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 11/30/2011

Kyōka hassen sono ni. Print shows three men and a woman (poets); one man is standing behind a low screen, reading; another is sitting on the floor in front of the screen, feeding a turtle from a bowl; the third man and the woman are standing on the left.   Date Created/Published: [between 1818 and 1824] 


Daily Thoughts 11/30/2011

I updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library this morning.

The library has the Graphic Novels Club today .  I am bringing in a few things to show including The First Kingdom, an issue of Star Reach, Parsifal illustrated by P. Craig Russell, and a few other ground level comics.  There is also some material from New York Comic Con which I plan on showing.  The club runs from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. today.

We had the Computer Lab for Academic Use today between 2:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.  I also spent some time learning how to modify the website calendar.

I read some more of Survival of the Beautiful.  There is a lot on the aesthetics of birds focusing on plumage, nest building, and song.  The author focuses a lot on the bowerbird, nightingale, bird of paradise, and peacock.

This afternoon, I spent a little more time getting the graphic novel club material ready.  I also worked a bit with a colleague on a press release announcing the amnesty for lost items from the Mount Vernon Public Library which runs from November 22, 2011 to January 31, 2012.  Hopefully, we should get quite a bit of our material back.  It is now up in the Mount Vernon Inquirer.

In addition, I printed a variety of flyers for different events coming up in December.

I put the book, Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman on hold.  It is on the 10 Best Books of 2011 from the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/books/10-best-books-of-2011.html?_r=1&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=AR-E-FB-SM-LIN-TBB-113011-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

I also put the graphin novel Zahra's Paradise by Amir (text) and Khalil (illus.) on hold.  It is a story set in the disputed 2009 election in Iran.

Web Bits


Occupy Wall Street Library


Pathetic: Grown Men Cry Over Occupy Wall Street Library Demolition
http://www.glennbeck.com/2011/11/29/pathetic-grown-men-cry-over-occupy-library-demolition/
A little note on how some of the world sees this.

Lessons from the Occupy Wall Street Library
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/library-babel-fish/lessons-occupy-wall-street-library

Once I Understood, the "Occupy" Movement, I Saw How it Fits the Common Core
http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/nonfictionmatters/2011/11/30/once-i-understood-the-occupy-movement-i-saw-how-it-fits-the-common-core/

Daily Thoughts 11/29/2011

Portrait of Maria Adelaide of France in Turkish-style clothes, 1753, Jeanne Etienne Liotard

Daily Thoughts 11/29/2011

I checked the displays this afternoon and updated the Twitter and Facebook accounts this morning.  I also picked out some graphic novels for the Graphic Novels Club tomorrow which is on September 30, 2011 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 pm. 

We have two sessions the Intermediate Computer Class tonight; one from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and another from 6:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in the Computer lab.  I spent a few minutes making sure the lab was set up for tonight.

Sometimes Blogger does inexplicable things.  I am not sure why there are blue lines on my picture.  I got rid of them this morning.  They were some anomalous html code.

On the way home, I read some more of Survival of the Beautiful.  I am learning that this is a radical scientific argument which is not generally accepted.  The author, David Rothenberg is bringing the idea that there is an aesthetic sense in nature which is part of natural selection to the public.  He is taking his argument outside of the scientific community to gather support from the public.  This book has a similar feel in a way to The Tao of Physics which Gary Zukav used to popularize quantum physics which was a radical idea at the time the book was published.

I also started reading And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut A Life which I am not yet convinced is on target.  The author, Charles J. Shields, did not have permission from the Vonnegut family to use Vonnegut's letters.

Web Bits

Occupy Wall Street Library Releases Writing Prompt
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/occupy-wall-street-library-releases-writing-prompt_b43059
This has a link to the poetry anthology from Occupy Wall Street.

The Occupy London library spreads its wings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/nov/25/occupy-london-library-spread

Occupy Toronto Encampment Ends Peacefully-- 11/23/2011
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1091188--library-yurt-standoff-resolved-as-arrests-continue-at-st-james-park
There is something mildly odd about there being a library yurt.  It is rather hard to imagine.  At least in this instance the protest library was removed intact.

A People's Digital Library and Prefigurative Politics
http://peopleslibrary.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/a-peoples-digital-library-and-prefigurative-politics/

One of the thing I am not doing is creating any kind of real archive or bookmark list.  This is more of a catch as catch can list.  It is free form.

Daily Thoughts 11/26/2011

Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan in 1898. On the left Helen Keller and on the right Anne Sullivan.
 Daily Thoughts 11/26/2011

I finished reading The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker this morning.  I enjoyed reading the book; it is very rational and humanistic.  The book argues that giving women rights reduces violence because it makes women more valued.  It also tells us that war is mostly caused by competing violent ideologies like communism, fascism, theocracy, and other ideas.  Reason, trade, education, democratization, improving the rights of women and minorities all lead to less violence.  I can sympathize with this view of the world.

