Terminei minha segunda-feira em uma delegacia.

Eu já contei sobre os problemas que meu filho vinha sofrendo na escola e que já havia reclamado com o diretor e com pais, e que estava tendo que leva-lo e busca-lo na escola para que ele não apanhasse.
Depois das férias, comecei a solta-lo um pouco. Ele voltou a ir sozinho para a escola, depois a brincar na praça, e por fim a voltar sozinho da escola.
Semana passada um colega de sala (repetente, 13 ou 14 anos e muito maior que ele), o segurou para que outros colegas batessem nele. Como era um único episódio, tentei manter a rotina que estava estabelecendo para ele.
Ontem, o mesmo menino, chateado porque ele havia defendido um gol, deu nele um soco. Depois da aula, esperou no caminho de volta da escola e deu uma surra nele. As pessoas tentavam separar e só quando ameaçaram chamar a polícia é que ele parou.
Tomei então a atitude que já deveria ter tomado. Liguei para a polícia, tomei as orientações, fiz o exame médico (que serviria como corpo delito) e prestei queixa na delegacia. Agora será aberta a investigação e pretendo levar o processo até a promotoria.
O blog teve grande peso na minha decisão. Ontem, após a blogagem coletiva pedindo justiça no caso Joanna, caí por acaso no Gabriela Sou da Paz, onde li vários relatos de violência e à medida que lia, pensava nas famílias das vítimas.
Quando uma conhecida me ligou, pedindo para buscar meu filho na loja dela, e contando o que havia ocorrido, lembrei da postagem da Flávia, sobre a mãe leoa e a mãe cágado, e resolvi dar um basta em toda essa situação.
Numa cidade onde todo mundo conhece todo mundo, normalmente as pessoas esperam as coisas se resolverem sozinhas, porque conhecem os pais, ou são amigos dos avós, ou até mesmo parentes.
Espero que a minha atitude sirva não só para acabar com as agressões ao meu filho, mas para abrir caminho a outras mães que possam vir a ter o mesmo problema.

Daily Thoughts 8/31/2010 (Acquisitions Web, Trustees )

19th-century painting representing Alexander I's visit to the Russian National Library on January 2, 1812.

Daily Thoughts 8/31/2010

Today has been another steady day.  I worked on a bookmark for starting a business with a list of recommended book titles.  I am also thinking about doing another one which points to different web sites for business.  I also looked around a little more in the storage stacks.  I still have to look at our electronic ordering.




http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/886292-264/every_reader_a_reviewer_the.html.csp An article from Library Journal on how reviews have spilled out of the professional journals to all over the web. 




I found the new website for Acquisitions Web which is a resource site for acquisitions and collection development librarians.  It has a lot of useful information on the site.  The site is designed in Drupal which is an open source content management system. http://www.acqweb.org/ 




I read a little bit more of Common As Air. It is a very philosophical book.  The author is very focused on ideas. 




My library is seeking two trustees.  I am hoping the board chooses someone with strong fundraising skills, a sense of customer service, and strong ties with the local arts community.  The address to apply is in the briefing.  http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20108240337  




I added the month of June to my list of book reviews.  I am thinking of what comes after this.

A casa não caiu (e ponto final)

Lembram que eu contei sobre a antiga casa da fazenda que seria demolida?
Pois não foi, nem será demolida! Meu tio voltou atrás, desfez o negócio com a firma de demolição e resolveu, de uma vez por todas manter a casa de pé. Sabíamos que era uma decisão difícil para ele. Aos quase 80 anos, jogar no chão a casa onde nasceu e passou toda a vida não é uma coisa fácil.
A restauração da casa custaria boa parte do seu patrimônio. A decisão, por enquanto, foi simplesmente deixá-la em pé. Para mim, já é o bastante. Saber que ela está lá, o palco das grandes festas promovidas pelo meu bisavô, o cenário onde nasceu e cresceu meu avô e minha mãe e também um dos lugares preferidos da minha infância.
É muito bom saber que, depois da curva avistarei a casa da Fazenda do Segredo, e que atrás dela, ao lado do estacionamento, está o meu querido pé de carambola.
Beijos

A Dog Challenge

How can I resist challenges like last month's one on James Parker's Windows to the Words blog?  Especially when it involves DOGS!

This is a beautiful dog owned by Laura Rowe.  Unfortunately I don't have her details or a blog address for her, or the name of this beautiful dog, but she did one of my Katie in return.

Here they both are -

Laura Rowe's Dog

Katie

Daily Thoughts 8/30/2010 (the Facebook Era, Tragedy of the Commons )

Drawing of Elizabeth Siddal, June 1854, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Public Domain, From Wikimedia

Daily Thoughts 8/30/2010

On the train to work, I finished reading the Facebook Era which of course is on Facebook under http://www.facebook.com/thefacebookera .  I also started reading Common As Air.  The main focus is on intellectual property and what is in the commons for everyone to use freely.  This is a very interesting topic because it touches on genetic maps, seed crop genomes, media, law, fair use, and copyright.  On the way home, I read some more.  He describes the feudal commons in England.  It is a very different interpretation of the history of the commons than what you might read in the seminal essay, The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/162/3859/1243 . 




