Daily Thoughts 05/31/2014

Elizabeth Adela Forbes, The Open Book, Unknown Date

Daily Thoughts 05/31/2014

I checked the Twitter and Facebook for the library this morning like I usually do.

I am all finished with Book Expo America.  It was worth going.  I am tying some loose ends which occur after the conference.  I visited Agate Publishing who are the publisher for the book Opportunity Knocking Lessons from Business Leaders by Lori Ann Larocco.  She is going to be reading and signing at the library on Saturday, June 21, 2014 from 2:00 p.m to 4:00 p.m.

There were a few silly things that I rather liked that I saw.  Gail Carriger has her first hardcover book coming out in March of 2015, Prudence: The Custard Protocol: Book One.  It is steampunk.  Also, I got a chance to look at Brian Kessinger's rather silly Victorian cartoon book, Walking Your Octopus A Guidebook to the Domesticated Cephalopod.

Unfortunately, I could not buy the Pete the Cat doll at the convention.  I really, really wanted it.  But, I will get it later.  Merrymakers has an excellent catalog of stuffed toys based on characters like Pete the Cat, Bad Kitty, Whistle for Willie, Olivia, Little Critter, Everywhere Bears, and other children's book characters. http://www.merrymakersinc.com/products_all.php

Right now, I am reading my signed copy of War and Gold by Kwasi Kwarteng.  This book starts with conquistadors and describes how debt has been traditionally used to finance wars.  It is the impetus for creating new forms of exchange like paper money.

I am looking at http://www.rifflebooks.com which is an attempt at a pinterest for books.  I saw them at Book Expo America.  They were in the startup area.

I read a little more of War and Gold.  I am reading about the gold standard in England.

Web Bits

BEA 2014: Big Books of the Show: Coming Right Up

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/62673-bea-2014-big-books-of-the-show-coming-right-up.html

BEA 2014: Big Children's Books at BEA
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/62676-bea-2014-big-children-s-books-at-bea.html

Daily Thoughts 05/30/2014

Pomeriggio-in-terrazza, c. 1900, Vittorio Matteo Corcos

Daily Thoughts 05/30/2014

This morning, I checked the libraries Twitter and Facebook.

I plan on going to several panels today at Book Expo America.  Two of them are Librarians Book Buzz Part II and Librarians Shout n' Share in the afternoon.

I started reading Jules Feiffer, Kill My Mother.  The story is a kind of offbeat noire graphic novel.  I finished reading Kill My Mother on the way to Book Expo America.  There is lots of action.  I really enjoy the character, Annie who is very mischievous.

Right now, I am in the VIP lounge, I spent a little time reading the Show Daily.  There are a few things I want to see.  There is a graphic adaption of Neil Gaiman's  The Graveyard Book drawn by P. Craig Russell which should be fantastic.  There was a postcard but no book for The Graveyard Book.

I walked the floor again today.  Mostly, I picked up finished books.  I ended up shipping off a 30 pound box of books to my library.  I also took two titles for my own personal reading, The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett which is fantasy, and War and Gold a 500 Year history of Empires, Adventures, and Debt by Kwasi Kwarteng.

I am going to the AAP Annual Librarians Book Buzz II from 2:00 p.m. to 3:20 p.m., then the Librarians Shout N' Share from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.  I am thinking about going to Advanced Facebook Marketing for Authors and Publishing Professionals from 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
I went to the Advanced Facebook Marketing for Authors and Professionals, this is a Slideshare presentation from her.  http://www.slideshare.net/CindyRatzlaff/facebook-201-15-super-easy-and-inexpensive-ways-to-create-a-rock-star-facebook-page-for-your-brand-book-or-business

The Book Buzz was a lot of popular books from a variety of publishers.   A few books which looked especially interesting were The Glass Cage: Automation and Us by Nicholas Carr which is a critique of computers.,  Coding for Kids for Dummies by Camille McKay, The Peripheral by William Gibson, A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James which is a fictional account about an assassination attempt on Bob Marley, and A Thousand Foods to Eat Before You Die by Mimi Sheraton.

