This morning we went to the mall for Mother's Day. It was actually very nice. You walk around the outside and sit on the benches. I got a chance to go into the Gamestop for a few minutes. Libraries have been buying games for Nintendo lately. We have a few of them, not too many. One of the libraries not far from where I work ran a Halo tournament as part of their young adult programming. It was a complete surprise.
I took a look at some of the games. Most of the games were too high powered for my computer. I really should upgrade my machine to a new model. I am being grouchy. New computers cost money and I don't like spending money. Plus a lot of the places which offer telecommute work on the side don't want you to have Vista, they have problems managing it. There was not a whole lot which I think I would get even for my own use. I think there is some value in the Sims, Guitar Hero II, Dance Dance Revolution, and even the game Civilization IV.
I am not sure about most of the other games. I have heard that if you play video games you get good fine motor skills. It is supposed to help surgeons. However, like most librarians I am a little bit conservative and I can't really think of why or how video games would fit in a library. I am curious on hearing other peoples views on this.
After going to Gamestop, the Bodyshop, and a few other places to wander around and look at things, we stopped by Boston Market and got some chicken. It was not too bad. There is something oddly satisfying about looking at things in little packages, even if you don't buy them.
Then we went to Barnes & Noble. We never buy anything. I did look around to see if there was anything I wanted to request for my branch. When I got home, using my internet connection, I tried to place holds for Space Vulture by Gary K. Wolf, Time Spike by Eric Flint, and Reaper's Gale by Steven Erickson. My library had none of these books. However, my library system did have The New Weird edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer, and The Algebraist by Iain Banks. I also took a look at a few books on blogging which my library does not have Problogger's Secrets to Blogging Your Way To A Six Figure Income by Darren Weiss, and Increase Your Web Traffic In A Weekend by Jeffrey Lee Ford, Jr.. An awful lot of books that are already in bookstores are not in libraries.
I also took a look at the graphic novels section. There was not anything which I hadn't seen at the New York Comic Con already. I think Barnes & Nobles does a better job with manga than they do with graphic novels. They had a huge manga section.
I am seeing an interesting trend in romance where there are now a lot of vampire romances being written now. I almost want to read Mark of the Vampire Queen by Joe Hill. It is in the romance section. Unfortunately, it is not in my library yet.
It was nice to get out of the house and go to the open air mall and walk around. I don't like closed in air conditioned malls. They make me feel boxed in and they are often too cold.
Afterwards we made a short trip to the supermarket to get some groceries. Now, I am sitting at the computer writing my thoughts for today.
I am relaxing a bit my feet are sore. I have been walking a bit too much lately.
I took a look at Library Journal today. They have a short article called "The Parallel Information Universe." I must belong to this, I certainly read enough science fiction and fantasy. Maybe one day, I'll wake up trapped inside a Myspace page. No, but seriously they have an article on Myspace, Facebook, and Second Life.
It is the Second Life thing which got me. I actually have never used Second Life or the Sims. I admit it, I have tried some online games, but not the Sims or Second Life. Apparently, some public libraries have set up library services in Second Life. This sounds kind of over the top. I wonder if I should sign up for an account in Second Life so I can see what it is about.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6551184.html
The next dreaded step of course is providing services for ipods and other digital media devices like cell phones and blackberries in public libraries. They actually had a section on that at the Westchester Library Association conference.
I call it information soup, because you throw a hundred different things into a pot, ebooks, blackberries, wifi, laptops, blogs, myspage, facebook, magazines, traditional books, cell phones, ipods, dvds, videos, databases, internet access, cd-roms, playaways, copy machines, scanners, projectors, and a million other devices and you boil it up with a confused staff and you hope it will turn out to be something that the visiting library patrons will like and be happy with.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Thoughts For Today
Tomorrow is Mothers Day. Happy Mothers Day. Don't forget to get a card and possibly some flowers.
This morning, I added two people to my Facebook account that were mentioned yesterday at the conference, Gerry McKiernan, and Free Range Librarian.
