Where does that leave you?

2009-01-01T18:37:00.003-05:00

I just counted up, and it seems I read over 200 books last year. And, that's not counting picture books because a) doing that seems an unfair way to bump up the numbers and b) I could never remember all of those anyway. Maybe later, if I am feeling expansive and reflexive and typey, I will ruminate on those 200+. After all, one of my don't-call-it-a-resolutions is to post more, all over yon internet.

But, because I won't be mentioning picture books and because it seems a swell thing to do for posterity, I did want to note the ones I particularly liked this year. With brief commentary, even! The sad(?) fact of it is that I never really think of myself as being someone who likes picture books. One of the reasons I was hesitant to embrace being a Children's Librarian, instead of the Y.A. Librarian moniker I originally coveted, was an antipathy to them. (Other reasons, equal antipathy to flannel boards and fingerplays, a sense that I wasn't chipper enough or passionate enough about children's services and a general feeling that storytime just wasn't "my thing.")

But, I've grown into it a bit. While they still don't get me super excited, generally speaking, the way that the prospect of a good novel does, I appreciate them and have fun with them and have definitely developed a repetoire of favorites. And doing the Mock Caldecott and a bit of historical research has helped me appreciate them as art.

In any case, my standouts for 2008 are as follows. In looking at this now, it seems that I may be unfairly biased by the New York Times (honestly, I hadly ever even read it) and the books we discussed and finalized on for this years Queens Mock Caldecott, but whatever. We are all a product of our influences.

Before John Was a Jazz Giant by Carole Boston Weatheford, illus. Sean Qualls - because it's lovely and fun and appropriately musical. Generally speaking, there are a lot of biographical picture books and a vast majority of them I do not like. Too often, they are biographies first, with no movement and strucure as a story and the illustrations are middling to fair. I just don't think they work, beyond fulfilling the real-but-annoying need for biography-for-a-young-kid reference questions. But, that's so not the case here. I kind of love it.

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever by Marla Frazee - because it is so spirited and funny and has so much detail that's just an all-out pleasure to read. Marla Frazee has done tons of books, but I've never really gotten into her. This makes me want to read more of them though, which is always a good sign.

Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea - because, hands down, it was my favorite picture book of the year (and that's why it gets the accompanying-picture nod.) I love the simplicity of, the use of typeface and the FUN of it. I also love the fact that it's super, super fun to read at storytime (I'm a great roarer) and it can work with so many ages and get participatory action every single time.

The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest, illus. Amy Bates - because I heartily admit to being a sucker for many things, including a heartarming story and pretty art

Don't Worry Bear by Greg Foley - for many of the same reasons I loved Dinosaur vs. Bedtime (minus the growling), plus Greg Foley is pretty crushworthy. I loved the other Bear book too and look forward to the next.

Ghosts in the House! by Kazuno Kohara - because woodcuts and limited color can be really beautiful.

Keep Your Eye on the Kid: the Early Years of Buster Keaton by Catherine Brighton - because it's another well-done picture book biography, despite the use of first-person and the art has a definite Little Nemo feel to it, which I'm all about. I keep putting it on display in the hopes of it being checked out, but unfortunately that doesn't seem to be happening yet.

Lazy Little Loafers by Susan Orleans, illus. G. Brian Karas - because it made me laugh and I think that G. Brian Karas is consistently solid

Little Yellow Leaf by Karin Berger - because I am constantly asked for seasonal books and most of them are forgettable. And the collage is used just so well-done and interesting.

Spuds by Karen Hesse, illus. Wendy Watson - because, once again, I love the retro, gentle art and it's a nice little story. One of my dirty little librarian secrets is that I don't especially like Karen Hesse, but I dig (heh. You'd know why that was funny if you read it.) this.

A Visitor for Bear by Bonnie Becker, illus. Kady Macdonald Denton - because it made me happy. Sometimes you can go with a traditional story and if you do it well, all will be well.

Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein, illus. by Ed Young - because Ed Young has illustrated about a bazillion books, and this is the first one I've ever really responded to. Not exactly one that will have kids clamoring, but ... And, it seems to be a love it or hate it sort of books, which probably means that those oddsmakers are right and it will, in fact, win the Caldecott.

a note to self, mostly

2008-12-01T12:41:00.003-05:00

New York magazine's take on indie bookstores. Some of these I've been to and really, really like. Some I need to check out. I hate to say it, but almost four years in New York and I still can't say I've found a bookstore that feels like home ...

And also, quite obviously, Queens needs more.

oh, so notable

2008-11-26T22:01:00.002-05:00

The New York Times have released their notable books list and this year it makes me feel like such a slacker. Usually, I average about ten books on the list. This year I read a dismal one. One!* I guess this was not my year to be current and hip.

And, um, grown-up. If we turn our attention to the Children's list (and really, it's children's and teens) I've knocked out five of them. I just finished Hunger Games last night and have been thinking about it all day, and have spent the latter half of the year talking up the E. Lockhart. Little Brother I liked but think has been overrated and the picture books were darling. Where is the love for the middle grade reader though?

* In my defensive, I started at least four others on the list and just could not get into them. And, the McCracken is in my checked-out-and-waiting-to-be-read pile.

confessions

2008-11-26T21:53:00.002-05:00

It always gives me a slight pause when, post-craft program, a kid offers me what we've just made. It doesn't warm my heart the way spontaneously-made pictures do (yes, I'm still a sucker for that), but it's sweet. And as an occassional crafter, I know it's really all about the process, much more so (usually) than the final product.

But, I always try to talk them into taking it home, because honestly? I'm just going to throw it away.

object of my desire

2008-11-22T13:45:00.005-05:00

On the Kristin Miller posted about Adam Wallacavange's work on the Kiki Strike blog today and I cannot stop obsessing over them.

2008-11-21T14:21:00.002-05:00

So ... all the reviews I've been seeing of Twilight make the movie sound so, so awesomely bad. Like it is possibly, maybe, very likely the Showgirls of its time.

This obviously increases my interest in the moive about 1000%.

2008-11-20T12:50:00.002-05:00

This post on the ALSC blog about the Personal Librarian Kit caught my attention, not for the actual product (which I don't mind and would probably like having-just-to-have, although I'd not really use it and I'd never want to pay money for it, so someone would have to give it to me as a gift. And actually, I'm surprised no one has, because that's the sort of thing that people like to give as gifts to people like me.)

But! That first line of the ALSC post got me thinking: I wonder how many librarians used to play librarian when they were little? I definitely did. I made little slips and was (brifely) the Happiest Little Girl in the World when someone bought me my very own date stamper.

So, did you?

And, just for the record, other professions I also remember playing include detective, school teacher, store clerk and astronaut. Only one of which I have subsequently done as an adult.

my storytime crowd is not nearly so large

2008-11-19T23:26:00.003-05:00

I think it's super cool that the Life pictures archives are available on google images. No more dreading the decades assignments and fearing that our books on the sixties will get cut up!

Also cool: the fact that the winner of the National Book Award (for young people) honed her writing chops penning star wars novelizations. And the book does sound pretty darn good.

2008-11-18T18:48:00.003-05:00

I have to say, I'm pretty excited about the Coraline movie, even though we're a ways away from relief date. And the presence of Teri Hatcher (whom I'm so not a fan of) won't even deter me, especially when I lurve so many of the other people involved. (John Hodgeman! Ian MacShane! French & Saunders!) USA Today has an article and picture gallery and I think that the poster is movie poster is pretty swell.
(thanks, Early Word!)

time to revive?

2008-10-10T12:11:00.001-04:00

i don't know. maybe? i've felt the urge, although it could just be due to the fact that i've had trouble sleeping the last few nights and what doesn't one give deep thought to when in the throes of insomnia?

although, surely giving voice to it like this is almost a guarantee that it won't actually happen.

we'll see.

heh

2008-07-15T19:36:00.002-04:00

And, to follow up the last post, it seems that the die-hard Stephenie Meyer fans are not too thrilled with the EW cover either. Just look at those comments!