The final event I went to was the Librarians Shout N' Share where different collection development librarians showed books which they had liked from all over the convention.  It was for both quirky and popular material.  The showing was quick with a few sentences about each boy.  There were a few which caught my interest like Gutenberg's Apprentice: A Novel by Alix Christie, The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell, Daring: A Memoir of Life's Passage by Gail Sheehy, My Salinger Year by Ann Rakoff about working in publishing, and Garlic an Edible Biography by Robin Cherry.  There were so many books that it was hard to keep track of them all.


Web Bits

Why Used Ebooks Still Have Not Happened

http://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/why-used-ebooks-still-have-not-happened

Daily Thoughts 05/29/2014

Jeune-femme-lisant-dans-un-jardin, Henri Lebasque, Circa 1900


Daily Thoughts 05/29/2014

This morning, I checked the library Twitter and Facebook.

I am looking forward to going to Book Expo America.  I think I am prepared.

On the way to Book Expo America, I read a little more of The Authority by Jeff Vandermeer.  Part of the story is a new director is coming into a secretive agency and must find out what happened before he was there.  This leaves plenty of room for skullduggery.

Right now, I am in the VIP lounge, I have my new badge and I am typing away at a PC computer.  I have a little notebook or blank cahier they gave me, which says Keep Calm and Read On.

I learned yesterday that Hoopla is more than a streaming platform.  They also have an application that lets you view content while you are not online.  This makes it much more intriguing.

I spent most of the day walking around and looking at exhibitors.  There were a lot more e-book exhibitors this time.  Also, the shipping center was on the main floor of the show which made it easier.  I packed about half a box of books to send back to my library.

There were a few things which caught my interest.  I rather liked the Cadogan Guides for travel by Interlink publishing.  O'reilly books also had a flyer which listed Top Titles for Public Libraries for computer books.  I also liked the graphic novel, Watson and Holmes which is on its second volume by New Paradigm Studios.  This is an African American version of Sherlock Holmes set in Harlem.

I learned that NOLO is no longer producing the New York Landlord, the New York Tenant, and the New York corporation legal books.  They were not profitable enough.  It was something that was very useful.

I also spent some time talking to Recorded books about Zinio.  Some libraries are using tablets inside the library with subscriptions to Zinio on them.  Quite often these subscriptions are for magazines that are not part of the print collection.  It is a different way to think about how Zinio is used.

I did a lot of walking.  At the end of the day, I went to the Best In Fall 2014 Graphic Novel  panel.  There were four people on the panel, Michael Cho, Shoplifter, Jules Feiffer, Kill My Mother, Raina Telgemeier, Sisters which is a young adult graphic novel, and Farel Dalrymple, The Wrenchies.

I also had a chance to ask about Amish fiction.  Three authors were recommended, Beverly Lewis, Suzanne Woods Fisher, and Sarah Gould.

It was a very nice chance to talk to other librarians as well. In addition to going to the VIP Lounge, I also spent some time in the Librarians Lounge at BEA.  I had a chance to talk to a librarian from New Rochelle who said it was a relief to hear that Mount Vernon Public Library's budget passed.  It is nice to know that there are other libraries in Westchester who are supportive.

On the way home, I finished reading The Authority by Jeff Vandermeer.  It had a satisfying ending for a weird tale.  The border to Area X, a pristine wilderness expanded engulfing the research station. I am already hoping that I will get a chance to read the third book in the trilogy soon.