Another book came in for me to read today, Self Esteem, A Proven Program of Cognitive Techniques for Assessing, Improving, and Maintaining Your Self Esteem by Matthew McKay, Ph.D. and Patrick Fanning.




Today has been a day to write reports.  I am writing something on shelving materials, preparing some material for the monthly report, and making some suggestions about a vendor.




I also did a little bit more looking around in the storage area.  I like going downstairs sometimes to look at the old books. Books catch your eye like Waverly by Sir Walter Scott or Jurgen by James Branch Cabell.  It is satisfying handling older material.  I also sat down with a colleague and looked at some of the old black and white photographs of our building in the local history room, the reading room in 1909, the reference desk in 1938, the technical service area in 1975.  In November it will be the anniversary of our library.



I decided to finally break down and bought a domain name.  I bought http://www.bookcalendar.net/ It should go into effect soon.  It will be a process to include metatags in my next submission to search engines.  I want to confirm the difference between having my own domain and not having my own domain.  I also want to have a chance to add some stronger meta tags. 

Joanna Cardoso Marcenal

Blogagem coletiva proposta por Ly Mello.
“Todos os dias vejo o sorriso no rosto de uma criança. Um sorriso cálido, cheio de sonhos e desejos. Ela me chama de mãe, me abraça e me transmite o maior amor do mundo.
Todos os dias luto por ela. Cuido, amo incondicionalmente.
Todos os dias penso em como será a sua vida, num mundo cheio de problemas, mas também cheio de maravilhas.
Todos os dias lembro de como foi tê-la em meu ventre, imaginar seu rosto e sentir seus movimentos.
Todos os dias vejo como ela cresce, se movimenta, aprende palavras e se relaciona com as outras pessoas.

Vocês já pensaram se isso tudo lhes fosse retirado de uma hora para outra? Já pensaram no berço vazio? Já pensaram em não acordar mais cedo ou passar noites em claro pela falta de SEUS FILHOS? Fechem os olhos e pensem nisso. Sentiram um medo terrível só de pensar? Agora abram seus olhos e olhem para seus filhos. Sentiram um alívio tremendo?
É MÃES, a Cris está com o berço vazio!!!! E o coração cheio de uma dor insuportável. Quando ela fecha os olhos e abre de novo, sua filha não está mais lá. O alívio não vêm e a dor continua.

Para a Cris, essa dor vai continuar sempre! Não haverá justiça no mundo que apague a dor pela filha que se foi.
Se não levantarmos nossa voz para deixarmos bem claro que a decisão da justiça foi falha, que NENHUMA LEI AFASTA A FILHA DE UMA MÃE POR 90 DIAS, que um médico ou hospital errou muito por deixar que um estagiário cuidasse de uma menina que precisava de cuidados de um profissional muito bem treinado e com experiência, além de outros absurdos no caso de JOANNA... Vocês já leram sobre o caso? Já sabem o que está acontecendo? Se não levantarmos nossa voz para isso tudo, qual legado deixaremos para os nossos filhos? Que ter influência e dinheiro é tudo na vida? Que essa influência pode superar o amor e a dor?

Há leis para tudo hoje em dia! Leis criadas para nos protegerem. E quando não são, como foi o caso de JOANNA?
E se fosse com você, o que faria? O que você gostaria que fizessem por você? Então MÃES, levantem SUA VOZ. Ajudem, repassem, escrevam suas palavras. Mas façamos algo, antes que um dia nada se faça por NÓS e pela perpetuação da ajuda mútua. Do amor ao próximo."


A história se repete. Isabela Nardoni, Joanna Marcenal.
Cobre você também que se faça justiça no caso Joanna. Lute por um país melhor para seus filhos, por um país com pessoas melhores.
Lute para que isso não se repita próximo a você.

Bring On The Books For Everybody How Literary Culture Becomes Popular Culture by Jim Collins

Bring On The Books For Everybody How Literary Culture Becomes Popular Culture by Jim Collins.

Jim Collins is a professor at the University of Notre Dame. This book is published by Duke University Press in 2010. Jim Collins is writing for a popular audience. The word choice is quite interesting and wonderful. He uses terms like lit-lit, bibliotherapy, adaptation film, and superstore. There is melding of the academic with the popular. Jim Collins easily moves between subjects like Ladies Home Journal and modernist literature. The juxtapositions are striking.



The writing is at times funny, ironic, and witty. The author is describing how literature is transformed into a popular medium and taken out of the academy. He describes adaptation films (films adapted from literary works,), the New York Times Book Review, Oprah's Book Club, and chick lit.



Jim Collins explains how literature is treated as both a form of self cultivation and self actualization. Many people read the classics to be better people. We get a of an Oprah Winfrey episode of television where Oprah encourages people to read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, the classic Russian novel. It is at times appalling, fascinating, and poignant.

I espcially liked his sections on books to film. Two of the books which he spends quite a bit of time on are The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje and The Hours by Michael Cunningham both of which were turned into excellent films.