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

While I was reading Ebooks in Libraries on LinkedIn, I noticed that some libraries were securing E-readers with a security cable to a table.  This is a different approach.

I watched the first half of the biographical documentary Mark Twain produced by Ken Burns.  I am enjoying watching it.  It is very colorful.  It covers his first books, The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It. The Gilded Age, and Tom Sawyer.  Mark Twain reminds me quite a bit of Kurt Vonnegut.  There is a dark humor in both of them.  They even look similar.

The second half of the documentary about Mark Twain was very dark.  It included failed business deals, deaths of relatives, and eventually bankruptcy.  At the same time, it had pathos or feeling to it which is hard to describe.  It is well worth watching.

Web Bits 

Poor Kids Experience App Gap
http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2011/10/k-12/poor-kids-experience-app-gap-says-study/


Occupy Wall Street Library 


Authors, Publishers, and Supporters React to the Seizure of the People's Library
http://www.shareable.net/blog/authors-and-publishers-react-to-the-raid-on-the-peoples-library
This article has a number of author and library quotes.

Occupy Protesters Hold Dirge for Ruined Lit
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/11/23/41715.htm

The People's Library of Occupy Wall Street Lives On
http://www.thenation.com/article/164766/peoples-library-occupy-wall-street-lives

Occupy Boston Gets Legal Cover, But Not All Protesters Like It
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/occupy-boston/

This is an interesting idea. Because Dewey Square next to the Federal Reserve Building is considered a traditional Public Forum it cannot simply be evicted.  This means that the Occupy Boston Library has become in an odd way, a kind of sanctioned public statement in Boston, Massachusetts. Not all of the protesters like it.

Zucotti Park in Manhattan, New York was never a legally sanctioned public forum. Zucotti Park is a Privately Owned Public Space. I am reading about the concept of POPS-- Privately Owned Public Space.  It seems to be a bit of an oxymoron.  http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/pops/pops.shtml

This is very interesting because Occupy D.C. Library is in McPherson Square which is also a traditional public forum.  Occupy DCs Library A Collection as Broad as Its Movement.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/occupy-dcs-library-a-collection-as-broad-as-its-movement/2011/11/04/gIQA6kmZ6M_story.html  This is a bit on the decision not to shut down Occupy DC.  http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/11/15/occupy-dc-allowed-to-keep-on-occupying-d-c-park/

This interestingly says depending on how the space was used previously that the protesters are on determines whether they are an officially sanctioned protest...

Daily Thoughts 11/24/2011

Guy De Maupassant, Bibliotheque Nacional de Paris, taken by Nadar


Daily Thoughts 11/24/2011

Happy Thanksgiving! 


Right now, I am reading more of The Better Angels of Our Natures by Steven Pinker.  Steven Pinker is writing about self control.  He describes how self control leads to less violence.  He also describes a concept called ego depletion where mental tasks can make people more tired.  Part of this description is the idea that one can increase their self control through exercise, diet, better habits, better control of ones language, and willingness to abstain from alcohol, drugs, and tobacco.

I started on the Lynda.com Blogger training video, but found it to be a bit out of date.  So I am passing on it.
 
I will be working on Saturday, December 3, 2012.  We are going to be opening on the first Saturdays of each month.  There is also an amnesty at our library right now for lost and overdue items.   http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/amnesty



Web Bits

Occupy Wall Street Library

Occupy Wall Street Round Up, Day 68 from the New York Times City Room Blog

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/occupywallst-roundup-day-68/


OWS 79% of Books in Peoples Library Reportedly Missing, Wrecked

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/ows-79-percent-of-books-in-peoples-library-reportedly-missing-wrecked/2011/11/23/gIQA1P10oN_blog.html


Occupy Wall Street's Librarians Make Demands at Rally
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/23/occupy-wall-street-library_n_1110950.html

Occupy Wall Street: NYPD Orders Officers Not to Interfere with the Press
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/23/nypd-orders-officers-not-interfere-press_n_1111232.html?ref=occupy-wall-street

Daily Thoughts 11/23/2011

Pultschreibschrank („Neuwieder Kabinett“), aus der Werkstatt David Roentgen und Peter Kinzing, Neuwied 1779; Detail Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin, Inv. Nr. O-1962,24
 Daily Thoughts 11/23/2011

This morning, I read some more of The Better Angels of Our Nature.  Steven Pinker is writing about how ideology affects violence.  He makes a persuasive argument that openness, transparency, free travel, and trade reduce extremist ideologies.  He also describes how evil actions are banal and commonplace and reinforced by groupthink.

