books

Libraries, Tech, and DIY

/ dwakimoto

Back to our regularly scheduled programming of libraries, technology and a bit of do-it-yourself fun. Apparently some people consider Spring Cleaning to be an antiquated ritual, but I find that there is something about spring that makes going on a cleaning spree seem like the greatest idea since we turned scrolls into codices.

Before delving into the DIY and technology, we must talk about conference season. Conference season is upon us and that means purchasing airfare (unless you have a teleporter, in which case we must talk). Before purchasing your tickets, check out Lifehacker’s Frequent Fliers Guide to Finding Cheap Airfare for some hints on saving money. Remember money saved on flights equals more money to buy books!

If spring cleaning isn’t your thing in the physical world but you are up to spring cleaning in the digital world, check out Lifehacker’s Top 10 Ways to Declutter your Digital Life 2010 Edition. Don’t procrastinate, declutter your digital life today. Great tips, many of which I am going to implement this spring.

Multiple people have alerted me to the latest developments with the Library of Congress and Twitter. If you’ve not heard, the Library of Congress will archive all public tweets which is an amazing feat and awesome dataset. I look forward to seeing what research comes from using the tweets.

I think this looks like a fun project: Digital Copier & DIY Book Scanning, but I’m with the people in comments who wouldn’t use it to scan an entire book (and we won’t even begin to talk about all the possible copyright issues). Still this might be a good device in a pinch, especially if you don’t have money for a scanner.

And, of course, to end we have this wonderful xkcd cartoon which relates beautiful to the first link about airplane flights.
cartoon of selecting airplane seat

Have a wonderful weekend, have some fun reading and enjoy the last days of National Library Week.

Rationality

/ dwakimoto

Rationality is very important, but that doesn’t mean that everything we do in life or in the library is rational. I could write a long introduction but I think Seth Godin does a much better job than I could, so my rational decision is just to get to the rest of the information for this post. Allons-y!

First, check out Seth Godin’s post, Are you rational?. Godin nicely examines the difference between rationality and irrationality and that irrationality shouldn’t have the negative connotation that we’ve associated with it. If for no other reason, read it to figure out the context for my favorite sentence from this post: “If you need to hate on Copernicus in order to have more faith, something is seriously wrong.”

In one area of the library where we really should be rational is how we deal (or not deal) with library vendors. The Librarian in Black wrote a fantastic post against unethical library vendors. I hope the vendors are listening along with the rest of the library world so we can finally make progress on figuring out how to create a sustainable model for vendor relations–in my library’s case it is especially relevant to our database subscriptions. I know my library has had to make difficult decisions regarding database cuts because of our dismal budget and the fact that the vendors have priced their products out of our reach; this is a shame not only for our users but also for the vendors because they are losing business. In such a no-win situation, it is time to change the way business is conducted so everyone can benefit.

Do you like statistics to back up your rational decisions? Statistics are fun, confusing, and wonderful all at the same time. This video, State of the the Internet, is full of statistics about the Internet, especially social media. It is a good reminder of how hyperconnected much of the world is and how important it is for those of us who work in libraries to keep up with where our users are and what they are using online–not to mention keeping abreast of what they expect of the library in this changing Internet landscape.

And no, I didn’t forget that the iPad launched and this “magical” piece of technology is creating buzz all over the blogosphere this week. The iPad is a huge success in terms of sales and I think it will be very interesting to see how it will be used by librarians and how it will be deployed in libraries. If you want a nice FAQ about the iPad, check out Walter Mossberg’s The answers to your questions about the iPad and his review of the iPad. For a different take on the iPad, check out Lifehacker’s self-proclaimed rant from January, The Problem with the Apple iPad.

Finally, we end with this lovely interview with Neil Gaiman, the Honorary Chair of National Library Week (National Library Week runs from April 11th to April 17th this year). This is a great interview; Gaiman mentions Doctor Who and uses the word “hullabaloo,” so how could one possibly not enjoy this?

Have a fantastic week and don’t forget to read (and give your favorite librarian a hug [or cookies or at least say “thank you for being awesome”] during National Library Week).