Web Bits

Book Expo America: Publishers Have Ceded Power

http://www.thebookseller.com/news/book-expo-america-publishers-have-ceded-power.html

BEA 2014: Books, Technology, and the Culture of Distraction.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bea/article/62533-bea-2014-books-technology-and-the-culture-of-distraction.html

James Patterson: ‘If Amazon Is the New American Way, Then Maybe It Has to Be Changed’
http://www.vulture.com/2014/05/james-patterson-calls-out-amazon-at-book-expo.html

Remembering Maya Angelou, Poet, Author, and Library Advocate

http://www.americanlibrariesmagazine.org/blog/remembering-maya-angelou

9 Classic Contemporary Westerns You Need to Read-- Aaron Gwynn
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-gwyn/9-classic-contemporary-we_b_5397760.html?&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000031

Daily Thoughts 05/28/2014

Carl Holsoe, Reading In an Interior, circa 1900

Daily Thoughts 05/28/2014

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

I am going to Day of Dialog between the Librarians and Publishers today.  It should be an interesting day. http://lj.libraryjournal.com/dayofdialog/schedule/ 

I picked up a lot of different books.  I focused mainly on books that could be added to the collection and did not get that many galleys.  I did get a galley signed by Jules Feiffer, Kill My Mother which is a graphic novel.

I also confirmed that Overdrive is working on EPUB3 and HTML5 for publishers so they can add more enhanced ebooks. http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1942701

There were lots of excellent galleys and free books in the exhibitor room.  I also had a chance to look at Hoopla which is Midwest Tape's streaming media platform.

There was a chance to discuss some issues with fellow librarians about self published books, buying material in multiple formats, and patron driven acquisition.  There seemed to be a consensus that most libraries added local history material and books to their collections before anything else that was self published.

 At the table I sat at, I found some common practices.  Most librarians had a system for looking at material with lots of holds, like our purchase alerts.  They also had web forms for patrons to request materials.  In addition, I learned that some libraries had request forms for staff to add material.  I did not hear that much about circulation reports for high circulation items or collection management sheets being kept at the reference desk.

I finished reading Essentialism the Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown on the train to and from the conference.  This book is about how to stay focused on doing what is important and cut out things that waste time.  It focuses on how to have good habits, say no, and prioritize what is most important both on the job and in a persons personal life.

I also went to the the AAP Librarians Dinner which featured four authors speaking.  They were all interesting to hear.  http://www.earlyword.com/bea-2014-aap-events-librarians/
I took a few of the books from the dinner for my library to use.

I have a lot more to write about.  I have quite a few books in my bag from the Day of Dialog as well as a full tote bag of books which I picked up for free.  It is late right now.  I got home late after the dinner.  I carried a lot of heavy books home.

Web Bits

The Joys and Hazards of Self Publishing on the Web

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/technology/personaltech/ins-and-outs-of-publishing-your-book-via-the-web.html?src=me&ref=general&_r=0

J.K. Rowlings’s New Book is Unavailable on Amazon

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/j-k-rowlings-new-book-is-unavailable-on-amazon_b86176

Amazon Says Hachette Dispute Likely to Drag On

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/62495-amazon-says-hachette-dispute-likely-to-drag-on.html

Daily Thoughts 05/27/2014

Winslow Homer, Girl In the Hammock, 1873

Daily Thoughts 05/27/2014

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

I got a haircut this morning.  I also cleaned out my carry bag and washed it. 

I also read some more of Essentialism. Greg McKeown is writing about how it is important to focus on only decisions that lead to the best results.  For example, he describes a hiring process where it is better to not hire anyone at all unless they are a near perfect fit for a company.

I have spent some time thinking about weeding and shifting, collection development, and electronic resources.

I started reading The Authority by Jeff Vandermeer which is a weird tale.  It reminds me a tiny bit of H.P. Lovecraft.  The story focuses around a place called Area X where strange things are happening and all people have vanished as if they were never there.  The story veers into the area where rationality breaks down and explanations melt into inexplicability bordering on madness.  The main character, Control, is part of the secretive organization that is investigating Area X.  The book has a spooky otherworldly quality to it.  I rather enjoyed the first book in the series, Annhilation.  It does help to have read the first book, but it is not necessary.


Web Bits

Inevitable Consequences Follow New Hierarchy of Power Among  Publishers.

http://www.idealog.com/blog/inevitable-consequences-follow-new-hierarchy-power-among-publishers/

This is a bit on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles relation to publishers.

Amazon Tightens Its Grip In Dispute with Hachette

http://www.authorsguild.org/advocacy/amazon-tightens-its-grip-in-dispute-with-hachette/