Somewhere in the past few weeks I came across a list of books that should be read during an election year.
It was probably on BookRiot, one of my favorite new book blogs.
One on the list, that was on my to-be-read shelf was Main Street by Sinclair Lewis.
I had absolutely no idea what it was about when I picked it up.
A big city girl moves to the small town of Gopher Prairie after she weds the local doctor.
OMG it's awesome. It fits right into that category of book I love, the frustrated housewife. It's right up there with The Yellow Wallpaper and Madame Bovary, two of my favorite books.
While talking about how frustrated she is in her new life, Carol Kennicott touches on all the social problems of the day, problems that still resonate today.
Sometimes it's even more fun to read a book when you know nothing about the story, but you know it's going to be good.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Library Shelving
I am almost a librarian, so you would think that all the books in my house are immaculately shelved. But they're not.
They might be on or near a shelf, but are they organized? Nope.
Books I've already read are usually upstairs. Books about architecture are usually in the living room. Books in the 'to be read' pile are in the office. Writing and design books are in my studio in the garage. In my bedroom are 4 glass enclosed cases that are doubled up with fiction. That means you can't see all the books because inside the cases are two rows of books one in front of the other.
I'm a librarian. All fiction should be organized alphabetically. I don't think I would ever recreate the Dewey Decimal system in my house, but I would definitely organize my non-fiction into categories and then alphabitize from there, but I don't.
It frustrates me to no end. I buy duplicate copies of books because I can't find them. I have a number of different cataloging software, but I can't keep up with it. I just buy too many books. I also don't have long linear lengths of uniterrupted wall to organize everything.
What does one do? Weed? Heaven's no! Take over the children's bedrooms? Not yet. Take over the children's playroom? Maybe. Buy more bookcases? Always the best solution.
They might be on or near a shelf, but are they organized? Nope.
Books I've already read are usually upstairs. Books about architecture are usually in the living room. Books in the 'to be read' pile are in the office. Writing and design books are in my studio in the garage. In my bedroom are 4 glass enclosed cases that are doubled up with fiction. That means you can't see all the books because inside the cases are two rows of books one in front of the other.
I'm a librarian. All fiction should be organized alphabetically. I don't think I would ever recreate the Dewey Decimal system in my house, but I would definitely organize my non-fiction into categories and then alphabitize from there, but I don't.
It frustrates me to no end. I buy duplicate copies of books because I can't find them. I have a number of different cataloging software, but I can't keep up with it. I just buy too many books. I also don't have long linear lengths of uniterrupted wall to organize everything.
What does one do? Weed? Heaven's no! Take over the children's bedrooms? Not yet. Take over the children's playroom? Maybe. Buy more bookcases? Always the best solution.
The Studio
The Bedroom
The Nightstand
Kids Room
Kids Room
Living Room
The Office
The Desk
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Thank You Anne Rice
I just wanted to take some time to gush about Anne Rice. I've been a fan for years and years and was first in line when the Wolf Gift came out earlier this year, but I have to say I became an even bigger fan when I found Anne on Facebook.
I had always limited myself to a very small circle of FB friends, but this year I stepped in to the future and finally started to become a fan of other FB pages. I joined the New York Public Library, Publisher's Weekly, some local businesses and news feeds, but buy far the most amazing page I found was Anne Rice's.
Now I have to state that I'm not big on current events. I tend to stay away from world news and politics. It's just not my thing. If it's not book related or big enough news to make a post on Perez Hilton, I don't usually know about it. But, Anne's FB posts have opened up a whole new world for me. I've always been passionate about women's issues, but never knew where to find out the latest and greatest. I have found a place where things are discussed intelligently and fairly. My mind is challenged. I feel like I've found a place to learn new things. Her posts on archaeology, the separation of church and state, abortion, and authors get me riled up and excited. She recently even highlighted an incident that happened here in Flagstaff when a local female judge chastised a women for being out late at night and getting fondled by an off-duty police officer.
It's just so great to see an author really reach out to her fans and be a part of a productive community. She is a genuine role model for me and I don't have many of those.
Thank you Anne Rice!