Jim Collins is describing the packaging of books into a complete line of products; books, films, furniture, and other products. Books become a brand unto themselves. This is an article that explains the phenomenon with the book, Eat Pray Love. http://www.mercurynews.com/fashion-style-headlines/ci_15797294?nclick_check=1



Classic literature becomes swept up in the process as well. Shakespeare becomes books like Shakespeare In Love and Jane Austen becomes The Jane Austen Book Club. This marketing is exploited by companies like Target, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other super shopping sites. Henry James and other writers become commodities.



I am not completely comfortable with this. I find some of it goes too far. For example, books like The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger are clear attempts at romantic consumerism; a mix of buying the right stuff, sex, and relationships.  Sex and the City for literature.



This is a very interesting book. It is quite topical for librarians, booksellers, and people interested in books. It even mentions Nancy Perl and her segment on books on National Public Radio. The book is well indexed and has an extensive bibliography. I highly recommend reading this book.

Porque eu mereço

E marido sabe disso!

(Só espero que não seja revertido em horas de Milionário e Zé Rico...)

Beijos!

Daily Thoughts 8/29/2010 (The Facebook Era, The Oxford English Dictionary )

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) studying the cycloid, engraved on the tablet he is holding in his left hand; the scattered papers at his feet are his Pensées, the open book his Lettres provinciales. Exhibited at the Salon of 1785; the plaster model was exhibited at the Salon of 1781, Louvre, PublicDomain, From Wikimedia
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blaise_Pascal_Louvre.jpg  
Daily Thoughts 8/29/2010

I read another chapter in the Facebook Era by Clara Shih.  She was writing about social media as a recruiting tool for business.  Businesses are looking for candidates through Facebook, Linkedin, Ryze, and other networks.  If you are a recruiter who is interested in the social media side of recruiting, there is http://www.ere.net/  Electronic Recruiting Exchange network which has a very nice set of articles on the subject.  They also have a national conference every year.  I still get invites to it, even though I haven't been in recruiting for many years.




I think I might be working on some bookmarks and a flyer next week for small business books.  We are having a five session long program on entrepreneurship in September presented by the Womens Enterprise Development Center, the mayor is doing a small business expo part of it is going to be held at the library, and we have been purchasing quite a bit of material on small business lately.  Plus it coincides with my own interests.




I added some more book reviews from August 2009 to my book review list. This is a steady long term project.




The Oxford English Dictionary is moving online only.  The last time I used this was to find the etymology of some words for someone.  It is not very practical for modern usage.  I can understand why it is going online.  Still, I think it should be available through print on demand for a considerable fee if someone wants it. http://www.nwcn.com/news/Oxford-English-Dictionary-may-be-going-online-101756313.html 

Daily Thoughts 8/28/2010 (metatags)

Open Book with Victorian Border and Blank Page , Quin, Liam: “Pictures of old books” (2003)



Daily Thoughts 8/28/2010

I have been going back and pulling my old reviews and slowly adding them to my book review list.  I finished adding September of 2009 today.  Each day I will do a little bit until I am done.  I found out I am listed in a blog search engine called http://www.tamazu.com/  It is giving me a lot of traffic from their literature section.




I did not get a huge amount of reading done today.  I made a few adjustments to this blog.  I added some metatags which were not there before after the header using Google Adwords to pick out the right words.  I also watched The Bourne Ultimate on dvd.  This was a book by Robert Ludlum before it was a movie.  Robert Ludlum's books are very popular.  It reminds me a little bit of James Bond except for without all the gadgets and silliness.  It was fun to watch. I have also been watching the Star Wars Clone Wars cgi cartoon which I am finding enjoyable as well.  People who read a lot also tend to watch a lot of media.  There is a term that is now part of the library profession called visual literacy.




Joe Wikert on his Linked In feed mentioned a book coming out on Kindle in September called I Live in the Future and here's how it works by Nick Bilton.  It looks fascinating.

Por amor...

Só mesmo o amor pelo marido pra me fazer ir até o site da Som Livre comprar um box de Milionário e Zé Rico sabendo que serei obrigada a escutá-lo até o fim...
E que depois marido vai continuar cantando (e inventando letras)...
Ai como eu sofro!

Vai, me consola, conta o que você faz exclusivamente por amor!

Daily Thoughts 8/27/2010 (online classes, publishers weekly)

nisse writing

Daily Thoughts 8/27/2010

I read some more of the Facebook Era on the train to work.  It is describing how to use social networks as a way for businesses to manage their customer relations.  The main focus right now is how sales people can qualify leads and prepare better presentations before calling people.




This morning, I did some more spot checking of the shelving sections from which I am ordering for damaged material, orderliness, and other things.  I also checked the storage area to see that it was in order and spent some time talking about shelving.  I also checked the displays to make sure they were in order.  We try and display material that can be checked out.  This increases our circulation.  We have been trying different ways to increase circulation.  We are starting to list items in our catalog as on order so more people will place our books on hold. 




