My Corner Window

Librarians Do Gaga

2010-05-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

I'm proud to be an iSchool alum.

My New Favorite Song

2010-04-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

I hope it makes you as happy as it makes me! (You'll just have to imagine Hansen doing the Egyptian in the background, as I didn't think to take a video of that. He gives it a thumbs-up, too.)

Keith Olbermann on Health Care

2010-02-26T08:42:00.001-08:00

Health care reform in this country is one of the issues that reallys gets me fired up! Here is what I found to be an incredibly powerful commentary by Keith Olbermann about his personal experiences with the health care system while advocating for his father who is very ill.

AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books

2010-01-29T11:55:00.000-08:00

One and all are invited to celebrate this year's SB&F Prize winning books at the awards reception on February 20th, 2010 in San Diego, CA. If any of you will be in San Diego for the AAAS Annual meeting or if you just happen to be in the San Diego area and would enjoy an evening with some really wonderful science book authors, please consider attending. All of this year's winning authors will be there (Molly Bang, Pamela Turner, Andy Comins, Idan Ben-Barak, and Robert Gardner). You can find a detailed list of the 2010 winners here.

As a member of the young adult science book committee, I would highly encourage you to attend.

What: AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books Awards Ceremony and Cocktail Reception
When: Saturday, February 20, 2010, 5:00 - 6:30pm
Where: San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, Del Mar Room, 333 West Harbor Dr., San Diego

RSVP by February 12th to Heather at hmalcoms@aaas.org

Obama, Niebuhr, and Tillich

2009-12-15T08:48:00.002-08:00

Over the last month we have had a guest speaker (Professor Andrew Finstuen) for the adult Sunday school at our church. The focus of his three classes were Reinhold Nieburh, Paul Tillich and Billy Graham. I am a little embarrassed to post publicly that I really had no knowledge of Tillich or Niebuhr, but I certainly left the series wanting to learn more about them. Now that I am more familiar with them, I have been seeing their names everywhere. One was an article in our local paper about The Serenity Prayer and whether or not it was authored by Niebuhr. The article concluded it had. Who knew?! Most recently, I came across an article (The Tragedy of Hope - The Daily Dish- by Andrew Sullivan) shared on Facebook by a friend about Obama that quoted Niebuhr at length and mentioned Tillich. I struggle with being moral and ethical everyday and I found it oddly comforting to see that the President shares these same struggles.

2009-12-15T08:48:00.001-08:00

Reading Rainbow and Funny Onion Article

2009-09-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, the reason for the article isn't that funny. The long running PBS children's program Reading Rainbow was recently canceled. It was the 3rd longest running show (26 years!) on PBS, after Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers. Sadly, not the station, nor PBS, nor the Corporation for Public Broadcasting wanted to pony up the funds necessary to renew the show's broadcast rights.

The only funny thing to come out of this debacle is this ridiculous article from The Onion. You can read it here

Random video

2009-04-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been ages since I have posted and I have been looking for things to share. Here is my random video for the day...Enjoy! It almost makes me wish I took the train to work.

Sarah Palin and Libraries

2008-09-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

There has been some interesting discussions about Sarah Palin (aka book banner) and libraries on the blogosphere today. Mostly pertaining to these two articles.

Here is a quote from the first article from Time.

"Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor."

And here is some of the article from the NY Times.

"Ann Kilkenny, a Democrat who said she attended every City Council meeting in Ms. Palin’s first year in office, said Ms. Palin brought up the idea of banning some books at one meeting. “They were somehow morally or socially objectionable to her,” Ms. Kilkenny said.

The librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, pledged to “resist all efforts at censorship,” Ms. Kilkenny recalled. Ms. Palin fired Ms. Emmons shortly after taking office but changed course after residents made a strong show of support. Ms. Emmons, who left her job and Wasilla a couple of years later, declined to comment for this article.

In 1996, Ms. Palin suggested to the local paper, The Frontiersman, that the conversations about banning books were “rhetorical.”"

