I have used Novelist before and usually find it pretty useful. There have been very few circumstances where I haven't found what I was looking for using that tool.
I searched for teen historical fiction set in the 20th century. I need to print some of this stuff to update our teen reader's advisory binder I created two or three years ago. It would be so much more helpful than just googling stuff and stealing (or borrowing!) from other libraries' websites.
I have recommended Novelist to patrons in the past, but I think I'm going to use it more now. I honestly don't read much fiction (I check a lot of it out, but lose interest or get disappointed and never finish the book) and one question I get asked a lot is "do you have any books that are like [insert author here]?" Since I don't read any of that stuff, I usually say "no" and send them to one of our clerks or LAs who do read fiction.
Another tool I like to use for book recommendations is Amazon (or other booksellers' websites). I can type in a title or subject term and see similar titles, plus the titles that customers purchase along with those books. For example, recently I read Lisa Gardner's Live to Tell, which is about some crimes that take place involving a children's psychiatric ward. I finished the book because I had never read about children with severe mental health issues (usually the kid has cancer or some other physical ailment) and it was very interesting. I wanted to learn more. I searched several terms in the library catalog, and came up with nothing interesting. I tried Novelist, with the same results (I just kept getting books written in Lisa Gardner's style). I finally tried Amazon and found one or two that turned out to be ok. I guess the main problem in this scenario was that there are very few books written about this subject, fiction or non-fiction. Nevertheless, Amazon can sometimes be helpful in these situations.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Bookletters Thing
I subscribed to "Past and Present" and the Teen bookletter thing.
This would be a good tool for our internet-savvy patrons who want to know about new books. A long time ago, when our branch was a little slower and we had some free time, one of our clerks used to type up lists of new and upcoming books that would be on our Bestseller's shelf. We have patrons who still expect us to do that kind of thing. Those who are not afraid of email could sign up for these bookletters and maybe not be so grumpy with us for not writing up the list for them. ^_^
Bookletters is also the place to go for patrons who want to sign up for the Library newsletter.
This would be a good tool for our internet-savvy patrons who want to know about new books. A long time ago, when our branch was a little slower and we had some free time, one of our clerks used to type up lists of new and upcoming books that would be on our Bestseller's shelf. We have patrons who still expect us to do that kind of thing. Those who are not afraid of email could sign up for these bookletters and maybe not be so grumpy with us for not writing up the list for them. ^_^
Bookletters is also the place to go for patrons who want to sign up for the Library newsletter.
Recommendation Thing
Maybe it's just me, but it took a little bit for me to find the place to recommend the book on GoodReads. I found the profile, and wandered around a bit. I ended up clicking "more" and finding it there.
I recommended Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, because it's awesome. Duh.
I recommended Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, because it's awesome. Duh.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wiki Thing, again
I went to a small high school whose biggest weakness was preparing students for college-level paper writing. I frequently used Wikipedia for information, and then didn't cite it so the teacher couldn't give me a heads up that Wikipedia was totally unreliable. When I started college in 2006, I used Wikipedia for my first essay in a political science course. I'd talked to my professor about my lack of preparation for these types of things so he let me rewrite the paper after gently telling me that Wikipedia was basically full of crap.
That being said, I don't see how I could ever recommend Wikis as a source of academic information. However, if a patron was looking for a bit of trivia, these types of sites would be good for reference. I was watching a rerun of The Cosby Show a few weeks ago where Cliff has a dream involving Muppets. I'm a big fan of Jim Henson and was familiar with all the characters except one- an insanely creepy scientist-guy that really weirded me out. I needed to know his name and why on earth he had been created. I turned to Muppet Wiki for the answer. He was a character on a short lived Henson show that apparently wasn't very good, was on when I was an infant, and never made it to video or DVD. Hopefully I will never run into him again.
Because there are so many possibilities for the spread of misinformation, I don't think that wikis would be very valuable to "advancing the library's mission." Feel free to correct me on this, though.