I think it's kind of funny. But I'm probably feeling snarky (or just looped out on cough syrup - summer colds are the worst!). I should probably maybe give the series another chance.

In other news, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is becoming a 3D movie. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

And, I haven't been able to stop thinking about the New Yorker's article on Anne Carroll Moore, E.B. White and children's literature/library service. I may have to post said thoughts at some point ...

2008-07-12T23:31:00.001-04:00

Ahem.
Am too busy with summer reading things to think, much less compose blog entries.
But, the Go Fug Yourself take on the Twilight Entertainment Weekly cover is too delightful not to mention. So, you know, I am.

Nifty

2008-05-25T10:46:00.003-04:00

Awesome story, about a Canadian boy whose award-winning science project just might help save the earth. (via Neatorama) Something to keep in mind, the next time you get a bazillion science fair questions.

Sometimes, I really wish that the local schools would invite me to their science fairs or living museums. After helping so many students with the raw resources, it would be nice to see how it all comes out.

But, yeah. I hate plastic bags too.

Oh, you and your navel gazing pop-ups

2008-05-23T23:50:00.003-04:00

So all the cool kids are seemingly abuzz about the new Weezer video, featuring many internet celebrities. Only, one of whom I recognized. Does this mean I am totally divorced from the zeitgeist? Maybe. I wonder if I ought to pay more attention to these things?

And yeah. Totally exciting Friday night. I am so totally living the dream. Sometimes, though, you just don't want to think. And you have to work on Saturday, totally shooting down the whole three/four day weekend excitement.

Mostly, all I want to do lately is lie on the couch and read cheap mystery paperbacks.

And no, there is really no point to this entry at all. Except maybe that I feel sort of "eh."

2008-05-20T12:45:00.002-04:00

NPR on Buffy love and survival.
I'm a dork, because I got chills and then a little teary.

just randomly throwing things out there

2008-04-16T18:53:00.002-04:00

I have a lot of things saved that I've been meaning to post about and haven't. This actually happens all the time and usually I just let them sit around until they are hopelessly out of date and then delete them. But, today I'm feeling productive and the apartment is quiet, so I'm actually sitting down to post. Oh the novelty of it all! Thus, without further ado ...

* You know what looks really bad? My Beautiful Mommy, the coming-soon book for children that explains mother's plastic surgery. On oh, so many levels. (via Feministing)

* The fact that this new Laika statue exists makes me really, really happy. Reason 87 to visit Moscow. (via BoingBoing)

* If anyone were in the market to buy me a present, this t-shirt from the good folks at Mental Floss is one very good way to go. But, if you aren't feeling it, why don't you exercise some creativity and come up with your own? There will be prizes!

* And finally, in order to the geekin' out I plan to do this weekend at the New York Comic Con: Charles Schulz + Alan Moore = Watchpeanuts = Love. (also via BoingBoing)

You know what's totally lame?

2008-04-09T14:25:00.002-04:00

When the book you've been waiting for forever finally comes in on reserve, and then you check it out and are just getting comfy for a long night of reading when you discover it's been totally vandalized. As in, the first chapter and random pages throughout the book have been expertly sliced out.

I guess maybe I'm stopping at Border's on the way home from work tonight ...

We got some new books in today, and I am left with these thoughts in the face of them

2008-04-08T00:43:00.003-04:00

I do not understand the appeal of Fancy Nancy.

But the Star Wars pop-up? Amazing. And I'm not even that keen on Star Wars.

sucker allure

2008-03-08T11:52:00.003-05:00

Am breaking my completely unintended hiatus to post this article from the New York Observer, about teen girls and vampire fiction. Because I think it brings up interesting points and I'd never really planned on not-blogging anyway.

Personally, I'm not that keen on the Twilight books. I understand their popularity and appeal. I read the first one and was totally into it, but at the same time felt grubby and ashamed the entire time. I took a stab at the sequels, but couldn't get passed the first pages, because the melodrama of the prose irked me so much. But, I'd also read a few interviews with Stephenie Meyer that really turned me off, so maybe I'm just a hater. Other contemporary takes on the vamps, um ... save the few mentioned below, not so much.

That said, I love the Blue Bloods books (Melissa De La Cruz has got way more skills than one might expect) and thought that Peeps was bloody brilliant. And yes, as an adolescent, I totally succumbed to Anne Rice (only the first three though) and read Dracula multiple times. Beyond that though, I was flat out-and-out obsessed with all things Poppy Z. Brite. Who, incidentally, would totally take Meyer and company down in a vampfest. And Buffy is pretty much my favorite tv show of all time.

So, I dunno. It is what it is. But zombies definitely make for better movie material.

we don't need no stinkin' titles

2008-01-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

Being struck with the winter doldrums make blogging difficult, I think. It's not that one doesn't have ideas. Those are always floating around in the ether, even popping in at the most inopportune moments. But the actual sitting down and typing ... who wants to do that when there are new episodes of Project Runway to watch and yellowed paperback mysteries you found for fifty cents when back in Ohio (I miss you, Half-Price Books!) to read?

Nevertheless, the Internet trucks on and for those of you who are as equally at loss for entertainment on a quiet Sunday afternoon - it's either do this or the dishes and I'm not quite up for the dishpan hands yet - I offer a few random things from it which have lately caught my eye. Maybe later I'll actually find the wherewithal to compose some of those floaters.

* Mental Floss wants to know what your favorite sandwich is and so do I. Lately I have been obsessed with good old p.b. n' j. but for my daily lunch I tend to go with turkey and swiss more often than not. Neither are particularly inspired so maybe you can share something a little more creative?

* I'm a big fan of Largehearted Boy, for oh so many reasons and find consistent enjoyment in the Book Notes series, where authors offer soundtracks to accompany their books. This week Sara Zarr - who I have been meaning to read forever - offers one up for her new novel Sweethearts. And it includes an Over the Rhine song and I used to be really into them. As such, I've finally put in a request for Story of a Girl and will look forward to Sweethearts.

* Fuse #8 doesn't exactly need my link, but I can't resist one to her review of the new Enola Holmes just because of the opening. I feel exactly the same way and am totally anticipating this one. I used to get the ARC hook-up with these. I don't anymore so it's a good thing it's coming out this week (although when it will show up on our library shelves is another issue entirely).

* On the social networking front, I'm somewhat intrigued by Listography. So far I haven't joined, although I keep eying it and wouldn't be surprised if I soon succumbed. Because lists are very satisfying to make.

* What You Can Learn by Looking at the Bloggie Nominees: People like food. And gossip. And Dooce. Food I'm more than okay with but I've never been able to get into Dooce, despite acres of people I know holding her exploits near and dear. And a year or so ago I made this deliberate effort to not pay attention to celebrity gossip. Which I hesitate to tell people, because I fear it comes off high and mighty, but it isn't if I explain that I made the decision because before that I paid way too much attention the celebrity gossip. In any case, I'm intrigued enough by some of the smaller/more personal nominees to throw 'em on the bloglines and see if they stick.

you mean the guy from "that's so raven" didn't also write the series based on the show?

2008-01-10T21:44:00.000-05:00

I just don't know how I feel about the striking writers penning children's books. On one hand, it's way better than not-working actors and other celebs writing children's books. But on the other hand, I can't say any of the story ideas have me hanging in anxious anticipation. Although maybe the Vikings in New York. Because, um, hello? Vikings!
(via Pop Candy)

txt me l8r

2008-01-09T19:58:00.000-05:00

I'd heard a while ago that there was going to be a webcast of the Youth Literary awards this year, but today's e-mail from the ALA tells me that you can get the results via text message too. I'm thinking I might sign up, not only because I do so love a little text message action but also because I am working the evening shift on Monday and, as such, will probably still be asleep at 7:45. How not a morning person am I? As much as one can possibly (not) be.

