Daily Thoughts 10/12/2011

Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899), American writer.  Horatio Alger is famous for writing rags to riches stories.

Daily Thoughts 10/12/2011

I read a little bit more of Designing With Web Standards Second Edition on the train to work.  It made me realize I should be reading a book on HTML 4, Javascript, and CSS because those were the current web standards.  I checked out the book Visual Quickstart HTML for the World Wide Web 4th Edition by Elizabeth Castro.

I also refilled the flyer rack at the base the stairs and checked the displays.  In addition, I updated the Twitter and Facebook pages for the library.  I also checked the gifts and added a book by Kimberla Lawson Roby who is a bestselling African American author.

From 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. we had our Internet Job Search Hour.  I spent a little more time learning about HTML 5 on Lynda.com.

I put the book, Public Parts: How Sharing In the Digital Age Improves The Way We Work and Live on hold by Jeff Jarvis.  Jeff Jarvis wrote What Would Google Do?.  His material is popular writing which is easily understandable by most people.

I spent a little time reading the New York Times Book Review and Publishers Weekly this afternoon.  I put The Better Angels of Our Nature Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker on hold.  I also put the graphic novel The Death Ray by Daniel Clowes on hold.  Daniel Clowes has an eccentric, independent streak in his graphic novels.  I'm planning on looking through the Ebony magazine bestseller lists this evening.

Web Bits


Opening Your Library to Entrepreneurs
http://ala-publishing.informz.net/ala-publishing/archives/archive_1841700.html
I find this interesting because the idea of Coworking interests me.  This is the first time I am seeing this put into effect in a library setting.  I've visited a coworking space in Manhattan, New Work City.  It is something I thiink is quite fascinating.  It is also the first time I have seen a librarian moonlighting in a coworking space.

Daily Thoughts 10/11/2011

Studiosul ("The Scholar") or Studiu cu barbat la masa de lucru ("Study Portrait of a Man at His Writing Desk"), ink drawing, 11,6 x 10,3 cm.

Daily Thoughts 10/11/2011

On the train this morning, I started reading A Thinking Man's Bully Unstuck In Time, Unburdened by Convention And Liberated from Fact by Michael Adelberg.  This is an advanced reading copy given to me by Library Journal.  The story is about a man in psychotherapy who has a history of being a bully.  This drives one of his friends to committ suicide and his son to try and committ suicide.  There is a callousness to the book which is quite surprising.

Things have been rather steady today.  I updated the Facebook page and the Twitter account.  The number of social media followers for the library has been increasing steadily.  I also checked the displays.

Also, our Sony representative came by and showed the new Sony Tablet which was rather interesting.  We took some pictures with the tablet, took a lot at the book Alice In Wonderland, and tried out some applications.  There was also some discussion about the Sony E-readers and what was coming next.  The Sony representative was nice enough to donate some books to the library.

We also had a public demonstration of the Sony Ereaders for the patrons where we showed people how the Ereaders worked in the computer lab.

I am going to New York Comic Con on Thursday.  It should be interesting.  If you work at a library, there is a special "Kidsa Day" promotion for librarians. For your customers and patrons, New York Comic Con hosts a “Kids Day” on Sunday, October 16, the final day of the show. Children and tweens under 12 are welcomed to attend the Show and literary programs at no cost on Sunday. NYCC will support this in your library with posters, bookmarks and pins. If you'd like to make Kids Day available through your library please email Jul Sifers (jsifers@reedexpo.com) with New York Comic Con; they would be happy to send you all the information and material to share this free event with your community

The book Designing With Web Standards 2nd Edition by Jeffrey Zeldman came in for me to read.

I spent some time making sure the computer lab was set up for the Beginning Computer Class tonight this evening which was from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m..

I read some more of A Thinking Man's Bully on the train home.  It is a very psychological novel.  I think it is a deeply revelatory book.  It shows how behavior passes from father to son.  The main characters son becomes a bully like his father. The story is quite macho in points.  Some of the characters play hockey which is a very physical sport with lots of contact and fighting.

Daily Thoughts 10/10/2011

Bookcase, Robert Adam (1728-1792), 1776, exhibited in the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

Daily Thoughts 10/10/2011


This morning, I read a little bit more of The Orphan Master's Son.  The main character is interacting with a variety of leaders in North Korea including Kim Il Sung.  It is very different. I finished reading the book at the laundromat.  The ending is quite surprising.  I cannot say that I have read anything like this before.  The book is due out on January 10, 2012.


I also spent some time on Lynda.com learning a bit about HTML 5.

Web Bits

With a Little Help Now At Your Library
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/columns-and-blogs/cory-doctorow/article/49010-with-a-little-help-now-at-your-library.html%20

I am a big fan of Cory Doctorow.

Daily Thoughts 10/9/2011

Christine de Pisan instructs her son, Jean de Castel, France Paris 1410-1411

Daily Thoughts 10/9/2011

I read some more of The Orphan Master's Son. The book is becoming increasingly dark. The character is in a prison camp followed by being captured and being prepared for torture.  Although, it is gruesome, there is something deeply fascinating about the writing.

I finished taking another course, Analyzing Your Website to Improve SEO on Lynda.com.  I learned a few things about header tags, geo tags, and creating an XML site map.  This is all very useful in terms of building and promoting a website.

 Web Bits

Ereader Boom II Is Your Library Ready
http://libraryrenewal.org/2011/10/07/ereader-boom-ii-is-your-library-ready/

Daily Thoughts 10/8/2011

Nathaniel Hawthorne. (Bust) Lithograph by Armstrong & Co., 1883.

Daily Thoughts 10/8/2011 


This morning, I checked the Twitter and Facebook accounts.  I also finished taking the Drupal 7 online course from Lynda.com and started taking Web Design Fundamentals.  It has been a steady learning process.

I also started reading The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson.  It is an Advanced Reading Copy provided by Library Journal.  The book is coming out on January 10, 2012.  The setting is absolutely unique and the story is very different.  It is told from the perspective of a North Korean who is raised in an orphanage.  Every few chapters, the main characters circumstances change from being a kidnapper to being on a boat to being in a prison camp.  There is a surreal harsh quality to the quality which reminds me of The Gulag Archipelago.

I finished taking Web Design Fundamentals from Lynda.com this evening.  The teacher recommended a book Designing With Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman.  I put the second edition on hold.  He also recommended the book, Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug which is excellent.


The Lynda.com course set out a set of skills that would be useful to learn, HTML, CSS, Javascript, and Photoshop.  I also probably should take some time to review my Microsoft Office skills as well.