amazon and Amazon and Goodreads on the Future of Goodreads.

Publishing News: Goodreaders  are Now Valuable Amazon Products


Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/27/2013

Nature morte à l'assiette bleue. Öl auf Leinwand, 54 x 73 cm, 1922, Felix Vallotton

Daily Thoughts 03/27/2013

This morning, I read a little more of Publishing E-books for dummies.  There is a discussion of cover art for an e-book.  Somehow, I find this an odd leftover from print books.  The design of an e-book does not have to match with a print book.  The cover does not have to look like a print books cover.  I rather liked how easy it is to convert a word document into a PDF which can be uploaded for sale.

I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.

Web Bits

What is the Business of Literature?
http://www.vqronline.org/articles/2013/spring/nash-business-literature/

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/26/2013

Herman Richir, The Partition, 1910

Daily Thoughts 03/26/2013

I checked the libraries Facebook and Twitter pages this morning. 

I started reading Publishing E-books for Dummies by Ali Luke.  Sometimes, it is helpful to understand how these things work. There were a few authors that were mentioned as successful examples of self publishers with ebooks, namely Darren Rowse who writes Problogger, and Holly Lisle who writes science fiction.  There are quite a few other authors who have reclaimed their backlist and are selling them as ebooks.  Mike Resnick has an ebook store http://mikeresnick.com/?page_id=455
Also, C.J. Cherryh, Lynn Abbey, and Jane Fancher have an ebook site at http://www.closed-circle.net/ 

Web Bits 

Libraries Stuck in the Digital Divide 
http://durangoherald.com/article/20130325/NEWS01/130329716/-1/s 

E-books Means Plot Twist for Public Libraries and Publishers
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21573966-e-books-mean-plot-twist-public-libraries-and-publishers-folding-shelves

10 Imaginary Countries in Books
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/56464-10-imaginary-countries-in-books.html 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/25/2013




The Voyage of the Pequod from the book Moby Dick by Herman Melville; one of a series of 12 literary maps based on British and American literature, produced by the Harris-Seybold Company of Cleveland between 1953 and 1964.

Daily Thoughts 03/25/2013

I finished reading Kingston Noir last night.  I also read Walter Jon Williams book, The Fourth Wall.  It is a near future thriller.  There is the use of augmented reality glasses, three dimensional viewing devices, and some cultural and technological changes, but it is recognizable as very similar to the world today.

Sean Makin, the main character is very acerbic and somewhat of a jerk.  The setting is in a mix of  reality television and an international serialized science fiction show.  The story is very dark, acerbic and funny.  Sean stars in a show called celebrity Pit Fighter.  He also has lots of enemies, one of whom he filmed kicking a dog.

There is murder, international intrigue, and spying in the story.  I very much enjoyed reading the story.

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

I read Billionaires and Ballot Bandits How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps by Greg Palast.  It is entertaining muckraking with a very leftist slant.  It even has cartoons by Ted Rall.  I rather like Ted Rall's political cartoons.  They are easy to follow and fit well with the writing style.

 Greg Palast is making various accusations about how people are being denied the vote.  This includes things like tying peoples names with felons, requiring identification cards to vote, voter intimidation, disqualifying ballots, looking for hanging chads, using hackable voting machines, and disqualifying people by race.

There are various accusations against people like Karl Rove, Harold Simmons, the Koch brothers and other republican political strategists.  Especially strong vitriol is reserved for the oil and waste management corporations. Greg Palast also mentions a few things about Bill Clinton to make things juicier.  There is even a bad prediction that Barack Obama will lose the election because the election is being rigged.  The book has a very sensational feel to it.  The feeling is one of a combination of infotainment and muckraking at the same time.

This book will appeal strongly to people who are on the left.  It will anger people on the right.  The writing is very charged with disclaimers that the author is being honest.  The author who is British even attacks the concept of balanced reporting in the United States saying that there is not enough research being done in the American news.  It is aggressive writing with an agenda.