I just wish that I felt more vested in the awards this time around. It might change when the results are actually in, but I'm not feeling particularly passionate about the topic this year. I read a lot of books last year - about 240, if I counted correctly, and that's not including picture books or easy readers. And while a good number of them "grown-up" books, Children's and YA titles made up a good portion of that. Some of them were good and I loved, some of them ... not so much. Maybe I feel sort of blah about it because some of the most buzzed about books of the years were either ones that I didn't get around to or ones that left me feeling pretty underwhelmed. But then, so have more than a few recent winners, so it could just be par for the course.

I do feel a little more interested in the Caldecott this year - thanks in large part to the Mock Caldecott that we did. Even though Laura did all the hard work, it was fun to have a voice and to see all the librarian's in discussing the different titles. It was the first "mock" I've ever been a part of - and not just because I don't really like the word "mock" and the images it conjures up (nothing good: fake turtlenecks and apple pie made with Ritz crackers and mean-spirited teasing). Now, I totally want to get in on some Mock Other Stuff action next year.

In any case, all of this is just sort of blathering at this point and I'm way more distracted by the tv white noise going on right now that I'm comfortable admitting. If, by some chance, books I love win next Monday, I could totally be singing a different tune.

hip-hop hooray

2008-01-04T19:49:00.000-05:00

I am pleased to report that, after working on it piecemeal forever, this afternoon I finally finished weeding the entire Juvenile Non-fiction collection. And I have the stack of books awaiting book sale to prove it. And can I just say here, publicly, how much I love weeding? Because I do. I really, really do. In fact, some days when I am feeling particularly, "Grr, argh!" - you know, because I overslept, the bus was late and then the driver was crazy, and I don't get any coffee and the computer won't work and someone is randomly mean to you for no reason - I take solace in weeding the collection. And it totally works as a pick-me-up.

In any case, I then spent the last few hours of the day beginning what I shall henceforth call the Great Shift of '08, wherein I making use of all space vacated by those dingy, outdated and unloved books. It was a little bit more labor-intensive than your average day at the library, but totally worthwhile. And given how not-busy our Saturdays have been lately, I should be able to complete the task tomorrow (fingers crossed). My goal is to make enough space on the regular old shelves to have room for the kids series books, which currently reside on a sad little spindle. Which has not nearly enough room and keeps breaking. I wish, wish, wish that I had been able to make enough room to interfile the hardcover and paperback fiction (is there a logic for such separation beyond the logistical? I am genuinely curious.), but that particular dream will have to wait until our library is renovated and I get a brand-spanking, sparkly new room.

Oh, and also - my gift card came when I was off yesterday. I think this weekend I am going to take all of my change-in-a-can to Coinstar and opt for an Amazon card and combine it with that for all sorts of post-holiday treats!

i always cry at endings

2007-12-21T15:31:00.000-05:00

Oh, dial-up. I almost forgot what using you was like.

Meaning, hello from Ohio! And the slowest internet connection I've had to use in a long, long time. I really should've posted my last assignment before flying out Thursday, but I've always had a problem writing conclusions ...

Nevertheless. I've had a grand time participating in the QL2.0 project. I wish that more people had taken advantage of it, but maybe they'll do so the next time around. And yes, there should totally be a "next time." Maybe with some people who are more comfortable with a lot of the content serving as mentors to those just getting started. I know that this happened on a lot on an informal level, but codifying it might make it easier for some. I've really enjoyed the process and would be keen on other learning or training that utilized this format.

In terms of what which assignments have made the biggest impact on me, I'm going with Bloglines. I know I was a bit hesitant at the time, but I've been using it pretty consistently since then and have truly come to adore it. I guess it was true love after all. And with a tendency to add feeds on a whim, the blogroll just keeps growing and growing, so I don't see said love fading away any time soon.

I am also hugely keen on Google Docs. In fact, I've already started preaching it to anyone who will listen, sort of like on of those tent revival evangelists out of a Flannery O'Connor story. Patrons, co-workers, my boyfriend ... all have had to listen to me enthuse about it and I hopefully haven't bored them to tears in the process. You know, like Rollyo bored me to tears. Sorry, I know some people fell for it and by all means, more power to them, but I just don't get that one. Del.ic.ious (is that how it goes?) I like in theory but seldom remember to actually use it. It would be handy now, when I'm in Ohio and away from my regular computer, but I'm mostly using the beloved Bloglines to keep up, especially because I won't really need my Netflix queue or the MTA homepage in the next few days.

Other stuff, like social networking and Flickr and YouTube I knew and loved already, but I liked how this project compelled me to look at and use them from a different perspective and explore them on a deeper level. There's so much stuff out there in this 2.0 environment that there's pretty much no way for anyone to keep up with it. And I suspect that if you try, it makes your head spin on a regular basis and you just have to take a wee break from all things electronic every now and again. Which I do, only I always come back; happily.

Anyway, I'm really curious as to whether or not people are going to maintain their blogs. As suspected, reading what others have had to say has been one of my favorite things, even if I didn't always pipe up with the comments and whatnot (although I did try). I've had personal blogs for ages - since before it was called blogging, even - and have wanted to give a more professional web presence a go for some time, but never made it happen. This project was a great way to ease into that and now that I'm here, just watch out blogosphere!

Um, or something.

um, did you know there's a dead guy in your bathtub?

2007-12-16T12:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I thought that I was going to wait until I had finished listening to my audio book before I made this post. But. I've had it for over a week and I'm only about half-way through, and that end-of-project (not to mention vacation/home-for-the-holidays action) is quickly approaching. Best to get on it. Besides which, the fact that it has taken me over a week to listen to a thirteen chapter novel that I probably would've read in a day or two if I had the book could perhaps be indicative of something.

Like, audio books are not really my thing. I want to love them, really and truly I do. I know so many people who swear by them and they strike me as such an efficient way to make the most of time spent doing busywork. Maybe then I just don't do enough busywork? Or if I do, I prefer for it to be accompanied by the sounds of something else. Including silence, which I'm not particularly adverse to.

I'm trying though, really and truly. And I'm pleased to see that the digital offerings at Queens have increased quite a bit since the last time I took a look at them. Alas, I am one of those people who aren't particularly keen on downloading the software, free and easy though it may be, in order to play them. I think maybe if I were then able to easily transfer that media to my iPod, I would get over that particular hurdle. Alas, that one-two punch of necessary proprietary software AND incompatibility with the dominant media player which I happen to employ works out to something along the lines of "too much investment, not enough payoff." Again, I offer the thought that maybe I'll get over it, but I haven't yet.

So then, where does that leave you? Or me, rather? Especially if I am feeling not-so spendy?

Choosing from a veritable buffet of classics, brought to your listening pleasure by a team of dedicated volunteers. By which I mean, LibriVox. I have long been curious about this particular project, an auditory Project Gutenberg, whose "goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books." It is easy to browse and use and I found more than a few titles to tempt me. I've been on a British Mystery Kick for a while now though, so I ended up going with Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers. Which I'm happy to say I am enjoying, even if it's taking me a while to get through it - probably because I really only listen to it on the bus, and even then not every single bus ride.

I like LibriVox a lot, especially because it is a grassroots, volunteer sort of thing, without any monetary motivation. And on a people-are-interesting tip, it's cool to hear different voices working with the same text, although I suspect some might find that jarring or disconcerting. Obviously, one of the huge things that would prevent people from using it is the fact that a whole lot of literature isn't in the public domain, so if you don't have an inclination to the classic or the obscure, you won't find what you want here. For people like me, though, it's a good way to ease into this world and you just never know. Maybe I'll get so in to it that I'll make that hurdle to paying for audio books, or at least checking them out from work.

Finally, even though this post is already very long, I have to add that I know my comments have been limited to audio books and in reality digital media is a whole lot more. I have pretty much zero interest in e-books , however. Digital audio video is a whole other story but, even as a librarian, I don't really think of the library as my go-to source for it; rather Netflix or iTunes or a host of sites somebody somewhere would like to see shut down. I like that libraries are keen to carve out a niche in this world, although it seems difficult and I suspect that we'll always be sub-players at this particular ballgame. It would be nice to be proven wrong on that point.

