Daily Thoughts 10/2/2011

James M. Cain author of Double Indemnity and The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Daily Thoughts 10/2/2011

I read some more of Damon Runyon A Life.  Jimmy Breslin is writing about Damon Runyon's coverage of the mafia.  The stories about Dutch Schulz, Owen Maddey and Al Capone are quite entertaining.   The reader gets the feeling that Damon Runyon was very unpleasant, liked larceny too much, but had a very interesting life.

I also spent some more time on Lynda.com learning about Microsoft Word 2007 and Drupal 7.  I only have access to the training videos for two months, so I think that I should focus on this.

I spent a little bit of time on Facebook and Twitter this evening.  This is a reminder that library ebooks are available for Kindle owners  http://westchester.lib.overdrive.com/FE4723DE-AECE-46F0-966E-7055335E7709/10/411/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=757705s&SortBy=CollDate 

If you have an Iphone, or Ipad you can download BookMyne to use the Sirsi catalog.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bookmyne/id350625461?mt=8




http://westchester.lib.overdrive.com/FE4723DE-AECE-46F0-966E-7055335E7709/10/411/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=757705s&SortBy=CollDate

Daily Thoughts 9/22/2011

In 1850, Melville moved his family from New York City to Pittsfield, MA, seeking a reprieve from city life and a quiet place to write. He purchased an 18th century farmhouse which he named Arrowhead, and there he completed his most famous novel, Moby Dick. Melville spent his most productive years at Arrowhead, writing Pierre, The Confidence Man, Benito Cereno, and numerous works of short fiction. Melville lived, farmed, and wrote at Arrowhead for 13 years developing many close literacy friendships with other Berkshire authors including Nathaniel Hawthorne. Pablo Sanchez, Prague, Czech Republic 30 May, 2009 Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.


Daily Thoughts 9/22/2011

This morning I relaxed on the train and read the paper.  I took a break from reading. 

I updated the Twitter and Facebook account today, checked the gift books, and checked the displays.  We also opened the computer lab for two hours between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.  I helped some people with job applications in the computer lab.  I also spent some more time on Lynda.com studying Microsoft Word 2007.  This is the wordprocessing program which we have for our computers which are not connected to the internet.

Sometimes, you wonder about the articles in Library Journal.  I was reading about robotic storage for books for academic libraries.  I wonder if you go into the far future, if they will put librarians in cold storage and pull them out when they are needed to answer questions.

I put the new Craig Thompson graphic novel, Habibi on hold.  I also put the graphic novel Ray Bradbury's  The Martian Chronicles: The Authorized Adaptation by Dennis Calero on hold.  I checked out the book Studs Terkel A Life In Words by Tony Parker.  I am reading it for the Biography Book Club.


The Westchester Library System Digital Media Catalog now supports the Kindle.  Overdrive recently made an agreement to lend ebooks with the Kindle device.
http://westchester.lib.overdrive.com/61D5D231-10F4-4926-A140-28026C6642EE/10/411/en/Help-Kindle.htm

Web Bits

The $175,000 Dust Jacket
http://www.booktryst.com/2011/09/175000-dust-jacket-comes-to-auction.html

Amazon Turns Your Local Library Into Retail Book Chain
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2011/09/21/21readwriteweb-amazon-turns-your-local-library-into-retail-84783.html?ref=technology

Daily Thoughts 3/3/2010

Interior View of Appleton's Bookstore, 346 & 348 Broadway, New York, 1856

Daily Thoughts 3/3/2010

Tonight is the final chat for Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management on the ALA Connect site. I am looking forward to finishing the course.

Today I spent time trying out the ordering system for Book Wholesalers Inc.. I am finding Title Tales to be quite convenient and easy to use. Right now, I am preparing for tomorrows ordering meeting. I have quite a bit to discuss. I'll probably have to make some adjustments to the process. I had time to read an issue of Publishers Weekly, but not a whole lot else.

I learned that some university libraries are lending out pre-loaded kindles. They are quite popular. They do go out of the building. http://www.ecampusnews.com/2010/03/01/university-library-sees-demand-for-kindles-soar/ I just am surprised because of the value of the item in question. It would be like letting a laptop circulate outside of a library. I learned that the patron makes requests for what books will be loaded onto the kindle before it is circulated. It is a very interesting idea.

Our final discussion in the Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management was on displays and marketing. I learned that some libraries are able to pull images from their catalog of the new books which they have recently added.

Apparently this is done with SIRSI which is the system we are currently using. These images are being displayed on library web pages. This makes sense. All of the books in the public catalog include an image with them. We should be able to pull these for display on a web page.

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