Today has been pretty slow. I am going to go pickup a few books which I reserved at my local library in a little bit.
I am resting after quite a long week.
I went to my local library and sat for a little while using the computers. I heard something rather amazing. The first twenty pages for printouts are free. We charge a flat rate of 10 cents per page where we work.
I did a little bit of looking at blogs and fooling around with Entrecard. I also took a look at the magazines section. The periodicals person had asked me which comics we want to purchase. At my local library we have Action Comics (Superman), Batman, The Ultimate Spiderman, The Ultimate X-Men, and Wolverine. For manga there is Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat. I am going to suggest Action Comics, Batman, The Ultimate Spiderman, and The Ultimate X-Men. I might also suggest Shonen Jump.
I picked up a book on reserve which I am going to read from my local library. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Socially Responsible Investing Put Your Money Where Your Values Are by Ken Little, it is a new book, c2008, Alpha, an imprint of Penguin USA
I also think I will probably pick up a book on haiku so I can try my hand at writing a few haiku poems.
This morning, I added two people to my Facebook account that were mentioned yesterday at the conference, Gerry McKiernan, and Free Range Librarian.
Today has been pretty slow. I am going to go pickup a few books which I reserved at my local library in a little bit.
I am resting after quite a long week.
I went to my local library and sat for a little while using the computers. I heard something rather amazing. The first twenty pages for printouts are free. We charge a flat rate of 10 cents per page where we work.
I did a little bit of looking at blogs and fooling around with Entrecard. I also took a look at the magazines section. The periodicals person had asked me which comics we want to purchase. At my local library we have Action Comics (Superman), Batman, The Ultimate Spiderman, The Ultimate X-Men, and Wolverine. For manga there is Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat. I am going to suggest Action Comics, Batman, The Ultimate Spiderman, and The Ultimate X-Men. I might also suggest Shonen Jump.
I picked up a book on reserve which I am going to read from my local library. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Socially Responsible Investing Put Your Money Where Your Values Are by Ken Little, it is a new book, c2008, Alpha, an imprint of Penguin USA
I also think I will probably pick up a book on haiku so I can try my hand at writing a few haiku poems.
The Reader Over Your Shoulder A Handbook For Writers of English Prose-- Robert Graves And Alan Hodges
I finished reading, The Reader Over Your Shoulder, A Handbook for Writers of Enlgish Prose by Robert Graves and Alan Hodges. Robert Graves is the author of I, Claudius and The White Goddess. The writing in this book is quite high caliber.
The first section is a set of rules on how to write. It describes how to clarify the basics so you know to answer what was in grammar school called, the five w's who, what, where, when, and how. It also teaches you how to write without ambiguity, eliminate logical weaknesses, and create understandable prose.
In addition the use of metaphor, style, and elegance in writing is covered. Examples of bad writing are given and corrected. Also bureaucratese, jargon, and professional language is addressed. It talks about how to translate complex thoughts into clear language.
The second part is where I got overwhelmed. This section analyzes rhetoric and logic in writing. It takes apart paragraphs written by many famous people and rewrites them so they are more logical and clear. For example, sections of Why Freedom Matters by Norman Angell, Bishop Chichester; A paragraph from Christianity and World Order and many other famous writings are analyzed. They are not just analyzed. Each sentence in a paragraph is dissected for consistency, logic, grammar, and style.
This would be fairly advanced rhetorical teaching for people who already had an excellent grasp of the english language. At points it was a bit overwhelming in the information being provided. There are examples of logical weakness, mispunctuation, appropriate sequence of ideas, mismatching metaphor, self-evident statement, false contrast, circumlocution, and other fairly detailed criticisms of language use. On Pp. 177-180 they give 41 rules for appropriate use of language.
If you are interested in reading a complex book on advanced written rhetoric; this book is for you. It is at points quite hard to follow. I did enjoy reading the first part immensely. However, I was a bit overwhelmed with the second half of the book. The book is slow going with lots of information in each page. It is not the kind of book you can read in one sitting. The language is also very proper, clear, old fashioned, and very British. The edition I read is the second edition,
c 1979.
