Daily Thoughts 8/5/2011

Lady in White - Portrait of Mrs. Théo Van Rysselberghe, 1926, Theo Van Rysselberghe

Daily Thoughts 8/5/2011


On the train to work, I read a little bit more of The Successful Business Plan. Right now, I am reading about keeping track of technology. I also read some more of Counterinsurgency by David Kilcullen and Blue Ocean Strategy. Right now, I am reading three books at the same time.


Today has been fairly quiet. I checked the donations, updated the Twitter and Facebook account, and checked the displays. This morning, I wrote a summary of the Social Media for Nonprofits conference. It was interesting going over some of the strategies that might work.


Some of the ideas which seemed to stick with me were that all the different communication channels needed to be linked together in a complete plan; Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, email, and website. This plan includes a complete story which people can follow easily so you can raise money and gain advocates. Part of the raising money and gaining advocates included finding people who would spread your message, making sure you have pictures of what you are buying with donations, and keeping thorough track of statistics for all your communications.

This is a list of Slideshare Presentations from Social Media For Nonprofits.  It covers more than what was at the conference.  http://www.slideshare.net/SM4nonprofits/presentations


I have been taking the time to talk to different people about our Social Media strategy.

On the way home, I finished reading Counterinsurgency by David Kilcullen.  This is a very politically charged and interesting book.  I don't really think that I have the military or intelligence background to really comment on the contents.  My undergraduate degree was in cultural anthropology.  I was surprised at the amount of material related to ethnography in military actions.  It made for very interesting reading.

I also spent a little bit more time reading about Blue Ocean Strategy.  It is not so much about competing with other businesses but creating alternative pathways to new markets and reaching out to people who have not used your product before.

Web Bits

September is National Library Card Month.
http://www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/card/CRipken_PSA_FINAL_8.5x11.pdf

Daily Thoughts 8/1/2011

The Two Sisters, oil on canvas, Pierre-August Renoir, 1889

Daily Thoughts 8/1/2011

Today has been a steady day.  I updated the Twitter account, checked the displays, and checked the donations.  There were a bunch of urban fiction books that were donated as well as some classics.  I also checked the Ereference.  We get lots of Local History questions in Ereference.

I am looking at doing some social media things for the library which should be interesting.  I started working on a a Facebook page for the library today. It is very different doing an institutional facebook page compared to do a personal Facebook page. It also feels different between doing a personal Twitter account and an institutional Twitter account.

I stayed late tonight to discuss technology in the library.  We talked about the computer lab, laptops, internet connections, the website, and a variety of different subjects.  A lot of patrons would like more wireless access and more laptops.  We also discussed possibly purchasing some magazine subscriptions for the Sony Ereaders which seems like an interesting idea.

Daily Thoughts 7/29/2011

Riley, James Whitcomb: “An Old Sweetheart of Mine” (1902) Study, Chair, and Bookcase

Daily Thoughts 7/29/2011

Today, I checked the Twitter account, checked the book sale, and checked the displays.  I spent some time talking to our new sales representative from Better World Books.  I like to think of Better World Books as a more acceptable way of letting our discards go.  They take old library discards and sell them.  I also like to think of the book sale next to the circulation desk as a way to generate good will.

I read two copies of the New York Times Book Review today and checked the purchase alerts to see what people are placing on hold.  I also placed the book The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan on hold.  It was reviewed in the New York Times Book Review.

We also got some more donations today.  There were a few young adult books worth adding.  I also compiled the monthly statistics today.

On the way home, I read some more of The Successful Business Plan and did some basic exercises to outline questions about the type of business I would be interested in doing.

Daily Thoughts 7/26/2011

Cover art by Frank E. Schoonover from The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1919.

Daily Thoughts 7/26/2011 


Last night, I finished reading Germline by T.C. McCarthy.  It is military science fiction with some very interesting twists and turns and a unique setting. 

This morning, I updated the Twitter account, checked the displays, and contacted some people about programs.  I am going to the Association of Community Based Arts of Westchester Writers Networking Workshop on Thursday night.  It should be interesting to see how it is done outside of the library setting.  I have not been to the Association of Community Based Arts of Westchester before.

