Daily Thoughts 03/02/2012

Printing chintzes at Merton Abbey c. 1890, first published in Morris & Company, A Brief Sketch Of The Morris Movement and of the Firm Founded by William Morris to Carry Out His Designs and the Industries Revived or Started by Him. Written To Commemorate The Firm's Fiftieth Anniversary In June 1911. Privately printed at the Chiswick Press for Morris & Company, 1911. (Date information from Gillian Naylor, William Morris by Himself: Designs and Writings, London, Little Brown & Co. 2000 reprint of 1988 edition.)

Daily Thoughts 03/02/2012

I finished reading No Shelf Required.  It was useful for me.  I am looking forward to reading No Shelf Required 2.

This morning, BWI (Book Wholesalers Inc.) came by to visit.  We talked briefly about the libraries status as the central library and ordering books for the Central Library District.  The representative told me that BWI is planning on doing an ebook platform which should be interesting.  He also dropped off a few books from Stackpole books which publishes books on nature, the military, and hunting.  He should be at School Library Journal Day of Dialog.

I had a chance to look through the gift books and selected some items which were classics as well as a few young adult biographies which might be added to the collection.  I also checked the displays and updated the Twitter and Facebook pages for the library this morning.

The book 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami has come in to read for the Kindle.  I got my notification from Westchester Library System a few minutes ago.

We had a Dr. Seuss festival at the library today.

During the last few days, I have gotten a few application rejections.  This is not so bad.  It means people are reading my resume at least.

I wanted to go to the General Assembly career fair tomorrow, but I was asked to work on Saturday.  It is the same reason, I could not do a tour of General Assembly on Tuesday or go to the New York Tech Meetup on Tuesday either because I was called in.  I guess my works needs me.

This is the listing for the Chief Administrator or Director of the Mount Vernon Public Library.  The library is looking for new leadership.
http://lisjobs.com/jobseekers/details.asp?ID=46223

Web Bits

Go Reader Go: Read Across America 2012
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/50869-go-reader-go--read-across-america-2012.html

Daily Thoughts 03/01/2012

Book of Hours/ Livre d'heures/ Stundenbuch - Utrecht, Master of Catherine of Cleves, Lieven van Lathem (illuminators); Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum (MMW), Den Haag: Ms. 10 F 50, fol. 6r circa 1460

Daily Thoughts 03/01/2012

On the way to work, I read a bit more of No Shelf Required.  I learned a little bit more about how E-readers and e-books are purchased in public libraries.  It should be useful.

This morning, I checked the Facebook and Twitter account for the library and checked the displays.  We have the Computer Lab for Academic Use between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.  A few people have come back to me and told me that I have helped them get a job recently because of the computer lab. 

It is Dr. Seuss's birthday tomorrow, March 2, 2012.  There is a celebration in the children's room from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.  Dr. Seuss has always been one of my favorite authors along with Maurice Sendak.  It is a nice thing to think about.

I put the book, The Lifespan of A Fact by John D'Agata and Jim Fingal on hold.  The review looked interesting in the February 26, 2012  New York Times Book Review.  It is the front page review.

I also put the book, The Fox Effect How Roger Ailes Turned a Network Into a Propaganda Machine by David Brock.

William Morrow sent me a review copy offer for Christopher Moore, Sacre Bleu.  I like Christopher Moore's sense of humor.  I also received a review copy of Hide Me Among the Graves by Tim Powers last night from Harper Collins.  It should be an interesting book to read.

I had a chance to almost finish reading No Shelf Required on the way home. I am reading about DRM (Digital Rights Management), e-ISBNs, metadata, and other details about e-books.  It is all very new and very fascinating.

I also am thinking about http://www.bimpefageyinbo.com who is going to be reading at our library on March 13, 2012 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Web Bits

Comic New York is a Free Conference Open to the Public Held at Columbia Universite on Comics on March 24 and March 25, 2012
http://conferences.cdrs.columbia.edu/comicny/

Daily Thoughts 02/29/2012

Dou, Gerard, Astronomer by Candlelight, 1665

 Daily Thoughts 02/29/2012

On the way to work, I read some more of No Shelf Required.  There are three major vendors for e-books for libraries; Ingram Digital, Netlibrary, and Overdrive.  Baker and Taylor has recently started working on a new system for e-books called Blio.  https://www.blio.com/blio/screens/homepage.jsp

This morning, I checked the Facebook and Twitter accounts for the library.  We have the Computer Lab for Academic Use between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. today.  I also checked some more of the mystery and romance paperbacks from the gifts and suggested a few to be added.  I also added a few books on current events to the current events display.

I spent some time looking at Techsoup.  I also talked with someone about volunteers for the library.  I did lots of small things like reminding people to send flyers to the Friends of the Library and the Mount Vernon Public Library Foundation.

I also got sent this widget which is kind of interesting.  http://www.statestats.org/free-online-courses-widget-ny.php

Daily Thoughts 02/28/2012

Laura Pisani by Dosso Dossi, Getty Museum 1525

Daily Thoughts 02/28/2012

This morning, I updated the Twitter and Facebook pages for the library.  I also checked the displays and updated the current events display for the library.  I also checked the gift books.  There were a few mystery paperbacks which are being added by Kate Collins.  I have a couple bags of mystery and romance paperbacks to check.

I have a couple issues of the New York Times Book Review, a copy of Publishers Weekly, and a copy of Booklist to read through on my desk.

The book, No Shelf Required E-books in Libraries by Sue Polanka has come in for me to read. I started reading the book on the train.  The author is writing about the early history of e-books.  Project Gutenberg and the Internet Archive play an important part in this story.  The first e-books were not commercial, they were mainly classics and books that were out of copyright.  There are a tremendous amount of free e-books on the internet.  There are even some newer computer books http://oreilly.com/openbook/  I also put No Shelf Required 2 Use and Management of E-books  on hold as well.

