Thursday, November 10, 2011

Cinderella, my how you have changed! Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

My Cinderella how you have changed!

In the post apocalyptic city of Beijing, far in the future, there is a young cyborg named Cinder whose talents as a master mechanic has brought her notoriety and business but not much respect from her widowed stepmother and two stepsisters whom she supports. It is this talent with machines that brings Prince Kai to her booth. With the plague running through the streets, the threat of war and the secrets Cinder tries to hide from Kai, her world is crumbling around her. As Kai’s affections grow for Cinder, he must tread carefully, for the Lunar Queen Lavana is coming to Earth to set the terms of the treaty that could prevent war between the two worlds. She will settle for nothing less that marriage to the young Prince. But will it be enough?

This combination of sci-fi/cyberpunk tale is full of mystery, adventure, a bit of romance, treachery and death. Cinder is a mystery even to herself; she has no memory of her life before her eleventh year. There are the battles with her stepmother, struggles with androids, and threats of war from the Lunar people, whose mind controlling abilities could prove to be the death toll for the Earth. While Prince Kai and Cinder draw closer, the Lunar Queen Levana would rather declare war on Earth then allow Cinder to marry Prince Kai. There is more here that meets even Cinder’s technologically enhanced vision.

This futuristic Cinderella tale grabbed my attention from the first and held me right up to the last page. The characters, and there really are some characters here, are very well drawn. I found myself caring about some and wanting to smack a few. The story has a familiar center but is still uniquely different, believable. As I finished the last page all I could think of was when I could get my hands on the next edition. If you like a good story, if you like science fiction or if you simply enjoy the steampunk type of tale, this is a tale well worth reading.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lost but not found things2...

On to the Novelist...this is definately a plus. Not only does Novelist offer you a list of books but they show me pictures as well. When book talking books for any age it is great to have a way to look for books in the same genre and age level. I like the fact that I can even email myself a list of books. I first looked for Teens with a distinct flavor of Canadian Fantasy and came up with several one that I had previously read and wasn't even aware of its origins. The amount of information offered is equally as important. The professional reviews all in one place are a good start,but the subjects under which a book of this type may be found broadens my means of locating others like this book when I am searching for teacher collections! Definately one I will be referring back to more often.

Lost but not found things...

I thought my computer skills had progressed over the last 25 years but I guess I am still not saving or deleting needed information. So let me go back and reprise my thoughts on Podcasts and Novelist.
So I went in search again of Podcasts I might make use of over time. I searched Books first, and found a couple that interested me. One I saw was a reading of book about Nellie Bly: Ten Days In a Madhouse. All I can say is better her then me,especially back then. Another were a couple of books by Edgar Allen Poe. Both of this focused on a single photo while orally sharing the books. Then I went in search of Librarians and found a couple very interesting sites one was for Teacher Librarians which was more of a blog then a Podcast. I went to PodCast.com and to the Educational Broadcast as well. I understand the function behind a Podcast as a way of keeping us up on information we may need or subjects of which are of an interest to us. In the past I have subscribed to a few that focus on a subject such as creating a website for a class. Now I can see using it to keep up with not only technology and how to do things but also for book trailers.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

What Did I Learn...Let Me Count The Ways

Oh, yes, 23 things and a lot more. I enjoyed exploring and revising some of the different things that I had worked with before. Seeing tech through someone else’s eyes is most often gratifying. Oh, my main concern is still no audio books for download for teens and children. But I still enjoy the convenience of NetLibrary. I wasn't so good with Wikis so this was an interesting peek in the window. I really enjoyed the Blog visits and the learning how to add video to sites without swallowing up my computer space.
I also enjoyed spending time with Flicr. The endless photos were grand and just what some kids are looking for when doing their homework.
Computers and the Internet have come such a long way. When I first began using computers we had reel to reel storage, mono screens and we had to dig deep to find information simply using a keyboard. When I met Mosaic I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. Even as much as I use the computer, I didn't realize how behind I was on some of the newer innovative informational sites. So thanks for being me into the late twentieth century and now I hope with your next stroke of genius training sessions I can get to where the kids are today.
Personally, I thought the program was well paced. I just needed to pick up my pace a little more. I'd say the next step would be gaming but than I am sure some of us wouldn't get a thing done and be chomping at the bit waiting for our next lesson. I found the self paced, set deadlines work well for me. It worked with my crazy scheduled very well. Now do you want to tackle Genealogy? I get questions for that all the time.

Thank you.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Good Reading isn't always easy...

