Friday, December 28, 2007

2007 Best reasons to be a librarian

1. Ending on a good note with a Tim Lahaye reader, he and I saw several perceptions on the series, such as the end of days and the birth of Christ, these events happen to be documented on the same day, December 26th and thereafter.

2. The collection is being weeded:>


3. Book orders are done:>

4. Using the web to find books is getting easier.

5. Dickens in wikipedia is cool!

6. I don't have to admit to latte's affect until January 1st, 2008.

7. A new administration!

8. A coming new administration!!!

9. Balmy weather in January, compared to December in the Northeast!

10. Wishing those a Healthy and Happy New Year!!!!!!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

2007 Best Books

My creation
My creation,
originally uploaded by sueone162002.
Best books to read are Water for Elephants and Eat, Pray, Love. I am now reading Black Profiles in Courage: A Legacy in African American Achievement, by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Digitization projects http://www.futureofthebook.org/


See link above for:
Will Google Book Search Change Anything?

Rescuing orphans from obscurity
Orphan works are those books, records, images, compositions, manuscripts, movies, screenplays, paintings and drawings -- in short, any work protected by copyright -- whose owner cannot be determined, located, or who does not respond when contacted. We have always had orphan works, but a number of factors have converged to turn their existence into a [...] digitized work.

Posted in irrelevance of law, Congressional paralysis, orphan works | No Comments

Case in point:
Do not stand at my grave and weep is a popular poem, largely considered to be written by Mary Elizabeth Frye (1904-2004), but of disputed origin.

There is some ambiguity as to the poem's writer, and it was neither published nor copyrighted by Frye, although she was the only living person to credibly claim its authorship. Frye is near universally cited as the author, and her literary significance is based almost entirely upon it, but other sources, including traditional native American origins, have been suggested over the years.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_not_stand_at_my_grave_and_weep

Source:http://blogs.tdl.org/digitize/category/orphan-works

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Report on Cataloging

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6497275.html

Inventory comes slowly

Billington also told the committee that the library has inventoried less than 20 percent of the 17 million print items it aims to include in its Baseline Inventory Project (BIP), which began in FY02.

While in 1998 LC estimated that the BIP might be completed in eight years (by 2010), costing $1.1 million a year, now it could “take ten more years to complete with available funds,” Billington said. Nevertheless, LC Inspector General Karl Schnornagel told the committee, “I do not believe that this has significantly impaired the library's ability to secure its collections.”

The answer is in your face!


http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6497259.html

Something is still wrong with reference services and how serious or passively we take our jobs. ...The jobs of Public libraries are roughly the same as it ever was over twenty years ago. In May 1984, William Miller published a comprehensive critique of reference service entitled “What's Wrong with Reference: Coping with Success and Failure at the Reference Desk” (American Libraries). Some 24 years later, I wish I could say things have improved, but, in
fact, they have gotten even worse. David Isaccson, Library Journal.

My feelings are the same..
Cataloging materials may never change in the traditional respects, and I realize that this could kill the collection, however the author speaks truly to the spirit of libraries, that more is not better. We can't ignore quality over the collection and having a quantity of materials means quality of service. That means that the reference desk is fully aware of the way library books, videos and audiocassettes are purchased and placed on the shelves, and the longer it is put off the longer our expertise is wasted for vanity sake. Poke around for a while and notice the obvious fact that shelf ready books add dubious collections in a library, thereby duplicating collections into nonsensical libraries. Libraries exist by their unique locale, history and communities they serve. No library should resemble another's collection.

If the public outlook on libraries continues to be as negative as the author Mr. Miller states, I think that all library professionals are going to buy into a self-service library. My case especially is how we are pointing out those self-fullfilling acquistion folks in libraries who do not acknowledge libaries as places where people visit, rather than a library as a containment for books.

Another case in point, serving the public by referral to the community outside of the library, can save an unnecessary trip. So, in order to answer the public's questions, one must be able to reinterpret and reframe a question in order to reveal the facts. Librarians are good at this point of questioning the question, and are very good at passing the information on to the user, sometimes reluctantly. It is very crucial that we teach in our profession, how to give up the secret, so to speak. It is also crucial to be honest about how the answers are ultimately refined by subject specialists, ie lawyers or medical professionals, and not by the generalists in the library.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Research at Risk - 7/15/2005 - Library Journal

Research at Risk - 7/15/2005 - Library Journal



Learning Times presents a stimulating discussion on things miscellaneous regarding libraries. Visit the link above to find background information on the peril of indexing on the web if you dare.
Thanks to librarians and gurus in library catalogs, you don't have to pay for a book after it is published, sold and obsolete!