We are also putting the September Is National Library Card Month public service announcement on our website.
http://www.ala.org/ala/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/card/index.cfm





I have been reading the latest issues of Publishers Weekly.  There are a lot more novelists who are writing for graphic novels now.  Two graphic novels that were highlighted were The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Nigffenegger and The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel by Diana Gabaldon.  Another book which caught my attention was The Box: Tales From the Darkroom by Guntner Grass.  This looks like it will be an excellent collection of short stories.  Another book which caught my attention was Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus.  This should be interesting.  The author is a Brooklyn author plus there is a connection to graphic novels and rock music. There also was a release of Jorge Luis Borges On Writing in June of 2010 by Penguin. We have a 1973 edition of Borges on Writing which should be very similar.




The book Common As Air Revolution, Art, and Ownership by Lewis Hyde has come in for me to read.  He is talking about the cultural commons.  Looking in the index, he does mention copyright and creative commons which are two reading interests of mine.




I registered for the October Fundamentals of Acquisitions class from ALCTS.  Hopefully, it should be useful, it is my third online class this year.  I took Fundamentals of Collection Development and Management and Readers Advisory 101 both of which were very good.

Daily Thoughts 8/26/2010 ingram, the facebook era, acquisitions

KAST kast designed by Marcel Douwe Dekker in 1992: The KAST kast is a interior sculpture build with the letters K, A, S, T on their side (This picture was first published in Viva magazine The Netherlands, 18 sept 1992), Creative Commons Share Alike Attribution 3.0




Daily Thoughts 8/26/2010

It is interesting times again.  My library is going to be open on Sundays for half a day instead of a full day Saturday.  http://www.lohud.com/article/20100826/NEWS02/8260346/Yonkers--Mount-Vernon-public-libraries-may-remain-closed-on-Saturdays-in-fall




Today I talked to two other libraries about Ingram which is a distributor.  People have used them for standing order plans and to get new books.  Apparently, they have very fast turnaround time in delivering new material.  It is something to consider.  Ingram uses BISAC (Book Industry Standards and Communications)  for their classification scheme which is what is used by the publishing industry and bookstores. Public libraries tend to use the Dewey Decimal classification scheme, and academic libraries in the United States use Library of Congress classification.




I also spent some time updating the Bookletters web page for recommended widgets, created a form for tracking missing items and made sure the new book displays were in order.  Today went very smoothly.




I read a little more of the Facebook Era.  The author is writing about how to create connections in networks like Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter.




I am considering taking the Fundamentals of Acquisitions Class in September.  It is a four week course.
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alcts/confevents/upcoming/webcourse/foa/syll.cfm

Daily Thoughts 8/25/2010 (Bring On the Books For Everybody, the Facebook Era)

English: Interesting Story, 1898, Laura Muntz Lyall (1860-1930)

Daily Thoughts 8/25/2010

I have been reading more of Bring On The Books For Everybody.  I like Jim Collins description of many of the newer womens novels being "romantic consumerism".  It fits nearly perfectly with books like The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.  He also uses another term postliterary novel for books like The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Jay Fowler which has a nice ring to it.  He is showing how books and films are tied in knots together.  I can see how shows like Sex and The City are a natural extension of modern "chick lit". 



On the subway home, I finished reading Bring On The Books For Everybody. Jim Collins excerpts a paragraph from The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon in the final chapter of the book.  It is about the "cemetery of forgotten books" one of my favorite places in literature.  The author is challenging the idea of Fahrenheit 451 in the final chapter, offering us a vision of popular culture which combines literature with visual mediums like film and television.  It is much closer to my own view of the future of books.








Today was another quiet day.  We discussed vendors today.  I am going to take a look at Ingram.  Ingram has slightly better discounts than the other vendors for hardcover and paperback books.  We also discussed how we are going to keep track of missing books.  I spent quite a bit of time on the floor helping patrons with reference. 


Last night was kind of interesting.  I had to work on cleaning up a trojan on my machine.  There were a lot of attacks on computers focused on companies spoofing other peoples machines and asking them to buy their antivirus software.  The warning comes as a popup, then says your machine is not properly protected.  I went through Computer Associates, Microsoft, and another company to get my machine back up.  It took many hours to clean up.  Microsoft had me use a company called Esoft to finally clean up my machine.



I also had a chance to read a bit of the Facebook Era.  There is a concept which is introduced called the "online social graph" which is a map of all the people on the internet and how they are connected.  Clara Shih reminds us that the internet is about people.  In her view social and consumer networks are beginning to merge and old fashioned advertising is no longer working.

Um blog, mil idéias

Nas minhas andanças pela net me deparei com um blog muito legal, o Eu quero fazer também.
Um cantinho cheio de idéias faça-você-mesma, coisinhas charmosas e tudo com PAP. Vale a pena conferir!

Cozinhando com amor

Vi esta foto no Território Feminino e não resisti em mostrar para vocês.
Achei tão fofo, tão meigo!

À venda aqui.
Beijos

Daily Thoughst 8/24/2010 (Book Reviews, facebook, collection development)

Copperplate originally in Jacques Gamelin: Nouveau reueil d'ostéologie et de myologie, dessiné d'après nature..., Toulouse 1779. 