Another Interesting Library News Story

2008-08-27T08:33:00.000-07:00

So, here is a link to a story about a library worker who was fired for writing about unsavory patrons. This brings up some interesting questions in my mind. First of all, her book was fiction, but that is beside the point. Also, is there an expectation of privacy in a public building? Also, I have worked at a number of different libraries and systems. It seems, they all have the same unsavory characters. Again, unsavory library characters are a subject for another post.

I Wonder If We Should Try This at Our Library?

2008-08-27T08:30:00.000-07:00

For those of you who missed this story last week.
The headline is "Cuffed, Booked and Fingerprinted for Overdue Library Books."

Yikes!

Inside Vs. Outside

2008-08-27T08:15:00.001-07:00

As noted in my previous blog, every year we go on a family camping trip. While I always look back in fondness on the trips, the preparation always gets to me. Also, if truth be told, I prefer inside to outside. However, I am glad to know that I am not the only one who feels this way.

One of my favorite YA authors (John Green)made a video blog over a year ago that perfectly captures my thoughts. If you have not seen John and Hank Greens' video blogs, you should. They are a hoot! For 2007, they vowed to not communicate at all via text (no emails or IMS, etc.). Their project garnered a ton of attention, especially Hank' musical ode to Harry Potter, which is a subject for another post. They continue to post video blogs on their website.

What to eat while camping?

2008-08-12T08:14:00.000-07:00

I am busy planning for our annual camping trip. Due to J's 20th HS reunion, we'll only be there for one night. Unfortunately that means a lot of work packing and prepping for one night, but so be it. Those who know me, know I have the ability to obsess over any little thing. Camping gives me lots of opportunities. (So does tiling the bathroom, but that is another story!) What to bring? What is fun, different, tasty, easy and kid friendly?! Thank goodness there are lots of websites chock full of information out there. One that I thought was especially intriguing was published in the Washington Post 4 years ago. How about an omelet in a bag? While I am intrigued by this idea, I am not sure how to implement it so that a group of 30 could all eat in a timely manner. I will have to ponder it some more. In the meantime, I guess I'll plan for the old standby of wraps or sammies.

I wish I could write this thoughtfully

2008-07-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

What a thoughtful and well-reasoned letter this gentleman has written to a patron who challenged a book they found in the library. The post is written by Jamie LaRue and can be found at his blog mylibblog.

Librarians: Superheroes of Democracy!

2008-07-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

July 8: A 60-year-old librarian holding a "McCain = Bush" sign was confronted by police, ticketed and escorted from the scene of one of John McCain's open forum town hall meetings in Denver on Monday. Author James Moore discusses.

ALA Runway

2008-07-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been over a year since my last post. Time to try and get back in the swing of things.
Enjoy!

Week #12

2007-05-22T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, Learning 2.0 is coming to a close. In our final post we have been asked to reflect on our experiences. I have really enjoyed participating in this process and have learned so much and discovered so many useful sites and services.

How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
I have better knowledge of what I don't yet know about web 2.0 stuff. Now that I know what I don't know, I can do a better job of making an effort to learn about it. Before, I didn't know what I didn't know and that makes for a poor learning environment.

What were your favorite Learning 2.0 discoveries or exercises?
I enjoyed practicing with Flickr and its tools. I also fell a small stab of pride at having my own blog and MySpace account. I work in the SC and used to work in a branch. This process has allowed me to keep up with some of my old pals at the branch.

Did anything surprise you?
Some of the activities took longer than I expected. Sometimes, I would make a choice on activities based on how long I thought it would take.

Was there enough help available when you needed it? N/A

What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept? I don't have an answer for that right now.

Would you like to see similar training opportunities as new library-relevant technologies emerge? Definitely!

And, last one, if you could go back in time and tell yourself to either participate in the program or skip it, what would you do? I would definitely participate again. I have even shared the process with other community agencies and committees that I work with.

Lastly, we were asked to post something else that we would have liked to learn about. I would love to know how to post video. I think a section on safety on the internet would be useful.

That's it for now!