P.S. In looking for an image to accompany this text, I notice Whose Body? offered by Overdrive at a few libraries, but it's not in our catalog. I wonder how these things are decided ...

when i can't sleep i post things

2007-12-11T03:31:00.000-05:00

* Best municipal tree ever? I think so, even though everyone knows that Ms. Pac-Man was a superior game. (viaNeatorama)

* Tim Burton is directing a film of Alice in Wonderland. Does this make you feel a) excitement b) despair or c) something else? (via Boing Boing)

* I'm really bummed that Blueprint is going out of business. It seems my devotion to a magazine almost inevitably means it will fold. Watch out, Venus and Bust!

* Um, I thought I had more links than that saved. I guess not. If only I had finished my audiobook, so that I could post about that. Guess I'll just have to attempt sleep again instead. Which is probably what I should do anyway, because that alarm ringing is going to happen awfully soon. Relatively speaking.

the world is collapsing around our ears

2007-12-10T00:08:00.000-05:00

Unlike with a lot of internet things, I can pretty much pinpoint exactly when I began using podcasts - almost to the day. October 2006, which is when the fine people at WBEZ finally began offering weekly podcasts of This American Life. Now then, I don't want this entry to entirely consist of squeeing, fangirl fawning over TAL, so let me just say that it's pretty much one of my favorite things ever and I love it beyond measure.

But. It's been really difficult for me to listen to since I moved to New York. Radio reception in my apartment is spotty at best and non-existent at worst and I never seem to be in the right place at the right time to listen. We do have satellite radio, which I'm keen on (and listening to at the moment actually), but the TAL episodes they play on there tend to be from the archives. Listening online was always a possibility, but very inconvenient. Therefor, to say that I was excited to hear about the podcasts is a major understatement.

And, as often occurs, one thing led to another. I poked around and found other shows that I enjoyed, some of them, like This American Life, professionally produced and distributed by NPR, the CBC or the BBC, others very much homemade projects. In the latter case, I've been somewhat frustrated, because it seems that as soon as I'd find a podcast I enjoyed, the people making it would go on hiatus. Right now, other than Ira Glass and company, the only podcast that I get regularly is the Pop Candy one.

I do think that searching for podcasts can be tricky. I wish the descriptions were better and/or more consistent in many of the directories. I tend to just use iTunes, because of a few features, like the user reviews and the "similar podcasts" links. And, I'm always asking people I know who listen to podcasts for recommendations, because as with so many things, that's so much more reliable that stumbling along randomly.

In any case, I hadn't perused new podcasts in awhile and I'm really happy to see that so many old radio shows are now offered for download. I have a weakness for old time radio shows. But the last time I searched for them, they weren't many available - I assume because of copyright issues. As such, I usually rely on the XM station that plays them or listen at the computer. Now it looks like there's a few of them and I'm excited to be able to take them along on the bus and the subway.

the muppet show would totally not be allowed on the air today

2007-12-02T17:54:00.000-05:00

Okay, more thoughts about YouTube. I'm still not certain how legit and professional they are.

I suppose I can just say "It's swell" and leave it at that?

Probably not, but it is swell, and I have much affection for it. And not just for when I'm inclined to waste time by glimpsing cartoons from childhood, watching alternative rock icons (or, um, punk or country or heavy metal icons) partying with Jim Henson creations, or catching up on viral marketing I missed by not seeing many movies in the theater.

There are a lot of authors reading, chatting and answering questions. This video of recent National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie has recently been making the blog rounds. Book trailers, made by both professionals and amateurs abound, for titles both contemporary and classic.

Or maybe you're looking want to help your patrons understand just what services your library offers. Or check out ways other library systems have advertised themselves. And see a synopsis of the conference you didn't attend. I know a lot of libraries have used YouTube for programming, hosting contests or short film festivals. I think it's a great way to take advantage of the technology that people are already using and hope that more of us will follow suit.

Me, I just want to watch more Muppet Show clips and figure out a way to use Yo Gabba Gabba! in storytime.

why i miss buffy (no. 137 in a series)

2007-12-01T23:16:00.001-05:00

Continuing the Buffy theme that I am sort of going with today.

Actual, legitimate and semi-professional thoughts about YouTube are forthcoming. As in, maybe tomorrow if I feel like it.

twittering into the void

2007-12-01T16:09:00.000-05:00

For some reason, before the ql things project began, I thought that one of the assignments was to Twitter. As such, I signed up and made a few half-hearted attempts to add to it, and then pretty much abandoned it.

And then, I took a closer look at our assignments and saw that it wasn't even on the list, so I didn't even have to feel bad about abandoning it. Only - look! It's a Web 2.0 award winner, in the category of mobile technology, so it looks like I can write about it after all.

Only, I don't have that much to say. Unlike with a lot of social networking applications, pretty much nobody that I know uses twitter. My initial curiosity about it came from the fact that Whitney, of the Pop Candy blog at USA Today - and one of my daily essential haunts - twitters a lot and often has links to hers on the blog. Besides that, it's gotten some buzz, both online and in traditional news sources. People seem excited about it. I can, actually, see the appeal. I like updating my facebook status, and twitter does pretty much that (and even has an app to do exactly that), only without the obligatory "is" and with more portability, since you don't have to be online to contribute. Plus, I'm the sort of person who finds the minutiae of people's lives fascinating. It's basically why I started reading blogs and maintaining an online presence in the first place, oh so long ago.

It's difficult to maintain momentum though, when no one is paying attention. Which I hate saying, because it seems very needy in a "please validate my existence" sort of way, which is so not the way to come across. It's not just a question of who cares what I ate for breakfast, but who cares if I tell them what I had for breakfast? John Edwards maybe, since he seems to be following a whole bunch of people, but it's not like I really think that he or Barack Obama is actually sitting on their campaign bus, contemplating my affection for english muffins. So, is there really any point?

However, even if the answer to that one is no, there's just something about twitter that keeps me interested. Maybe I just have to give it more time. And while I'm doing that, I'll hope that the people I know will actually start using it. In the meantime, I can at least get a kick out of reliving the Buffy the Vampire Slayer glory days, via Xander's tweets.

Finally, on the other Web 2.0 awards, I have lots of affection for many of these. Here, I'll send shout outs to Digg (but ignore the comments), Etsy and Yelp, since I don't think anyone's mentioned them yet.

productivity (um, i can't think of anything even slightly witty for this one)

2007-12-01T11:18:00.000-05:00

The situation: you hear the name of something and you immediately conclude that it will be about x, based on said title. Then much further down the line, you hear more about it - with an explanation this time, and realize that that first idea was totally wrong. Sort of like a misheard lyric but far less amusing.

That was totally me when I first heard about Google Docs. Which, to my unenlightened mind, sounds an awful lot like "government docs," and is the only example I can think of - not being business minded - where the word "documents" is routinely shortened to "docs." Thus, my initial thought was that Google Docs was a lot like that old Google catalog project, where you could search a lot of stuff all at once, only in this case what you might be searching through was government publications.

Oops. My bad. Instead Google Docs is teh awesome. I sort of want to tell everyone I meet about it, especially people in the library who say things like, "My computer time is over, but I didn't finish my report. I need to at least print it. Can I log on again? But I need to use the same computer I was on before. And I need it right now, before someone else uses Word and my stuff is lost. Also, do you have a disc I can borrow, because I'm probably going to have to work on it tomorrow and I don't have one." In the past, I used to recommend that people e-mail their work to themselves, but now I will point them in good old reliable Google's way. And I will totally make use of it myself, as well.

In terms of collaborative projects, I tend not to do very many of them these days. Oh, how glad I am that those infamous library school group project days are over. But how I wish these sort of tools were around when I did them regularly. Way more efficient than constantly emailing things back and forth to one another. If and when the collaborative action returns to my life, I will be keen on using applications like GDocs and Writeboard and the like for them. (In doing the exploring, I really only navigated past the first page in Google, just because I didn't want to sign up for something else I wouldn't immediately make use of, but I'm encouraged by their existence.) Anything that gets me away from my reluctant reliance on Microsoft is pretty swell in my book.

oh so random

2007-12-01T10:47:00.000-05:00

A few thoughts about recent topics, that didn't really fit into the posts I made about them ...

