The Bestest in the Barn

Friday, August 31, 2007

A Book To Check Out...


"In the Name Of God" by Paula Jolin is a very interesting book. It is the story of Nadia, a seventeen-year-old girl who lives in Syria. Nadia is hijabi and very resentful of the influence the Western world has had on some of her cousins. Her religion is very important to her and she is critical of others who don't seem to give Islam equal weight. I really enjoyed seeing life through Nadia's eyes. And it broke my heart to watch her travel the path from devout Muslim to fundamentalism, and to ultimately get involved with radicals-people who had violence in mind. One reviewer of this book described Nadia as a sympathetic and likeable character and I'm afraid I would have to disagree. Her belief that hers is the only path leads her to be harsh and judgemental of others. (She reminded me of several Christians I know) She puts the worst interpretation on the behavior of others, she rarely has a kind word to say of anyone else, she eavesdrops, she spies, she schemes, she lies-not, I think, a sympathetic or a likeable character. But a fascinating one. And one that, in spite of everything, you care a great deal about. She is, after all a teenager. And like teenagers everywhere, she's trying to find her path. She's full of spirit and zeal and passion. She's just so very real. And above all, a dreamer. This book is well worth the read. Check it out!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

You've Got To Read...




When 15-year-old Tamar's grandfather kills himself, she is devastated. She adored her grandfather and for a time cannot even bring herself to open the box he left her. When she does she finds that he left her a mystery to solve. Inside the box are clues that take her on a journey of discovery that will take her to the river that bears her name and take the reader 51 years into the past. The book moves between 1995 England and 1941 Nazi occupied Holland where we meet another Tamar, a Dutch resistance fighter. This book is billed as a novel of "Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal" and delivers on all counts. It is on of the most powerful books I have read in a long time. One of those wonderful books that stay with the reader long after you close the book. Trust me, this is one that is NOT to be missed.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Final Thoughts

Okay, maybe I'm not finished. I'm supposed to make a wrap-up post refecting on why this project was important. This is difficult, mainly because I'm actually doing it at work where there are a hundred distractions. I do believe this was a valuable and worthwhile project. Libraries need to keep current and be aware of trends and technologies. Now, I know we only skimmed the surface of what's out there, but at least we got a nice overview. The 23 Things page has some wonderful links on it that we can continue to visit and explore and I would love to continue to explore the Web 2.0 award nominated websites further. What this project did was give us some tools to work with. What we do with them from here is up to us.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Wizard Animation

Week 9 Thing 23

Drum roll please, This is my last "Thing". Wow! Looking back over the weeks of this program, I think we have covered a lot of ground. Some of it has been pure fun, some, not so much. But I have learned a lot. Picking out a favorite thing is not so easy. My first impulse is to say Library Thing. I have visited that site on a daily basis since I set up my account there, adding new books as I make my way through the HUGE pile I have to read. What a fantastic resource that will be for me. My own personal virtual library that travels with me wherever I am. I enjoyed my visit to YouTube and think I might try to visit more frequently in the future. In the past, I have only dropped by very irregularly. I loved learning about Zoho and think I will use that frequently. Del.icio.us will come in handy to keep my bookmarks portable. I love my Meez and had a great time playing around on that site with my son the other day. Finally, I got to teach HIM something techie! Flickr was a blast and I had the time of my life with the image generators. The big surprise? I love blogging! I plan to continue with heavy emphasis on Juvenile and YA book reviews. But I really think what I liked best was just the whole experience. Yes, it was summer, and the timing was kind of bad, and everything was crazy and, who in the heck came up with 23 things anyway? What's wrong with 10? Or 15? And, blah, blah, blah. But still... It was kind of fun to have a new "assignment" to look forward to every week and new websites to explore. I can't say I loved every technology I learned about, but I certainly enjoyed learning .