I had always limited myself to a very small circle of FB friends, but this year I stepped in to the future and finally started to become a fan of other FB pages. I joined the New York Public Library, Publisher's Weekly, some local businesses and news feeds, but buy far the most amazing page I found was Anne Rice's.
Now I have to state that I'm not big on current events. I tend to stay away from world news and politics. It's just not my thing. If it's not book related or big enough news to make a post on Perez Hilton, I don't usually know about it. But, Anne's FB posts have opened up a whole new world for me. I've always been passionate about women's issues, but never knew where to find out the latest and greatest. I have found a place where things are discussed intelligently and fairly. My mind is challenged. I feel like I've found a place to learn new things. Her posts on archaeology, the separation of church and state, abortion, and authors get me riled up and excited. She recently even highlighted an incident that happened here in Flagstaff when a local female judge chastised a women for being out late at night and getting fondled by an off-duty police officer.
It's just so great to see an author really reach out to her fans and be a part of a productive community. She is a genuine role model for me and I don't have many of those.
Thank you Anne Rice!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Fahrenheit 451
It wasn't until recently that I re-found a story that I remember vividly from my childhood, All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury. You can find it here. I don't want to give you a synopsis because the story is so short and I don't want to give anything away. This story has stuck with me for the last 20 years and I have thought of it often and never knew where to look for it. I googled it a couple of weeks ago and found it again and it started in me a thirst to read more Ray Bradbury. As an avid reader I was astonished that I hadn't read more of his work. I then turned to his Zen in the Art of Writing'which was fantastic. Finally I picked up Fahrenheit 451.
Now it's a no-brainer that every librarian needs to read this book, but I didn't even know this book was about book burning. When I read the summary I was totally on board, but after I got started I was really disappointed. Yes it's a dystopian future without books, but it just didn't give me enough to be totally convinced. I think it might have been more controversial in 1951 when it was published, but I was not the least bit moved or astonished. This was groundbreaking stuff then, but now, not so much.
Even though I didn't love it, I am going to go ahead and read Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Dandelion Wine. That's the way I look at literature.... there are somethings you just need to be familiar with in order to have a rounded education. Ray Bradbury is a great storyteller and his imagination cannot be beaten. Fahrenheit 451 did not push any of my buttons, but that single short story from my 9th grade English class has been burned into my mind forever as one of the scariest stories I've ever read. So I will keep reading Bradbury until I find another one that speaks to me.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
New Aquisitions September
These are from the past couple of weeks, and I am itching to dive into a few of them.
- Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
- Dandelion Wine - Ray Bradbury
- Road Trip USA - MOON
- Lost City of the Incas - Hiram Bingham
- A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America - Ronald Takaki
- The $100 Startup - Chris Guillebeau
- Click Millionaires - Scott Fox
- Winter of the World - Ken Follett
- The Domestic World - Time Life Books
Monday, February 13, 2012
Merchants of Culture
Of all the books I've read on how to write, how to publish, how to find an agent, nothing has ever been as educational as this book.
I cannot even describe how much I have learned about the publishing industry from this one book. It is absolutley amazing.
Want to know how much it costs to have a book displayed at Barnes and Noble? Want to know how quickly Oprah can make a book a bestseller? Want to know what editors are really looking for? Wnat to know how to find an agent? This book is a treasure trove of information. I cannot recommend it enough.
Yes it's dense, but it's also fascinating. There are charts and graphs enough to break up all the text, but there is so much information and if you're even a little curious about how the publishing machine works this book will keep you interested.
The paperback is now only $11 on Amazon. Buy it, read it, and educate yourself before you stumble blindly into writing.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Just for School
A
BLOGS
1. A blog is what you are looking at here. It is a web site that is usually updated daily, weekly or monthly and entries are usually displayed in reverse chronological order. Most blogging software is free and easy to use such as this one that uses Blogger, a Google tool. Most anyone that can use a computer can create a blog, post pictures, updates, discussions, etc. What makes a blog cool is that it is interactive. People can leave messages and comments to the writer and other viewers of the blog.
