Daily Thoughts 04/13/2012

Abraham Lincoln, full-length portrait, reading by fireplace., 1868

Daily Thoughts 04/13/2012


Right now, I am at My Metro.  As a member you can have two hour blocks of time to use their computers.  I just checked my different social networks, email, and read Library Journal and Publishers Weekly online.


I thought this was very interesting:

Queens Library is Lending Free E-Readers
Beginning today, Queens Library will be lending 50 e-readers pre-loaded with e-books at the Central Library in Jamaica, NY. It is a pilot program.  It is the first time the service has been made available in one of NYC's public libraries. The e-readers have books on one of five themes: best sellers, romances, mysteries, teens' or children's books. There are also 50 works of classic literature loaded onto each reader. Library users may present a Queens Library card and photo ID to check out the devices free for 7 days, with the option to renew twice. Customers will also be asked to sign a one-time lending agreement.
As the pilot is evaluated and funding becomes available, e-readers will be introduced to other library locations.

I think this is very interesting.  Hopefully it will give a better understanding of what it is like to lend e-readers in New York


Web Bits

Libraries Are Obsolete An Oxford Style Debate
http://osc.hul.harvard.edu/yopc/oxford_debate

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 01/17/2012

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 01/02/2012

Girl reading. Signed G.JAKOBIDES. Oil on canvas, 53 x 40 cm, 1882


Daily Thoughts 01/02/2012


I spent some time looking at E-readers reviews this morning.  There are a number of color readers listed for about $100 with very bad reviews. This indicates in the near future, it will be possible to get a good color reader for that price. I am also seeing the Nook Tablet for about $250 and the Kindle Tablet for $200. There are a lot of E-readers which I had not even heard about.  Google has an E-reader called the iRiver.  There are also a number of E-readers based on the Android operating system.

I also finished reading The Filter Bubble.  Eli Pariser reminds us that our personal information is valuable and should be protected.  Advertisers are there to sell your information so that people can sell you things.  It is actually quite a bit more than this in my experience;  companies want your resume, your opinion, your money, and your time all of which are valuable.

This afternoon, I was at Target looking at the Ereaders. I also was looking at the digital cameras.  I am thinking that I might want to get an Android based phone with a built in camera.  I found that I very much liked the Nook Tablet more than the other devices.  It is not as expensive as the Apple, is a solid E-reader and has applications which look interesting.  I was not that impressed with Kindle Fire. A lot of this is about patience and learning more about devices.

This evening, I read a bit more of The Life and Legend of Jay Gould.  I also started reading World On The Edge how to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse by Lester R. Brown.  He writes about LED lighting.  I think this is nowhere near enough.  There needs to be a lot more done about energy efficiency and alternative energy than is being done now.

Web Bits

Wilton Library Monster Clash
http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/monster-clash/

Daily Thoughts 9/7/2011

The Novel Reading I, oil on wood painting by Josef Danhauser, 1841, 63 x 78,8 cm. Belvedere, Vienna

Daily Thoughts 9/7/2011

I read some more of A Dance With Dragons this morning.  I am enjoying the fantasy novel.

This afternoon, we had our E-reader presentation.  It ran a half hour past the allotted time of 2:00-3:30 p.m. Most of the program came from this presentation http://www.westchesterlibraries.org/eReaderProgram
The presenter reminded us that things changed day to day with E-readers.  He also reminded us that tablets would be a separate program.  Tablets are something which are quite intriguing.

There were a few interesting ideas that came from the presentation.  The first was that there were a lot of different options available for getting ebooks.  We could purchase them from both storefronts and vendors. 

The second idea was that you could easily get the school assignment for the high schools and get many of the classic books that are assigned as ebooks for free and purchase the other titles to create a complete assignment E-reader.

After the E-reader presentation, I wrote the bi-monthly report for the collection development department.  A lot of my time during the last two months has been focused on improving our website.

Daily Thoughts 9/1/2011

A "Reader" in cigar factory, Tampa, Fla. He reads books and newspapers at top of his voice all day long. This is all the education many of these workers receive. He is paid by them and they select what he shall read. Location: Tampa, Florida.  Date Created/Published: 1909 January. 

Daily Thoughts 9/1/2011

We are preparing for a presentation on Ereaders on September 7, 2011.  I also confirmed that we will have Kenneth C. Davis coming in January.

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook accounts.  I also checked the displays.  We also took the library service survey down from the website.  It ended on August 31, 2011.  Now, we have to compile the information so that it is presentable.

The book A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin came in for me to read.  I have been waiting for this book for several years.

I started reading Lincoln As I Knew Him Gossip Tributes & Revelations from His Best Friends and Worst Enemeies, edited by Harold Holzer.  It is a collection of vignettes, letters, and anecdotes about Lincoln.  We are reading a biography on Lincoln as part of the Biography Book Club which is happening on September 20, 2011.