* One of the things that makes Wikipedia so useful and successful is the fact that there are so many users. And not just random users, like those of us who check on occasion (or even more frequently), but vested users who monitor content and catch pranksters and update content. Specialty wikis, by there very nature, do not have nearly so many community members and the interests of those who are there necessarily skew what will be present on it. Using Lib Success as an example, as a Children's Librarian my inclination is to see what they have related to that area. Answer? Nothing much. In programming, there's a link to the Mid-Hudson database, which I already know and that's pretty much it. If I expand to include teens, there's a little more, mostly because of the rising popularity of gaming in the library, but it's still pretty paltry.

Is this because as a user group, children are pretty well-covered in traditional library education, or just evidence that we librarians that serve them aren't very new-media inclined? I don't know, but it's a little frustrating. The question that then arises is if want to change the situation, do I register as a contributor here and try to add content, in the acres of free time that I have, or do I just start a new wiki, even narrower in focus in this one, or do I just suck it up and do nothing?

* On QL Chat, someone recently asked if there was still a point in having the website pathfinders on our webpage, and though I didn't respond there, my inclination is to say no. And in doing so, admit straight up that I've never been a big fan of pathfinders, either in print or online. The focus of most of them just seems too narrow to me to warrant them and I hate the clutter that the print versions necessarily incur. If we were to wikify them the way that the SJCPL has, then I might be more in favor of them. I still think the audience is a limited one and there's too much to click through, but the organization at least seems a bit more natural and I think that that helps.

* On both of these points - and as exemplified by the limited number of people who participated in this project - the big issue, and really it's a huge one, is how do you get participants? You can talk and encourage and hope but if people don't show up, you're pretty much out of luck.

i know that already because i saw it on your facebook

2007-11-26T01:04:00.000-05:00

Oh, Facebook. As previously noted, I was quite determined not to become one of your minions. Er, I mean users. Social networking sites are a dime a dozen these days, and a girl could get a headache trying to keep up with them all. Or, just by trying to remember all those passwords.

But if there's one thing I learned from watching Star Trek (TNG all the way!), it's that resistance is futile. You tell yourself that you're just going to register to find out what all the hype is about and initially you are pretty unimpressed. Slowly though, you start to enjoy the constant string of information. Oh look, she is having pizza for dinner tonight! He is attending a rugby match! I bet I can answer more questions about The Goonies than him! Can thousands of Stephen Colbert fans really be wrong?

Almost without even realizing it, you are logging on a dozen of times of day, hoping desperately that someone has played a move in one of the ten Scrabulous games you have going. You find yourself thinking that crafting your profile is a good way to kill two hours. You upload pictures. You consider this a valid form of communication between friends. You feel like, gee, I bet we'd have a great time hanging out because Flixter says so and we have so much overlap in our iLike profiles.

And, it's like totally legit, because people are networked by their schools and employers and NPR did a story about it.

Maybe it's a facade. Maybe, probably it will fade.

But it hasn't yet, so feel free to look me up there. Especially if you play Scrabulous.

d.i.y.

2007-11-26T00:54:00.000-05:00

To all my friends who may be feeling a little intimidated when it comes to adding to a wiki: may I suggest to you WikiHow? You don't need to register or log in if you aren't inclined and the topics are varied - some might even say inane - enough that surely you can find one that you can contribute to. Personally, I like that they're a little cheeky ...

I myself have shared tips on How to Color in a Coloring Book. Although the name is a bit of a misnomer, as it equally applies to coloring pages that are not bound together. I have said, more than once and only half kiddingly, that one of the perks of being a Children's Librarian is sometimes it is your responsibility to color. If I can pass on my expert knowledge to another, I'm happy to do so.

you're so fine you blow my mind

2007-11-25T09:52:00.000-05:00

After stalling a bit here over the Library 2.0 assignment (which I suspect occurred because of the "too many options! too much to say!" conundrum that I have already mentioned) this lazy Sunday will find me - hopefully - working through a bit of my backlog. The fact that my cold returned just before thanksgiving and has been persistently lingering since then, thus rendering me totally homebound should help. Don't worry though. I'll take little breaks so the verbosity doesn't hit you all at once.

First off, then: Wikipedia. For which I am full of love. I have to say, reading some of the posts that my fellow participants have made on the subject has warmed the heart a bit. So much affection on display. I'm afraid that librarians, to make a sweeping generalization which I'm never keen on but is sometimes inevitable, have feared it for too long. Or at the very least, feared claiming it as their own. For ages, none of us professionals would admit to using Wikipedia. And then, when a few brave souls would raise their hand, they were certain to tag on: "of course, I always verify the information in another source." You know, just like we learned to do in library school. All well and good, but ...

I am here to admit to you that I use Wikipedia all the time. I love it. And, frequently, I do not verify the information I get there in another source. I do click on links galore - both to other Wikipedia articles, as well as to the bibliographies that are often included. Further, I don't think that confessing this makes me a bad librarian, although I'm sure that there are those who may want to scold me right now.

The caveat: most of my Wikipedia use is limited to my personal use and when answering reference questions and the like, it isn't my first stop. But I do use it at the library, especially when traditional sources don't cover the topic - either extensively or at all. One of the best things about the people's encyclopedia is how expansive it is and topics - especially people and places - that don't garner their own inclusion in a traditional encyclopedia are represented. Every youth librarian in the system has encountered - or will encounter, if they're still new - the infamous Queens Neighborhood assignment. And when they do, my hard-worn advice is to snuggle on up to Wikipedia. Those obscure mathematicians and inventors assignments too.

We all know that there just isn't a book on everything that people are interested in out there. The realities of the market just don't make it possible. But, there are lots of people who are interested in really obscure things and many of them are interested enough to create Wikipedia entries about their beloved topic. So why not use that to your advantage?

A final point I want to address on the topic is why one might prefer to use Wikipedia for a topic that might very well be covered in, say, World Book or a host of Gale databases. (And, for the record, I do use both of those things. A lot, actually and I constantly try to push them on my patrons as well, so maybe that fact that will redeem those to whom I lost points from above. Although I could be lying and just trying to get back into your good graces.) (Also, did you know that World Book was owned by the holding company that also owns Fruit of the Loom, Benjamin Moore and Dairy Queen? I didn't; thanks Wikipedia!) It's simply a matter of ease of use.

Even if you hate Wikipedia with a searing white hate that keeps you up at night, you have to give them props for this. The proprietary databases are a pain, especially if you happen to be using them from home and don't have your library card handy and aren't a librarian who happens to know exactly how to construct your search terms. And once you get in, there aren't embedded links that take you to other, related topics that you might find helpful to know about. So maybe, if you're really hardcore, you might go ahead and construct another search for said related topic. Only, oops, your session has timed out, so now you have to log on again and the server is slow so that takes a while and then you have to choose your database and aye, caramba this is giving me a headache so I'm just going to go use Wikipedia.

revolution, library style, now

2007-11-24T19:50:00.000-05:00

So, reading all the different articles about Library 2.0, with the idea that I would be crafting some sort of response to it here, totally made me feel like I was back in grad school. And because I was always good at being a student, that made me oh so happy. I suspect this means I should consider another degree. Or, more realistically perhaps, try to get into that library management class the next time it comes around.

Reading all that also made my head swim a little. There's so many opinions out there, about what 2.0 means, if it's necessary, if it's really all that different from what libraries have always done, whether it should be embraced or scorned. I suspect that most people fall, like me, somewhere in that shady grey middle. I do feel that, philosophically at least, Library 2.0 isn't really revolutionary. Libraries, and especially public libraries, have always espoused equality and the centrality of the user and have adapted and evolved to fit the needs of their communities. I've never really seen us as gatekeepers or viewed library service as a one-way process. Maybe it's just me though. Or at least related to when I came of age and the life philosophies I bring to the table.