2. A blog as a tool for a library can be used in many innovative ways. My favorite way is as a constant update of new acquisitions. It can also be used to update patrons on events such a movie nights, classes, book sales, reading groups, pretty much anything and everything library related. I read the blog that my high school librarian writes to keep me updated on what is going on at my old high school. A library blog can also recommend books and even be an entire online book discussion forum.
3. The social impact of a blog is that it is a new gateway to information. It is an easy way to publish and distribute information that was not available until currently. It allows more writers to write and be heard without the need of a publisher. It allows a library to serve patrons without them even having to visit the library itself. It is changing the way people communicate and changing the location of that communication.
Adaptive Technology
1. Adaptive technology is anything that improves the functional capabilities of a person with disabilities. It can be software that reads a web page to a vision impaired person, a magnifying screen attached to a standard computer screen, a braille writer, or a keyboard that types in response to a users head gestures. Both hardware and software can be used as adaptive technologies.
2. Libraries use this technology to make the library accessible to all users. While not all libraries have all the adaptive technologies, they do try and make the library as accessible as possible to as many users as possible.
3. The social impact of adaptive technology is that more users can use the library and the technology available there. If a user cannot afford an adaptive technology at home it is possible that their local library may have the needed software or hardware to make the library more accessible to them instead. This is a huge social change for some users who may have resigned themselves to the fact that they cannot use the Internet. The library may be able to open a whole new world to them with these adaptive technologies.
Web Filters
1. A web filter is traditionally used in school and home libraries to limit the availability of some web sites. They may be used in the children's section of a public library. Most public schools are required to have some sort of Internet filter in order to receive federal funding for their Internet service. While the filters are supposed to weed out inappropriate content, they tend to over limit the sites that are restricted.
2. Libraries use them to keep children from viewing inappropriate content such as YouTube videos, Facebook, porn sites, etc. Most school districts specialize the limitations to local morals and parental concerns.
3. The social impacts of this are in my opinion huge. The filters do not allow the children to learn how to surf responsibly themselves. The filters also weed out a lot of perfectly appropriate web sites based on keywords. For example a web site providing information on breast cancer, would be filtered out solely due to the use of the word "breast". Also filters in any other use except by a public elementary school limits the availability of information. A library should not censor it's patrons. It goes against the whole purpose of a library.
RFID
1. RFID is radio frequency identification. It is when small microchips are planted in books, products, or pretty much anything where inventory control is needed. The microchip is read by a RFID reader and marks the location or movement of the tagged object. The item does not have to be placed directly on a reader, it just needs to pass by the general area, usually within 5-10 feet or as programmed.
2. RFID is used in libraries to track the location of books. There is no need for a patron to stop at the self check out machine or bother a librarian in order to check out. They would only need to walk out the door and both their library card and their books would be scanned. RFID is also used for checking in books and for taking quick inventory of shelves and finding lost books.
3. There is potential for RFID to have a massive social impact. Some librarians and patrons are worried that RFID's may impact their privacy rights, that the library may track their movements and their reading habits. While this is possible with RFID, the RFID chip would have to be programmed to do so, and that obviously would not happen in a public library setting. Librarians would go out of their way to continue to protect their patrons privacy rights, but they would love to have one less task at the customer service desk.
B.
I think RFID will most improve the library for librarians. Keeping track of thousands of books is difficult. Some slip through the cracks and I think using the RFID technology would make one less thing that a librarian would have to worry about. Being able to scan a shelf to find a missing book would save a ton of time as well as being able to inventory an entire shelf in 10 seconds. If I had RFID tags in my elementary school library it would be a huge time saver.
For patrons I think the blog would be a huge improvement. Some library web sites are not updated frequently which can lead to frustration on the part of patrons looking for new updated information. With a simple link on the main library website to a blog, a patron can find the latest and greatest information on a blog and a librarian will only have to spend a minute or two to update the page. Being able to see the newest books and book groups and events on a blog that could be sent via RSS feeds to patrons would be a huge time saver and could even save trips to the physical library.
BLOGS
1. A blog is what you are looking at here. It is a web site that is usually updated daily, weekly or monthly and entries are usually displayed in reverse chronological order. Most blogging software is free and easy to use such as this one that uses Blogger, a Google tool. Most anyone that can use a computer can create a blog, post pictures, updates, discussions, etc. What makes a blog cool is that it is interactive. People can leave messages and comments to the writer and other viewers of the blog.