This book was on the New York Times Bestseller list for trade paperbacks.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/24/2013

Stilleben mit Büchern, Stichen und Landkarten. Öl auf Leinwand. 105,2 x 86,4 cm., 18th Century

Daily Thoughts 03/24/2013

I have been reading a bit more of Kingston Noir.  I rather liked the story, A Grave Undertaking by Ian Thomson about a man dying under suspicious circumstances, then having to have the body repatriated back to America.

I spent a little time checking social media this morning.

Web Bits



At 80, Philip Roth Reflects on Life, Literature And the Beauty of Naps

Friday, March 22, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/22/2013

 "Les Bouquinistes", photograph of original watercolor by Eugène Galien-Laloue Dated circa 1908

Daily Thoughts 03/22/2013

I read a novella last night called The Discovery of America by the Turks by Jorge Amado.  The book has an introduction by Jose Saramago.  It is a rather ribald story about a family trying to marry off its prudish daughter.  The setting is the cacao fields in the Brazilian frontier of 1903 focusing on Arabic immigrants. At the time many of the Arabs had Ottoman passports to Brazil and were called Turks.  The story has some strong language, sex, and a bit of chicanery in it.  This is the first english translation of this work.  I liked the book, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado as well.

I read some more in Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 for Dummies.  I also checked the Facebook and Twitter for the library.  I spent a little time checking the displays.

We had an informal get together this morning for the staff with coffee and cake.  It was a pleasant experience.  The coffee was good.

We have a new bookshelf for the advanced reading copies in the staff room.

Right now, we are adjusting the Bookletters page for new fiction and nonfiction.

I am looking at a book called Kingston Noir.  It is a short story collection of mystery stories published by Akashic books.  There is also Brooklyn Noir, Venice Noir, Phoenix Noir, Toronto Noir, Manhattan Noir, Havana Noir, Mexico City Noir, Istanbul Noir, and a number of other cities in the series.

I finished reading Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 for Dummies today.   There was a bit about metadata, setting up search engines in Sharepoint, and web parts.  The book gave me a better sense of how enterprise content management systems work.

I also read a bit of Kingston Noir on the way home.  I rather like the stories because of the Jamaican perspective.

Web Bits

Chinua Achebe Nigerian Author of Things Fall Apart Dies
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/22/175025166/chinua-achebe-nigerian-author-of-things-fall-apart-dies

How to Become a 21st Century Librarian
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/careers/how-to-become-a-21st-century-librarian/

Struggling to Satisfy Demand The Reality of the Public Library Ebook Marketplace Reflected in Usage Data from a Selection of Public Libraries
http://libraryrenewal.org/2013/03/18/struggling-to-satisfy-demand/

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/21/2013

Seated Man Reading from a Book of Persian Poetry,   AD, Walters Art Museum

Daily Thoughts 03/21/2013

I read a little bit more of Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 for Dummies.  I am reading about the social features of Sharepoint; bulletin boards, profiles, wikis, and messaging.

I am looking at The 50th Law 50 Cent and Robert Greene illustrated by Dave Crosland which is a graphic novel about 50 Cents rise to success.  A lot of it is about ownership of your own resources.

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

The computer lab is open from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. today.  I spent some time sorting through my old bookmarks in my files.


Web Bits

Chicago Board of Education Defends 'Persepolis' Ban
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/56457-chicago-board-of-education-defends-persepolis-ban.html
I saw the movie and read the book.  This kind of activity usually makes graphic novels like this more popular.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/20/2013

Dr. Samuel Johnson reading 'The Vicar of Wakefield'., 1853

Daily Thoughts 03/20/2013

I read a little bit more of Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 for Dummies.  One of the interesting things about Sharepoints is that it creates a document sharing environment which significantly reduces the need for paper.  Basically different permissions can be set to view documents in a central repository.  People can also generate shared lists, calendars, and web parts.

This morning, I checked the Facebook and Twitter for the library.  I also checked the displays.  I rather like the new nesting tables which we got for display.  I spent some time in the acquisitions module of the catalog as well.

The board of trustees meeting is tonight.