And if Library 2.0 isn't a revolution, per se, I do think that I'm okay with deeming it an evolution of practices. Which means it's more than just a collection of tools that some may be tempted to reduce it to. The question to ask is how do you incorporate the technologies that characterize our time in order to offer the best library services to your users? And to do that, you have to first and foremost know who your users are and then take a look at the questions that naturally follow: what are their needs, which of those needs should the library be filling and how is the best way to go about that and the like.

In doing that, it's entirely possible that you'll realize that they don't need library blogs or rss feeds. This article was a good anecdotal representation of that. Another: when I told a friend of mine that I was participating in this project, she commented something along the lines of "Argh! I'm so tired of hearing about Library 2.0!" I was a little taken aback, but she went on to explain that her system had just unveiled a new website, full of widgets and wonders. Turns out the only ones who noticed were other libraries, who oohed and ahhed and maybe even included their url on a presentation slide. But from the community she works in? Deafening silence.

Which makes me wonder, just how do you measure the success of these things. Is there a rubric? Everyone knows that a bureaucracy loves a statistic, so which ones to use? Hits? Comments? Links? Subscriptions? And what's the magic number? How few makes for "wasting time/money/effort"? And if people keep not coming, do you keep throwing it out there? I don't have any answers. Thoughts and opinions, yes, but answers no. But then, I don't think anyone else really does either. The Annoyed Librarian can pooh-pooh it all they want (and really, what doesn't the Annoyed Librarian pooh-pooh?), but I don't think perpetual beta is a bad thing.

Of course, implicit in that is the idea of change. And there's so many places to go with that one. But if I got into it now, we'd be here all night and nobody wants that.

observations:

2007-11-12T23:31:00.000-05:00

Technorati is way less annoying and overwhelming when you are signed in as a member.

Claiming your blog is really easy.

I need more authority. But how does one do this without trolling for links? Guess I'll have to make myself witty and insightful and learn the art of self-promotion.

You definitely get different results depending on how you search Technorati.

The popularity rankings indicate that the geeks (and I say that totally considering myself one of them) have certainly inherited the earth. Or at least the internet. Or maybe it just goes to show that even though everyone and my mother is using the internet, the people who get excited enough about it to be a presence and join things like Technorati are still the geekily inclined.

People really like cats, especially when they talk funny.

Also people really like gossip and politics and gossip about politics.

No matter how many articles New York Magazine writes about them, Gawker Media is doing a-ok.

take a bite, you know you want to

2007-11-12T22:33:00.000-05:00

In thinking about technology and all of these applications we are busy using and experimenting with here, it's funny to think about just how many of them when, upon first hearing about them, my initial thought was "Eh, not for me." I can remember when the popularity of Myspace was on the rise and people had just begun to ask the question, "Hey are you on Myspace." And my answer was always no, because, duh, I wasn't. And I really didn't intend to join. I had been on Friendster and other precursors, and I'd quickly found them frustrating. But suddenly lots of my friends were on Myspace and using it pretty extensively to communicate with one another. I felt very out-of-the-loop because I hadn't received a bulletin notice or a message, so I reluctantly joined and became all about it.

And then, Facebook started to become popular. And I thought, "Hey, I have a Myspace. Isn't that enough? Do I really have to join another social networking site?" So I didn't and resisted as long as I could. But then a really good friend who wasn't on Myspace at the time sent me a Facebook invite. And I joined because I wanted to keep in touch with him. And these days, even though I know more people on Myspace than on Facebook, I find myself on the latter more often. Although I suspect that this has way more to do with the fact that I can play Scrabulous on there than anything else.

Anyhow, my whole point to that story is to illustrate how very frequently we initially might dismiss technology that might someday, perhaps someday very shortly, come to play a significant role in our lives. And that's certainly the case with del.icio.us. Known about it for ages and had no interest in it at all. Yes, the idea that all my bookmarks might be in one place was appealing, but not appealing enough to tip me over into membership. Besides, I tend to only use two computers - the one I have at home and the one I use at work. And for the most part, the sites that I frequent in each place are different, without a lot of overlap. I'm all about compartmentalization.

As such, I dismissed del.icio.us, thinking it was simply online bookmarking. And, at it's very essence that is what it is. But using it for this exercise, I've come to see how it can be much more dynamic than that, if you want it to be. For me, the big use I see of it will be as a place to bookmark not just sites that I might visit regularly, but individual articles and posts and really, that's huge! So frequently do I read stuff online and I'll think it's interesting. But it's not so interesting that I want to bookmark it, especially because I know it's not something I'm going to find myself frequently consulting. I tend to trust my memory too much and think "Hey, I found it once, I should be able to find it again." Only, sometimes I can't. But now I'm able to use del.icio.us as a way to keep track of those things. Very handy. I think that means I'm a convert.

totally not feeling it

2007-11-10T16:04:00.000-05:00

I have to say, I've been avoiding a post for a little while, because I really wasn't so keen on Rollyo. I kept hoping that if I used it a bit more, I might learn to find some good things to say. Maybe I just wasn't getting it, or didn't give it enough of a chance to win me over.

But, even with lots of experimentation, it's just not working. Like, at all. Sorry, Rollyo, I just don't like you.

Why not? Some of these observations have been made by others, but let me lay my objections out here anyway.

1) It's redundant. I could get the same results by using and advanced search in a general search engine that I already employ - and which gives results on a much cleaner interface - or by just going to the sites in my lists and searching them individually. Which, yes, might be a wee bit more effort, but would be worth it, since I wouldn't be ...

2) wading through a lot of sponsored links. TOO MUCH ADVERTISING, y'all. And yes, I did just shout on purpose. Maybe it's just the part of me that used to go to indie rock shows and scorn the man, but I don't like a lot of advertising when I wander the 'net. I deal with it, because I know that money makes the world go round, but I like to pretend that the internet exists for more esoteric purposes than making some fat cat richer. On each results page for my Rollyo search, there were six sponsored links for ten non-sponsored ones. Plus, two bigger-picture ads along the side. No, thanks.

3) If there's enough demand for it, an aggregator site probably already exists that would do this better.

4) If you include large sites, it will search the entire domain and not let you specify smaller segments. Er, that was badly worded, so let me explain: the first search I made was for home decor/hipster homemaking sites and I included the website for Blueprint Magazine, which I happen to adore in physical form. But, it's a Martha Stewart production and as such is hosted on Marthastewart.com. So when a search is done, I get results from the entire website, including aspects of it I might not care about, like the weddings magazine or from the tv show.

5) As such, if you include large domains (marthastewart.com, cnn.com, wikipedia, amazon) and small domains (random blog), the results from the large domains will dominate. When I removed Blueprint, Apartment Therapy results dominated my results, because it, too, is very expansive. Why is there no option (that I can find) to weight, filter or prioritize the results?

Anyway, those are my objections off the top of my head. Overall, I just don't think I would ever use this. I can think of situations when other people might - many of which my fellow 2.0ers have noted - so, I'm glad it exists for them, but I cannot conceive of a situation in which I am a regular.

a long time ago, we used to be friends but I, haven't thought of you lately at all

2007-11-06T22:32:00.000-05:00

Confession: I tend to be obsessive about things I'm keen on. I can't recall, but I think maybe I've indicated as much in some of these posts. But if not, it's good to just get it out there. Thus, if I like something, chances are I'm going to want to immerse myself in it completely. At least until some other obsession replaces it. It's probably not the healthiest thing in the world, at least not always, but it is what it is.

And, about a year and a half ago, I came across LibraryThing. And I liked it a lot. So much so that I thought it would be a really good idea to catalog every single book that I own. Or, at least every single book that I own that was sitting in my apartment at the time. There's still a few gigantic boxes sitting in my mom's garage in Ohio which I hope to someday be reunited with, when apartment space allows. Probably I do not really have the space for the 2000+ books crammed into this Queens studio. Certainly if I didn't have so many, furnishing options would be greater and I wouldn't have to worry about the leaning towers of books collapsing and causing dire injury if I shut the closet door to hard.