Daily Thoughts 8/24/2010

While I was looking through the August 22, 2010 New York Times Book Review, I placed on hold on The glamour of grammar : a guide to the magic and mystery of practical English by Roy Peter Clark,
reviewed by Ammon Shea. I am a big fan of Ammon Shea. His essays on the Oxford University Press blog are quite interesting. http://blog.oup.com/?s=ammon+shea&Submit.x=0&Submit.y=0  . I also placed Common As Air, Revolution, Art, and Ownership on hold as well. 



I am also looking at The Facebook Era Tapping Online Social Networks to Build Better Products, Reach New Audiences, and Sell More Stuff by Clara Shih.  I am interested in the reach new audiences part right now.


Today has been another quiet day.  There are two meetings which I am preparing for.  Tomorrow we are discussing collection development, and on Thursday we are having visitors from the people who run our computer systems visit our library.  This morning, I took some time to check the accuracy of the labeling of the new books.

Donkey Sanctuary

Outside Cape Town, on the road to the Eastern Cape, there is a sanctuary specially for abused and neglected donkeys.

These humble animals have been used and abused for centuries, worked to death and because they are so unglamorous, not much attention is paid to their plight.  Thank goodness for places like this one.

A friend took this picture whilst travelling through the area, a wonderful composition which I have tried to do justice to.  Landscapes again!  Oh dear!

A close-up of the three.

John Williams Waterhouse (6 April 1849 — 10 February 1917

John William Waterhouse (6 April 1849 — 10 February 1917) was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter who is most famous for his paintings of female characters from Greek and Arthurian mythology.
Waterhouse was one of the final Pre-Raphaelite artists, being most productive in the latter decades of the 19th century and early decades of the 20th, long after the era of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Because of this, he has been referred to as "the modern Pre-Raphaelite", and incorporated techniques borrowed from the French Impressionists into his work (Read more at Wikipedia)

Uma festa regada a violão e petiscos

A comemoração de aniversário do meu filho foi ótima! Nos divertimos horrores! Como só chamamos amigos próximos, o clima era de brincadeira e fizemos a tradicional roda de violão. Normalmente a roda de violão é comandada por Victor e Léo, e quando é possível, Daniel também aparece para dar uma palinha. Como Léo tinha outros compromissos profissionais neste fim de semana, Daniel se encarregou do violão. E cantamos muito!
Lá pelas tantas da madrugada, freezer de cerveja já reabastecido (porque aquele povo bebe muuuiiiiiito), o ponto alto da festa: meu irmão e sua hilária performance de Robô Cop Gay. Pena ele não deixar postar o vídeo, por achar que isto pode colocar em dúvida a sua masculinidade.
Minha investida na cozinha fez sucesso. Como temos alguns vegetarianos na família (inclusive o churrasqueiro), também fiz alguns petiscos para eles. Aí embaixo o que andei aprontando, pena não ter tirado fotos de tudo, mas tem os links das receitas e garanto que é tudo muito fácil de fazer e extremamente saboroso.
Espetinhos de carne e abacaxi - receita - feitos na churrasqueira, junto das outras carnes. O tempero é maravilhoso.
Patê de azeitonas pretas – receita
Ovos recheados – receita (servi os ovos com o patê separado)
Molho 4 queijos e batatinhas

O bolo eu comprei, porque nem dava mais tempo de fazer, e fiz alguns docinhos:

Brigadeiro de colher


Bombom de colher - receita


Mousse de maracujá com raspas de chocolate branco - receita

Ah! Antes que me chamem de mentirosa: Victor é o meu filho, Léo é o meu primo e Daniel é o amigo do meu irmão.

Beijos!

Daily Thoughts 8/23/2010 (Bring On The Books For Everybody )

Child Reading A Book, Public Domain Clip Art

Daily Thoughts 8/23/2010

I like reading Bring On The Books for Everybody.  The language is fantastic.  I like his word choices; teleliterary, postmodern fiction, adaptation films, and bibliotherapy is just some of the language.  The writing has a slightly humorous, slightly edgy wit to it.



He talks about taste makers for books.  His section on Nancy Pearl and Oprah Winfrey is right on target.  Jim Collins is describing how classic literature is turned into popular taste.  I think it is very relevant for booksellers and librarians.

I also like the writing on adaptation films.  He describes the words in films like Shakespeare In Love or The Jane Austen Book Club as being special effects.  These film create a link between the book, the movie, and all the ancillary forms of communication.   This is even becoming more true because films are now digital products, just like ebooks are a digital product, and MP3 books are a digital product.






Today I checked books on back order and looked at the displays.  Our computer catalogs are down for maintenance.  This means I had a little more time to do reference work.  I also printed up a few flyers for a program this month.  It has been a very quiet day.

Bitter Angels by C.L. Andersen

Bitter Angels by C.L. Anderson

Field Commander Terese Drajeske works for the Guardians a  special wing of the united earth government. Her job is to prevent wars from happening throughout human space. The philosophy of the Guardians is one of precise use of force.


This means that there is quite a bit on nonlethal methods of combat like glue guns, ambush tactics, fear, and focused  controlled fighting in combat. They also preempt fighting with espionage and political tactics.