I recently finished the second book in a trilogy that really captured me. It isn't happy but it is very well written and has a very different type of story so I recommended it to Joe Patron on Good Reads. The book is the second book entitled Beautiful Darkness by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia.

I am trying out the BookLetter feature and have subscribed the Teen Scene and Children's Chapter books, since I am no longer on the selection committee this might help me to keep up with the latest in these books that are arriving in the system that don't make their way to Shawnee shores.

With children's materials, I get a number of heads-up email from Amazon.com, Childlit Listserv that I belong to and my weekly visits to the bookstores. Sometimes I feel like an airport whose Control Tower staff has gone to sleep. I get so much email both at work and personal it seems that I may never catch up. So I like the hands-on/eye contact with books more often, in this way I don't only see the cover or read someone else's opinion. Reviews are helpful but I like to see the book at well. And finally, I listen to what my kids and teens say about books they want to read or have recently read to get a better idea about what is popular.

WWW - What's With Wikis

Okay, so I stepped in and created, accidentally and new subject for our Wiki entitled Teens Rule! when I really only wanted to add to Favorite Books. My point being that sometimes teens can be very opinionated about books and don't mind voicing their opinions, especially when adults wreck a favorite book by making a bad movie.
My choices for a favorite trilogy is Beautiful Creatures by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia. And to add a little interest in the series I inserted the book trailer from Beautiful Darkness, the second book.
I looked at a few of the wikis, like Muppet Wiki, the Narutopedia, Bookshelf Fantastica and the Library Success. I liked the bright Muppet informational site with its photos straight out of the past. The Nautopedia would definately be a plus, a way of catching up on the series without having to set down with the set. The Bookshelf on the other hand is an expample of your eyes being bigger than you stomach. Someone made a nice start but have not worked on it in a while. This would make a good example of what not to do. It is nice to see a website that offers some suggestions of programming for librarians at the Libary Success wiki. All in all an interesting view into Wikis that I hadn't spent much time viewing.

More eAudiobooks

J.D. Robb, aka Nora Roberts, is one of the few adult authors I enjoy reading or listening to on audio so I found Immortal In Death by her. EAudiobooks can vary greatly in the amount of time it takes to tell the tale. This one is 11 hours and 35 minutes long from start to finish. Because the audio is offered in both CD quality and Radio quality downloads, I have to make a choice of where I will be listening to the audio book. Since for this one I would be listening to it on my MP3 player I will download it in CD quality, 162 MB, it is a larger file but the sound is better at this level on an MP3.
For the most part I subscribe to Audible.com, for which a montly fee is charged. I can listen to my audio chooses, teen and childrens, on my iTouch, Apple or MP3 player. In the past the subscription for NetLibrary at LFPL had a nice variety of downloadable teens and children's books, this is no longer the case. Listening, like reading, is about choice after a while you would stop going to a library that didn't stock your favorite types of books or authors. Netlibrary unfortunately, doesn't stock Children's or Teens books for LFPL.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Wake Up you have incoming information!

The Google Reader is a busy format. I like the inflow of information that makes it easier to have everything in the same place at once, but I am not a fan of the small framed windows. Possibly, if I had a room sized wall to view it on I could stand in front of the section I wanted to read it wouldn't be so bad. I did find another blog I wanted to subscribe to but had to do it as a Feed with the icon on my Command Bar. My subscriptions are mostly tied to literature. I have subscribed to LFPL, but wish they had one just for new chidlren's and teens, and Library Journal. The other one I subscribed to is a hails from Britian but focuses on children's literature, which I like. It's The Carnival of Children's Literature and it is simply reviews of children's books and some of the things they inspire parents to do with their children.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Choices, Choices....Database

Which data base would I keep? Magazines & Journals. Most often I am searching for articles about subject, with full text and there are a number of resources available under this heading that I can put to good use. The upper grade levels Middle school up is where I often need more current information that I don't have on the shelf.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Are you Listening?

NetLibrary was one my favorite options offered to  us as staff and patrons, until they took away the good stuff. Children's and Young Adult are almost non existant. My middle schoolers enjoyed our program on downloading books and seeing what we had.

What News?

I subscribed to three sites but will probably choose to go to the sites rather then read in Google Reader. It's too distracting with everything that is going on around the subscription box.
I chose Louisville Free Public Library, Library Journal and Children's Literature Book Club.

