Miscellaneous Thoughts

Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891) The Reader in White

Miscellaneous Thoughts

I am enjoying reading Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire. I am finding it unique and refreshing. It is a retelling of the Snow White story. I read some more of it on the train to work this morning. I also read it for a bit on the way home from work. It is a very strange book with a unique style. I have not seen anyone else write the way he does. I really cannot compare it to any other writer I can think of. If you want something very different read this book. I am foregoing review this book because it is very hard to grasp and describe in any simple terms.

I put a few more books in the current events display. I also put in an order for books on electronics. Right now, I am also looking through the Job Information Center for outdated material to replace. I already have about twenty titles that need to be updated.

I might go to the Open Access and Libraries Conference on March 17, 2009 if I can get a pass for it. The lecture on Google Books last year was very interesting, also the part on public domain ebooks was quite interesting as well. As you can imagine, copyright was an important part of the discussion. http://unabashedlibrarian.com/open-access-2009

I spent most of the afternoon at city hall. The new assistant director of human resources was giving two presentations to city employees: a presentation on sexual harassment, and a presentation on workplace violence. Each ran for an hour long. About half of the time was spent watching a video and filling out a multiple choice questionnaire. I sent a link to our code of conduct on our website to the assistant director. I found the presentation to be fairly well put together and not at all boring which was a surprise.

On the way to the lecture I dropped off several fliers of different events at the library as well as the new service brochure and calendar of events. I am hoping it will bring in a couple of people to our events. A few of the employees asked about the AARP classes for defense driving being given at the library once a month. The price of $14 was much cheaper than most insurance classes for defensive driving.

When I got back, I did a bit more placing inserts into the law books, and pulled some books to be put in storage.

I also picked up two books on nonprofit management, How To Manage An Effective Nonprofit Organization From Writing and Managing Grants to Fundraising, Board Development, and Strategic Planning by Michael A. Sand. The other book which I am currently reading is Bulding Hope Leadership In The Nonprofit World by John Bateson. I am very interested in how this kind of thing works.

Daily Thoughts, Reading With A Purpose

A public domain clip art image which I liked. Reading In The Study.

I did a bit of weeding for the electronics section. Now, I am ordering consumer electronics books. Books on audio, appliances, television repair, home theater, and similar subjects. I have started using http://www.worldcat.org to look up and see what different libraries around the country have on various subjects as part of my ordering process. I find it to be a very useful tool. It is almost a national library catalog for the United States.

People are taking more books from the display stand for current events.

Today is another quiet day. I have to go to one of those standard trainings on violence in the workplace and sexual harassment on Monday. This one is a little bit different. The local police department is giving the training to different agencies around the city. I think it will be more complete than the other ones I have attended. The public library is open to anyone who comes in.

Also the new director of the system is coming on Tuesday for a visit. We are a cooperative library system. This means we share resources but not rules or regulations. We have a common catalog and interlibrary loan, but separate budgets. Each town in our county runs their library differently.

I have started reading Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire. For some reason, I could not get myself to read his most famous book, Wicked about the Wicked Witch of the East from the land of Oz. It was even turned into a Broadway play.

Reading With A Purpose

Many people participate in reading challenges. I have done one so far. They usually involve reading a number of books in a particular subject like China, graphic novels, science fiction, or by a specific author. Sometimes people will read through a list of different authors in alphabetical sequence, or titles in alphabetical sequence.

There are a lot of different reasons to read. I am hoping to read a number of science fiction and fantasy novels and review them. My goal is to get some of the reviews linked to by the authors of the books. This has already happened with Slow Train To Arcturus, and A Secret History of Moscow. There is something very satisfying in getting your reviews acknowledged.

Although, I have never really asked openly, I would not mind receiving reviewers copies of books to read. I really don't need them because I am always surrounded by books, but if something especially interesting became available, I would not mind reading it. Maybe a new general interest non-technical computer book like Groundswell or Wikimomics would be interesting to receive.

The other reason I am reading is to improve my skills. I think that books like Spunk and Bite will improve my writing skill. I am not just looking to improve my general writing skills by reading, but specifically, my writing skills for blogging. Hot Text helped me a little bit with this. I am always looking for something new to learn.

Another hope I have is to gain access to free conference or training opportunities. A couple of years ago, they gave away free passes to bloggers at Book Expo America. It would be nice to go as a blogger and get in for free. I don't think this will happen again. Still, there is a nice discounted rate for librarians. I am looking forward to going to the O'Reilly Tools of Change For Publishing Conference.

Of course what I really should be doing right now is writing the reviews of the two books I finished reading yesterday.

Good Afternoon

The Three Bears, Goldilocks is probably upstairs.

Good Afternoon

The library is having a sales demonstration for World Book Online in a little bit. It should be interesting. World Book is fairly easy to use. I have not used it online recently. The demonstration was fairly interesting. It had very nice pictures, some interesting articles, and dictionary entries. I think it would be best for the childrens room.

The sales person constantly said "isn't this wonderful", "wow look at this", "you have to see this". It was quite interesting sales strategy meant to get you think positive about what she was selling. I found it entertaining.

A few books came in for me yesterday, Alcatraz and The Scrivener's Bones, Watermind, and Mirror Mirror. I am still reading Prince of Dreams.