People seem to be interested in extending the computer class which is tonight.  We are getting good attendance so far.

I also spent some more time thinking about the web site survey and what it means.

Last night, I went to Developing Entrepreneurial Ideas at the the General Assembly http://www.generalassemb.ly/ which is an entrepreneurial training space.  I enjoyed the session very much.  http://entrepreneurialideas.eventbrite.com/   The teacher, William Reinisch was was quite interesting.  It was the first time I have taken this kind of class.  I have visited a number of entrepreneurial spaces like New Work City and gone to various Meetups, but this was quite different.  General Assembly just opened this year in January of 2011.  They had a business card and a website, but no brochures.  The space itself has a very wide open feel to it which is quite comfortable.

On the way home, I read a bit of the book Mindwalks by Mary H. Frakes.  It is a series of short one to two page statements about walking meditation which is a form of active meditation different than sitting meditation.  It is more focused on paying attention to your outward surroundings, breathing while moving, and being aware of your body in motion than sitting meditation.

Daily Thoughts 7/20/2011

Print shows the poet Henjō with two other women reading poetry.
Date Created/Published: [between 1795 and 1801, printed later]


Daily Thoughts 7/20/2011


This morning, I read some more of Curation Nation.  The author is describing how people are beginning to switch from being only consumers to being prosumers which are consumers which proactive choices about what they will buy.  He also is describing how many consumers are also beginning to produce material using blogs and other mediums.


Today, I checked the Twitter account, looked over the displays, checked the donations, and checked the ereference in the morning.  I also took some time to look through the Local History room drawers on the library.  There are quite a few interesting images of the Bookmobile from the 1920s and other pictures which are from the library.

I did my tour with the Red Hatters.  It was a little different than the standard library tour because they had special questions about the collection like what the genealogy and black history resources are as well as about the art and historical objects were throughout the building. For example, they asked about the United States flag from the Citizens of Mount Vernon presented to the 4th Battalion, 8th Coast Artillery, N.Y.G. presented on July 3, 1919 in the library.
 

Web Bits

10 Unconventional Bookstores for Your Browsing Pleasure
http://flavorwire.com/194844/10-unconventional-bookstores-for-your-browsing-pleasure

Content Farm Cartoon.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/17/opinion/sunday/20110717_McFadden_Cartoon.html 

Daily Thoughts 6/8/2011

Don Quichotte bei der Lektüre. Bleistift auf Velin. Ca. 23,5 : 16 cm. Rechts unten monogrammiert "AF".

Daily Thoughts 6/8/2011

I read a bit more of Idea Man by Paul Allen.  It gives some really excellent descriptions of how driven people can be.  I really like the descriptions of Bill Gates drinking endless cups of coffee and coca cola and programming all night long.  The raw drive is pretty incredible to read about.

Today has been another quiet day.  I checked the Twitter account in the morning, checked the displays, and discussed the ereader policy today.  I also wrote a few handouts and set up a program for an author talk.

Tomorrow, the Friends of the Library will be setting up the community room for the book sale.

I took some time to read through Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and the latest New York Times Book Review.  There are two books that I will probably read that are coming out soon.  The first is Ekaterina Sedia, Heart of Iron and the other is Gail Carriger, Heartless.  Both of these are steampunk novels by women writers with very unique styles.

Daily Thoughts 5/18/2011 (Twitter)

Sir Joshua Reynolds, The Reading Boy, 18th Century

Daily Thoughts 5/18/2011

Today has been a quiet day.  I took a few days off to rest.  This morning, I updated the Twitter account.  I also checked on the displays making sure that the current events display was up to date.  I also wrote the bimonthly report. We try and keep this to a single page.

This afternoon, I did two programs.  The first was the Internet Job Search hour where we help people look for jobs.  We have a job section up on our website.  I also did the Graphic Novels club which went well.  We usually have the Trading Card Club for teenagers at the same time.

Tonight, we have the Board of Trustees meeting at 6:30 p.m.