That being said, I don't see how I could ever recommend Wikis as a source of academic information. However, if a patron was looking for a bit of trivia, these types of sites would be good for reference. I was watching a rerun of The Cosby Show a few weeks ago where Cliff has a dream involving Muppets. I'm a big fan of Jim Henson and was familiar with all the characters except one- an insanely creepy scientist-guy that really weirded me out. I needed to know his name and why on earth he had been created. I turned to Muppet Wiki for the answer. He was a character on a short lived Henson show that apparently wasn't very good, was on when I was an infant, and never made it to video or DVD. Hopefully I will never run into him again.
Because there are so many possibilities for the spread of misinformation, I don't think that wikis would be very valuable to "advancing the library's mission." Feel free to correct me on this, though.
This guy will destroy your soul.
Wiki thing
For this exercise I updated the Favorite Movies page and the Favorite restaurants page. I found this exercise to be super easy. Of course, I had the instructions right there, I didn't need to cite my work, etc. I think that editing on a big site like Wikipedia might be a little more complicated, but hopefully not any more difficult.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Podcast Thing
I can honestly say I'm not the biggest fan of podcasts. That's pretty weird since I'm not necessarily bothered by the lack of visual entertainment- I browse the internet all the time while listening to episodes of shows and movies. Podcasts just don't do anything for me. As for the "important" podcasts, like of news stories....why not just read the news? I mean, you're already online. You might even get through the story faster than whoever is talking on the podcast.
I checked out Piers Morgan's podcast about the concerns over radiation coming from Japan. It seems to me that a lot of podcasts (this one, anyway) are just an outlet for the people from 24 hour news stations who aren't on the air 24 hours a day to be on the air a bit more. It's not like he's not going to talk about it tonight on his show. I could just listen to the radio, or whatever. I promise I'm not trying to be stubborn about technology...I'm just not into podcasts. ^_^
I do know that there are other podcasts out there that I might be interested in (like a few years ago when I was into the whole paranormal investigation scene, the guys from Ghost Hunters had a weekly podcast that I thought about listening to). I just don't really care. I'd rather read than listen- I read faster than people can talk, anyway.
Needless to say, I won't be subscribing to any podcasts in the near future.
I checked out Piers Morgan's podcast about the concerns over radiation coming from Japan. It seems to me that a lot of podcasts (this one, anyway) are just an outlet for the people from 24 hour news stations who aren't on the air 24 hours a day to be on the air a bit more. It's not like he's not going to talk about it tonight on his show. I could just listen to the radio, or whatever. I promise I'm not trying to be stubborn about technology...I'm just not into podcasts. ^_^
I do know that there are other podcasts out there that I might be interested in (like a few years ago when I was into the whole paranormal investigation scene, the guys from Ghost Hunters had a weekly podcast that I thought about listening to). I just don't really care. I'd rather read than listen- I read faster than people can talk, anyway.
Needless to say, I won't be subscribing to any podcasts in the near future.
Monday, March 14, 2011
NetLibrary Thing
This is the first time I've actually used NetLibrary, even though I tell patrons how to use it several times a week.
The audiobook I selected was actually a collection of a few books from the Old Testament. I'm reading through the Bible this year, and I'm currently in the book of Joshua. The audio version available through NetLibrary is four hours and thirty minutes long. It contains three books of the Bible. It's good to know that these are on here because we often have patrons who want the Bible on audio and there are very few books available in the system (which I find odd, considering the general popularity of the text. I'm sure it's expensive, though.) We have some lectures and some books on tape, and maybe one or two on CD. Most of the materials are lectures, though. Patrons will be glad to know that they can actually download what they're looking for, and it will be free.
The audiobook I selected was actually a collection of a few books from the Old Testament. I'm reading through the Bible this year, and I'm currently in the book of Joshua. The audio version available through NetLibrary is four hours and thirty minutes long. It contains three books of the Bible. It's good to know that these are on here because we often have patrons who want the Bible on audio and there are very few books available in the system (which I find odd, considering the general popularity of the text. I'm sure it's expensive, though.) We have some lectures and some books on tape, and maybe one or two on CD. Most of the materials are lectures, though. Patrons will be glad to know that they can actually download what they're looking for, and it will be free.