One lone research tool

Over the years, I have found myself returning time and again to the Magazines and Journals listing. I have found information I needed for patrons and myself. Pictures I can locate on the Web, books I can find in the library, Audio downloadables are almost non-existent for children's and young adult.  I am aware of the popularity of Genealogy for many adult patrons, but this is still a small percentage compared to those  who need current information about subjects that we may not have on our shelves for various reasons. So,  if I am limited to one source it would have to be Magazines and Journals and for everything else I would hope we could find the information on our newly stocked shelves since we didn't have to pay for so many data bases.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Full of Info

Betty Jean McMichael’s death was reported in the Courier-Journal on March 18, 2008. She leaves behind four sons.

British Journal for the History of Philosophy and Clinical Medicine and Research
There is some delay in getting full text for some of the articles, which appear to be newer then 2009
There is a delay of Full Text of 12 months goes back to 3-1998. At first I didn’t see this journal listed in the Ebsco database listing so thought maybe we didn’t get it. So I looked to the right to search under “Journal/Magazine/ Newspaper Search” which is where I located the information that we did indeed have it and have collected back to March ’98. It may be found by searching in the Academic Search Premier. What you will see if you take the round about trip is slightly more information or at least I did. LFPL gets Full Text for the articles in this journal up to a point. Due to publisher’s restrictions (embargo) we have to wait a full twelve months to get the Full Text articles. We get the citation and abstract only within the first twelve months.
Telos – locating this journal wasn’t easy. In Master File Premier and Academic Search Premier,  I finally located it when I realized it was a publication for English as a second language. Key words are important for digging up information.

Morningstar Investment Research Center Vanguard Target Retirement 2020 doesn't do too bad. If these were my children's grades from school it would please me.

Stewardship Grade SM02-10-11 
Overall
Grade
Corporate
Culture
Board
Quality
Manager
Incentives
FeesRegulatory
Issues
BA B D A A

Duane F. Kelly is the manager who has been with the company since 1989, picking up managerial duties in 1992.
Within the MasterFile Premier I found seven articles between 2008 and 2009 from Consumer Reports with full text that discussed LCD and Plasma TV's. I discovered that by limiting my search to Comsumer Reports Magazine, Full Text and the dates Jan 2008 - Dec 2009 I came up with seven articles, not too many to have to look through but enough for the information I wanted.
Coffee Shops in the 40202 area number eight and that the only ones that primarily focus on coffee, while there were a number of others that serve it as well. But in the area of competition the top eight would be my target to check out. Starbucks comes out as the number one competition since it has a total of three in the downtown area with a larger staff, where I assume would be the most convenient and popular spot for someone opening a Coffee Shop in the area. For information I went to the Business ReferenceUSA and just looked up coffee shops. It took me a few tries to get to the 40202 zip but I managed to single out eight shops. I found information here about management, number of employees, addresses and more about the companies.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Feast for the eyes

Flickr certainly offers some of us a lot of entertainment just looking at the photos. The range of colors and images alone could keep me busy for a long time. I am always fascinated at what others see when they train their camera on an object. You could create whole stories just from what others have captured in their frames. I uploaded a photo from our renovation of Shawnee for all to see and will add one or two more as we get closer to finishing.
The World Map is a whole other world! I searched Children’s Museums in Ireland, Australia, England and Japan with some interesting results. In Australia, I got five hits but only one real children’s museum photo taken outside. In Japan there was an Anpanman, flying superhero, museum and a children’s playground at Hakone Open-Air Museum which I am ready to visit or recreate in our library at once! Then I moved on to Children’s Libraries. In Ireland, they looked pretty much like our modern library children’s areas. But in Japan, I am ready to learn Japanese and apply for a position at the International Library of Children’s Literature. It is exquisite, painfully so!
Spell with Flickr - there was some fun for me while coming up with signage for storytimes. The Color toy with Flicr focused in on photos of one color with made me think of some of our programs for children on color.
All in all the pictures are a treat for the eyes. As to how we might use them, well that's a little more touchy since the photos all have copyrights. For our patrons this makes a grand place to store photos they have taken, would like to share with others or would like to keep in a safe place, maybe, a bank vault for their photos. As part of a program I could probably come up with more uses for Flicr.
For now I will just settle for looking at the great photos.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Twaddle

Twaddle or Twitter ? -  So much talk! The fact that someone needs an account to get information from Twitter might in some cases be a deterrent. As mentioned in our 23 Things, there is the possibility of catching the last news item that hasn’t yet reached the UP’s yet.  For some patrons it is a good source of hiding behind the screen type of having their say. I'll admit it does have it's uses. It's quiet, and can grab people's attention for hours. Hey, where was this when my children were growing up! No, seriously, after searching for someone to follow, I located Holly Black whose books can fill my world for hours. And while looking for a emerging event...I have to say I got side tracked by Simon and Schuster's offer of free reads on PulseItBooks.com but I will go back to see the other messages my search found on teen books.