Excitement and the Library

/ dwakimoto

Nope, the blog title is not a mistake. I think there is a lot to get excited about when it comes to libraries, archives, and creating knowledge. But my question is, why don’t people get excited about stuff? Or perhaps I should rephrase to: why don’t people show that they are excited? I know that some people get excited, but it seems like the majority of people simply try to downplay any showing of emotion. And I understand the social and cultural reasons why we have to keep emotions in check, etc., etc.. But I think that being excited about your work, or new discoveries, or the fact that your favorite author has a new novel out, is totally natural and a good thing. It means you are not a robot. So to celebrate, here are some fun and helpful things that might not make you get up and do a happy dance, but will hopefully help you in some small way.

Did you read Goodnight Moon as a child? Do you like Star Wars? If so, you will love Goodnight Forest Moon. It is available to download along with instructions for assembling the book. People’s creativity never ceases to amaze me.

Not particularly fun, but very useful is the article: Do a Total Background Check on Yourself. It is good to check and correct any errors you find–this is more comprehensive by far than simply Googling yourself. (Side note, does anyone else get weirded out when people say they’ve Googled you? Or is that just me?)

Back to the amazing, fun, and used for the betterment of books, QR Codes. Ever since I saw this amazing video, I’ve been fascinated with QR Codes:

So, of course, you can imagine my excitement over this article on How to Make Your Personal QR Code. Technology can be so much fun! Just think, you could make QR codes as part of marketing your library’s programs or as fun ways to link to updates about library news. I think the students I teach will love this–QR Codes are a hit in class while learning about copyright is not, go figure.

If you post a lot of photos online, or are in charge of creating websites, this application will help: Web Resizer. It resizes your photos to bandwidth friendly sizes. This is a huge help if you don’t have Photoshop and don’t have a ton of photos to process. And it is free.

Finally, to end on a fun note, for everyone who needs a bit of validation (and really, who doesn’t like a compliment and validation?), check out this lovely video (thanks to KarraCrow over at …fly over me, evil angel… for posting this:

Read lots, there will be more tech and library fun coming soon and just remember, you are awesome!

Wild World of Information

/ dwakimoto

Today is a very exciting day for me (and I hope for you too, although probably for different reasons). Today is the kick-off event for the Faculty Learning Communities at my university and I’m facilitating the learning community on teaching with technology. It is exciting and anxiety-producing and all that other stuff. I’m also excited to talk, or I guess more accurately write, more about information today.

First up is this rather disturbing article: As the Internet Replaces Print Publishing, Urge to ‘Unpublish’ Means Censoring History. Archivists have to deal with issues like this all the time and they are only amplified with digital data. More information is being produced than ever before, but if it isn’t properly preserved and managed, all that digital information can be lost. On a positive note, at least this issue is getting more attention outside of library and archives journals. Hopefully this means we’ll actually make progress in preserving digital data and not “unpublish” the past.

Archivists will have no trouble identifying with the issues presented in this next article: Archives and electrons. It extends, yet again, the seemingly never-ending debate over history and digital sources versus traditional physical archival sources. That some historians stood up and testified that sources outside the archives are just as important, and sometimes make the researching and writing of history possible, was definitely a “Yes!” moment for those of us who work in archives and also in history. Again, like I’ve said before, the world is not binary (even if binary code is) and we don’t have to give up analog for digital or vice versa. Instead, we can use what makes sense for each project and program.

Not about “unpublishing” or debates over digital archives, but instead about finding fantastic, usable sources: 25 sources for Creative Commons content. I think anyone who has read posts on this blog understands how much I love Creative Commons and this list makes me happy. Now I have even more places to look for great Creative Commons content.

This article is just lovely: Students wary of sourcing Wikipedia from the Spartan Daily at San Jose State. As I teach information literacy to first year students and we often discuss Wikipedia, this article just made me smile. Wow, students acknowledging that Wikipedia may not be accurate, my teacher heart is happy. With that insight, we can move on to more interesting discussions about discernment, crowdsourcing content, and Web 2.0 conundrums.

In a different vein, I got asked yet again by a colleague if I sleep. Why do I get asked these questions? Do I really look that haggard? It is actually possible to be highly productive and also get enough hours of sleep so as to avoid all those nasty illnesses and health complications that come from not getting enough sleep. The real reason, I think people ask me if I sleep is because they can’t believe I don’t procrastinate and I must have to “burn the midnight oil” to get my work done. I contend that if you actually are passionate about your work, and really focus for 8-9 hours on work a day, you have more than enough time to sleep, eat, relax, meditate, and do whatever else you need or want to do. So I fully support Lifehacker’s It’s National Procrastination Week: Let’s Celebrate by not Honoring it. Just don’t procrastinate–it only hurts you.

