Daily Thoughts 1/5/2010 (Information Architecture, Meetup)

Doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief agree...these books are too good to miss! / I.K


Daily Thoughts 1/5/2010

Today has been another steady day.  I read some more of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web.  The section I was reading was on metadata and classification and schemes.  It was basically about how you used words and their meanings in indexes and search engines.  The authors wrote about synonyms, definitions of terms, and other minutiae.  Much of it concerned thesauri in the context of computers.  I like how computers have changed classification away from old systems like the Dewey Decimal System.

I have been working on a donation form for materials as well as a set of procedures for donations.  It has been interesting doing this.  I also took some time to look at Lexis which is now part of the library systems purchase.  We have a system designed for public libraries called Lexis Nexis Library Express.  It allows people to find basic legal material, company information, and news.

I also spent some time looking at Freegal which is a music download service for libraries.  The question right now, is whether or not it is worth it.  There are a lot of services which are quite expensive which people want.

I am tempted by the New York Tech Meetup.  Not sure if I want to go.  Haven't been to it yet.  There are usually over 700 people at the event.  They pitch five startups at each event.

Daily Thoughts 12/16/2010 (library, budget)

Robert Martineau, Last Chapter, 1863

Daily Thoughts 12/16/2010

Today is a quiet day.  I checked the displays and am going to be speaking with the SCORE small business counselor.

There is a certain amount of trepidation in not being able to go to the board meeting last night because I was working.  The board meeting ran until midnight.  There is a lot which I would like to know about.  Maybe, I will learn it later today.

Ernie Garcia who writes for the Westchester Journal News was at the City Council Budget Meeting on November 14, 2010.  I am waiting for an article to come out on the meeting in the paper.

If you have not done so, please consider sending a letter in support of the Mount Vernon Public Library http://www.voteyesforourlibrary.org/mtvernon

I am going to try and get to the TechDrinks XXmas! party at Amity Hall this evening so I can do some networking.  I think it will be useful.  It is part of the New Work City Coworking Community.

Sometimes you wish that you can afford some of the latest conferences.  I wish I could have afforded the Mediabistro Ebooks Summit this Wednesday, but I have to be careful with my money.  Right now, I can afford many of the meetup type presentations and some of the other one day conferences that are sponsored by different companies.

Hit and Miss and More: Mediabistro's Ebook Summit Returns

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/digital/conferences/article/45539-hit-and-miss-and-more-mediabistro--s-ebook-summit-returns.html

When I came home from the Meetup, there was an article posted on the Lower Hudson Political Blog on the Mount Vernon Public Library Board Meeting. http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2010/12/16/mount-vernon-library-not-closing-dec-31/

Daily Thoughts 12/9/2010

Christine de Pizan, showing the interior of an apartment at the end of the 14th or commencement of the 15th century. Frederick Litchfield

Daily Thoughts 12/9/2010

I spent a little time looking at the statistics generator from the Institute of Museums and Library Studies on funding.  I am looking at three other libraries with comparable population size.  In some ways we are not as well funded, in others it is comparable.
http://harvester.census.gov/imls/compare/index.asp

I also worked a little bit on the displays this morning.

Last night, the book, The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 came in for me to read.  It is 736 pages long including the index.  It is a big heavy book.  It includes a section of black and white photographs.

I took some time walking the book stacks spot checking for obvious loose material, things that were misplaced, damage to the shelves, damaged books, and similar things.  It is sometimes good to do this.

There is new signage to donate money to the library for bestsellers for the holidays.  This is satisfying to see.  I think it will help by showing we are trying to raise money by the city as well as generate some donations.

I also went to the Content Strategy Meetup holiday party at night.  It is going to take a bit to pull all of my thoughts together on this subject.  It was very informative.  It was a chance to give and take business cards.

Daily Thoughts 1/9/2010

Read the Cooperatives Literature 1918

Daily Thoughts 1/9/2010

I watched the half hour dvd which came with the book Brain Rules by John Medina. It was a summary of 12 rules to make your brain work better. Most of it made sense; repeat to remember, combine senses to make a more powerful presentation, exercise to think better, sleep to think better, take a nap in the afternoon, and other maxims. It challenged the idea that cubicles and classrooms were the best place to learn. The humor was a little silly. There were little factual bits like Starbucks makes sure that the coffee aroma is the first thing which you smell when you come into their stores. This is the first popular science hardcover I have seen with a dvd that came with the book. I have seen other books with audio samples.

