Daily Thoughts 10/24/2012

Portrait of Jean Mielot, Jean Le Tavernier, After 1456

Daily Thoughts 10/24/2012

It was quite interesting going to the Big Data Meetup.  It was very different from what I expected.  I am still pondering what I am going to say about it.  I'll probably have to do a bit of research before I can fully explain what I saw.

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

On the way to work, I read some more of Online Reputation Management for Dummies.  There was a recommendation for the book, The End of Business As Usual by Brian Solis which I checked out from our new books section.

I checked the displays and the gift books.  A copy of Baker and Taylor Forecasts came in for me to read.

The computer lab was open between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. today. 

I spent some time looking through lists of missing and lost items.  I am probably going to reorder some material.  I have been focusing on fiction initially; popular authors like Mary Monroe, Carl Weber, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, and Jodi Picoult.

On the way home, I read some more of Online Reputation Management for Dummies.  I was especially interested in what the author had to say about images and photographs and how to use Flickr.  I also read a bit more from On Politics.  The author, Paul Ryan, is moving from Socrates to Aristotle.  I find some of Aristotle's views on women, politics, and slavery to be distasteful. 



Web Bits

RA 4 FB Creating A Social Space for Readers
http://www.ebscohost.com/novelist/novelist-special/ra-4-fb-creating-a-social-space-for-readers
I rather like Bookriot which was mentioned in this article.

Daily Thoughts 10/21/2012

Fumiyomu onna Print shows a half-length portrait of a woman reading a letter.
Date Created/Published: [178-, printed later]

Daily Thoughts 10/21/2012

This morning, I checked my Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I read some more of Online Reputation Management for Dummies.  The author is writing about keywords and analytics.  The library has used Google Adwords as part of its looking at keywords in descriptions for our website.  There is also a monthly report from the Westchester Library System which gives analytics about the website.

I read some more of On Politics by Paul Ryan.  The author is describing the rivalries between Sparta and Athens as well as the rivalries between Xerxes and the Greek city states.  I like Paul Ryan's idea that there will almost always arise conflicts between autocracies and democracies.

Daily Thoughts 10/20/2012

Claude Monet, painting of the French artist's wife, Camille, reading in a meadow full of flowers. It was first exhibited in Paris in 1877. Dans la prairie, 1876, Oil on canvas.

Daily Thoughts 10/20/2012

Last night, I read some more of Online Reputation Management for Dummies.  It reminded me to set up a Google Alert for a few subjects. http://www.google.com/alerts
I also read a little bit more of Paradiso.  There is a lot of Roman and Florentine history in the poem by Dante.  I especially liked the description of the Roman Emperor Justinian.

This morning, I read some of On Politics, Book One by Alan Ryan.  It is a two volume set.  The first book covers from Herodotus to Machiavelli.  The focus is on western politics and starts with the polis or the Greek city state.  The author suggests that a small city state is very different from a large modern nation in how democracy is carried out.  Alan Ryan has a very impressive publications list.  I especially like the review list from the New York Review of Books.  http://users.ox.ac.uk/~ajryan/mycv.html#books

I also read some more of Paradiso by Dante.  My favorite line so far from Canto X is:

Within the court of Heaven, whence I return, Are many jewels found, so fair and precious They cannot be transported from the realm;

It is something worth contemplating.

I have been contemplating purchasing an ebook from Harvard Business Review, Information Wants to Be Shared by Joshua Gans.  I probably won't buy it.  It seems to be a spinoff of the idea "information wants to be free."

Web Bits

My 6,128 Books by Joe Queenan
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444868204578064483923017090.html

Daily Thoughts 10/17/2012

Daily Thoughts 10/17/2012

This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.  I also read through my various social media accounts.

On the way to work, I read a little bit of the El Diario newspaper for practice.  I also read a little bit more of Online Reputation Management for Dummies.

This afternoon we had the computer lab open from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

I spent a lot of time this afternoon looking at lists for award winning books in both nonfiction and fiction.  Everything from the Pulitzer Prize to the Edgar Awards to the Man Booker Prize.


Web Bits

One on One: Robin Sloan, Author and Media Inventor
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/12/one-on-one-robin-sloan-author-and-media-inventor/?imm_mid=098322&cmp=em-toc-newsletters-oct16-elist


Ebook Collection Surging New Data Available from LJ, SLJ, Annual Usage Reports
http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/10/ebooks/ebook-collections-surging-new-data-available-from-lj-slj-annual-usage-reports/#public