The Erasmus system where the story takes place is a kind of slave state. People are controlled through a combination of debt bondage, control of essential resources like water, inherited position and holding family members in bondage, and government surveillance.


This book focuses on soft power. Ways to control people through intrigue, political manipulation, economic repression, and slavery. It is a combination of military science fiction and espionage.


The story is not predictable, has many twists and turns and does not end the way you might expect. It is also very emotionally dark.  I liked this book  because of the complex story. This will not agree with everyone. If you are looking for a traditional military science  fiction story or space opera, you may not like it.   I picked up the book because of a blurb on the cover by Linnea Sinclair.

Daily Thoughts 8/22/2010 (News Feed, Book Review List )

Johann Peter Hasenclever: Das Lesekabinett, 1843

Daily Thoughts 8/22/2010

I am trying something new with Feed Informer.  This is a feed of different news from various book news sites.  It is on a tab next to the Home button. http://bookcalendar.blogspot.com/p/book-calendar-news-feed.html




I am also thinking of creating a review list as well. The pages feature in Blogger In Draft will let me test a few ideas which I have.  I have started the review list.  It may take me at least a week to get everything in it properly.  http://bookcalendar.blogspot.com/p/book-review-list.html 

Daily Thoughts 8/21/2010 (Winning Grants, Barnes and Noble, Bring On The Books For Everybody

Photograph of the "tower room" or "Owl's Nest" at The Wayside in Concord, Massachusetts. This room was added by author Nathaniel Hawthorne and is where he did his writing while living in the house. It was redecorated by Margaret Sidney when she became the home's owner. Date 1904. 




Daily Thoughts 8/21/2010

This morning I finished watching the Screencasts on the dvd that came with the book Winning Grants A How To Do It Manual For Librarians.  What this book talked about a lot was how to plan before looking for a grant.  The steps in creating a vision, planning, and getting support from outside organizations.  I think that I might have an idea based on corporate and community sponsorship more than grantwriting after reading this book.



After going to the supermarket, I stopped by Barnes and Noble.   There were a few titles that caught my attention, in the large print I thought the Danielle Steel book Family Ties would go well, the title Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen which is a mystery just got turned into a television miniseries,  the book Halo The Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund will be popular because of the video game, also there is manga Bleach Official Bootleg Color Bleach which will popular.  For fashion, Nina Garcia's Look Book should be very popular.  The Four Fingers of Death by Rick Moody looks fantastic it is a literary comic novel about horror and science fiction.  It is something which I will definitely be reading.  Also there was posthumous mystery novel by Dick Francis and Felix Francis called Crossfire which caught my attention.




I have been reading more of Bring On The Books For Everybody.  It is very enjoyable.   Jim Collins is describing the concept of self-cultivation in literature.  The idea is that people should "Read only the very best books."  This will make them more cultivated.  This self-cultivation is for people who are not part of academia.  It allows them to attain a certain cachet.  I find it interesting.  There is a constant back and forth between popularity and quality and what we should get in a library.




I am a firm believer that many high quality books can become very popular if promoted and introduced correctly.  People want to improve themselves.   There is a genuine cultural value in reading that extends beyond the academic.  In fact, if you have a computer or even a cell phone and an internet connection, the classics and most of the canonical books should be available to you, not just the western cannon, but also many quality titles from all over the world in places like Project Gutenberg or the Internet Archive.  Most of the western academic literary cannon is already freely available for anyone to interpret any way they like.



This includes doing horrendous unique things like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, or having amateurs recite the classics at Librivox, or adding video content to classic works like the $1.99 Sherlock Holmes Experience which combines text and video on Vook  http://vook.com/the-sherlock-holmes-experience.html




Some of the commentary is truly entertaining.  For example, Virginia Woolf owned Hogarth Press so she was much freer in her ability to write what she wanted than many other authors.  I also like the description of the book becoming a much more social object.  People talk much more about books recently than they did before. I am on P. 66 and do not think I will hurry through reading this book.  There are so many things that are entertaining to me in this work.  I even like the photographs of Barnes and Nobles and Borders.

Daily Thoughts 8/20/2010 (winning grants, ingram, donations)

Koninck, Salomon, Der Eremit, 1643

Daily Thoughts 8/20/2010

On the train to work I started reading Winning Grants A How To Do It Manual for Librarians by Pamela H. McKellar and Stephanie K. Gerding.  Right now, they are talking about planning and vision statements.  They have a bunch of steps to go through before the grants are actually applied for.  I read most of it on the train home.  The book included a lot of information on how to organize a team to create grants not just a single person.  I find one of the grant projects particularly interesting http://www.getgraphic.org/ which is a literacy program through graphic novels.  There is also a cd rom which comes with the book.  This includes a presentation on a subject relevant to each chapter in the book as well as a variety of forms to fill out.  It helped me think of an idea for business sponsorship. I still have quite a few video clips to watch.







We had a gentleman from Ingram come in to talk about his vendor services.  It was kind of interesting.  Ingram owns Lightning Source http://www.lightningsource.com/ the largest print on demand services as well as has a number of small imprints exclusively distributed through them.  They are the largest distributor of books in the world.  They also distribute video games which is interesting. 