I think this will be more common as it becomes cheaper to produce discs and put them in books. The other book which I read with a disc was I Can Make You Thin which has a hypnosis cd that comes with it. Paul McKenna has another book with a hypnosis cd included, I Can Make You Sleep. Both of these have sold a lot of copies of books.

I ended my account today for Myspace. It has become a space that seems to be focused on music and pop culture two things which are not my strong points.

Right now, I am at my local library. I took a walk to stretch my legs and now am sitting at the computers. I'm not taking anything out today.

Tomorrow, I am going to the Morgan Library as part of the New York Librarians meetup group. There is a Jane Austen exhibit. http://www.meetup.com/NYLibrarians/calendar/12133220/

Daily Thoughts 12/9/2009

Mercantile Library Building.Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views. / United States. / States / New York / New York City / Stereoscopic views of libraries and organizations' buildings in New York City (Approx. 72,000 stereoscopic views : 10 x 18 cm. or smaller.) Between 1865-1896 Public Domain

Daily Thoughts 12/9/2009

It was very interesting visiting the Center for Fiction, the new name for the Mercantile Library. Brenda Wegener gave us a tour of the building. I got there a little early and looked around. They have a bookstore downstairs where they have author signings. E.L. Doctorow was doing a signing in the afternoon on December 9, 2009. They also sold new copies of the books which they gave out awards for. There was a lot of very nice new fiction which they were selling; a few of the titles were Teresa Svoboda, Trailer Girl, The Vagrants by Li Yunyi, Special Topics In Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl, and The Cradle by Patrick Somerville. There were also some literary biographies like Camus A Romance by Elizabeth Hawes.

I had a few minutes to look around upstairs. There is a nice selection of literary journals. There was a review magazine for mystery called Deadly Pleasures which was interesting to look at. They have a website with lots of useful information. http://www.deadlypleasures.com I also saw many review magazines which I had not seen before like Book Forum. The environment was very collegial with overstuffed chairs, nice lighting, and plenty of quiet. It reminded me of an old fashioned gentlemans club.

Brenda Wegener took us around the building. We started on the first floor. In the book sale while I was waiting, I noticed they had copy of Henry Miller's Plexus.

On the second floor there is a new book sections with many popular titles. These are mainly literary fiction. However, there were also lots of suspense and mystery titles. Brenda Wegener said that they had never removed a mystery title from the collection. This makes the collection quite unique in that they have many mysteries that no one else will have. They have a very nice list of their recent acquisitions on their website. http://www.centerforfiction.org/collection/acquisitions.php

They get many literary fiction titles in translation from Europa Editions. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/books/26europa.html

The arrangement of the library is quite interesting. All of the fiction books are alphabetical by author. There are two floors of fiction stacks in the library plus the store, and the new books section. There was a brief mention of a 19th century collection of older material. This intrigued me a bit because we have quite a bit of material of this age and earlier at our library.

This is the first time I have been in a membership library. There is an annual membership fee of $125, and $95 for students and seniors. They are currently doing a 2 month trial membership for $25 a month. Brenda Wegener said that they had 320 members.

Some of the things which I learned were quite different. A membership library can focus a lot on readers advisory and gets to know its patrons very well. Some people come in to just sit and enjoy the quiet.

There is also a writers studio with 18 people in the studio. There is room for 30 people. It appears to be a clean, pleasant, place to be. They also run 10 to 11 book clubs per month, as well as a number of classes on writing. The space has a very genteel quality to it. They mentioned they were looking for potential writers in residence and were also doing a fundraising campaign.

It was a pleasant evening organized by Stephanie from the New York Librarians Meetup. I am very glad that I went. http://meetup.com/NYLibrarians

Daily Thoughts 12/3/2009

Mark Twain Photo Portrait c1907

Daily Thoughts 12/3/2009

I thought this article on a Vermont bookstore using the Espresso Book Machine as a device for self publishng was quite interesting. It opens some very novel opportunities.
http://bit.ly/YruvG

I am off today. I went to the local Barnes and Noble and looked around. There was an interesting book, Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James which is something which looks like it is worth getting. I also looked around the mall a little bit. It was not that full. Mostly people seemed to be window shopping.

I also watched a bit of Cowboy Bebop the Movie which is subtitled in english from the Japanese.

Right now, I am reading Chris Brogan, Trust Agents which is about how to build transparency and trust using social media tools. I have already found a few suggestions that are useful. I updated my social networks so the message they gave was more consistent.

Going on New York Library Meetup tour for the Center for Fiction on December 8. It should be interesting. http://www.meetup.com/NYLibrarians/