Podcasting

2007-05-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

I am having so much fun this week . Instead of feeling like a fish out of water, I actually know something about podcasts already. Hooray for me! In fact, about 3 years ago I bought my first MP3 player from a colleague's son. It was nice becuase it already had music on it. It took me hours and hours but I was able to download audiobooks from Overdrive from the KCLS website onto it. I love this service because I can listen on my own timeline and don't have to worry about overdue fees. Then, I got a subscription to Audible so I could expand my collection. Sadly, my MP3 player was incompatible with Audible. So, I had to get an Ipod, of course! Well, after a year of Audible service I canceled it. But, I still wanted to be able to put new content on my Ipod. Thank goodness for podcasts. I have more content than I have time to listen to and it's all FREE. How cool is that?! Some of my subscriptions are ABC World News, NBC Meet the Press, NPR Fresh Air, NPR Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, Real Time with Bill Maher and The Satellite Sisters. Another great thing about MP3 players is that with a cassette adapter I can listen to them in my car. The RSS feeds I added to my bloglines for this round are Harry Potter Prognostications and LibVibe. It was hard to find material that is currently being updated. For many podcasts their last posting was months or even years ago. The LibVibe's most recent podcast was about Jim Rettig the new ALA president elected last week. I have to admit I was a little surprised when I did a keyword search on "library" and one of the top responses was "Erotic Xpressions from the Lusty Library." Yikes, I think I even blushed a little at my desk.

Oh, Oh, Oh, I have one more YouTube to Share

2007-05-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Another one of my favorites, it's called March of the Librarians and it was filmed in Seattle during ALA Midwinter.

Yeah for YouTube!

2007-05-03T14:07:00.000-07:00

Where to begin? I LOVE LOVE LOVE YouTube. I spend way too much time their as it is. Some of my favorites clips to look at are vintage Sesame Street bits. Here is a classic.

I also like to use YouTube to go back and watch my favorite American Idol contestants. Yes, I am a victim of pop culture. Poor me. I just have two words...Go Blake

Lesson #22, Choose Your Own Adventure

2007-04-27T12:16:00.000-07:00

I must admit the title for this week reminds me of those popular books from my childhood where you would read a page and then based on your decision, you would be told which page to turn to next. I was very excited to go explore the web 2.0 awards site. I was even more interested when I saw they had podcasting sites. However, after looking at them, I have to say there wasn't a lot of content there. Or, at least, not much that was new to me. I was hoping to find some new stuff to subscribe to and didn't find anything. So then I decided to look at the "books" section and it states there "There were either not enough nominations or there was no clear leader to award winners in this category." What? I know there are free audiobook downloads out there. THey couldn't find anything?! This site was a major disappointment. So, to cheer myself up I moved onto webware. Now this is a cool site. It just has blog postings about new web stuff. I was so impressed, I added it to my bloglines account. So, no new podcasts for me, but I do have a new feed in Bloglines, so it wasn't a total downer.

Lesson #21, the labs of Google

2007-04-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

I experimented with a numer of things in Google Labs. I like Google Transit, but it seems to do the same thing that the Metro site does. I typed in my locatation at work and my home address and discovered that if I caught a bus at the local park and ride at 12:01, I could be home by 3:17pm. This is one of the drawbacks of living out of the city and one of the reasons I don't commute by bus. I have been using Google Reader to keep up with some of my blogs. While it doesn't have all the blogs I have in my bloglines account, I find that I use it more because I am always logging into Google to read my gmail. Interesting how the ease of the user really matters. Hmmm... I also tried Google Suggestions. I think people will either hate it or love it. I love it. It lets you know all of the phrases that begin with your search term and how many sites are available with that particular search term. Fascinating. For instance, when I began to type in "Early literac" it showed that there were 6.9 million results for early literacy, 1.5 million results for early literacy skills, and 1.4 million results for early literacy activites and 3.3 million results for early literacy development. This would help users guide their search to get more results. However, they may not be better results. Google Trends was interesting, but I am not sure how I would apply it. It was interesting that the Australians are the ones searching the term "early literacy." However, the links off to the side were all two to three years old and I know there is newer material.

