Friday, December 29, 2006

To Distance or not to distance?

I never knew that using the old contacts would help me to network in a brave new world of public libraries. It never hurts to get in touch with old friends or bosses you may haven't spoken to in a while to get some of their personal feedback on the job market, their experiences and views of the necessary skills employers are looking for, especially research skills. You may be overlooking a lot of juicy information, like your quirkiness, that friends have on hand. Letters are great, but blogging, email, listservs, conferences, hell, even shopping can do wonders for the old network.

Suddenly business cards have blog or urls on them to exchange not just opportunities but also personal information that can be helpful to those who want the inside feel of a company.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Opportunity Knocks

I have rescued two tiger and calico mix cats, Anna and Missy, who love to explore the house and call themselves to a game of rollerball against the four walls of our double-wide ranch. They are a two-some! Today's excitement was at the television. They have found that the BBC is the thing and that basketball is not the thing.

ORIGINALLY ON BLOGLINES, January, 2006:
Posted on: Sun, Jan 15 2006 5:17 PM
January 10, 2006
What to think about...
By wueone

The existential view holds that people are endlessly remaking or discovering themselves. There is no essence of human nature to be discovered "once and for all." There are always new horizons, new problems and new opportunities. --Gestalt


March 28, 2006
Peter's World Atlas
By wueone

I have recently attended the Boston Public Library's "Journeys and The Imagination" exhibit and have found a gem, Peter's World Atlas. Starting from the beginning is a citation to the atlas used to delineate population projections on a mercator map of the world. It is an amazing work of genius that takes humanistic consideration of the world as it means to today's armchair travelers. I was amused by the BPL exhibit's maps from the beginning of exploration for all to see how humanity originally saw the world from vision to creation. It is a metamorphasis of concepts and knowlege to innovations and power. No one can leave unlearned, at least if you start from the beginning.


March 8, 2006
Actions
By wueone

http://www.vnunet.com/actions/trackback/2151492
House of Lords rejects compulsory identification cards.



February 22, 2006
Dynamic Brain!
By wueone

Just when things are so interesting in reinventing the brain, we forget about the chickadee...read on.

http://cognews.com/1063349691/index_html


February 21, 2006
Update on porn vote
By wueone

URL: Update on porn vote


The connected world
By wueone

URL: The connected world



Source Blog
Posted on: Tue, Feb 21 2006 3:51 PM
February 5, 2006
Fight the tedium
By wueone

Change is good, but little changes can be more meaningful. You may be slogging through another week and not know that the tiniest change in work method may revive you. All but a harvard study suggest pulling the old routine and replacing your mode of thinking as in Spencer Johnson's book "Who Moved My Cheese?" suggest using alternative modes to usual work life settings. Changing the order of low-priority tasks, taking a different route home and using a different blend of wake up beverage all solve the tedious routines of the workday. Studies show that the mind is refreshed by seeing new ways and being open to a few changes in the regular work setting. This does not mean writing off the meeting schedule or blowing off people you need to keep in the daily loop or should we say grind? Whoops, watch out. Conclusions show that the bad attitudes go away for a little while, reduced stress will ultimately help you survive the winter blues!
Trivial Note on blue ..read Charles Frazier's latest novel to find out how the Creek Indians define blue.



Posted on: Mon, Jan 30 2006 5:57 PM
January 15, 2006
Is it a stream or an avalanche?
By wueone

Streams of consciousness or dreams end up saving us in a times of trouble with no time to spare. You may want to pay attention to events around you if you are tossing and turning in your sleep. I would pay close attention especially if you are up late at night over the same thing. Zolar's dictionary of dreams states that you should react with split second timing to threatning situation if you have no control over your driving in your dreams. Take a minute to reflect in the car where snow and ice come between your car and the traffic. A regular car may slide through a patch of ice, but the car I drive will just cruise in a dream. This is just a dream. I have not even checked the tires. I know it is cruising by feeling the steering wheel. There is no loss of contact with the road. This is not a very realistic sign because it is a dream. The car never stops. It just keeps cruising through traffic with no accidents and no tickets. This is one example of overlooked judgements.