And something else from Lifehacker that truly makes me smile: Naps can Seriously Improve All-Day Learning Abilities. Let’s hear it for nap time! This just supports my argument that I’ve been making since I got back from Bolivia that we really need to get the siesta mainstreamed in the United States.

Finally, something fun from The New Yorker The Subconscious Shelf. Check out the photographs of readers’ bookshelves and the analyses of what the shelves say about the readers.

Have a lovely day, a fantastic weekend, and don’t forget to read a lot. Because, as Seth Godin writes in his new book Linchpin “It’s not an accident that successful people read more books” (p. 126).

Self-Improvement Friday

/ dwakimoto

I dislike self-improvement books whose authors take themselves too seriously, although I love finding out information about self-improvement if the authors are funny. But I do like the idea of self-improvement because, really, when you get right down to the crux of the matter you can only really improve yourself. This really isn’t as self-involved as it may seem (and yes I promise that it has something to do with technology and libraries, if you will bear with me for a moment) because improving yourself can be interpreted as broadly or as narrowly as you wish. I happen to believe that improving yourself includes helping others, being selfless in giving, and also learning to do the tree pose in yoga.

So for this Friday’s post, I decided to finally round up all the posts, feeds, and tidbits of information about improving yourself. Let me know what you find is the best advice for improving some facet of life–I’d love to hear about it.

Lifehacker has a nice write-up on the book Confessions of a Public Speaker. I just started reading this book and think it is fantastic–funny, engaging, and helpful. What more could one want in a book? I get stage fright every time I have to present in front of an audience, which some people find hard to believe considering I teach and often present at conferences. Therefore I find it a comfort to know that a lot of great speakers and performers also get nervous before performing, plus the advice in this book is spot on. So if you hate public speaking but have to do it, go read this book.

Before you get to the public speaking though, you’ll actually have to finish up a project or presentation to have something to present. To help you get to that stage, check out Work Awesome’s Stay on Track with an Idea Embargo. I love this advice, especially because people seem all too willing to give advice at the eleventh hour on projects. I implemented this on the last project I worked on at my library and it went rather well.

One of the endemic issues in librarianship (see I told you I would work in libraries) is the fact that so many librarians are professed introverts. Now, of course, not everyone who is a librarian, or archivist, is an introvert; however, the professions seem to have a great deal of introverts. As an aside, I thought I was a total introvert until I went to library school and suddenly discovered that in my new profession I was definitely one of the more extroverted people in the program. Part of the reason people don’t want to give public speeches and presentations is because they are introverts and some introverts are inordinately shy. So for those of you who are shy and want to push yourself out of your comfort zone, check out the article on How to Finally Overcome Shyness. Great advice.

I didn’t say it would be easy to change, but it is well worth it. As I’ve noted on this blog multiple times, getting over the need to be perfect will free you to do and be so much more than you are now. And if you’re thinking to yourself that is all well and good but does the Waki Librarian actually take any of her own advice, the answer is yes, I do. I’m so far from perfect at speaking in front of groups, or even just one on one at parties. I practice and I continue to present and speak, even though I stumble over words when I’m nervous (or excited), have a tendency to mispronounce words, and sometimes talk too quickly. Communication really is key and by becoming more comfortable (and less shy) you’ll find that you will be spending so much time trying new things and tackling new ideas, that you won’t have time to worry about if you’re perfect in your speech or what everyone else thinks.

If you want even more inspiration, check out this Interview with Linchpin author, Seth Godin. I am a fan of Godin’s work and his blog. His writing is remarkably jargon free and he has powerful ideas that can help, even if you are not in marketing. Be bold, even if your lizard brain is telling you to take the easy way out.

If you’ve heard the hype, but haven’t tried Google Buzz yet, check out Lifehacker’s Google Buzz Explained article. I freely admit that I activated Buzz on one of my accounts and 24 hours later switched it off. I didn’t see it adding to my productivity or ability to keep up with friends and it was making me anxious that there was yet more stuff I hadn’t read every time I opened up my Gmail account. Some people are finding it useful. If you are using Buzz and like it, please let me know in comments. I’m interested to hear what people think about it.