2. A blog as a tool for a library can be used in many innovative ways. My favorite way is as a constant update of new acquisitions. It can also be used to update patrons on events such a movie nights, classes, book sales, reading groups, pretty much anything and everything library related. I read the blog that my high school librarian writes to keep me updated on what is going on at my old high school. A library blog can also recommend books and even be an entire online book discussion forum.
3. The social impact of a blog is that it is a new gateway to information. It is an easy way to publish and distribute information that was not available until currently. It allows more writers to write and be heard without the need of a publisher. It allows a library to serve patrons without them even having to visit the library itself. It is changing the way people communicate and changing the location of that communication.
Adaptive Technology
1. Adaptive technology is anything that improves the functional capabilities of a person with disabilities. It can be software that reads a web page to a vision impaired person, a magnifying screen attached to a standard computer screen, a braille writer, or a keyboard that types in response to a users head gestures. Both hardware and software can be used as adaptive technologies.
2. Libraries use this technology to make the library accessible to all users. While not all libraries have all the adaptive technologies, they do try and make the library as accessible as possible to as many users as possible.
3. The social impact of adaptive technology is that more users can use the library and the technology available there. If a user cannot afford an adaptive technology at home it is possible that their local library may have the needed software or hardware to make the library more accessible to them instead. This is a huge social change for some users who may have resigned themselves to the fact that they cannot use the Internet. The library may be able to open a whole new world to them with these adaptive technologies.
Web Filters
1. A web filter is traditionally used in school and home libraries to limit the availability of some web sites. They may be used in the children's section of a public library. Most public schools are required to have some sort of Internet filter in order to receive federal funding for their Internet service. While the filters are supposed to weed out inappropriate content, they tend to over limit the sites that are restricted.
2. Libraries use them to keep children from viewing inappropriate content such as YouTube videos, Facebook, porn sites, etc. Most school districts specialize the limitations to local morals and parental concerns.
3. The social impacts of this are in my opinion huge. The filters do not allow the children to learn how to surf responsibly themselves. The filters also weed out a lot of perfectly appropriate web sites based on keywords. For example a web site providing information on breast cancer, would be filtered out solely due to the use of the word "breast". Also filters in any other use except by a public elementary school limits the availability of information. A library should not censor it's patrons. It goes against the whole purpose of a library.
RFID
1. RFID is radio frequency identification. It is when small microchips are planted in books, products, or pretty much anything where inventory control is needed. The microchip is read by a RFID reader and marks the location or movement of the tagged object. The item does not have to be placed directly on a reader, it just needs to pass by the general area, usually within 5-10 feet or as programmed.
2. RFID is used in libraries to track the location of books. There is no need for a patron to stop at the self check out machine or bother a librarian in order to check out. They would only need to walk out the door and both their library card and their books would be scanned. RFID is also used for checking in books and for taking quick inventory of shelves and finding lost books.
3. There is potential for RFID to have a massive social impact. Some librarians and patrons are worried that RFID's may impact their privacy rights, that the library may track their movements and their reading habits. While this is possible with RFID, the RFID chip would have to be programmed to do so, and that obviously would not happen in a public library setting. Librarians would go out of their way to continue to protect their patrons privacy rights, but they would love to have one less task at the customer service desk.
B.
I think RFID will most improve the library for librarians. Keeping track of thousands of books is difficult. Some slip through the cracks and I think using the RFID technology would make one less thing that a librarian would have to worry about. Being able to scan a shelf to find a missing book would save a ton of time as well as being able to inventory an entire shelf in 10 seconds. If I had RFID tags in my elementary school library it would be a huge time saver.
For patrons I think the blog would be a huge improvement. Some library web sites are not updated frequently which can lead to frustration on the part of patrons looking for new updated information. With a simple link on the main library website to a blog, a patron can find the latest and greatest information on a blog and a librarian will only have to spend a minute or two to update the page. Being able to see the newest books and book groups and events on a blog that could be sent via RSS feeds to patrons would be a huge time saver and could even save trips to the physical library.
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