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Dreaming about our food

http://www.phill.co.uk/comedy/l.html

I spent this morning trying to get my head around the real vs. fudge factors in our economy. This morning's news includeed snipits of last night's answers by running candidates about the current economic conditions. Thompson came up with a few studders and Mitt Romney had nothing but encouraging words as well as denying he ever tipped tax raising.
Back to my dream... I had to think of why I found myself held up at the cash register in the middle of an italian pizzeria with only half of my lunch order. The clerk was trying to figure out how much she should charge for a slice of pizza and a coke. She couldn't total the figures for me since she weighed all of the real dollar on our actual economic spending, unemployment and gouging of natural resources so I had to wait awhile. Her total for my pizza and coke would have been a dollar, but since it took a while to add uup the total, the price actually went down and she added a free sausage sub to the order. I walked away happy in the dream, but I am frightened by the reality of the fudge factor. We don't know the value of anything less than a dollar, so we add to it public debt in the end and charge a dollar because it's worth it.
I am prompted by radio, television and reading about our economy and it explains how we our our understanding facts becomes twisted.
How funny I just had a British comedy question about the department store, Grace Brothers on the Show "Are You Being Served?" Take a look at that show or "Squirrels", about an International Rental shop. It's hilarious! on the show Squirrels, or even the show The Rag Trade, all poke fun at the consumer coming to bid with the store clerks. I always think of my great aunt Me Me, she never wanted to pay for something that she had no need for anyway.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Not Your Mother's prayer books

http://www.publishersweekly.com/Community/Religion/47143.html

Looking for religious guidance reads is not as hard as it may seem. My mother continually read "Passages" in the 1970's, and now that I seek the same kind of broad shoulder, I struggle to find something as readable as this one. I recently came across Joyce Meyer's, "Penny" and Rick Warren's, "Purpose Driven Life". I find that both fiction and non-fiction are fitting the need of readers with a broad sense of spirituality, whether the titles are chosen for their informative or entertaining value. My list is going along bit by bit here, so bear with me. No pun, intended!

A Wrinkle In Time author mourned

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6476596.html?nid=2286&source=title&rid=


See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Wrinkle_In_Time

Friday, July 27, 2007

Leadership

http://www.joyofleadership.com
One book I like on leadership is, “It’s Not About the Bike”, by Lance Armstrong. I read it after visiting friends in NYC and while the 2002 Tour de France was on television. Everyone spoke about his amazing influence on kids. His steadfast energy and reluctance to give up make him a true leader in all of us. In spite of everything in his life, he put it aside and made one goal the center of his attention. I always believe as in the book, anything from a successful hobby to a good profession takes the same commitment, passion and attention to detail. I highly recommend the book. Posted on the link above.
Excerpts:
"Life is long--Hopefully. But "long" is a relative term: a minute can seem like a month when you're pedaling uphill, which is why there are few things that seem longer than the Tour de France. "1

"But for reasons of my own, I think it may be the most gallant athletic endeavor in the world. To me, of course, it's about living."2

"The bicycle was an invention of the industrial revolution, along with the steam engine and the telegraph, and the first Tour was held in 1903, the result of a challenge in the French sporting press issued by the newspaper L'Auto. Of the sixty racers who started, only 21 finished, and the event immediately captivated the nation. An estimated 100,000 spectators lined the roads into Paris, and there was cheating right from the start: drinks were spiked, and tacks and broken bottles were thrown on the road by the leaders to sabotage the riders chasing them. The early riders had to carry their own food and equipment, their bikes had just two gears, and they used their feet as brakes. The first mountain stages were introduced in 1910, when the peloton rode through the Alps, despite the threat of attack from wild animals. The race began the same day that Archduke Ferdinand was shot, in 1914. Five days after the finish of the race, war swept into the same Alps the riders had climbed."3

1. Armstrong, Lance "It's Not About the Bike", G.P. Putnam, N.Y., 2000. p220
2. Armstrong, Lance "It's Not About the Bike", G.P. Putnam, N.Y., 2000. p220
3. Armstrong, Lance "It's Not About the Bike", G.P. Putnam, N.Y. 2000. p220