I promised somehow this post would relate to libraries, so check out: Top 10 Tools for Better Reading, Online and Off. I especially like that the first comment on this great Lifehacker post recommends going to a library for Reader’s Advisory! 🙂

Finally, I leave you with a great comic from xkcd:

comic strip of Science Valentine by xkcd.

Science Valentine by xkcd

Have a happy Chinese New Year on Sunday, read a lot, and the Waki Librarian will be back next week with more tips, tricks, and fun.

Technology and Being Social

/ dwakimoto

I feel that everything and everyone is in back-to-school mode. I went to the store the other day, fairly early in the morning, and was amazed at the crush of parents and students stocking up on supplies for the school year. And all I wanted was a pack of Post-it notes! So in the vein of back-to-school, here is today’s round-up:

This is a very interesting article from USA Today, “Are social networks making students more narcissistic?” I don’t know if social networks are to blame for an uptick in narcissism, if there is actually one. But I do think that social networks often do encourage oversharing and way too much information! Definitely take the narcissism quiz. It provides some points to think about and a very rough idea of how narcissistic you are.

For something not about narcissism, but about being social, check out The Shifted Librarian’s post on another reason for libraries to make their sites social. The Mobile Revolution is here. I just wish blogs hosted by WordPress could have the plug-in. Sigh.

And something that might help you if you are looking for places to host your videos: Lifehacker’s 5 best video sharing sites. This is great for those of us who teach classes online and also for students that have to post videos for their classes. Not to mention, just some great sites to check out for new videos to watch when you need that all important study break.

Have a great day!

Fixing Computers and Other Stuff

/ dwakimoto

Sorry for the delay between posts. I’ve been gone the last week and am just now catching up on all the RSS feeds and other news. So today’s post is about fixing computers, reducing waste and having a little fun, naturally.

Do you remember all the talk about how using computers would lead to a paperless office? Didn’t really happen, now did it? I think as we have found out, if anything, it seems like there is more paper around than ever before. To help us all get into a less paper-intensive existence, here is Lifehacker’s great article on Going Paperless. I especially like the ideas for using a digital signature and getting rid of all the junk mail. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go completely paperless, but this article definitely helps to cut down on needless clutter.

Speaking of going paperless, you should check out PC World’s article on your printer and whether it is stealing from you. Basically the article talks about the best and worst printers in terms of cost of printing. You know how printers are cheap, but the ink is super-expensive, right? So check this out and if you are in the market for a new printer, definitely stay away from the “Most Wanted” list. Just another reason to go paperless, no?

Lifehacker has done it again with a great summary article on 10 computer hardware fixes and upgrades. This is a great list to help you successfully upgrade and fix your computer. I really want to try the ideas on how to quiet a loud hard drive on my work computer, but I think the IT department would probably have a heart attack so I’ll try on my home computer instead. Again, great stuff from Lifehacker.

And finally, something fun: check out Unshelved. This week is all about the Internet and the library and the strip is absolutely hilarious.

Have a great day, read a lot, and I’ll be back later in the week with more.

Updating the Updates

/ dwakimoto

Do you ever feel like you just have a handle on technology and then it suddenly changes? I’m pretty much feeling the information overload lately, although that might be partially related to the lack of sleep. But as today’s post title says, I’m going to attempt to update some of the most recent updates about technology and tools that I’ve posted to the Waki Librarian blog. So here we go!

First off we have The Bookworm’s Guide to the Lifehacker Galaxy. A great article and compendium of book related websites and tools, some of which were mentioned in a previous post. But this is a great refresher and an excuse to think about books while online or under the guise of getting more organized.

Librarian in Black has a great post on text messaging, Pew Studies, and information overload. Since mobile technologies are so hot right now, it pays to read the study on text messaging and mobile use. As ever, more information to update you on the latest trends and ways of applying the data to your library’s needs.

And, as an update to news about college students and unemployment during this recession, take a look at this New York Times article, In Recession, Optimistic College Graduates Turn Down Jobs. This is something I just couldn’t believe until I read the quotes from students in the article. I can’t believe that someone would turn down a job now when I have friends that have been trying so hard to get employment for months. I am just flabbergasted; there are no words.