I made a rather interesting faux pas. This book is no longer in print. It was suggested by one of my blog readers. It is available in a combined edition as The Long Weekend And The Reader Over Your Shoulder. There are used copies of this. I think this is the kind of book which you should be able to find easily in your public library; most likely as an interlibrary loan, but not in a bookstore.
I remember reading the Golden Ass of Apuleius and The Twelve Caesars translated by Robert Graves when I was younger. He truly is a distinguished writer.
The first section is a set of rules on how to write. It describes how to clarify the basics so you know to answer what was in grammar school called, the five w's who, what, where, when, and how. It also teaches you how to write without ambiguity, eliminate logical weaknesses, and create understandable prose.
In addition the use of metaphor, style, and elegance in writing is covered. Examples of bad writing are given and corrected. Also bureaucratese, jargon, and professional language is addressed. It talks about how to translate complex thoughts into clear language.
The second part is where I got overwhelmed. This section analyzes rhetoric and logic in writing. It takes apart paragraphs written by many famous people and rewrites them so they are more logical and clear. For example, sections of Why Freedom Matters by Norman Angell, Bishop Chichester; A paragraph from Christianity and World Order and many other famous writings are analyzed. They are not just analyzed. Each sentence in a paragraph is dissected for consistency, logic, grammar, and style.
This would be fairly advanced rhetorical teaching for people who already had an excellent grasp of the english language. At points it was a bit overwhelming in the information being provided. There are examples of logical weakness, mispunctuation, appropriate sequence of ideas, mismatching metaphor, self-evident statement, false contrast, circumlocution, and other fairly detailed criticisms of language use. On Pp. 177-180 they give 41 rules for appropriate use of language.
If you are interested in reading a complex book on advanced written rhetoric; this book is for you. It is at points quite hard to follow. I did enjoy reading the first part immensely. However, I was a bit overwhelmed with the second half of the book. The book is slow going with lots of information in each page. It is not the kind of book you can read in one sitting. The language is also very proper, clear, old fashioned, and very British. The edition I read is the second edition,
c 1979.
I made a rather interesting faux pas. This book is no longer in print. It was suggested by one of my blog readers. It is available in a combined edition as The Long Weekend And The Reader Over Your Shoulder. There are used copies of this. I think this is the kind of book which you should be able to find easily in your public library; most likely as an interlibrary loan, but not in a bookstore.
I remember reading the Golden Ass of Apuleius and The Twelve Caesars translated by Robert Graves when I was younger. He truly is a distinguished writer.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Westchester Library Association Conference
On May 9, 2008, I attended the Westchester Library Association one day conference held in Tarrytown. I took the Metro North up to Tarrytown. It was a long slow ride. On the way up, I read some more of Robert Grave's The Reader Over Your Shoulder. I am almost done reading it. The conference registration started at 8:00 a.m. which was quite early. I had time to get some grapefruit juice, coffee, and minimuffins.
I got a chance to look at the vendors in the morning. Archie Comics was there. They have a new design for their title Betty & Veronica. I actually like the new style of drawing, it is much cleaner and easier to look at. It looks a lot less cartoonish and the characters are a bit more diverse than before. The vendor gave me a free sample copy. The title is Betty & Veronica, Bad Boy Trouble. I think teenage girls will probably like this in a library setting.
I also picked up a discount sheet for Pimsleur language learning tapes-- 50% off.
The name of the conference was Sparkle, Dazzle, Shine.
The opening speaker was Jeff Connell, The Deputy Commissioner of Cultural Education of New York. His office is in Albany. He is governed by the Board of Regents. He talked about his position in the library world. His responsibilities include educational tv, the state museum, the state archives, and the state library in Albany.