I did a little more spot checking in the 300s.  I also took a bit to look at the oversize 300s.  Like every morning, I checked the displays to see if they were in order. 




This is an article on book donations which I found kind of interesting.  http://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/ask-ala-librarian/book-donations

Daily Thoughts 8/19/2010 (Book Blogger Appreciation Week)

Daily Thoughts 8/19/2010




I am breaking my usual reticence and signing up to be interviewed as part of Book Blogger Appreciation Week.  It should be interesting.




Today has been quiet and steady.  I did some spot checking of the shelving to make sure things are in order and checked the displays.  On Friday, I am going to start weeding again in the oversize books.  I also took a little time to print up some flyers for some upcoming programs, an Open Book Chat, and the Graphic Novels Club next month.  One of our patrons suggested it would be better to call it an open book chat than a brown bag book chat.  There is also a business program coming up from the Women's Enterprise Development Center which comes every year.  It is called First Steps.  It is a combination of checking your entrepreneurial spirit and learning basic computer skills for business.




We finished our second year doing a program for Adult Summer Reading on August 17, 2010.  We had a few events associated with it; author talks, book chats, and a final literary tea.  It went well for our first time combining program with adult summer reading.




We did a little shifting of the audiobooks and checked the labeling.




I also checked out Starting an Online Business All In One For Dummies 2nd Edition by Shannon Belew and Joel Elad.  Hopefully it will explain valuation for online setups.  It is 814 pages long.  The book so far is a basic outline of how to start online.




 I read some more of Bring On the Books For Everybody by Jim Collins.  He is talking about how literature is becoming a source of deep personal satisfaction.  He cites Harold Bloom with his book How To Read And Why.  We get a lot of copies of Blooms Notes which are like Cliffs Notes   except for with Harold Blooms name on them.  When I checked the index there was no citation for librarian as a subject.  However, he did have a section on Nancy Pearl.

Aniversário de filho: definitivamente ele cresceu!

Amanhã é aniversário do meu filho, 16 anos. Tão recente a imagem do bebezinho no berço ou do menininho de cabelo na testa brincando de Power Ranger e mostrando que já conhecia as letras... e já se vão 13 anos dessa época! Sim, meu precoce garoto já conhecia as letras aos 3 anos.
Como ele adora música, toca baixo e violão, mostrei a ele a festa rock que a Rafa fez. Reação: “Não mãe, eu quero uma coisa mais simples.”
Fui passando links para ele e a reação era sempre a mesma: “Não mãe, eu quero uma coisa mais simples.”
Por fim, entendi. Meu garoto precoce quer mesmo é uma reunião como se já fosse adulto. Juntar a família e alguns amigos, fazer um churrasco, tocar violão e jogar conversa fora a noite toda.
Nada de cupcakes, enfeites ou qualquer outra frescura. Mas salvei os brigadeiros de colher e alguns poucos doces nas tacinhas (yes, vitória árdua).
Como só entramos em acordo ontem, já viram né? Vai ser uma total correria, ainda mais porque a “festa” será na casa da minha mãe. Mas até que eu gosto.
Por isso estarei ausente do blog até segunda-feira, quando volto com fotos do que andei aprontando na cozinha.
Um ótimo fim de semana para vocês, e torçam para que eu consiga organizar tudo a tempo.

(Eu em BL + casa da minha mãe em PN + filho em JF = vou ficar louca!)

Beijos!

Você imagina como é trabalhar na Google?

Recebi esse e-mail já faz um tempo, mas ontem me lembrei dele e resolvi mostrar para vocês. Simplesmente achei divino cada cantinho da Google e admirável a postura da empresa. Curiosas, então vamos lá:


"Os segredos da Google

A Google é hoje uma das maiores empresas do mundo e apesar das crises econômicas, continua em pleno crescimento. Qual o segredo disso? É lá que trabalham e que querem trabalhar os melhores profissionais das diversas áreas que envolvem uma empresa, desde o RH até as áreas técnicas e de criação.
Os índices de produtividade dos profissionais são surpreendentes e a empresa a cada ano que passa consegue inovar, melhorar e criar novos investimentos, que por sinal trazem um retorno gigantesco.
A empresa é reconhecida pelo imenso investimento que faz em seu maior tesouro: os funcionários! Não é surpresa nenhuma para a área financeira da Google que no fechamento de suas contas mensais exista um investimento na qualidade de vida e bem estar de seus funcionários próximo ao investimento feito em novas tecnologias e recursos tecnológicos.
Apesar de parecer utópico, a estratégia da Google já não é tão nova assim, desde a década de 90 estudiosos da área de Recursos Humanos vêm provando através de inúmeras pesquisas que o investimento no bem estar e na qualidade de vida dos funcionários traz resultados muito maiores e mais duradouros que qualquer aumento de salário. Além de aumentar a satisfação do funcionário, sua auto estima, seu comprometimento com a empresa e consequentemente sua responsabilidade com relação ao seu trabalho, esses investimentos diminuem prejuízos com licenças e atestados médicos, aumentando a produtividade e diminuindo a necessidade de aumento no quadro de funcionários.
Não é por acaso que as áreas de Psicologia Organizacional , Endomarketing e Recursos Humanos têm tido tamanho crescimento nos últimos anos, os profissionais dessas áreas são os principais responsáveis por estratégias e investimentos como o da Google.
As fotos abaixo mostram a filial da Google de Zurique, as dependências fotografadas são para acesso de todos os funcionários da empresa, sem nenhuma exceção.