Friday, July 20, 2007

See YU in SL (Second Life)

http://www.secondlife.com/?u=a50fb731adaf4844807736cf1bedf2ad

Cat Names

As all cats are named, I will name 26 cats in alphabetic order and here goes....
alfie or annie
betty
coty or cooties
dough
erik
fi
george
hiccup
ike
Judas
Katie
Love
Mack or Missy
Nuisance
Octavia
Priestess
Quinones
Rae
Sue
Tim
Upton
Victor
Weezer
Xero
Yuk
Zap

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Act like a librarian....or not to

http://www.nytimes.com
Last article I read on librarians not necessarily acting like librarians, was in last week's NY Times about Brooklyn's deweyed margarita sipping librarians at an outside rooftop party. I 've only been on top of a few of these cool spots in Brooklyn, but not recently. The best spot is Park Slope in Brooklyn, overlooking the Hudson River, with a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty. I wasn't sipping a cantaloupe margarita, but sampling some flan and a nice pino grigio. Maybe I'm not cut out for the library scene, sounds more like I might have a taste for the museum scene, don't know. Here's the rest of the party hopping requirements for library desk setters; casual dress, bare feet, tatoo, cork screw/beer opener/glass top table, wood smoked salmon, etc.
The original article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/fashion/08librarian.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5124&en=e47a5b7e5c4ae125&ex=1341460800&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Monday, June 11, 2007

http://profiles.yahoo.com/sueone162002
I have my own website called "Susan Librocker"
http://profiles.yahoo.com/sueone162002


Find valuable job information or library news. I write my own stuff, but try to highlight what develops in the library and education world. Enjoy and please share your comments.
""

Saturday, June 2, 2007

You Need a Control Freak

Arghhhh! Chew on this hothouse tomato and tell me what you taste. The true summer weather weekend is upon us and most people want to be outside, enjoying the beauty of color. Color and expectation, that is. I have the distinction of using Digg to bookmark the wonderful colors captured on camera but I have no green thumb! I used to go out and try a few tomato plants but now I have absolutely no control over their fate. I have to rely on the local farmer's markets or grocers to provide the best and brightest tomatoes. Even my nephew has the green thumb, thanks to his dad, and faithfully puts beer out to keep away slugs. I have the hot pepper spray to keep away deer and rabbits, but they keep coming back. Just to report, I am not a control freak, but wish I had been. Although some garderners have all the luck and just keep living a low carb low b.p. summer. I need the greens to keep cool, and will embark on container gardening this summer. Alas, there is hope for the lucky gardener who just wants a little fiber at great taste this summer."http://digg.com/tech_deals/Digg_Users_Map_Around_The_World"

Thursday, May 3, 2007

No Acronymn Left Behind

While the Secretary of State, Condolezza Rice attends the peace talks in Syria, Mr. Bush is standing by his words about the value of our education. IMLS, that stands for the Institute of Museum and Libraries Services, has given a great amount support to hiring new librarians for the millenials and moved IMLS funding from the materials meant for millenial's to research. The ADA and the Congressional Budget Office is responding to the needs of the elderly and disabled by looking at ways to afford insuring their health over the next century, and watching how Medicare and Medicaid insurance stagger. How are we to forget the acronyms in our health benefits plans? HMO, PHHP, MCI, LLAL etc. I am not exactly harvesting all of these in one blog, but I can see the confusion already. My estimate is one acronym will be generated for every one hundred dollars spent on health care. One hundred acronyms will be generated for every two hundred dollars spent in classrooms by teachers who obey these acronymns. A sample of them are the IEPs, CATs and SIMs. These are evaluation tools designed to see the achievement in students each year. Hopefully, the teachers have bought enough books, paper and pens to ensure each child's chance during the No Acronymn Left Behind years.


IEPs are created by a multidisciplinary team of education professionals, along with
the child’s parents, and are tailored to the needs of the individual student.
Moreover..