He quoted Thomas Jefferson, "Information is the currency of Democracy." Then he gave a long rambling speech about his experiences as a librarian before he became a deputy commissioner. A lot of it was about merchandising books and improving circulation statistics.
The good news from him is that the state is not cutting the baseline funding of $14 million dollars from the New York State Library, but they are cutting 2% from additional requested funds.
There is also a position open for a new state librarian in Albany, New York..
The reason I was there more than anything else was because of a session called. "May I Please Blow Up The Reference Desk." by Traci Hall, Assistant Dean of Dominican University library. The main point was that the reference desk created physical and cultural barriers to doing reference work. Traci Hall claimed that the reference desk was a symbol of the 19th and 20th century, not a symbol of the 21st century.
She further claimed that the job of the librarian was to help the patron at their point of origin not make them go back to a reference desk. She was quite lively and stated that she was aiming to stir up a bit of trouble. She brought out the example of libraries failing and having to recreate themselves. For example in England, in some of the more troubled libraries, they were renamed as "Idea Stores."
She also used another example of the Infoplank, or Swedish cataloging system that is multilingual. She said we are no longer living in a monoculture, the world is changing into a multicultural, mobile, globalized world.
She then brough up ten key points. I am rewriting them in my own language because, there was a lot of jargon used which might not be understandable for people outside of libraries or in general.
1) We have a diverse multicultural, multilingual, globalized world.
2) People are dropping out of school early, and prolonging their college education. The educational system is failing. We have help people get educated.
3) People learn in groups.
4) People use informal peer review systems like Amazon.
5) We want have things customized for us personally.
6) We want things brought to us instead of having to go there.
7) An immediate human voice is preferable to a computer intermediary.
8) There are gatekeepers to peoples needs.
9) People using social networking want immediate sensation and results.
10) People are trading on popularity and empathy.
After this she started talking about how we need a new kind of librarian. It was kind of interesting. It was also a little overblown. The constant focus on the new was distracting. The message seemed to be teach people how to learn. This was the original basis for building the Carnegie Libraries. Libraries were not originally built for entertainment. They were built for self-education.
This is a summary of her ideas. Because, I am paraphrasing her, I am not sure that this is the exact meaning of what she said. I think it is close. One website which I found interesting that she mentioned was http://www.aadl.org/ Ann Arbor District Library which has their library website completely redesigned as a blog.
After the opening speech and the first lecture, we broke for lunch. I sat with my colleagues and gabbed for a little bit. The lunch was quite nice. I had the vegetarian plate which was vegetables with tofu, a salad, and an apple tart for dessert. They held a raffle, but I had already gone downstairs for the next lecture.
After lunch was over and coffee was served. Traci Hall gave the keynote speech which was on diversity. It was called Library 911. The key points she brought up were that libraries are diverse institutopms with a wide variety of people using them and libraries should be embedded in their communities. They should participate in things like the chambers of commerce and community events. She gave a brief quote from John D. Rockefeller, "I will pay more for the ability to deal with people than for any ability under the sun."
The last lecture I attended was "From Dress Casual to Eye Candy, Outfitting Our LIbraries For Online Social Networking." The librarian giving the lecture said her favorite library web site on Myspace was http://www.myspace.com/brackenlibrary . The library website which she ran on Myspace, Brooklyn College Library had 3980 freinds. It also had music, photographs, and instructional videos. It was very interesting to look at.
Following the Myspace examples, she gave examples of Librarians using facebook. One librarian facebook page which she said stood out was Gerry McKiernan.
One site which she mentioned teaches a free course for librarians on social networking called, "Five Weeks To A Social Library."
http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/
I got a chance to look at the vendors in the morning. Archie Comics was there. They have a new design for their title Betty & Veronica. I actually like the new style of drawing, it is much cleaner and easier to look at. It looks a lot less cartoonish and the characters are a bit more diverse than before. The vendor gave me a free sample copy. The title is Betty & Veronica, Bad Boy Trouble. I think teenage girls will probably like this in a library setting.