Web Bits

Library Journal and NetGalley Announce Partnership for Reviews of Ebook Originals

http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/890641-264/library_journal_and_netgalley_announce.html.csp


New York Review of Books-- A Country Without Libraries Charles Simic
http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2011/may/18/country-without-libraries/



Seth Godin The Future of the Library
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/05/the-future-of-the-library.html

Daily Thoughts 3/1/2011 (1812, Twitter, Survey)

Unpleasant News, 1896, Rosalvo Ribeiro

Daily Thoughts 3/1/2011

Today has been a quiet, steady day.  We put out the Public Library Service Survey at the circulation desk.  It is also going to be distributed to a few other places.  Hopefully, it will help us get some more feedback about the library.  The survey is now on the front page of the library as well. http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/node/111

I read some more of 1812 this morning.  The conflict has an edge of cruelty in it more than fear.  The vampires are more violent and loathesome than fearsome.  It makes the style different than most vampire novels.

I also did a little bit more weeding in the storage area and spent some time checking the inventory.  Things are moving along steadily.  The new Twitter account hit 100 people today.  http://twitter.com/mtvernonlibrary

Three books came in for me to look at, Content Rules by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman, The Experience Economy by B. Joseph Pine II and james H. Gilmore, and The Lifecycle of Software Objects.

On the way home, I finished reading 1812 by Jasper Kent.  There is a nice element of self deception in the novel which makes it quite interesting.

Daily Thoughts 2/9/2011 (The Content Management Bible, Twitter)

Johannes Geiler von Kaysersberg: Navicula sive Speculum fatuorum. Straßburg, 1510

Daily Thoughts 2/9/2011

I checked the displays, updated an announcement for an event on Twitter, and am editing the web survey so we can do it as an in person survey as well.

An example of how an event spreads virally.  We posted a poetry event on our website and now it is picked up by a local Mount Vernon poet. http://maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick.tumblr.com/post/3201489198/poetry-reading-mount-vernon-public-library

On the way home, I read some more of The Content Management Bible.  It is 1122 pages long.  I like what I am reading.  Some of the ideas are quite interesting from a library perspective, "content makes ideas visible" and "content is neither hardware nor software."  For me it is almost the philosophical grounding of what you put into computers.
Web Bits

New York Libraries Say Governor's Proposed Budget Cuts Are Disproportionate
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/889158-264/new_york_libraries_say_governors.html.csp

Daily Thoughts 2/7/2011 (The Content Management Bible, Twitter)

Honore Daumier, Der Leser, Oil On Wood, 2nd Third of the 19th Century

Daily Thoughts 2/7/2011

The book, The Content Management Bible, 2nd Edition by Bob Boiko has come in for me to read.  I am taking the time to learn some new skills. 

I checked the displays this morning and did some email reference.  I also did a little bit of weeding in the storage 800s.  We have started inventorying the collection in the storage area to make sure that things are properly entered into the catalog.  Some of it is checking for items that are market missing but are there, looking for items that are zero circulation, checking for duplicates, and other tasks.

We now have a Twitter account for our library. http://twitter.com/mtvernonlibrary  We are starting to ask people to follow the library.  We have two followers right now.  If you are in Westchester and on Twitter, please take the time to follow.

I read some of The Content Managment Bible on the way home.  The author was writing about the difference between data and content.  Content is data that is made usable.  Content translates raw data into usabile information.  Then this usable information is put into networks to create knowledge which people can learn from.  It has a certain logic to it.  It is a little different than the logic I am used to in every day life.

Daily Thoughts 10/9/2010 (social media, twitter, facebook, the monstrumologist)

Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918), 1885, El lector (The Reader), Museo Thyssen Bornemisza

Daily Thoughts 10/9/2010

I created a display this morning for poetry.  I also checked the displays to see they were in order.  A new steampunk book came in for me to read, Dreadnought by Cherie Priest.  It looks interesting. 

While I was looking through various reviews I came across a new Ammon Shea book, The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads.  I rather like Ammon Shea because he writes about things like dictionaries, encyclopedias, and grammar with a very avant garde style.