Web Bits

Are Independent Bookstores Making a Comeback?
http://publishingperspectives.com/2013/03/are-independent-bookstores-making-a-comeback/

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/19/2013

Thomas Francis Dicksee (London, 1819 - London, 1895), Ophelia

Daily Thoughts 03/19/2013

I have been reading Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 for Dummies

This morning, I checked the displays and the gift books.  I also checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I am working on orders right now as well as making a few corrections to the catalog.  I ordered a few popular books in large print, James Patterson and Gillian Flynn.

 I spent some more time making corrections in the catalog.  We have the computer classes tonight.  People have been asking for more computer classes.

Web Bits

Literature from Librarians: Great Reads Written by the Experts
http://www.abebooks.co.uk/blog/index.php/2013/03/19/literature-from-librarians-great-reads-written-by-the-experts/

Understanding HTML is Critical to Web Literacy, Especially for Young Creators
www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/03/opinion/be-a-webmaker/

Monday, March 18, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/18/2013



The Strand Magazine, vol. 65, no. 321, September 1917  Arthur Conan Doyle did his part to raise wartime moral by continuing to provide The Strand with the public's favoured reading material. This issue contains the Holmes story "His Last Bow."


Daily Thoughts 03/18/2013

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I also spent some time looking through the gift books.  We are getting a lot of donations of advanced reading copies.   We also get a lot of donations of books which are assigned for the local high school. I checked the displays as well.

I spent some time on ordering.  I checked the collection management sheet for patron requests, the purchase alerts, and read the latest New York Times Book Review.  Right now, we are reviewing the ordering process for priorities.

I thought this is interesting; there is an African American comics award called The Glyph Comics Award
http://ecbacc.com/wordpress3/2012/2013-glyph-comics-awards-submissions/

I spent some time discussing the collection this afternoon.  We were focused on the central library district money and nonfiction.  I learned about a new service called Above The Treeline which provides digital review copies to book people.  http://www.abovethetreeline.com/edelweiss    It is very much like Netgalley which provides digital galleys.

Web Bits


Public Agencies Needing Money Give Up Land and Buildings
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/nyregion/public-agencies-needing-money-give-up-land-and-buildings.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

The Novel Resurgence of Independent Bookstores
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2013/0317/The-novel-resurgence-of-independent-bookstores

A Plan to Guarantee Steady Funding for New York City's Cash Strapped Libraries
http://www.thenewcrossroads.com/2013/03/17/a-plan-to-guarantee-steady-funding-for-new-york-citys-cash-strapped-libraries/#.UUZpddINDn0.twitter

Annual Library 'Budget Dance' in NYC Leads to Call for Baseline Funding
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/funding/annual-library-budget-dance-in-nyc-leads-to-call-for-baseline-funding/

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/17/2013



Daily Thoughts 03/17/2013

I checked the libraries Facebook and Twitter this morning.

I also spent some time thinking about technology and the website of the library.  Most of what I do with the website is minor editing of events and services.

Web Bits

16 Movies Starring Bookstores
http://bookriot.com/2013/01/30/16-movies-starring-bookstores/

St. Patrick's Day Irish Writers Podcast
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2013/mar/17/st-patricks-day-irish-writers-podcast
Today, March 17, 2013 is St. Patrick's Day.

The Revolution at Your Library, New Media, New Community Centers
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112443/revolution-your-community-library#

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/16/2013


Salomon Koninck, The Hermit, 1643

Daily Thoughts 03/16/2013

I finished reading On the Map this morning.  There was a reminder that not too long ago people believed mars was inhabited and we had stories from Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and H.G. Wells on the martians.

Today has been very quiet.





Friday, March 15, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/15/2013



Daily Thoughts 03/15/2013

This morning, I read a little bit more of On The Map.  I am reading about map dealers, libraries, and map thieves.  I also checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library this morning. 

We had a meeting this morning which I thought went well.  I also spent some time thinking about ordering.  I also took a few minutes to look at our collection development policy.

Last night, I watched Sherlock Homes A Game of Shadows with Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson.  It reminded me of the other authors who wrote pastiches of Sherlock Holmes , not Arthur Conan Doyle.  Writers like Martin H. Greenberg, Manly Wade Wellman, and Laurie R. King.

I am watching Melies The Magician The Magic of Melies a Film by Jacques Meny tonight.  Melies is famous for having the first science fiction film.  I am hoping to get a chance to watch Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the Complete Edition which is supposed to have 25 additional minutes of footage.