I also picked up a discount sheet for Pimsleur language learning tapes-- 50% off.
The name of the conference was Sparkle, Dazzle, Shine.
The opening speaker was Jeff Connell, The Deputy Commissioner of Cultural Education of New York. His office is in Albany. He is governed by the Board of Regents. He talked about his position in the library world. His responsibilities include educational tv, the state museum, the state archives, and the state library in Albany.
He quoted Thomas Jefferson, "Information is the currency of Democracy." Then he gave a long rambling speech about his experiences as a librarian before he became a deputy commissioner. A lot of it was about merchandising books and improving circulation statistics.
The good news from him is that the state is not cutting the baseline funding of $14 million dollars from the New York State Library, but they are cutting 2% from additional requested funds.
There is also a position open for a new state librarian in Albany, New York..
The reason I was there more than anything else was because of a session called. "May I Please Blow Up The Reference Desk." by Traci Hall, Assistant Dean of Dominican University library. The main point was that the reference desk created physical and cultural barriers to doing reference work. Traci Hall claimed that the reference desk was a symbol of the 19th and 20th century, not a symbol of the 21st century.
She further claimed that the job of the librarian was to help the patron at their point of origin not make them go back to a reference desk. She was quite lively and stated that she was aiming to stir up a bit of trouble. She brought out the example of libraries failing and having to recreate themselves. For example in England, in some of the more troubled libraries, they were renamed as "Idea Stores."
She also used another example of the Infoplank, or Swedish cataloging system that is multilingual. She said we are no longer living in a monoculture, the world is changing into a multicultural, mobile, globalized world.
She then brough up ten key points. I am rewriting them in my own language because, there was a lot of jargon used which might not be understandable for people outside of libraries or in general.
1) We have a diverse multicultural, multilingual, globalized world.
2) People are dropping out of school early, and prolonging their college education. The educational system is failing. We have help people get educated.
3) People learn in groups.
4) People use informal peer review systems like Amazon.
5) We want have things customized for us personally.
6) We want things brought to us instead of having to go there.
7) An immediate human voice is preferable to a computer intermediary.
8) There are gatekeepers to peoples needs.
9) People using social networking want immediate sensation and results.
10) People are trading on popularity and empathy.
After this she started talking about how we need a new kind of librarian. It was kind of interesting. It was also a little overblown. The constant focus on the new was distracting. The message seemed to be teach people how to learn. This was the original basis for building the Carnegie Libraries. Libraries were not originally built for entertainment. They were built for self-education.
This is a summary of her ideas. Because, I am paraphrasing her, I am not sure that this is the exact meaning of what she said. I think it is close. One website which I found interesting that she mentioned was http://www.aadl.org/ Ann Arbor District Library which has their library website completely redesigned as a blog.
After the opening speech and the first lecture, we broke for lunch. I sat with my colleagues and gabbed for a little bit. The lunch was quite nice. I had the vegetarian plate which was vegetables with tofu, a salad, and an apple tart for dessert. They held a raffle, but I had already gone downstairs for the next lecture.
After lunch was over and coffee was served. Traci Hall gave the keynote speech which was on diversity. It was called Library 911. The key points she brought up were that libraries are diverse institutopms with a wide variety of people using them and libraries should be embedded in their communities. They should participate in things like the chambers of commerce and community events. She gave a brief quote from John D. Rockefeller, "I will pay more for the ability to deal with people than for any ability under the sun."
The last lecture I attended was "From Dress Casual to Eye Candy, Outfitting Our LIbraries For Online Social Networking." The librarian giving the lecture said her favorite library web site on Myspace was http://www.myspace.com/brackenlibrary . The library website which she ran on Myspace, Brooklyn College Library had 3980 freinds. It also had music, photographs, and instructional videos. It was very interesting to look at.
Following the Myspace examples, she gave examples of Librarians using facebook. One librarian facebook page which she said stood out was Gerry McKiernan.
