Every reader her book...

Yesterday was our staff day and someone quoted Ranganathan's Five Laws. I had forgotten about them and wanted to put them somewhere I'd remember them more often. So, here they are courtesy of an online image generator. Also, the speaker had a power point presentation and the title page was from an image generator I recognized. I felt so techno-savvy because I thought, "Hey, I know how he did that!" And, better yet, so did many of our staff because they had to do that exercise as part of 8N08.

Still working on the last exercise, on Social Networking. To do it, I had to register on facebook and since it's for work, I used my work email. Wow! I would find it very distracting if I kept my work email on it--all those pokes and posting to my board and everything. I'll be glad when this one's done. And then my work here will be done...

Why Wikis?

Exercise #7 is exploring wikis. It's ended up being a rather easy one, but that's okay because Exercise #4 and #6 were time-consuming and this will be a little break for everyone. I even wondered if it were worth talking about wikis, but decided it was. Many people, even librarians (gasp!) only know of Wikipedia and don't really know what a wiki is. Well, after Exercise #7, they should have a better idea.

Writers Live went quite well--people really enjoyed hearing David Giffels talk and we had the biggest crowd ever!

Last book I read was Deanna Raybourn's Silent in the Grave. I read it because it was on one of the RITA lists. I was thrilled to discover she has a second book and it was on our library's shelves! And she has a third one coming out next year!

I also read Bloody Confused: A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer by Chuck Culpepper. Ha! And you thought I only read romance! You could perhaps stretch it and say something about this is a book about the romance of the game, but that would be pushing it. Highly recommended if you love soccer (real football) and/or sportswriting. Not recommended at all if you don't because you wouldn't understand! (Just like I wouldn't understand or be interested in reading a book about--oh, say, cricket or golf! It's not an insult--it's just why would you want to try to read something you won't enjoy?)

Writing and Authors and Books, Oh My!

So, next week we have one of the two Writers Live luncheons MCDL holds each year. This time we have just one author. David Giffels bought a nearly condemned mansion in Akron (with his wife, Gina, who must be a saint to have done this) and has spent ten years restoring it. His book, All the Way Home: Building a Family in a Falling-Down House is a book worth reading, especially if you are familiar with Akron. Belle Elving of The Washington Post said, "His memoir, All the Way Home, is not only a chronicle of this renovation but also an homage to Akron, Ohio, and an affirmation of his place in it." Since my mom's family is from Akron and I received my BA from The U of A, I can relate to his love of the city.

Another author whose books I've been reading (gobbling up, devouring) is Katie Fforde. She's kind of like a British Susan Wiggs, but with perhaps a bit more humor. Her characters are gloriously, lovably imperfect. Here's her description of the hero in Restoring Grace : "Flynn Cormack might well have been Irish, but he certainly didn't exude the bonhomie Sara was obviously expecting. In fact, he seemed distinctly irritable." Later, Flynn catches the eye of the hero Grace and "regarded her with a strange, intent look. Grace wondered if her ancient makeup had done something funny to her face." How can you not relate to these characters? Well, okay, how can I not relate to them? And it's not just me. My mom loves them too. So, give Fforde a try.

Then at my NEORWA meeting, we learned all about how goals, conflict, and motivation can be used to strengthen your story. All I can say is I have work to do!

Attack of the Pod People -- Podcasts and other downloadable media

Finally (!) finished Exercise 6--podcasts and downloadable media. This is one I really wanted to get into the hands of staff members especially now that our library system offers access to downloadable books for iPods and other Apple products. Because we didn't want to clutter up the whole network with like a zillion books being downloaded, our tech people had to come up with a way that people could try it out without doing that. Which they did. Thank heavens. I hope a lot of staff members realize that it's not as difficult as they thought it might be.

As for me, I'm now reading Working Stiff by Tori Carrington, an ARC borrowed from a friend. When it comes out, if you look closely you'll find me (me!) mentioned in the acknowledgements. This was an unexpected treat and I was thrilled. Just started it but so far, so good. I like the character of Sofie Metropolis.

RSS Feeds

Between moving, attending ALA in June, and heading to Oshkosh for the EAA Airventure with a couple hundred thousand of my closest friends, I've spent most of my working hours catching up with what I missed. Thank heavens my library branch has a great staff that can function without too much guidance. Here's a(nother) picture of our plane, N5255N, a 1980 C-182 Skylane at Harry Cleaver Field in New Philadelphia, Ohio. If you look really closely, you can see me in the right seat. We spend a week camping under the wing every year with a group known as the Metro Warbirds. If you're not familiar with the phenomenon and are interested in aviation at all, you should check it out at http://www.airventure.org/.

Then, of course, I spent a day working at the Valley City Frog Jump. Yep, that's an annual festival in Valley City, Ohio where kids of all ages compete to try to make their frog jump highest. Not into catching frogs? No problem, you can rent one. No kidding. Check it out at http://www.valleycity.org/frogs/frogjmp.htm.

Here's a competitor!

So, with all this excitement, can you blame me for maybe not getting around to doing any more 8N08 exercises?

Fortunately, Eric, a colleague, was kind enough to pick up on RSS feeds and develop the exercise for them. I just tried it out--subscribed to loads of romance writing and library feeds. I'm amazed how easy it is! I think it will be a nice way for people to ease into finishing the second half of 8N08.

And my friend Carmen emailed me about a new Web 2.0 application from Amazon that ranks--for lack of a better word--stuff! It's called Unspun. Check it out: https://unspun.amazon.com/

8N08: The Saga Continues

First, if you read historical romance, let me recommend a nice light summer read by a friend of mine. It's getting great reviews and if you do the genre at all, you'll probably enjoy it.Now, back to business. I've been typing my fingers to the bone (to the bone, I tell you!) trying to get my fifth exercise together so our tech department can figure out how to make it happen. I'm trying like mad to get it done before I leave for ALA next week.It's on podcasts and downloadable media and I think staff will really enjoy being able to see what the fuss is all about.
Plus, with the news that some items will soon be available for use on iPods, I think there will be even more interest in using downloadable audiobooks.

Finished The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. I loved her first book, Garden Spells and just gobbled this one up too. They are magical!
Also, listening to on my MP3, another sophomore effort, Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos. Again, I loved her first, Love Walked In and am engrossed in the second. Love all the movie references, even though I don't get many of them!

Another debut, by Rebecca Flowers, Nice to Come Home To was like taking a walk back through my younger days. She was obviously from around my home town and I was thrilled to find out her mom was the director of a library in the county I work in. Too cool! I have to admit, at first, I didn't like the main character, but I grew to become quite fond of her. The mentions of Springsteen alone would win my heart.

Hope you are all enjoying some fabulous reading too!

Shelfari -- Readers Advisory Gone Wild

Here's a picture of our plane, which was in Illinois this weekend with my husband and daughter while I played soccer, rode my bike 25 miles and moved the kitchen. Needless to say I slept well on Sunday night. It's Tuesday now and I'm still recovering! But, isn't she pretty? Please note the dual nationalities of the flags which flutter in the breeze off the antennas.

Mary B. sent me something about Shelfari. It's a nice RA site that uses Web 2.0 to share your reading with others. Because it uses book covers, it's very visual, making it attractive to view and use. And--very cool--you can add it to your blog as I've done. SRC has been keeping us quite busy here at the library, so I've not had a chance to get any other exercises done and posted. The next one will probably be podcasts and uploading online books. Of course, ALA is coming up, followed by several days vacation, so if I don't get started before then, it will be July before I get any more done.