Web Bits

Library Foundations Raise Money for Libraries... Right?
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/opinion/advocates-corner/library-foundations-raise-money-for-libraries-right-advocates-corner/

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/14/2013

Goauche of Dorigen of Bretagne longing for the safe return of her husband by Edward Burne-Jones, 1871. Victoria and Albert Museum, London http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burne-Jones_Dorigen_of_Bretagne_VA.jpg

Daily Thoughts 03/14/2013

I checked the library Twitter and Facebook this morning.  I also read some of On the Map on the way to work.  I like the discussions of imaginary places that appeared on maps.  For example, California was depicted as an island, there was a range of mountains called the Kong Mountains in Africa which did not exist, and a variety of islands in the Pacific which were not there.  This kind of information is entertaining to me.

I checked the displays and the gift books.  I also spent a little time discussing cataloging.  I am reading the latest issue of romance sells which is a listing of forthcoming books from Romance Writers of America.  The library has the Computer Lab for Academic Use today from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

I contacted my local official in support of libraries through the New York Library Association.
http://www.nyla.org/max/4DCGI/cms/review.html?Action=CMS_Document&DocID=58&MenuKey=advocacy

I read a little bit more of On the Map.  There were some literary and film refernces that touched my curiosity:  the maps in the film Casablanca and the treasury map in Treasure Island.  There was also a picture of the giant globe given to Winston Churchill.  This book is full of little interesting facts.

Web Bits

The Book as a Standard of Quality
http://toc.oreilly.com/2013/03/the-book-as-a-standard-of-quality.html?goback=%2Egmp_104765%2Egde_104765_member_222409329

NYPL President Testifies on Proposed City Budget Cuts
http://www.nypl.org/press/press-release/2013/03/08/nypl-president-testifies-proposed-city-budget-cuts
$106.7 million is a very large cut.


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/13/2013

Reiner De La Haye, The Reading Lesson

Daily Thoughts 03/13/2013

This morning, I read some more of On the Map.  I also checked the Facebook and Twitter for the library.

I checked the displays and the new books section.  There were a few books which may be added from the gift books.  A number of them were plays by Sam Shepard and Arthur Miller.  I also spent some time thinking about the Central Library District money.

I also spent a little bit of time checking ordering.

Web Bits

Promise and Problems of Big Data
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/opinion/steven-bell/promise-and-problems-of-big-data-from-the-bell-tower/


Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/12/2013

Carl Fredrik Svan, The Stenbock Family in their Library at Ranas, circa 1740

Daily Thoughts 03/12/2013

I finished reading The Future by Al Gore.  It is a solid reminder that we are at least partially responsible for understanding our future.  The book both gives hope and at the same time is a bit scary.  There is a nice balance of warnings and admonitions about the future.  I also cracked open On the Map by Simon Garfield on the way to work.

The two sets of nesting display tables are now in the new books area.  They should provide an improvement for how books are displayed.  I rather like them.

I checked the displays and the gifts this morning.  I also checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I also spent some time working on ordering.

I checked out the book Microsoft Sharepoint 2010 for Dummies by Vanessa L. Williams.

If you like comics, the Society of Illustrators and the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art are having the MOCCA Art Festival on April 6 and April 7, 2013.  It should be very entertaining.


I am thinking about the Professional day at New York Comic Con.  It has not been announced yet.

I spent some time reading the Times Literary Supplement which is British.  Sometimes there are titles which are interesting like The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti Amarna and Its People by Barry Kemp.

I also spent a little more time going through gift books.  There was a nice copy of East of Eden by John Steinbeck and a few African American titles by Omar Tyree and Eric Jerome Dickey.

I enjoyed reading On The Map on the way home.  It starts out with the Great Library of Alexandria and how it established the beginnings of cartography.  So far, there is a strong historical perspectives with a focus on famous objects like the Mappa Mundi and people like Marco Polo.  The writing is both entertaining and informative.