I was planning on going to the New York Tech Meetup, but changed my mind.  I needed some more time at home.

The menus are being worked on the website.  Hopefully, we will have a better menu layout for the website soon.  It is starting to look better. 

We have our computer classes tonight.  One from 5:30-6:30 P.M. and one from 6:45 to 7:45 P.M..  We are also working on changing the websites menus.  They should look a lot better soon.

Web Bits

Digital Marketing and PR In Book Publishing, Driving Buzz and Sales (Free Event)
http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5i6el1a3c3e78cf&llr=eo9sdedab

Daily Thoughts 9/5/2011

Paul Fisher, A Good Book, 1905

Daily Thoughts 9/5/2011

I spent some time updating Twitter and Facebook.  I also finished reading No Shelf Required.  It was interesting reading the different options for delivering and purchasing ebooks.  There are subscriptions, pay per view, automatically buy an ebook after a certain number of views, buy a set of ebooks as a package, subscribe to a series of ebooks as they are released, and many other options.

This morning, I finished taking the Youtube Essentials course on Lynda.com which giave me a better idea how the service works.  I plan on learning a number of different programs while I still have the option to use Lynda.com, InDesign, Photoshop, and Flash.

I started reading A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin this morning. I rather like the story because the author does not stint on villainy.  He makes his treacherous characters truly nasty.  It adds to the story quite nicely.

I took some time to look at the 2011 Washington Irving Book Awards which are presented by the Westchester Library Association.  They are all for Westchester authors.  http://www.westchesterlibraryassociation.org/bookmark.pdf

Daily Thoughts 9/4/2011

English: RGB GYRICON-- Prototype Electronic Paper Display by Eugene Polido, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 from Wikimedia.

Daily Thoughts 9/4/2011

This morning, I spent some more time on Facebook and Twitter.  I am working on a Youtube channel for the library http://www.youtube.com/mountvernonpublic   I am just starting on this.

I finished reading Lincoln As I Knew Him.  I read it for a Biography Book Club which we are having on September 20, 2011.  I also read some more of No Shelf Required.  There were some interesting questions which came up.  How do you interlibrary loan ebooks?  What are the fair use rights for ebooks?

It made me think of the New York Times Bestseller fiction List for Ebooks http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/2011-09-11/e-book-fiction/list.html

Daily Thoughts 9/3/2011

[Painting by Edgar Ritchard of two books and an unframed painting] [picture]1931.]


Daily Thoughts 9/3/2011


I read some more of No Shelf Required Ebooks in Libraries this morning.  I have been learning about the major ebook distributors for libraries; Ingram Digital Editions, Overdrive, and Netlibrary,  I have quite a bit more to learn.


I also spent a little bit of time on Facebook and Twitter.


I put the book Blur: How To Know What's True In The Age of Information Overload by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel on hold.

I also went to Barnes and Noble today.  The first thing which you see when you come into the store now is the Nook e-reader.  The whole window display in the front of the store was for ebooks. It is clear that Barnes and Noble is pushing ebooks.


Also when I was in the store, I noticed that there were tables for summer reading assignments for the schools.  I heard one of the clerks at the front desk tell someone they even kept a binder for the assignments from the different schools in the area.  We do this at our library.  It is the first time I am seeing this at Barnes and Noble.  Part of the job of libraries is to visit the schools to talk about books and other materials, distribute library cards to students, and check on the different assignments that occur in the schools.

I read a bit more of Lincoln As I Knew Him tonight.  The people writing the anecdotes and statements are interesting; John Wilkes Booth, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Tecumseh Sherman, and Walt Whitman are among the writers. 

I read a review of Goliath by Scott Westerfeld.  I very much like the cover http://bookyurt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Goliath.jpg   The book is coming out on September 20, 2011.  I liked the other books in the Leviathan trilogy.


Web Bits


It is Banned Books Week on September 24 through October 1st.
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

The Dog-Eared Paperback, Newly Endangered in an E-Book Age by Julie Bosman http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/03/business/media/mass-market-paperbacks-fading-from-shelves.html?_r=2&hp

Daily Thoughts 9/2/2011

[Exterior view. Falling Books, by Frank Eliscu, a four-story relief in bornze over the main entrance. Library of Congress James Madison Building, Washington, D.C.] Date Created/Published: 2007. 

Daily Thoughts 9/2/2011

I read a little more of Lincoln As I Knew Him.  I also spent some time making sure that there was space available for programs which I planned.  I updated the current events display with a few books on Dick Cheney and Mike Bloomberg who were in the news recently.

I also took some time to update the Facebook and Twitter account which are growing steadily.  I also spent some time going through our patron recommendation forms which we take at the reference desk as well as our online suggestion form for material.  There were requests for the authors R.A. Salvatore who is a fantasy writer and Denise Hunter who writes christian fiction.

I compiled the monthly statistics for programs.  The amount of people attending programs has been steadily growing.

I also learned today that patrons can access our catalog fairly easily with tablet devices through our wireless system.  It was interesting learning this.

On the way home, I read some more of Lincoln As I knew Him.  The anecdotes present a person who was strikingly odd looking, had a singular personality, and was subject to deep melancholy.  Most of the anecdotes are very positive.  I also started reading No Shelf Required which is about ebooks.  I learned that the early history of creating ebooks was focused on classic works and works of history.  People were seeking to make literature more available through projects like Project Gutenberg and the Perseus Digital Library http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/  This is the first time I have read about the Perseus Digital Library.