Lesson #18, Search what you like

2007-04-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

So, I didn't realize that I was more behind in this process than I though. So now my lessons are out of order. How embarrassing! I had fun exploring Rollyo and Google Custom Search Engine. I think that Rollyo's home page is a little misleading as there isn't a lot there. Also, I have a difficult believing that Debra Messing is making Rollyo searches on online shopping in her free time to share with the world. Hey, that just me. Also, there Celebrity Gossip search included PerezHilton, but not TMZ?! What is up with that?! Still, they seemed to have more content than that searches already available on Google. So here is a link to the search roll I created on Google. To be honest, I picked Google because I already have an account and it was one less login and password to have to remember. That said, it was very easier and I can see the potential use of my search roll. So here it is, my search roll of early literacy resources: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=007087822289536648025%3Afurqre6fr5y. It only has a few sites listed now, but I hope to add more of my favorites at a later date. Here's to hoping that someday I will have some free time!

Lesson #20, online software

2007-04-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I spent a bit of time exploring Google Docs and Zoho. I prefer Zoho. At first glance, it appears to have many more options. It had more choices for fonts. Also, when I saved my Google Docs file, it just named it after the first sentence automatically. Ewww. Zoho actually prompted me for a file name. Much better.

Lesson #19, Library 2.0

2007-04-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

Our instructions for this lesson are to blog a bit about 2.0, so that is what I will do! I read all the articles and I think at times the concepts they tout and their directions are at odds with each other. For example, the gentleman listing the "icebergs" or barriers claims that we should make technology so simple that our patrons don't need education. I read that as I am sitting at my computer taking part in a 27-lesson, 3 to 4- month training process and I am a trained professional. Yes, there are many patrons who are familiar with and already using this technology, but I think there are also just as many who aren't. Let's use the technology highlighted in Learning 2.o to make the tech savvy users welcome, but not at the cost of making others feel unwelcome. There are still many patrons who only use the library to check out books and media and that is okay. I did particularly enjoy the last section of the last article (http://www.oclc.org/nextspace/002/6.htm) about Library 4.0. Where can I sign up for that? It sounds like my kind of library.

Hey, that's me...

2007-04-11T14:34:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's me. Well, sort of. I have never claimed to be artistically gifted and this just proves it. In fact, my children have made miis of me on our wii at home and this looks nothing like my mii. I wonder what that says about my self image? Hmm... I wish there was a generator online that was as easy to manipulate as the mii generator on the wii. My children have had more fun making miis than playing the games at times. We have miis for all of our friends and family. My middle child got very creative and discovered you could shring down the set of eyeballs and place them over the nostrils and they would look like nose rings. What genius. A proud mommy moment for me, for sure.

Wikis

2007-04-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well, what to wonder about wikis. That is about as good as my alliterative skills get. I think wikis are a great idea. I first learned abou them at ALA, when ALSC introduced their wiki. They will definitely make committee work easier. I served as chair of a virtual committee and had to try to edit a document and reach a consensus amongst a group of librarians via email. Not an easy task, I tell you. With a wiki, I could have posted the document and all of the committee members could have had access to it and edited it. What a concept! I like anything that makes my life simpler. Go Wikis! I have also had fun browsing the conference wikis and I think they are a helpful tool as well.

Library Thing

2007-03-30T14:31:00.000-07:00

I have created my Library Thing account and added 5 titles. I could see how this would be useful for Reader's Advisory purposes. A great place to keep track of all of the books you have read.
Here is the link to my Library Thing Catalog, http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php?view=mareno. If any of the Learning 2.0 advocates are reading this, I would love to know how to post a clickable link. For example, if I had any blog readers they could click on Library Thing Catalog and it would take them to my catalog.

DEL.ICIO.US...

2007-03-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I have spent some time exploring del.icio.us as a part of my participation in Learning 2.0. I definitely need more time to play with the site and see what it has to offer. I can definitely see the potential use of this program. However, I can also see that it is not a perfect solution. Perhaps it is palatable, instead of delicious? People definitley have different interpretations for the words they use to tag. I found it similar to doing a search on google or ask, you take the good you take the bad.