Web Bits

An Oddly Modern Antiquarian Bookstore
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/an-oddly-modern-antiquarian-bookshop/

Monday, March 11, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/11/2013


Baudelaire, 1844, Emily Deroy

Daily Thoughts 03/11/2013

I am on the last chapter of Al Gore, The Future.  He is writing about the consequences of climate change; rising sea levels, drought, disease, extreme weather, and conflicts over weather and displaced people.

This morning, I checked the displays and the gift books.  I also spent some time checking order records.
I spent a little time checking social media as well.

I read the latest New York Times Book Review and looked at the latest purchase alerts.  I still have to read Publishers Weekly.   I finished reading Publishers Weekly and took a look through Collection Management sheet for patron recommendations.

Sheryl Sandbergs Lean In Book Tops Amazons Best Seller List On Its First Day of Sales.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/11/sheryl-sandbergs-lean-in-book-tops-amazons-best-sellers-list-on-its-first-day-of-sales/  This was also reviewed on the front page of the New York Times Book Review.

Web Bits

Used Ebooks Why Your Assumptions Are Wrong and the Opportunity is Huge
http://toc.oreilly.com/2013/03/used-ebooks-why-your-assumptions-are-wrong-and-the-opportunity-is-huge.html?goback=%2Egmp_104765%2Egde_104765_member_221659200

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/09/2013

Portrait of Alfred Tennyson by Lewis Carrol, 1857

Daily Thoughts 03/09/2013

I have been reading a little more of Al Gore, The FutureRight now, he is writing about ethics.  One of the issues that comes up is choosing boys over girls and how it affects population dynamics.

I also learned that Pinterest has a lot of picture galleries of early childrens illustrators.  People like Beatrix Potter and Jessie Willcox Smith as well as a number of illustrators like Edmund Dulac.

Web Bits

Virginia Wolff on How To Read a Book
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/03/06/virginia-woolf-how-should-one-read-a-book/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+brainpickings/rss+%28Brain+Pickings%29

Friday, March 8, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/08/2013

Catherine Douglas Bell, 1861

Daily Thoughts 03/08/2013

This morning, I read some more of Al Gore, The Future.  I am reading about issues of growth and population.  A lot of it is about peak food production, peak oil, rising sea levels, and diminishing resources.

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library.  I also checked the displays.  I also spent a little time thinking about the Mills Law Collection which is a collection of law books, and the Haynes Collection which is a collection of African American reference books.

I spent some time working with the 600s and also spent some time looking at the new books.  Simon Garfield's book On the Map just came up for the new books.  I also checked the donations.  We got a new book donated about Martin Luther King Jr.  which we are adding to the collection.

On the way home, I read a little bit more of Al Gore, The Future. Right now, I am reading about changes in genetic engineering from the human genome project to patenting life.  It is interesting and a bit scary.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/07/2013

"Study of a Girl Reading," oil on panel, by the British artist Valentine Cameron Prinsep. 34¾ in. x 18½ in. (88.3 cm. x 46.9 cm.) Courtesy of Christie's. From Wikimedia

Daily Thoughts 03/07/2013

I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library this morning.  I also read some more of Al Gore, The Future. He is writing about changes in the balance of power worldwide.  Some of the changes include shifts of the worlds manufacturing base eastward to China and India and the increasing power of corporations.

I checked the displays this morning.  I also spent some time looking at books on Earlyword.com .


The Big Data Revolution How Number Crunchers Can Predict Our Lives.
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/07/173176488/the-big-data-revolution-how-number-crunchers-can-predict-our-lives
This book is something we ordered recently.  The title is Big Data A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier.

April 18, 2013 is National Poem In Your Pocket Day.  It is part of the National Poetry Month celebration.
http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/406

Sometimes, you find something which has a better description than your own site, Bookcalendar 2013 http://bookcalendar2013.blogspot.com/ 
It even is by a librarian.  I rather like it.  I've read quite a few of the books that are listed.  It reminds me of the original idea of providing a kind of blog combined with a reading list and log.

The computer lab is open from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. today. 


Web Bits

Cracking the Code: Librarians Acquiring Essential Coding Skills
http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2013/03/software/cracking-the-code/

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/06/2013

Adolf Schrodter, 1834, Don Quixote in the Library

Daily Thoughts 03/06/2013

This morning, I read a little more of The Future by Al Gore on the train to work.  I also spent some time checking the library Twitter and Facebook accounts.