But, let's get back to LibraryThing, shall we? I shifted piles and I squinted at copyright pages and I made long lists if isbns and when the entire process was said and I shelled out ten bucks so I could catalog more than 200. And when all was said and done, I had a very complete LibraryThing, felt ever-so accomplished, loved looking at my LibraryThing and, well, proceeded to completely forget about it. Not right away. I was good about updating it for a little while.

But then gradually, it just slipped my mind. Maybe if I acquired books at a normal rate - one or two every now and then. But I'm a librarian who is fortunate enough to get the occassional ARC. Especially when I'd go to conferences and events like Book Expo. And, I have a boyfriend who works at an indie bookstore, so he's always bringing things home. Add to that the fact that no one on staff at said bookstore has the slightest interest in children's or YA books, so every now and then the manager just boxes up dozens of advances and sends them to me. Things have a way of spiraling out of control. Which is why, a year or so later, I find myself realizing that I can't remember the last time I logged books onto LibraryThing. And if I want to do some more, I'm going to have to cough up more cash and endure some major headaches as I try to figure out what's already in the library and what isn't. Somehow, I don't think it's going to happen. The moment has passed and until I get that cataloging itch again (which, I admit could totally happen), I'll be content to observe from the outside.

In the meantime, just last week I finally joined Good Reads ...

"librarians are hiding something"

2007-10-28T23:50:00.000-04:00

Even though I am feeling a bit better now that I was earlier, I can still come up with enough minor annoyances from the last few days to fill up a notice board.

Thus: generators are endlessly amusing. My heart belongs to the Bob Dylan video (even with the advertisement at the end). Too bad I can't make it load right now. It was Dylan meets Ranganathan. Total dorkiness. Yay, for that. (And yay, Red Sox!)

comparison shopping, news style

2007-10-28T13:14:00.000-04:00

Speaking generally, finding new sources for information isn't really a problem for me. On the contrary, my challenge comes from deciding which of the myriad of options I should actually pay attention to. Usually, the process is pretty organic. I have the sites and the sources that I like. Sometimes they link to others, so maybe I will like that one too ...

Very rarely, then, do I avail myself to things like news feeders or searches. And when I do, it tends to be Google News. These other utilities get a lot of buzz though, and I admit that I like to know what people are buzzing about, so it was swell to do a bit of exploring.

Now then, I was planning to write my usual expansive response here, but I'm on the edge of getting a cold, so my headspace is a little trippy. As such, I will offer only scant impressions. Sort of the way we are supposed to, only usually I like typing to much to do so (I've always had a problem with self-editing my writing. I was critiqued for it in front of the class in elementary school, so you know it's true. And my sharing that fact with you now, even at a moment when I say I'm not going to write very much right now is an excellent example.)

So, Technorati seems to be popular, but I find it overwhelming. Probably not for me. As short as my attention span frequently is, you still go too fast for me. Also, your search results seems hit-or-miss and not quite as intuitive as I like.

Syndic8 only appeals to the part of me that wants to pretend that it's still the early-90s and I've just started using this new-fangled Internet thing. (Um, hey - why aren't I using Mosaic to look at this page?) And that part of me is very, very, very tiny. Practically non-existent, even. Also, when I did searches I got zero results on topics that the other places were finding hundreds.

I do like both Feedster and Topix. I worry that I only like Feedster because it is so pretty (so green! so mod!) , but I'm also very keen on the podcast search. And, even when I searched for semi-obscure topics, I found timely, interesting blog results. Which I may have found on other searches too, but not before mining a lot of inapplicable links. Topix just seems to have a lot of good qualities overall. It's well-designed, pulling and mimicking aspects of both print and new media. It's easy and intuitive to use and the presentation is clean. Of all of them, it's probably the one that I will actually use the next time I want to do a little information scavenging. Which, knowing me, will probably be within the next hour. After I have taken some more vitamin C.

feed me (wait, has someone already used that one?)

2007-10-26T00:06:00.000-04:00

Dear Bloglines,

Okay. I admit it. You've won me over. Sort of. I know I was skeptical at first. In fact, that first time we met? I didn't even bother bookmarking you. Yes, plenty of people I know told me you were great. And you did seem to have your good points. Overall though? Totally underwhelmed. I mean, it's really not that hard to visit a few links on a regular basis. Do I really need to see what people are saying the very moment that they say it? Will I totally be left out of the dinner table conversations if I wait a few hours? I don't think so.

And yet. I gave you another chance because I had to. You were assigned. Sorry if that hurts your ego, but it's true. Further fire for the angst: I didn't even remember that we'd met before. Your memory though, or at least your database, is better than mine and my e-mail was already on file. So I took you for another spin. And I decided I'd try you out a bit more before offering up commentary. In that time, I came to see why people seem so very keen on you. You have your charms.

I honestly don't know if those charms are strong enough to keep me around forever. Meaning, I don't want to get married or anything. There are so many ways in which you aren't perfect. Aesthetically, I find you lacking. Your search function seems finicky. You're a bit slow sometimes. I do think that there's much to be said for seeing and reading things in the context that they are presented.

You are, however, fun to play with and I'd be lying if I said I haven't logged onto you a whole lot this last week. I like that you aren't dependent on my computer. You won't freak out and lose all my bookmarks every time Firefox installs updates. You save me seconds at a time when you keep me from checking on links that will disappoint me with no new content.

It's not quite love and there is a very good chance that what we have might die when the novelty wears off. So let's enjoy it while we can, okay?

xo Jenn

i love you, except when I don't

2007-10-21T06:34:00.001-04:00

So then, technology ... I have to admit I'm a little flummoxed over what to say. And believe me, I've been thinking about it a lot the last few days. In part, the trouble comes from the fact that the topic is so broad. I tend to get overwhelmed when I have too many choices. And what exactly doesn't qualify as technology? It pervades our life and even when we think we aren't going to succumb to it, we frequently find ourselves seduced.

I don't think it's inherently a good or a bad thing. It just is, a fact of life if you will, although it sounds so pedestrian when you state it in those terms. Most of the time, I'm cool with it. Some might even call me enthusiastic. I'm not cool enough, nor do I have enough disposable income, to be an innovator. Early adopter? Sometimes. Most frequently somewhere between that and early majority. I like technology, I like having new toys to play with. But I'm not buying an iPhone until they work out the kinks.

That being said, I do find it very frustrating when things go wrong and I can't figure out how to fix them. Computers are a good example of that. Lately, I've been having slight issues with mine. Not huge ones; if it didn't still function relatively well, I wouldn't be typing this right now. But I'm getting the subtle indications that tell me I've topped the peak and am heading down the mountain. As such, I should probably get used to the idea that I'm going to have to spend a sizable chunk of money replacing it in the not-so-distant future. Or, even more unlikely, be content to not have one at home.

Which, quite frankly, is impossible to imagine. That's the thing about technology too. Once you get accustomed to it, it's hard to conceive of being without it. While there are days when I don't use my computer or talk on my cell phone or turn the tv on. But the option to do those things are always there. And the days when they aren't there? Like, when storms make the cable go out? Or when your phone just suddenly won't turn on at all and even though you've re-upped your contract for another two years and T-Mobile tells you that a cute new Razr is on the way, you still can't make phone calls because the replacement UPS driver can't seem to find your address? Color me crazy, until I'm connected again. And then I'll be happy and carefree until the next snafu.

oh, so this is how they do it

2007-10-19T12:56:00.000-04:00

I think maybe using bloglines means that I will finally be one of those people who posts a ton of links (because look: it's so easy! they're right there!), instead of rambly, personal screeds. Well, maybe not entirely, but perhaps with a little practice I'll manage a nice little balance. Balance is key to virtually everything, no?

