Daily Thoughts 11/20/2011

Art piece at title page of William Blake, painter and poet by Richard Garnett Publisher: London, Seeley, 1895

 Daily Thoughts 11/20/2011

This morning, I did some more practice on Lynda.com for Microsoft Powerpoint 2010. I also updated the library Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I read a little bit more of The Better Angels of Our Natures.  Steven Pinker is discussing children's rights.  He touches on infanticide, corporal punishment, and child abuse.

On June 30,  2011 there was property tax cap legislation put in place.  This will probably affect libraries in New York.  I am not quite sure how though.  It will definitely mean there is less money available from property taxes.http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/historic-property-tax-cap-becomes-law

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

Daily Thoughts 11/17/2011

Ein kleiner Bücherwurm, signiert Eduard Swoboda, Öl auf Leinwand auf Malkarton, 47 x 38,5 cm, 1902


Daily Thoughts 11/17/2011

I read some more of The Better Angels of Our Natures.  Steven Pinker is describing why democracies have less wars and why trade also reduces the amount of warfare globally.

The book Spontaneous Happiness by Andrew Weil, MD came in for me to read.  I like the style of his writing.

Last night, I finished reading The Death Ray by Daniel Clowes.  There is a certain darkness to the tale.  A man gets superpowers because he smokes cigarettes.  He also has a death ray gun given to him by his father which he uses to dispose of the men who cheated on his wife.  It successfully satirizes the superhero genre and makes it seem very ordinary.  I enjoyed reading it.  One of my colleagues is reading it right now.   She likes the copyright page.

This morning, I updated the Facebook and Twitter accounts.  We also got our first check from Better World Books which is nice.  I also checked the displays.  One of my colleagues has a display of holiday books up.

This afternoon, the computer lab is being opened between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. for Academic Use.

We have the Mount Vernon Writers Network today from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m..  It will be in Aisle 7 instead of the rotunda.  We are each writing a poem about veterans.  We mostly discussed the incorporation of the group into a nonprofit organization, publicity, and setting up a logo.  At the end several people read poems about veterans.

I read a bit more of  The Better Angels of Our Natures. Steven Pinker is describing how governments killed many more people with democide (systematic killing of citizens by government forces) and genocide during the 20th century than with war. 


Web Bits

Occupy Wall Street Library

At Occupy Cal Let Books Take The Place of Banned Tents
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/11/17/at-occupy-cal-let-books-take-the-place-of-banned-tents/

Another ironic statement.

NYPD Targets Occupy Wall Street Library Again
http://6minutesummary.blogspot.com/2011/11/shelf-awareness-pro-for-thursday_17.html#4523020

Occupy Wall Street Library Targeted Once Again
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/occupy-wall-street-confiscated-once-again_b42509

ALA Alarmed at Seizure of Occupy Wall Street Library
http://ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pr.cfm?id=8568

Peoples Library at the Brooklyn Bridge -- It is in Push Carts
http://peopleslibrary.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/dscn29781.jpg
There is something existentially satirical about this picture.

Another Equally Ironic Push Cart Library Picture
http://peopleslibrary.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/382617_710125056602_7104406_36191014_1062147162_n.jpeg 

Occupy Wall Street Library Goes Mobile
http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/occupy-wall-street-confiscated-once-again_b42509

How I Helped Rescue OWS Library
http://www.salon.com/2011/11/17/saving_ows_library/

Daily Thoughts 11/16/2011

Daily Thoughts 11/16/2011

I read some more of The Better Angels of Our Natures this morning.  The author is writing about the concepts of wars of attrition and pyrrhic victory where very little is won by either side.

This morning, I looked over the website committee report for technology.  It is going over issues like the website, databases, E-readers, and telephones.  It also mentions the Services Survey which should be finished by December.  I also spent some time talking to the head of the periodicals department about possibly getting some electronic newspapers or magazines for the E-readers.

I checked the displays and fliers and printed out some flyers including a flyer for the Learning Express Popular Software Tutorials which is a set of online video instruction for Microsoft Office and Adobe software. 

I also checked the Twitter and Facebook accounts for the library.

This afternoon, I spent a little bit more time learning Microsoft Publisher 2010 on Lynda.com.  This afternoon, I opened the computer lab between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. for the public.  I helped one of our regular patrons with the Popular Software Tutorials from Learning Express.  He wanted to learn Microsoft Excel 2010.  There were a few other people looking for jobs and writing letters.

The graphic novel, The Death Ray by Daniel Clowes came in for me to read.  I also have the New York Times Book Review, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly to read.  I am finding that I have read many of the articles or similar articles online.

Web Bits

Libraries in Cris-- Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/libraries-in-crisis

Occupy Wall Street Library
The Occupy Wall Street Library Regrows In Manhattan
http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/news/11162011/occupy-wall-street-library-regrows-manhattan

Update: State of Seized Library Items
http://peopleslibrary.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/update-state-of-seized-library-items/ 

The Life and Death of the Great American Peoples Library
http://www.bookpatrol.net/2011/11/life-and-death-of-great-american.html