Libraries and Social Networking Sites

2007-03-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Well, this week's assignment is to write about what we think about Librarians and Social Networking Sites. This is a tough one for me. I definitely can see their potential for publicizing and marketing library events and programs. On the other hand, I can also see how they can also be too much of a good thing. I don't have time to maintain the friendships I have now. And to be honest, I didn't choose to work in a public library because I wanted to be friends with all of the patrons or extend my social network, so to say. I guess I am still mulling over the whole concept. I'll leave it at that. In the meantime, I am off to create my own MySpace account. Maybe that will change my mind.

RSS Feeds, Part 2

2007-03-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I have fiddled around some more with RSS feeds. I had to stop when I realized I had 36 feeds. Yikes! I added feeds for a couple of collleagues, as well as the feed for the PI. I found it much easier to just add the sites that I normally surf. Once I had a few of my favorites in my bloglines feed, I discovered that when you opened it there was a button you could select called "related feeds." I found this to be very useful finding other feeds that would be of interest to me. I put in one of my favorite children's review blogs and using this tool, found a whole bunch more.

RSS Feeds aka Week # 4 or Lesson # 7

2007-03-13T15:37:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we are on lesson 7 already. I have been scrambling around the web setting up my RSS feeds. Oh yay, another set of login and password to remember! I can definitely see how using Bloglines would be a timesaver, if I can only find time to read it once I have it set up. I must admit that I have always wondered what was going on behind those orange boxes. Now I am in the know.

Sand Castles

2007-03-09T13:11:00.001-08:00

Sand Castles
Originally uploaded by mycornerwindow.

I have spent some time playing with some of the flickr toys. I can see their potential, but there is also a time suckage factor there. With the software I have, I have to first load them to the computer, then to Flickr, then I have to manipulate them. Still, I am very pleased wtih my mosaic from our trip last summer to Sand in the City in Olympia. The event was much more fun than I had anticipated and there is even a farmer's market at the site. I believe the kids most enjoyed digging in the big sandbox they provided for attendees.

Introducing The Knight

2007-03-06T12:27:00.001-08:00

Knight Hansen 2006
Originally uploaded by mycornerwindow.

Well, now that you have seen pictures of the prince and princess, you should meet the knight, as well. Here he is in all of his regal glory. Okay, my mother instinct to give equal attention to all three has been satisfied.

Happy (belated) Birthday!

2007-03-06T12:26:00.001-08:00

Lil and Doll 2006
Originally uploaded by mycornerwindow.

Okay, now that I have figured this out, I can see how this would be habit forming. This is the Princess. It was her 4th birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday, Princess!! Much fun was had by all. We had Tinkerbell party hats and Barbie 12 Dancing Princess party blowers. What more could a four year old want? Although, I must admit that we aren't winning parents of the year again in 2007. Part of her birthday fun was spent at the dentist getting her teeth checked. I am sure you'll be happy to know it was all good. Also, now that she is four she likes to wear long sleeves. I now believe anything is possible.

Chopper Bike

2007-03-06T12:21:00.001-08:00

Chopper Bike
Originally uploaded by mycornerwindow.

Okay, I am grying to insert this photo, the proper way via Flickr. Wish me Luck!

Flickr

2007-03-06T12:19:00.001-08:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Flickr and Chopper Bike

2007-03-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Third time is a charm, they say. The challenge for KCLS Learning 2.0 is to create a Flickr account, load a picture into the account and put it into a blog posting. Well, I have successfuly created a Flickr account and loaded 6 photos. However, I am having some problems getting the picture into my blog. Twice I have tried and have failed. However, I have been able to import the picture from my hard drive. What is up with that ?

This picture is of a chopper bike that the husband and the local neighborhood guys built last summer. Unfortunately, when it was completed they realized it was too small for them to comfortably ride. They are now creating a newer, super size version that they can enjoy. However, as you can tell from the pic, PS enjoyed it very much.

My First Blog!

2007-02-27T11:21:00.000-08:00

As a part of a Learning 2.0 training offered at work, I have created my first blog. I must admit I feel a little bit odd posting my thoughts on the web for all to see. Who knows where this adventure will take me? I've already learned lots of new things. Meanwhile, I am just enjoying the view from my corner window.