Week 9 Thing 22

Well this assignment was certainly a snap! I chose Overdrive since that's who we have our audio books with. I took the tutorial and it was very clear and easy to follow. And, it turns out, completely unnecessary, because when I went to our library's audio books page, I didn't need to use any of the things I learned in the tutorial. For a change I had ALL of the accounts and software I needed already! How about that? All I had to to was sign in with the library card number I already have memorized, choose a book, check it out, and download it. I checked out "The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders" by Jack Prelutsky. So easy a, um, children's librarian could do it! Too bad I can't listen to the book I checked out since I don't have any techie toys. So I just wandered over to Audiobooks For Free from Project Gutenberg and it was even easier there. Okay, I DID have to create ANOTHER account, but after that, no problem. I downloaded two poems there, "If" by Rudyard Kipling and "Hunting of the Snark" by Lewis Carroll. For both, I had the option to get the item free or to pay a fee for better quality or zipped files. Depending on the item you choose, you even get to choose the size of the file you download. Then, it was just a right click and, hey presto, right there on my desktop. A simple matter of clicking on the play button. Not all of the titles I thought I would find were here, but many were. And I'm sure new things are being added all the time. What a wonderful idea! And Overdrive was very easy to use too. I've had training on the product, but doing is better. I should be in a better position to help patrons now. Now all I need is my very own techie toy.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Week 9 Thing 21

Podcasts. Okay. Remember the golden days of yore, when the whole family gathered around "The Radio" to hear the latest exploits of The Lone Ranger and The Shadow? Yeah, me neither. Well, now we can all gather around "The Computer" and LISTEN to the latest installment of MuggleCast from MuggleNet.com. Ah, everything old is new again. But much cooler, because it's "The Computer", right? Boy, do I sound cynical! Sorry, this is the person who doesn't even turn on her TV unless there's a football game on. Now, don't get me wrong, I do think Podcasts have enormous potential as educational tools, (they've certainly helped me throughout this 23 Things assignment) but otherwise? Well, having said all that I dove into the waters of Podcasts and enjoyed the dip. I even found a Podcast I really liked and found VERY useful. I added it to my Bloglines account and might even be forced to visit that account again because of this Podcast. (Something I previously had no intention of doing.) It's called Childrens Book Radio. There's a great website with links to all the books that they discuss. They review one book per broadcast, so it's never too lengthy-perfect for MY short attention span. The host has a genuiune passion for children's books, just like me. A perfect fit. Oh, and I really DID enjoy the MuggleCast too. It was a wonderful discussion of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and I got a lot of great ideas for a Harry Potter debriefing that my branch is thinking about doing this fall. Is it something I would listen to on a regular basis? Well, I think, that, just like TV, I'd really just rather read a book.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Week 9 Thing 20

It would be easy to dismiss YouTube as a fun diversion, just a way to pass some time and get a few laughs, but I understand that fewer people are getting their news from network television, and this poses a problem for advertisers and political strategists alike. Since more and more people turn to the Internet for news, YouTube has the potential for reaching these people with advertisements, political and otherwise. I spent some time watching the Political Ads on YouTube and they're a lot more fun than the ones on TV! They're aimed at a younger, "hipper" audience. But my favorite video was a Charlie and Lola (book-based, of course) video called "The Bestest in the Barn" because who can resist the adorable Lola OR or chicken or plays the saxophone?

Week 8 Thing 19

I just finished exploring www.lulu.com which won Web 2.0 Best Website award for the book category. It's a site which allows you to self-publish. I took the tutorial and it really looks easy! I looked around the site and I found a book on the site that a nine-year-old girl wrote called "Riding the Storm Out" that was based on a true story about dolphins from an Marine Aquarium that were unable to be evacuated before hurricane Katrina and were swept out to sea. The book is listed on Amazon! The book looks beautifully done and very professional. I can see why the website won first place. The only problem I had with the site is that you can't get to a lot of the features unless you sign up. (Which is really no big deal, I guess--registration is free--I just wasn't ready to sign up yet) All-in-all, I really enjoyed my visit to the world of lulu.