Recepção da filial da Google em Zurique.


Um escorregador conecta as zonas chamadas de "oficinas" do primeiro andar com a cafeteria e um ginásio.
Não é preciso esperar o elevador, é só escorregar!


O restaurante serve desde lanches e petiscos até as refeições principais, tudo preparado por cozinheiros contratados
exclusivamente para a filial.
Existe comida para os vegetarianos e amplos buffets de saladas.
Todos os ingredientes usados são produzidos na região da filial, nada é importado!


As crianças são muito bem vindas no prédio e os funcionários que precisam viajar a trabalho podem optar por levar seus "mascotes".
Não existe restrição de acesso às crianças e o prédio conta com berçários e salas especiais para as mães trocarem seus bebês.


Como a comida além de grátis é também muito boa, os petiscos nos horários de descanso
podem render alguns quilinhos a mais nos recém chegados. Para resolver isso o térreo da filial foi transformado
em um ginásio, que por sinal é grátis!


As salas de massagem são praticamente um santuário. As mesas que vibram e massageiam são de uso gratuíto.
Só é cobrado do funcionário o serviço de massagista - quando necessário, porém, eles são subsidiados pela Google,
o que faz com que seus preços sejam absurdamente baratos!
Os funcionários ganham "bônus massagem" em diversas oportunidades.


Em cada andar existe pelo menos uma área de descanso com comida e bebida disponível
para os funcionários gratuitamente. Sucos, refrigerantes e café (muito café), além de cereais, chocolates,
sorvetes, batatas fritas e comidas mais saudáveis, para compensar, estão disponíveis para todos.


Cada funcionário é livre para administrar seu tempo e trabalho como quiserem.
Não existem horários e nos intervalos pode-se jogar uma partida de Guitar Hero, bilhar ou jogos de tabuleiro.
Os prazos dados para a conclusão de projetos devem sempre ser cumpridos, porém a empresa não tem problema com isso!


Esta barra, igual aquelas utilizadas por bombeiros, liga o segundo andar com uma sala de jogos.
Não precisa esperar o elevador e o funcionário ainda se diverte!


As mesas de trabalho são pequenas, porém os espaços para reuniões são amplos e temáticas.
Essa cabine por exemplo é um teleférico, fica numa sala decorada com fotos e objetos que lembram
uma estação de esqui dos Alpes Suíços.


Se você está se perguntando se na Google realmente se trabalha, essa é a resposta.
Esta é uma área de trabalho convencional, chamada de "oficina".
As mesas são escolhidas livremente pelos funcionários e não é raro que
eles mudem de mesa com frequência.


O serviço técnico fica em uma área do prédio com ambiente havaiano.
Aqui se pode buscar um cabo, mouse ou qualquer outro equipamento que lhe faltar.
Existem espaços como esse espalhados por todo o prédio para que os "Googlers" não precisem andar muito.


Como as áreas de trabalho são sempre abertas, para se ter privacidade em um telefonema
por exemplo, é preciso se "esconder" em uma das várias cabines espalhadas pela empresa.
Todas as paredes do edifício possuem canetas e blocos de anotação pendurados - nunca se sabe
quando uma boa idéia pode surgir!


O salão das águas é uma zona de paz e relaxamento do edifício.
Existem camas massageadoras e a iluminação é mínima.
É o lugar perfeito pra tirar uma soneca ou descansar antes de uma reunião.


Nessa sala é proibido utilizar o celular ou laptop.
A única atividade possível aqui é descansar e olhar os peixes tropicais nos aquários da parede.


As salas de reunião do edifício possuem nomes tirados de séries de TV e filmes famosos.
Estes iglús estão em uma área chamada Guerra nas Estrelas e são cópias exatas de refúgios
utilizados em missões científicas na Antártida.



A Google é mais que uma empresa, os trabalhadores se juntam no prédio para realizarem atividades conjuntas
e festas de forma periódica, não é difícil encontrar grupos praticando atividades esportivas desde
ciclismo até esqui, a empresa também libera que o funcionário use 20% de seu tempo para
projetos pessoais e 10% para qualquer outro fim.


Os funcionários passam pouco tempo em suas mesas de trabalho, a maioria deles prefere trabalhar
com seus laptops em grupo e em salas de descanso como essas, o que favorece a criatividade e a sociabilidade.


A biblioteca é uma das salas mais surpreendentes e visitadas do prédio.
Trata-se de uma área de descanso com uma imensa cozinha e um cinema virtual.
Todos os móveis são reciclados, comprados em lojas de segunda mão e reparados."


Tem alguém aí com vontade de mudar de emprego????