One site which she mentioned teaches a free course for librarians on social networking called, "Five Weeks To A Social Library."
http://www.sociallibraries.com/course/
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Thoughts For Today
Hello, I finished reading a book called Goblin War by Jim C. Hines. I enjoyed reading it. It was a humorous fantasy about a goblin who has to survive human and elven raiders, and an army of orcs, trolls, wolves, goblins, and kobolds. I thought about reviewing it, but I haven't read the first two books in the series, Goblin Quest and Goblin Hero. This makes me think I should wait until we get these two books. None of the libraries in the system where I work have these two books. I am going to try and convince the young adult librarian to buy this series. After all, Goblin War was on the Locus Bestseller list and got excellent reviews. I think it would be an injustice to write a review of a series I haven't read completely.
I requested that our library buy Steampunk edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. It is interesting seeing husband and wife writing teams. I don't know if this team will be as good as Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore who wrote as a husband and wife team, but I know that their writing is already excellent. This book got a starred review in the Publishers Weekly April 21, 2008 issue.
Another book which I am suggesting for purchase is The Kingmakers How The Media Threatens Our Security and Democracy by Mike Gravel and David Eisenbach, Ph.D.. It received a starred review in the May 5, 2008 Publishers Weekly. The book is slated to be out June 1, 2008.
There is a rather interesting article on CNN on the Great Comic Books Scare of the 1950s. It mentions The Ten Cent Plague by David Hajdu.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/05/08/comic.books/index.html
Today, it was a really nice day out. There was a light wind blowing around 70 degrees, not too sunny. I still ran a poetry open microphone today. Eight people showed up and several people read. I guess a few of them were there for the cookies, juice, and water. I read a few of my own poems. I brought some books down from upstairs by different poets, Maya Angelou, Calvin Trillin, Jack Kerouac, Rita Dove, Bei Dao and a few others. The cookies were all gone by the end of the program. One of the older gentlemen who comes to the library talked about trumpet playing for a little bit.
Tomorrow, I am going to the Westchester Library Association conference. It should be interesting. I have to be there by 8:00 a.m. My library is paying for it. I ordered the vegetarian lunch. They always have a hard time messing up vegetarian food. I don't like rubber chicken lunches you occassionally get at conferences. I hope I get to gab with a few different people in addition to the speakers. The train ride up will be interesting. Unfortunately, none of the items I have on hold came in for me to check out.
I requested that our library buy Steampunk edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer. It is interesting seeing husband and wife writing teams. I don't know if this team will be as good as Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore who wrote as a husband and wife team, but I know that their writing is already excellent. This book got a starred review in the Publishers Weekly April 21, 2008 issue.
Another book which I am suggesting for purchase is The Kingmakers How The Media Threatens Our Security and Democracy by Mike Gravel and David Eisenbach, Ph.D.. It received a starred review in the May 5, 2008 Publishers Weekly. The book is slated to be out June 1, 2008.
There is a rather interesting article on CNN on the Great Comic Books Scare of the 1950s. It mentions The Ten Cent Plague by David Hajdu.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/05/08/comic.books/index.html
Today, it was a really nice day out. There was a light wind blowing around 70 degrees, not too sunny. I still ran a poetry open microphone today. Eight people showed up and several people read. I guess a few of them were there for the cookies, juice, and water. I read a few of my own poems. I brought some books down from upstairs by different poets, Maya Angelou, Calvin Trillin, Jack Kerouac, Rita Dove, Bei Dao and a few others. The cookies were all gone by the end of the program. One of the older gentlemen who comes to the library talked about trumpet playing for a little bit.
Tomorrow, I am going to the Westchester Library Association conference. It should be interesting. I have to be there by 8:00 a.m. My library is paying for it. I ordered the vegetarian lunch. They always have a hard time messing up vegetarian food. I don't like rubber chicken lunches you occassionally get at conferences. I hope I get to gab with a few different people in addition to the speakers. The train ride up will be interesting. Unfortunately, none of the items I have on hold came in for me to check out.
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