I had a long train ride home from work.  This being the weekend of a holiday made the trains exceptionally slow, convoluted, and requiring multiple transfers.  This gave me a bit of extra reading time.  I finished reading The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey which was gripping. I could not put it down.  The mad doctor Erasmus Grey who collects, dissects, and eradicates monsters is absolutely convincing.  Will Henry, the orphan apprentice of Grey is also very well done.  The best though is the monster hunter Kearns hired to help them.  Kearns is the apex of nihilism and is an utter beast inside with a very refined exterior.  There is even a discussion guide to the book in the back.  An utterly fantastic read.

Web Bits

Malcolm Gladwell on Twitter and Facebook.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/oct/03/malcolm-gladwell-twitter-doesnt-work


I am going to disagree with this in some ways. Twitter and Facebook can be used to feed into other forms of citizen journalism like blogs and news sites. They are part of a larger strategy which can be used to bring about change. They can be part of a larger advocacy strategy. This is a site called http://www.savelibraries.org/  It feeds news from the web into the site. There are twibbons banners which can be added to facebook and twitter. Save libraries feeds into Twitter and Facebook with news channels. Twitter and Facebook by themselves are just pieces of a larger puzzle. They are channels of communication.



Another piece which is missing from this article is that Twitter and Facebook can be used to host events that allow people to meetup in person over time. For example while they were holding rallies at an earlier date to keep New York Public Library open, these rallies were fed by many other types of groups, meetups, tweetups, and other organizational methods to gather people. On Facebook Urban Librarians Unite was part of the campaign to save Queens Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and New York Public Libray http://www.facebook.com/urban.unite Some of the groups through social media are not short term. A good example of this might be http://www.meetup.com/nylibrarians .  If you are thinking about all social networks being purely a platform for business, The American Library Association also has ALA Connect http://connect.ala.org/

These were just a piece of a larger strategy as well which included other communication channels; postcard campaigns, rallies, letters and email communications.  Twitter and Facebook feed right into journalism.  It is very easy to communicate using forums and other tools directly with the media now.


Many of the people in these groups blog as well and build a slow following. A good example of how to do this is through the book, We The Media, http://oreilly.com/catalog/wemedia/book/  Twitter and Facebook add to the ability to use grassroots journalism effectively.

Thinking that Twitter and Facebook as solely a written medium is also fallacious.  Twitter and Facebook can be tied into Youtube to create videos which can spread quickly.  I have not tried this yet.  It also possible to use podcasts to create audio as well.  It opens an entire new way to report what is happening from the opinion of the person experiencing the events.

There is nothing stopping people from using a complete media strategy with Facebook, Meetup, Twitter, Blogs, and other media.  For these things to be effective people would have to meet in person through specific gatherings over a long time period.  Social media is not an abstraction.  For it to work, take the time to meet some of the people who you are communicating with.

It also is a good venue to invite people for events like Bacon Palooza which is a fundraiser to help autistic children  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=152396631460119

I just got a book called The Dragonfly Effect Quick, Effective, and And Powerful Ways To Drive Social Change by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith with Carlyle Adler.

Romance? (snort)

My wife was hanging around when I was doing our taxes, and in the course of our conversation, I mentioned another author had suggested I join the Romance Writers of America .

Of course, my wife nearly snorted up a lung, so for the next fifteen minutes we giggled about me writing a romance novel. She said the romantic moments would be like, "Hey, I like your butt." Then she added that me writing a romance novel would be like her writing a cookbook (she hates cooking) or a travelogue (she's hates traveling even more).

Then I started Tweeting. So for your enjoyment, here are the top ten reasons I can't write romance.

Yay!

(clap, clap, clap)

1. I'm a guy
2. I hate staring at a blank screen
3. I'd have to access remote, undeveloped parts of my brain.
4. When you say 'romance', I say SuperBowl.
5. I keep that part of my brain mixed up with my funny bone.
6. It's like ... alien.
7. No guy can. those guy writers are actually women in disguise.
8. My wife already thinks I'm Fabio because I cook on weekends and put the toilet seat down.
9. It ... might ... CHANGE me!
10. Cuz I'm doing my taxes right now.
11. When I actually sit and watch a romance, I can feel rigor mortis settling in.
12. Those are the parts of the movies where I take a pee break.
13. Romance isn't nudity.
14. My wife wouldn't recognize me.
15. Cuz I think romance is bouncing my eyebrows and saying, "how you' doin'?"
16. Cuz it would just come out creepy.
17. The amount of wine required would make me a lush and pickle my liver.
18. Fart jokes and belching the alphabet would have no place in the book.
19. Have you seen me attempt to dance? I think there's a connection there.
20. It's Just. Not. Funny.