The IEP is a
blueprint for everything that will happen to a child in school for the next year. Special and
general education teachers, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists,
school psychologists, and families form the IEP team and meet intermittently to discuss
student progress on IEP goals. Before the IEP team meets, an assessment team gathers information together about the student to make an evaluation and recommendation. The school psychologist, social worker, classroom teacher, and/or speech pathologist are examples
of educational professionals who conduct educational assessments. A neurologist may conduct a medical evaluation, and an audiologist may complete hearing tests. The classroom teacher also gives input about the academic progress and classroom behavior of the student. Parents give
input to each specialist throughout the process. Then, one person on the evaluation team coordinates all the information, and the team meets to make recommendations to the IEP team. The IEP team, which consists of the school personnel who work with the student and families, then meets to write the IEP based on the evaluation and team member suggestions.
“The IEP contains information about the student’s strengths and needs, as well as goals
and objectives based on these areas of need. Regular monitoring of student progress not only
helps to evaluate whether the student is making progress toward these identified goals, but also
helps the teacher to examine the effectiveness of the curriculum and the strategies used to
teach the student.”
− Autism program specialist IEPs always include annual goals, short-term objectives, and special education services required by the student, as well as a yearly evaluation to see if the goals were met. Annual goals must explain measurable behaviors so that it is clear what progress should have been made by the end of the year. The short-term objectives should contain incremental and sequential steps toward meeting each annual goal. Annual goals and short-term objectives can be about developing social and communication skills, or reducing problem behavior. A parents and teachers guide to follow is available on the web:
http://www.researchautism.org/resources/OAR_EducatorsGuide.pdf

See Appendix D which provides more information on writing objectives and developing measurable IEP goals for learners with autism. Somehttp://www.fairtest.org excellent blog feeds on NCLB

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/mesoj
http://www.fairtest.org

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen

I am in the middle of this great memoir-like story about depression-era circuses across the United States. The main character is narrating the part of the traveling veterinarian who maintains the animals for better or for worse. They include a foundering white horse Silver Star, agile monkeys, well-fed tigers and Rosie, who has just joined the Benzini brothers circus train in Joliet, Illinois, she is over 5 tons, is 58 years old, and doing pretty well for her age. She has many pachyderm talents, including bathing and carrying lot's of water from place to place, which her trainer and vet are mainly responsible for now. She has Uncle Al in a tizzy, though, since he now realizes the care may be more than it's worth having an elephant in the circus. Previous trainers didn't want her and almost gave her away. Sadly, but not surprisingly, this is turning out to be the circus from hell for the trainers and crew, and the land of the misfit animals to the rest of us. Sara Gruen is the author of many books on animal husbandry including, Riding Lessons and Ape House.

Monday, March 19, 2007

60% or fuzzy math

Over 60% of Iraqis are unhappy with the way their lives are leading and the toll on American lives is not any better. What is the worth in this outcome? As opinions arise, I find that the math stands for itself, Iraq is not eagerly against insurgents it is just limping along. So a question to a question keeps stirring in my mind and should be in the minds of U.S. politicians. Why continue in the Iraq war for the elite benificiaries?

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

State of the Union Address

http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2007/

After his State of the Union Address, President Bush has called Iraqis in power irresponsible, implying doom to the country after the unclaimed mess left by the opposing party for freedom. I ask Mr. Bush if he is ordering the empowered Iraqis to govern from home or to leave their official nation? What seems responsible for Iraqi government and people now is to think about their own safety. As in a crash landing, the flight attendant asks adults to assist small children after helping themselves. I apply the same rule to struggling Iraqis. Have their basic needs of food, water and shelter been met? I answer this question, again with another question. Whenever has the Middle East seen the end of bitter struggle for these basic needs? I invite more questions to this bigger picture discussion

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Town Hall

The importance in the exchange of information can't be underestimated, especially in its importance to today's political climate. Anyone 18 years and older must participate in the very world they criticize whether it is about the drugs and crime on the streets, education and medical costs or the care of our elderly. I hope to see more radio and satellite hosted town hall participation over the next campaign. Blogs, newscasts and podcasts online or on the media are available via Voice Of America News, the BBC news, or pbs.org. Please vote fully read.

This paper examines the development of a right to communicate and how it can be defined and implemented. The authors contend there is a need to address:www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_12/mciver

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Tea is too painful

Recently the weather in the Northeast has been sooo terribly dry, I have left a spot of tea by the reference desk to sip in order to talk throughout the day ironing out the answers to questions on our library users' minds. I had a complaint recently about how close the tea cup was to the reference books and incoming mail. I had to respond with a shrug. Too bad I hadn't had the great presence of mind to answer the plaintant with my very great "Employee of the Month Idea"! Have a complaint? Just turn it into flattery and you will get everywhere. You may even be nominated for the employee of the month award. This is the best way to deter departmentalism, it might even erase all of the lines of animosity. Just a suggestion, not a!@@$^%$&*^(*