So that is the end of the updates of the updates. As always, read lots, have a fantastic day and the Waki Librarian will be back with more later this week.

Books in Social Networking

/ dwakimoto / 2 Comments

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. Somehow, I always picture summer as being quiet in the library (as in I’ll be able to get everything done that I couldn’t during the academic year) and yet, it never ends up being as quiet as I imagine it.

But no matter, I still have had some time to round up some interesting tidbits when it comes to books, networking and even photo manipulation. So without further ado here they are:

First there is Bookseer. I love the look of this site: old fashioned art and an amazingly simple interface. You just type in the title and author of a book you just read, and Bookseer comes back with recommendations from Amazon, BookArmy and LibraryThing. This is a great use of recommendations from these sites and Bookseer is much better about recommending “what to read next” than a lot of other programs I’ve used. I especially love that below the recommendations there is a line that says “Of course, you could go ask your local bookshop or your local library.” So go forth and play–it might even help with some reader advisory questions. Though, as Bookseer acknowledges, nothing beats a knowledgeable human being for talking about books and recommendations.

So, do you participate in social networks? How about those networks especially for bibliophiles? Well, check out 100 places to connect with bibliophiles. This is a great annotated list of places online where you can indulge and share your love of books and reading. I am a fan of GoodReads, mainly because another friend recommended it to me. And that’s what this list and social networks are about, connecting people together–and what better way to connect than over a book?

So have you got the social networking down pat, but still feel awkward about networking, as in at conferences, events and for work? Then check out this article from The New York Times on networking for introverts. These are some commonsense tips on networking that are worth reviewing before you go out to an event that you hope to use as a networking opportunity. I think what helped me most with networking is to not call it networking. If I just think of it as talking with people, it becomes a lot easier. So what are your favorite networking tips?

And finally, we need to end on something completely off topic and fun. So check out the ever-helpful Lifehacker’s article on Repper. This is fun and turns your photos into abstract patterns that are great for background graphics. When you are ready to play, just go over to repper.studioludens.com. Repper has a very intuitive interface and it is really fun. Plus, I love that all the patterns that are created are licensed under a Creative Commons license. So check it out and let me know what you think.

Have a great day and I’ll be back with more technology and library related news later this week.

End of the Quarter Bits

/ dwakimoto

It honestly doesn’t seem to make much difference if I’m teaching a class or taking a class, the end of the quarter is still filled with anxiety, last minute chores and lots of panicked students. It also means that I fall behind on bookmarking new web stuff, blogging about new web stuff, and basically just fall a little behind. So here is my attempt at catching up on some of the cool library and tech stuff that has been floating around my RSS feeds–basically just a little of this and a little of that.

So first for the technology bit, here is Lifehacker’s Top 10 Wallpaper Tools and Tweaks. These are amazing tips for creating or just finding desktop wallpapers that not only look beautiful but can help increase your productivity. I can’t wait to start designing a compartmentalized desktop and using the calendar feature– sounds like a good summer project to me. If you have another favorite source for wallpapers, please leave it in the comments.

And for a different change of pace, here is a news post that absolutely infuriates me: Kayne West is a “proud non-reader”. He says in the article that “I am a proud non-reader of books. I like to get information from doing stuff like actually talking to people and living real life.” One wonders then why on earth he decided to write a book. Thank goodness there are a lot of really awesome people who are very proud readers of books. Suddenly, trying to get my students, who are slightly less than enthusiastic about information literacy class at the beginning of the term, to actually engage in the class seems like a cakewalk. At least no one has ever told me they are proud of not reading books. Sheesh.

So to counteract that negativity, because we really need to, here is a great library hero who is Running a Library out of a School Locker. This student is running a library out of her locker at school, and the library is filled with banned books! Can we say born to be a librarian?! This is so amazingly awesome. The comments to this post are great reading as well. I sincerely hope the student did not get caught or in trouble for enabling students to read what they want. People who do things like this and totally get that banning books is pointless and stupid absolutely make my day.

So that is it for today’s bits of fun technology and library information. I hope everyone has a great week and I’ll be back soon with more goodies from the wide, wild world of information!