I spent a bit of time looking at the organizational chart for the library.  It was interesting to look at, but probably needs to be adjusted. I also spent some more time checking the new books and the displays.  There are quite a few new books being processed.

One of the clerks checking the 500s, almost half of the main floor adult collection has been checked to see that things are in order.

I also have been thinking a bit about the central library district money.  There should be some to spend soon.
I spent a little more time using Titlesource 3 today.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/05/2013

Depiction of Aesop from the Nuremberg Chronicle. Published in 1493.

Daily Thoughts 03/05/2013

This morning, I checked the libraries Facebook and Twitter pages.  I also spent a little time reading through Library Journal and Publishers weekly online.  I also read the latest New York Times Book Review and checked the purchase alerts for this week.

I checked the displays and the new book area.  We are pulling some of the older material from the new books section.  There should be some new material coming in soon.

I also spent some time checking the 900s today.

The computer classes are tonight.  It has been a quiet, steady day.

Hopefully we should have some new display tables for the adult new books area soon.  The library is also starting to take donations for the next Friends of the Mount Vernon Public Library book sale.

I am planning on ordering a copy of Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche.  Sometimes it is important to have the classics.  I recently ordered a copy of The Social Contract by Rousseau. Sometimes it is important to remember that libraries are also a way to educate and elevate peoples thinking.

I read some more of The Future by Al Gore.  Al Gore is writing about the sum of all networks of human communication, what he calls, the global mind.  I think his descriptions in this chapter are not complete enough.  The increasing presence of cell phones and communication networks all over the world is changing things rapidly.  Al Gore does mention big data, but only in a very cursory way.   The book is very much meant to be an overview of a wide variety of ideas.  This means there is a lot covered, but in a way that only touches the surface.

Web Bits

A Factory on Your Kitchen Counter
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/21/garden/the-3-d-printer-may-be-the-home-appliance-of-the-future.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Will 3D Printing Change the World?
http://www.wimp.com/printingchange/

Duke University Libraries: New Library Service Digitize This Book
https://blogs.library.duke.edu/blog/2013/02/19/karma-meet-convenience/
The idea of digitization by request is very interesting.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/04/2013

Portrait of Arno Holz by Erich Buttner, 1916
Daily Thoughts 03/04/2013

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

I also have started reading Al Gore, The Future Six Drivers of Global Change.  One of the first subjects is something which Al Gore calls Earth Inc. which is about how first things are being outsourced all over the world, then being replaced with robosourcing once people earn a certain amount of money.  It is the process of replacing people with machinery.  There are descriptions of how this concentrates wealth separating capital and labor where information technology becomes the labor.  There is a division of very few human workers mainly engineers and creative professionals and machines. 


Web Bits

The Real Cost of Self Publishing
http://www.bloomberg.com/consumer-spending/2013-02-25/the-real-cost-of-self-publishing.html


Libraries, Hackspaces, and E-waste  How Libraries Can Be a Hub of a Young Maker Revolution
http://www.ilovelibraries.org/libraries-hackspaces-and-e-waste-how-libraries-can-be-hub-young-maker-revolution
Sometimes I can't quite make out what to think of Cory Doctorow.  Although it is interesting.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Daily Thoughts 03/01/2013

Summer Sunlight (Isle of Shoals), Childe Hassam, 1892

Daily Thoughts 03/01/2013

This morning, I checked the Facebook and the Twitter for the library.  I also checked the displays.  I am starting to do displays for Women's History month which is March.  Also, because I placed some orders yesterday, I am pulling some of the older material from the new books section.  It is always nice to see new material coming in.

I also spent some time checking the 900s in the mezzanine.  There is still quite a bit to do. We got a small donation of books which are mainly being added to the booksale.



Web Bits

Library Use-- ALA Fact Sheet 6
http://www.ala.org/tools/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet06#usagelibs

Advocacy is a Must for Public Library Trustees Advocate Corner
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/03/advocacy/advocacy-is-a-must-for-public-library-trustees-advocates-corner/