We stopped because she had to go to the bathroom. What's disturbing was how eager she was to help me create the twenty Top Ten reasons.

And more disturbing, she had twenty more.

So I write humor. It's easier on the brain and I've learned to type with my funny bone.

Norm

http://www.normcowie.com/

(author of Fang Face: YA humor/vampire - download into your computer or Kindle and read in less than five minutes for under three bucks!)

Hello, my name is Heather Ingemar, and I'm a Twitter-freak

I'm a Twitter addict.

Which is funny, because I never thought Twitter was something I'd get into -- after all, you've only got 140 characters, and why would people be interested in knowing what you're doing? All the time? Every waking minute of every day?

But I was curious.

So I signed up, and...

What's that saying about killing the cat??? ;)

~*~

Heather S. Ingemar has loved to play with words since she was little, and it wasn’t long until she started writing her own stories. Termed “a little odd” by her peers, she took great delight in exploring tales with a gothic flair, and to this day, Edgar Allan Poe continues to be her literary hero. To learn more, please visit: http://ingemarwrites.wordpress.com/ or follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/heatheringemar

Buy a story (or two or three): Heather Ingemar on Echelon Direct

Addicted to Facebook

Addicted to Facebook?!? Who me? Naaaaah. Never.

Twitter, Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, Gather, Authors Den, MySpace, Good Reads, Digg, JacketFlap, Nothing Binding, Red Room...

Okay, you caught me. I belong to all of these and more. I've learned to control my addiction, however, and usually concentrate on two or three a week. I don't believe I'm addicted to Facebook, but admit to snousing what my friends are up to even before I check e-mails!

From book releases to author visits to political, uh...discussions, it's all right there, simple and concise for my overloaded brain to digest.

A special benefit is connecting with old friends and classmates with the Facebook search tool. I've re-friended people I haven't seen for over 4 decades! What an eye-opening experience.

Do I look that old??

For my school friends reading this: I'm not talking about you! Just all those other classmates of ours. (ahem)

I've also joined family groups and discovered 2nd, 3rd, 10th cousins! Relatives I never knew existed are uncovered with the click of a mouse.

Social networking at its best. But, let me be clear. I will not join FARMVILLE. Not NOW, not EVER!

What are your favorite social networking sights? Has it been a good experience for you, or a bad one? Facebook addicts want to know.

On another subject, if you're addicted to ebooks, check out "Cynthia's Attic" series on Kindle!

Mary Cunningham Books
Amazon
Kindle
Fictionwise
Quake/Echelon Press

Mary Cunningham is the author of the award-winning, 'Tween Fantasy/time-travel series, "Cynthia's Attic," women's humor book, "WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty," and several short stories.

Internet Friends - My Favorites

Don't get me wrong. I like people. No, seriously. I do! People are nice, for the most part, and unless you voice radical political views on Facebook or Twitter or other social networks, I'm happy to be your friend.

Post pictures, front and center, of your doggies, kitty cats or other special friends you hold dear to your hearts, and I'm there! A friend for life.

I've chosen a few of my Facebook "friends." They may not post clever little "tweets" like, "OMG, going for a walk!" (pant, pant) or quizzes like, What is your favorite chew toy, or If you could be famous, would you be: 1. Lassie 2. Eddie 3. Morris the Cat 4. Mr. Ed 5. Jaws

But, their adorable faces say it all.

Come to think of it, I may prefer these friends for just that reason. And, if your favorite friends are "rescues," they're even more special on my page.

If you're interested in rescuing or adopting, here's a list of shelters across the country

'Tween author, Mary Cunningham writes the award-winning series, Cynthia's Attic. Look for Book Four, "The Magician's Castle" DEC 2009 from Quake (Echelon Imprint). While you're waiting, look for the series on Amazon

Mary Cunningham Books

Mary Cunningham Facebook