I also spent some time on Lynda.com learning LinkedIn.  This allowed me to get a better sense of who to ask for recommendations as well as some ideas on how to expand my network.  I was at 95% complete before I started the Lynda.com LinkedIn class.  Now my profile is complete.  There are quite a few training modules for social media on Lynda.com. I finished the LinkedIn training today and redid my profile.  I also checked and they have a Google Blogger Essentials training module which I may go over to improve this blog.

I finished updating the Twitter and Facebook account this morning for the library.

I also put the book And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut A Life by Charles J. Shields on hold.  I like Kurt Vonnegut's writing.

Web Bits

Occupy Wall Street Library


Press Conference Addresses City's Destruction of Occupy Wall Street Library
http://gothamist.com/2011/11/23/protesters_to_criticize_citys_destr.php 

The Occupy Wall Street Library: Librarians Display the Ruins
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/11/the_occupy_wall.php 

Destruction of Occupy Wall Street People's Library Draws Ire
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/nov/23/occupy-wall-street-peoples-library


Occupied ALA Ignored Cuban Librarians
http://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/11/occupied-ala-ignored-cuban-librarians.html
A little opposition is good for the soul.

What is an American Library?
http://blog.libraryjournal.com/annoyedlibrarian/2011/11/21/what-is-an-american-library/
Another opposition piece.

Daily Thoughts 11/21/2011

Books are weapons in the war of ideas : books cannot be killed by fire , 1942., United States. President (1933-1945 : Roosevelt) / United States. Office of War Information.


I wrote this in honor of Veterans Day and read it at the Mount Vernon Writers Network.

The War of Ideas

In the war of ideas
we are all foot soldiers

Before the first shot
is fired men and women
march in the streets

War begins and ends
in the peoples minds

Be prepared to listen
keep quiet, be vigilant
our nation depends on you

Terrorism, extremism, fascism
wait for the unwary

A citizens duty is
to defeat demagogues, tyrants
before they are chosen

Remember books are weapons
ideas matter, you're responsible

Stand up straight, march
move forward and learn
the battle never ends

War and peace begin
in the peoples minds

The person who speaks
with heartfelt sorrow
and proper timing wins

The person who holds
their tongue save lives

The gold soldier conquers
the peoples hearts and minds

Office for Emergency Management. Office of War Information. Domestic Operations Branch. Bureau of Special Services. (03/09/1943 - 09/15/1945)


Daily Thoughts 11/21/2011

The Mount Vernon Writer's Network now has a website.  They are also incorporated as a nonprofit.  Things are getting better organized.  http://www.mvwn.org/

I have been reading more of The Better Angels of Our Natures.  Steven Pinker is writing about animal rights and the changes which have led to different approaches to animal experimentation, livestock handling, and food consumption.  He writes about vegetarianism and its moral underpinnings.

I finished taking Microsoft Powerpoint 2010 on Lynda.com.  I am going to take a little break from this.  I think I have covered most of the major Microsoft Office products.

In Westchester county, art funding is being cut by 50%.  I see cuts in funding to the arts and education.  These go together.  They are part of civil discourse.  I see many of the questions going forward are not just economic, but who will support and education.  Currently, our library has a Rotunda gallery where art is shown.  This could be greatly reduced.
https://www.artswestchester.org/get-involved/save-the-arts/



Web Bits

Occupy Wall Street Library

Amy Goodman: Brave New World of Occupy Wall Street
http://staugustine.com/opinions/2011-11-20/amy-goodman-brave-new-world-occupy-wall-street#.Tsp3q7JCqU8
This is a bit different.  It is from a reporter who was at the site.

Image of the Day Occupy McNally Jackson-- From Shelf Awareness
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1609#m14166

Occupy Wall Street Libraries Around The World In Pictures
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2011/nov/21/occupy-libraries-protests-pictures-world#/?picture=382034180&index=0

311 Campaign In Support of OWSL
http://thedeskset.org/311-campaign-in-support-of-owsl/
It is rather interesting that the city is blocking the Occupy Wall Street Library from setting up in the park again.

For Occupy readers library fits intents and purposes
No shortage of classic ideas Aeschylus to Zinn-- from the Boston Globe
http://bostonglobe.com/arts/2011/11/22/for-occupy-readers-library-fits-intents-and-purposes/oFfUfAFVQmhgU0g5s3uahN/story.html

Occupy Wall Street Put The Coverage on the Spotlight
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/business/media/occupy-wall-street-puts-the-coverage-in-the-spotlight.html?bl
This is a bit on the coverage in the main stream media.  It is kind of interesting.  There is a sensational feel to it.