Video Thing
"When I discovered YouTube, I didn't work for five days. I did nothing. I watched 'Cookie Monster Sings Chocolate Rain' about a thousand times."
-Michael Scott
I was pleased to see that YouTube has a reliable section of their site where videos are posted from universities around the country. Just like with any other form of search engine on the internet, the info you find may not be useful info at all. Some YouTube videos are mislabeled on purpose. Some have a screenshot to make you think you're about to watch what you need, but then the screen will turn black and you're stuck listening to some song you don't care about. It's pretty stupid and frustrating. If I needed videos on an academic subject, there is a better chance of finding what I need (with accurate info) on these channels.
Here's the video I chose to embed:
I made this video for an American Presidency class back in 2008. We had to make a campaign video. My professor really liked it. I wasn't quite as impressed. I got the music from a cd from the library.
-Michael Scott
I was pleased to see that YouTube has a reliable section of their site where videos are posted from universities around the country. Just like with any other form of search engine on the internet, the info you find may not be useful info at all. Some YouTube videos are mislabeled on purpose. Some have a screenshot to make you think you're about to watch what you need, but then the screen will turn black and you're stuck listening to some song you don't care about. It's pretty stupid and frustrating. If I needed videos on an academic subject, there is a better chance of finding what I need (with accurate info) on these channels.
Here's the video I chose to embed:
I made this video for an American Presidency class back in 2008. We had to make a campaign video. My professor really liked it. I wasn't quite as impressed. I got the music from a cd from the library.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Feed thing
I have a little bit of familiarity with RSS feeds, mostly from accidentally clicking the RSS button when I'm heading to the library's list of new titles. I have never really liked the look of google reader, so I've just stuck with visiting my favorite websites individually. However, I think that I will make the switch to using the RSS feeds on my google reader from now on. There are several websites that I like to check on a regular basis, but my internet at home is not currently working. When I do get to a computer, I have a hard time remembering all the things that I want to check. Google Reader will help me with that (I don't know why but I always thought it was just for blogs, like the kind people post using blogger. Now I know better.)
Since our assignment was to sign up for two RSS feeds, the ones I chose were ZooBorns and Cute Overload. I love animals. I mentioned in an earlier post that I could look at pictures of animals all day long. Cute Overload is just a place to show off pictures, but ZooBorns actually serves a purpose. It showcases new baby animals at zoos and aquariums all over the globe. They range from animals that are at no risk to those that are critically endangered. It's very exciting to see zoos helping to bring these animals back from the brink of extinction. And, of course, most of them are just plain adorable.
As for the feeds versus visiting the individual sites, I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Certainly the RSS feeds are more convenient, as they show you everything on one place. There is something missing from not visiting the sites. The people that maintain them (usually) put a lot of effort into the page design, and staring at Google Reader is definitely less colorful than going to each site. Additionally, when I logged into Google Reader I had more than one hundred unread posts waiting for me. I had already looked at these posts on my blogger homepage, so I guess now I have to scroll past them to get them to go away on my Google Reader page. I think I will definitely be using the RSS feeds of various websites in the future.
Since our assignment was to sign up for two RSS feeds, the ones I chose were ZooBorns and Cute Overload. I love animals. I mentioned in an earlier post that I could look at pictures of animals all day long. Cute Overload is just a place to show off pictures, but ZooBorns actually serves a purpose. It showcases new baby animals at zoos and aquariums all over the globe. They range from animals that are at no risk to those that are critically endangered. It's very exciting to see zoos helping to bring these animals back from the brink of extinction. And, of course, most of them are just plain adorable.
As for the feeds versus visiting the individual sites, I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both. Certainly the RSS feeds are more convenient, as they show you everything on one place. There is something missing from not visiting the sites. The people that maintain them (usually) put a lot of effort into the page design, and staring at Google Reader is definitely less colorful than going to each site. Additionally, when I logged into Google Reader I had more than one hundred unread posts waiting for me. I had already looked at these posts on my blogger homepage, so I guess now I have to scroll past them to get them to go away on my Google Reader page. I think I will definitely be using the RSS feeds of various websites in the future.
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