Facebook - First there was MySpace and now Facebook. My Mom always said children should be heard and not seen. Or was it the other way around? In any case, there are a number of my friends and family who choose to use Facebook to keep in touch and so I have an account. I just don’t use it so often. Facebook is a little easier for me to handle as it isn’t a blow by blow account of someone’s day. It’s the business’ that have accounts that I believe could offer the most useful information to our patrons.

In addition, from my perspective, I believe teens need to practice socialization skills and both Twitter and Facebook can allow this to happen. My only concern is we still haven’t learned to talk nice to others nor have we gained the ability to stop and think before we speak. Still, would I recommend them? Yes. Patrons need to make their own decisions and in many cases they may well find some uses for these social networks that escape me.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Where's the fun?

Google Docs -I have been to Google Docs and found them quite useful if for some reason you don't have access to storage on the computer you are using or a thumb drive. This happens a lot to our patrons. As to my work, there is the opportunity for me to upload information from my desktop that I may need access to at home and this is a shorter route then having to copy the information to a thumb drive, remember where I put it, and than upload it to my computer at home. So this is an acceptable source for saving and transfering information. For myself I would rather it be temporary. For our patrons, I would caution them not to use this storage space for sensative information.
Google Books - now this is a horse of another color! I will take my books anyway I can get them and if I can get some free and download them to every ereading device I have so much the better. In case of point, I wanted to read Pride and Predjudice by Bronte. I probably did at some point purchase a paper back copy, and while it is most likely buried under to tonage of the rest of my book collection at home, I was able to download a free copy to read on my device. Fun! Although, the books to purchase here are running neck and neck with Amazon.
Google Scholar - could be enhanced if I could get my mitts on the full text of ERIC documents, but it isn't too bad. Because it cuts to the chase when you put in a subject there didn't seem to be the number of links to have to chase down. This might be of help for research when patrons are looking for reports and we get a number of education majors.
Google Patents - I believe if a patron was interested in patenting an invention, this would be a site to check for anything that might duplicate their invention. Although, I believe I would need the Krell's brain boosting machine to even begin to understand the drawings, much less the instructions.
Google Uncle Sam -  After searching for government grants, the links appeared to be closer to what I was looking for than when I used the general Google search, narrowed down a bit. There were more direct links to things that patrons have requested in the past such as vital stats and where to send for them. There was still a lot of sifting to do since it is government.
Google Maps - Thanks to Lynette for leading me to the yellow brick road and putting helping me find my way to the Emerald City. When you create a set of maps, you can store a number of addresses one right after the other, like connecting the dots, that can take me from one outreach to another. This would be really grand for a patron who has to make several stops on the way or too keep a log of directions of where they are going or where they have been.
Google Sites - Creating your own website can be a challenge. I enjoyed using the now defunct Adobe PageMill and Front Page, but this is a good start for those who aren't into the pulling their hair out to make everything stay where you want it. It's a lot easier to stay out of trouble to offering you materials that don't infringe on copywrite laws. This would be good for a beginner and would be at the top of my list for someone who wanted to create a simple website.
iGoogle - For a long time iGoogle helped me keep up the weather in the parts of the country where I had family. I won't so crazy about the busy backgrounds they offered but loved checking out the extra gadgets. Sometimes I had a hard time turning them off or keeping from over crowding my homepage.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Testing the Waters of Blogs

After duly checking out the three blogs offered for our perusal, I have found two that I would make use of
both for different reasons.
librarian.net - This website is visiually easy to read, while the knowledge she imparts is both informational and intriguing. It captures the attention first because some of it may directly impact my work such as the info about keyloggers and than articles about that statisfy my curiousity, such as the library in New York City that was an apartment building. Short and to the point. Quick reads.

ddc.typepad.com/ - Dewy blog, does what all expert librarians are supposed to do in the Library World, it catagorizes information. There is a lot of information here and it takes time to sort through it. As a resource to help patrons better understand Dewy, this is a good start.
I will be checking back in periodically with both of these blogs to see what's up, how I can make use of them  to assist my patrons and further enhance my own knowledge.

      “The Lost Girl”  by Casey L. Bond Blurb:  Welcome to Neverland. Where shadows consume and magic is frighteningly real.   Ava is strugg...