Other
For Their Children Many E-book Fans Insist on Paper
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/21/business/for-their-children-many-e-book-readers-insist-on-paper.html

How Will We Read In Public Libraries
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/c-m-rubin/how-will-we-read-in-publi_b_1103601.html

Daily Thoughts 11/19/2011

At Breakfast, Laurits Andersen Ring, 1898


Daily Thoughts 11/19/2011


The Better Angels of Our Natures is one of the years ten best books according to Library Journal.  It is excellent writing mixed with superb analysis. http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2011/11/best-of/top-10/best-books-2011-the-top-ten/

I read a little bit more of The Better Angels of Our Natures.  The author is describing what he calls the rights revolution.  He is describing how because people are more focused on civil rights and womens rights there is less domestic violence and ethnic violence.  Steven Pinker backs all his statements with statistics covering different time periods and amounts of violence.

I updated the library Facebook and Twitter account this morning.

I also took some time to look at grants.Library Grants Blog -- http://librarygrants.blogspot.com/
and Scholastic Library Grants -- http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/programs/grants.htm  list quite a few grants for libraries.  There are a few things which we apply for each year.

I also put the book The Collapse of American Criminal Justice by William J. Stuntz on hold.  I also spent half an hour on Lynda.com learning Microsoft Powerpoint 2010.


Web Bits


Occupy Wall Street Library

First They Came for the Library...

http://urbanlibrariansunite.org/?q=node%2F9

This is an Advocacy Group for libraries that is tied in with social media. It is in New York.

This is also posted on The Desk Set blog.

http://thedeskset.org/first-they-came-for-the-library/

Bloomberg Bibliocide a hashtag on Twitter

https://twitter.com/#!/search?q=%23BloombergBibliocide

There is another hashtag on Twitter, this time it is OWS Bookmobile
https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23owsbookmobile

Wikipedia Article for the People's Library-- of course it is not neutral.... but then ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_People%27s_Library

There is even a link to an Al-Jazeera article on the library which seems to be an almost novelty in the Wikipedia entry.  I am really not sure what to think of this.

The People's Library and the Future of Occupy Wall Street

http://www.webcitation.org/63JEusc69

There is another side to this story which is not being covered that much.  If you are interested in information, the laptops supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement were being supplied by 2600 which is a very distinct hacker group.  Most of the laptops in New York were destroyed in the raid as well as the most of the library.

http://motherboard.tv/2011/11/18/who-smashed-the-laptops-from-occupy-wall-street-inside-the-nypd-s-lost-and-found

This shows a willingness to destroy things and it makes me keenly aware that it is not that physically safe to be around the Occupy Wall Street protests at some points. The violence seems to escalate at night.

Daily Thoughts 11/18/2011

Der Zeitungsleser, signiert Carl Zewy, Öl auf Leinwand, 46,5 x 58,5 cm

Daily Thoughts 11/18/2011

I read a little bit more of The Better Angels of Our Nature.  Steven Pinker is describing why most terrorist organizations fail.  He is also describing how terrorism is becoming less prevalent.

I updated the Facebook and Twitter pages for the library this morning and checked the displays.

On Wednesday night, November 16, 2011 I stayed late and listened to the Board Meeting after my late shift on the reference desk.  The library was talking about having an amnesty for overdue books.

The staff spent some time discussing circulating Museum Passes which is a rather interesting idea.

The book, Survival of the Beautiful Art, Science, and Evolution by David Rothenberg came in for me to read.  It is a science title which mixes art and philosophy.  I rather like this.

I have been cleaning my desk off for the short vacation I am taking during Thanksgiving week.

I spent some time watching a training video for Microsoft Powerpoint 2010 Essentials on Lynda.com.  It is part of my aim to be completely trained in Microsoft Office by the end of the year.

Web Bits

HackLibSchool on Occupy Wall Street: How Do Libraries Fit In?
http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/hls_ows/

Part of watching the Occupy Wall Street Library is trying to get a sense of what it means.  In some circles, especially Europe there is a different meaning to challenging Wall Street than in America.  Some see it as a challenge to capitalism, not as a means to reform capitalism.  Because there has been no direct discussion on reform, rather protest, it still leaves me questioning what exactly is being said.  An open discussion about reform and ways to make things better might help things at this point.

High Beta Rich Seized by Police in OWS Raid
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2011/11/17/high-beta-rich-seized-by-police-in-occupy-raid/?mod=WSJBlog
Some more irony. 

There is a strong sense of irony and political satire in how things are described.  Fahrenheit 451 is mentioned in some of the articles as a book that was thrown out.  Also, the Guy Fawkes mask come right of the graphic novel V for Vendetta which many of the protesters are wearing.

American Library Association Defends Occupy Wall Street Library

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/american-library-association-defends-occupy-wall-street-library_b42612