Thing 17: One New Thing

Something new today is the Amazon Kindle, an e-reader that is hitting the market as this post is being written. I've been reading about it in the Newsweek magazine that arrived a few minutes ago, and also in Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog. It is supposedly the future of reading, the shape of things to come, the best improvement on the 550-year-old technology called "the book." I'll let you read about the features of the Kindle in the Newsweek article, or in Johnson's blog at http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/. Suffice it to say that it's a device the size and shape of a trade paperback that allows you to download novels, magazines, and newspapers and read them from the screen. The initial investment is $400 for the device, and the downloads of course have a price as well. But at $9.99 for a best-selling novel, it could pay for itself.
My initial reaction was, who'd want to read a screen? And my co-workers of a certain age tend to agree with me. But when I show the photo and article to students, I hear, "Wow!" and "Cool!!" and "I want one!!!" They're all for it. Then we talk about the ramifications of having volumes of information contained in a small device - an entire library in 5 Kindles? All of a year's textbooks in one Kindle? It could do away with heavy backpacks. English teachers could study different novels each year by choosing different downloads. The World Book could be updated with information as it happens. It's almost too much for a dinosaur like me to take in!
I don't plan to be an early adopter of the Kindle, but I'll be watching it closely.

Thing 13: Subscription Databases

What a great meeting yesterday! It was a real luxury to have time to explore a database (United Streaming for my group) and then to learn what others had discovered in their explorations. And it was surely a good thing to get to work with Kathy, my co-worker; usually our times to work together are squeezed into the snippets between classes or during a quick meeting after school. Karen guided us so expertly through the process, and it felt productive and useful.
I felt that I really benefited from hearing what the other groups learned about the databases. Although I have looked at them, and have spent time familiarizing myself with what they have to offer, they're so extensive that there's always more to learn.

Thing 4: Get to Know Your Public Library

Public libraries have always been a part of my life. Some of my earliest memories involve trips to the big old Carnegie Library with Dad and my four sisters. Mom was an avid reader but I'm sure she stayed home from the library trips to enjoy the peace and quiet, knowing we'd be gone for hours!
The public library that I frequent now is the Wildwood branch of the Washington County Library in Mahtomedi. I first visited there 27 years ago, having just moved to the area and looking not only for books but for connection to the community. It has been all that and more over the years. It's been story time for my children, community meeting space, source of the latest good books, computer access before we had that in our home, on-line databases when doing college course work, books on tape for long car trips - well, just too many things to count.
One of my favorite library programs is the "One Book, One Community" event held every November. The community reads a book by a Twin Cities author, then meets for a discussion/q&a with the author. Last evening Jim Klobuchar discussed his book Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset, with a good turnout of the community.
What would we do without public libraries, and librarians to make it all happen?

Unplugged

Because of my new laptop, I was able to do a very efficient job of weeding my library collection. On a day when my intern, Karen, was here to "mind the store", I put my computer on a book cart and wheeled it to the far back corner of the library, the corner that contains the ancient books about ancient history. As I pulled each volume off the shelf, I used my laptop to check the circulation record, and to delete those that hadn't been checked out in recent years, right on the spot. Handled each book once, instead of multiple times. I'm always looking for ways to lift and move heavy books as little as possible, so being unplugged and untethered from the desktop really helped in that regard.

Thing 9 - Streaming Video

I did an exploration of United Streaming as it relates to research, and found some interesting video clips. I looked at "Netfiles #301: Research Applications," and within that, the clip called "Learning to Recognize Valid Research Sources on the Internet." It was informative for me but not the sort of video that I would show to a group of students. The most interesting thing I learned was a site I hadn't heard of, called refdesk. The url is, of course, www.refdesk.com. It really does contain a wealth of information and links that I would encourage students to use.
I'm intrigued by United Streaming and plan to continue to explore what it has. We're also going to have a training session for the staff here at Highland to introduce them to this resource.