Thus ...
* Want to listen to a little Jane Austen on the way to the library? Or think maybe you'll finally get Ulysses, if only you hear it out loud? This article on free audio books may help you get the goods. (via Digg)

* Addictive way to brush up on vocab and help with world hunger. I'm so going to be recommending this to kids I know struggling as they study for standardized tests. (via the Longstockings)

* Poor celebrities - and pseudo-celebrities! People don't believe you really wrote your book or they think they're bad or you get accused of plagiarizing them. (via a few different places)

Ah, the predicted rain just started up again, although I think it's light enough still that I can make a quick dash to the coffeeshop. An afternoon there seems a cozy way to wind down my vacation week.

feeling like a neophyte

2007-10-18T15:20:00.000-04:00

So, even though I've been on flickr for ages, I must confess that I've never really played much with the apps or enhancements. I think I browsed them, briefly, oh so long ago. But they mostly seemed to deal with searching more efficiently. And, hello? I'm a librarian. I spent much too much of my graduate school career working the Boolean operator and thus I think of myself as a pretty decent searcher.

Seeing how you can play around with images though? I'm all about it. I'm thinking that the color fields pickr might be useful when I want to do some decorating. Because I have these random postcards of lucha libre over my sink and, as much as I love them, it might be nice to look at something else when I'm doing the dishes. And the calendar maker could be handy at Christmastime - how old school is it that I can distinctly remember having one of these made for my mom one year at Kinko's?

Today though, I'm feeling artsy. And I hear that the NYLA conference is going on right now. I didn't go this year, perhaps obviously, but I did have a great time there last year, when it was held in ever so lovely Saratoga Springs. One of the things I noticed about that town is how many great old motel signs were around, just begging for a retro-fiend like me to glory in them. This particular sign was right by the much more modern (and not nearly as full of character) hotel where I was staying and we walked by it everyday as we were going to meetings and such. To commemorate, I've Hockneyized it and am pretty pleased with the results.

Interesting to note: when I first read about this particular exercise, I was very keen to learn how to add notes and captions to their photos, as seen here. After lots of app searching and googling, I realized that it wasn't an additional application but an option right from your flickr photo page. There is probably a lesson there about learning all the built-in features before you go looking for outside toys, or maybe just in not making things more complicated than they have to be.

i've got your history right here

2007-10-18T13:26:00.000-04:00

When I first transferred to Glendale, one of the things I was geekily excited about was the opportunity to work in a building with a nifty heritage. Which isn't to knock the functional-60s era-government-building aesthetic of Central - at least not entirely. But, I'm one of those girls who likes things to have a history. I shop at thrift stores. I can spend hours at a time browsing used book and record. I love coming across old notes and photos and, as such, think that found magazine is one of the greatest things ever. If I ever get to that grown-up, buying a house stage in my life, I totally want a cute little Craftsman cottage.

Thus, the idea that the physical building where I would be working day in and day out would have a rich history, of which I would play the smallest of parts, was very cool. While Glendale isn't a Carnegie building, it was opened in 1936 and the construction of it was a WPA project. Hadn't I spent hours online, looking at the WPA posters digital collection? Do I not love stories from that historical period? Could I not look at old pictures of the original librarians in this building and marvel over how different they seem and how foreign they would find much of our daily procedures, whilst also noting how remarkably unchanged our mission and regular activities are? Yes, yes and yes.

And now, a year and change later, I still get excited about that stuff. Sure, working in an older building doesn't come without it's difficulties. The occasional leak, odd placement of this and that, the challenge of updating pipes and phone lines and what have you. But those difficulties are far outweighed by the pleasure that comes from discovering a hidden nook, gazing at the lovely interior beams, eating lunch on the front steps, and many other small, daily joys. And, most significantly, I love that I am constantly reminded of the way I fit in with the great tradition of this building, of this neighborhood, of this city and of this profession. It's an admittedly small role, but incredibly satisfying one and I've learned that that sort of thing counts for quite a lot.

tutorial thoughts

2007-10-05T15:14:00.000-04:00

I suspect that the fact that it has taken me oh so many days to make my second post here - the one that specifically addresses the tutorial and how it relates to my own learning process - is somewhat indicative of my personal challenges when doing new things. Meaning, sometimes it's really difficult to make the time to do the things you want. My interests tend to be all over the place. I think that's one of the things that makes me a good librarian, and for that I'm thrilled. But, at the same time, it makes it difficult for me to prioritize and say, "Okay, this is the thing that I'm going to focus on right this very moment."

Actually, no. I'm okay at prioritizing. I am not, however, the queen of focus. I get distracted. "Hm, what is the guy currently on Fresh Air talking about? Ah, he wrote a book about Jews and Arabs during World War II. I wonder if Amazon has any new recommendations for me? Ooo, there's a new Nancy Drew video game coming out next week. I wonder if that Nancy Drew movie was really as bad as I heard it was - maybe I'll Netflix it when it comes out on DVD, probably pretty soon. I really should update my Netflix queue. And mail back the movies that I have out. But, I fell asleep while watching the last episode of Deadwood. Maybe I should finish it now and mail the disc in when I go to the grocery store. Gah, what am I going to have for dinner tonight?"

You get the idea. And I'm actually hugely more focused, with a longer attention span than a lot of people that I know. It certainly isn't easy though. Maybe that's why it's such a good idea to make a plan, something else I don't consider a strong point. I make them, but mostly vaguely, in my head. Concrete might be a better idea. Probably in the form of a list, because I like to make lists and enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from crossing things off of them. And look, that was recommended in the tutorial, so here we have an illustration of how things do indeed come back around.

Other aspects discussed in the tutorial are easier for me. I've always been a big puzzle person, so assuming that it doesn't totally mess up everything, I sort of like it when obstacles come up and I have to figure out a way to meet the challenge. I'm pretty confident about my abilities in this arena - I've dabbled enough to know my way around these new technologies (which is a much nicer way to phrase the fact that I sometimes spend way too much time online). I like to learn new stuff and think it's fun to teach others. Which, I hope, I am successful at, although maybe you should ask my friend B., whom I taught to knit.

the introductory stuff

2007-09-30T22:51:00.000-04:00

So, I thought that it would be logical to use my first post here to explain why I decided to participate in the Queens Library Learning 2.0 project. In a lot of ways, I don't think of myself as the ideal candidate for it. While I won't claim any expertise in these things, a lot of the components of this project are things that I know and use regularly. And even the stuff that I don't utilize, I have a passing familiarity with.

And yet, one of the things about lifelong learning, that I actually don't think they made much mention of in the tutorial, is the fact that it's never ending. You don't get a certificate or a diploma for mastering the skills you decide to learn on your own. And the time you spend practicing and sharing what you know adds to your own store of knowledge. Whether it's a hobby or a language or some random skill, there's always a way to add to it, increase your proficiency, comfort or experience. And I think that this is especially true when technology is involved, because it's so quickly evolving and developing. The things that are pretty commonplace today weren't necessarily things that anyone would have even considered a year or two or five years ago.

And yet, how quickly they can become parts of our everyday lives. Last Friday, I noticed that the Google banner ad was celebrating their ninth anniversary. Which is cool, but was also one of those things like seeing your distant cousin's child at a family reunion, realizing that that person that you still think of as a toddler is now an awkward teenager. Meaning: I remember when I first started using Google. When I was a paraprofessional in Ohiom one of my co-workers told me, "Hey there's this new search engine I've been using. You should try it because it's pretty cool."

Thus, I hope that this experience will equip me better for the job I do everyday. I hope that this project will enhance what I do, both at home and at work, in these many hours that I spend online. I hope that what I learn here will make me better, more efficient and better connected all around. Ambitious and vaguely stated? Maybe, but it's still what I'm aiming for.

Finally, I'm hoping that this project will help me to know my colleagues better. We work for a huge library system; there are a lot of people vested in the success of the Queens Library. And as much as we might think we know each other because we see each other at meetings or sit on committees with one another or receive the same e-mails, there so much about one another that we don't share. Because we don't have the means or the time or the opportunity, or whatever. But libraries and librarians are very good at sharing. I can't tell you how many ideas for books or programs or displays I have gotten because I saw it somewhere else, read about it on a listserv, heard about it on a blog ... And it will be nice to learn stuff from my immediate colleagues, based on the experiences they share during this project, and perhaps develop relationships that will translate into the "real world" - be it at a meeting, a conference or over dinner and drinks.

Not to get all, um, kumbaya on you, right at the end. But yeah.