I have rescued two tiger and calico mix cats, Anna and Missy, who love to explore the house and call themselves to a game of rollerball against the four walls of our double-wide ranch. They are a two-some! Today's excitement was at the television. They have found that the BBC is the thing and that basketball is not the thing.

Saturday, December 23, 2006


Titles we never finished in 2006

My tastes for reading a number of good books this year have spurned a number of unread but not particularly long titles. They failed passing my reading appetite also since I really need a good, wake up I'm readble! twist. So here is my list of the most readable and not readable books of the year.
Not read, entirely: Anna Karenina, The Great Divorce, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, She's Come Undone, The Rule Of Four

Read: The Da Vinci Code, The Devil Wears Prada, Front Porch Stories, Charles Adams Scrapbook
http://spiderbites.nytimes.com/articles/recentnews.html

Thursday, December 21, 2006

You're Outta Here



Banned Books Week, September 16-23, 2006
We are in the midst of senseless acts of censorship upon our ever-changing libraries in our schools and communities. The act of stealing or ripping pages out of books enrages the next library user as they scan the shelves for a good read, or next reading assignment. There is no use for policy on this troubled mind. Policy will simply not work. I recommend an outright declaration of war on censoring material by having a guard on each book. This may mean RFID tags on certain collections or on a trial collection. It may mean having the joint collection with other libraries tagged. Whatever the policy, it doesn't make the difference that a live sentry can make, meaning yes, BIG BROTHER.

You can never brush too much

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

MySpace

Wikipedia on MySpace.com...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace#Groups

also read:

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6370230.html

You will find this link offers the latest facts on MySpace services on the web. The fastest growing email and blog host is now under scrutiny by the federal government for it's lenient open access, hence individual vulnerability to sexual predators and identity crimes. There are articles on the threat to children and especially teens, how the laws protect children, and how more changes in the Child Online Protection Act will likely evolve. If legislative changes claiming to protect children from the exploits of the world wide web proceed, a host of blogging and email services will be denied in most public libraries and internet service providers.In addition to the COPA and DOPA legislation, federal grants to schools and libraries may require more from libraries who filter the web, so please read.

Literacy Materials FYI:

Susan Straub created the Read To Me Program in New York. Her focus is using wordless books to encourage low literacy (or ELL) parents to tell their children stories. Her website is readtomeprogram.org; the site is full of great resources. She also just wrote a book called Reading With Babies, Toddlers and Twos. The website www.proliteracy.org is a good place to look for materials recommended for low-literacy parents as reading partners. It contains links via Verizon's hosted early childhood literacy. An especially good link is pbskids.org "Read Between the Lions" for shareastory programs -- go to www.pbs.org/shareastory.There are other book a day programs onwww.studydog.com.

And Now For Something Completely Different!

This article appealed to me as I sought refuge from juggling roles of resident internet tech person and humble public service desk librarian. What are we to do if we refuse to work with others? Do we put our heads in the sand? How about taking the risk of losing face or even a job when showing off those brave technical skills?Please comment on this view by the one who hopes to work inside of an ivory tower. Please read on.

http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2006/10/2006101001c/careers.html

And now for something entirely different!
I am humbled by the answers to 21 question
game on this library blog:

http://librarydust.typepad.com/library_dust/weblogs/index.html

If your head is in the sand...For latest comments on viewing pornography in libraries and the filters that may deny us the right to not view pornography in libraries, read Karen Schneider's comments on bluehighways.com

Happy Holidays!

http://www.epicurious.com/promo/tastingnotes/archive.htmlFor your holiday wine selections, try using the index of articles on the best of the best wines for the right occasion. Happy Holidays!