The Paper Caper by Kate Carlisle

This was my first Kate Carlisle read in her series. It looks like I have a lot to catch up on since it's number sixteen. It worked wonderful as a stand alone book and I like that, when i can drop in anywhere in a series. Maybe I don't know all the history but if I enjoy it, like I did number sixteen, I can always go back and start at number one. 

I found the book binding information valuable. It brought out very clear images in my mind, to understand how it is done. I always love books with librarians, so interesting. 

And don't I love a strong, irritating antagonist, like Joseph's mother-in-law? No, not at all but very necessary to balance out the protagonist I'm rooting for. 

I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys a good who-dun-it, with a strong female sleuth. She's in a happy marriage and that's pleasant to read. Poison is my favorite way to kill off a problem, thanks Kate Carlisle for offering this great story.

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Perfect Bind by Dorothy St. James

Did you ever finish a book in two days, that you couldn't put down, because you had to find out who did it? That was me while enjoying this read from Dorothy St. James.

Tonight, I miss my friends from the book. It crossed my mind that I could re-read it, right from the start. Slower this time, reading every single word. I might have found my newest favorite author. I love her leading character, Trudell Becket, not Trudy, as she'll remind you. She's Assistant Librarian in the South Carolina town where she grew up. There are two good-looking men interested in dating her and she doesn't sleep with either one. I love it. How refreshing.

My previous favorite author, Sue Grafton, has gone to the great publishing house in the sky. Their protagonists are similar in character. Both Trudell and Kindsey are independent women, working in their chosen fields. They dress for comfort, not following current trends. Men find them attractive, but it doesn't rattle them, they've got other things to think about. Told in the first person, I enjoyed the ride along.

Trudell has a lot going on. There's more than one mystery, more than one secret and more than a few interesting characters. I want to visit them in their little town and have lunch at the Sunshine Diner. I'd visit the library. The fact that there's something going on in the basement makes the visit even more compelling.

Libraries have made some drastic changes in the last few years concerning the question of printed materials. Libraries are busy drawing in younger patrons with gaming and Internet usage. Older patrons are finding crafty events. People come to the library for help in finding their way around the Internet.

The town of Cypress has decided to eliminate all books in favor of an ultra-modern library. This raises the question of the value of printed materials. Has electronic media replaced the need for books? Are books of value any longer? This story hits the topic straight on.

This new concept library doesn't sit well with those who love hard covers and paperbacks so Trudell devices a plan to keep those folks happy. Does this tie in with the dead body found behind the library? Is apple pie an issue? Can her cat, Dewey Decimal, provide assistance? A few likely suspects are evident since there's more going on in the town of Cypress than meets the eye.

If you can't tell by now, I recommend this book. If any of this resonates with you, enjoy yourself.

I received this book without charge in exchange for an honest review.

Dallas

I’m in Dallas and the weather is fine! I think I got out of Michigan just in time; the first snow of the year was beginning to fall a few weeks ago as I was leaving. Now, the worst winter snow in ten years has hit as the area I’m visiting is experiencing 50-70 degree weather.

Finishing up a term paper on Second Life and how the virtual world is being used by librarians… very interesting~

I’m currently looking around for some work in graphics or website development. The work I performed last summer in Michigan was most enjoyable and while I would like to visit there again next summer, I do need to keep busy and Dallas definitely has the edge.

It’s good to be here, visiting old friends and familiar places. Oh, if I could only find a job or a contract, I’d probably settle right back in.

Michigan will always be in my heart as my native home. However, I never planned to return except for summer visits after leaving years ago. I almost stayed this time. I was in Michigan for two years, due to some family business I had to take care of. I’ll always visit in August but financially, I’m probably better off in Dallas.

The Library Game

When I was in high school a boy would not want to be caught learning to type. Today a teen boy would not impress his peers with an inability to find his way around a keyboard with more than one finger pecking. Today’s youth type rapidly, they text continually and socially communicate with friends and friends-of-friends via the keyboard.

Using the keypad and monitor to enter the library can bring youth to the library to obtain information, even if they don’t have a car to drive. They will do this, if entering the library and obtaining information is a skill similar to that of searching Google, finding a book on Amazon and learning the rules of the online games they play.

In our LIS requisite orientation session last August we played team games in the physical world. We warmed to it as a socially collaborative tool and because we participated in a collective intelligence (38) we performed better together than we would have solo. We will continue to have the opportunity to collaborate during the next two years in a way that will create a field of knowledge that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is the theory of knowledge and library access through the ‘third world’ of online gaming.

I’ve read some very good things about gaming and libraries. Currently I’m re-reading Nancy Courtney’s compilation, Library 2.0 and Beyond, in which David Ward talks about gaming as a “tool for collaboration”. References in the chapter include articles on Harvard offering law courses in a virtual world, games as a ‘third world’ in the information architecture of the future, games reshaping education and one titled, “From Dewey to World of Warcraft, Libraries and Digital Games”.

A Kurt Squire & Constance Steinlkuehler article in Library Journal discusses how, in the online gaming environment,"Participants don’t care about identity, age, race, gender, class or nationality" (39). He goes on to say that although no one is teaching the courses he describes as “affinity space”, those with expertise are recognized and greatly valued (39). The librarian in this role can function as a higher level character in the information seeking game (115).

Libraries are redefining themselves in the virtual world of the Internet, using gaming structures to create learning communities. Students can experience collaborative learning as the library avails itself of the technology which defines the world in which the student lives.

References

Courtney, N. (Ed.). (2007). Library 2.0 and beyond: innovative technologies and tomorrow's user. Westport, Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.

Foster, Andrea L. “Harvard to Offer Law Course in ‘Virtual World.’” Chronicle of Higher Education 53, no. 3 (September 8, 2006)

Hinton, Andrew. “We Live Here: Games, Third Places, and the Information Architecture of the Future.” Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 32, no. 6(2006)

Kirriemuir, John. “From Dewey to World of Warcraft, Libraries and Digital Games.” Presentation at TICER course Digital Libraries a la Carte: New Choices for the Future, August 25, 2006

My new use of the library

Last night I visited the Lake Orion Public Library to return a DVD – I’m jumping out of the 24 series I’ve been viewing – too much continuous stress to watch those episodes back-to-back. I decided to find a few movies that would enable me to relax in the evening before attempting sleep.

While there I decided to browse the CDs and a Norah Jones album caught my attention. Since I have that particular item and didn’t see more in the rack under her name, I searched the online catalog.

Pleasant surprise! She’s been featured on a number of CDs, mostly in the JAZZ section, both solo and in collaboration. I borrowed five CDs and imported them to iTunes on my laptop this morning.

The experience is new to me since my quest began to utilize more services at the Public Library. I needed to find Dictionaries in the Reference Section for a class assignment. There’s a lot more than Oxford! The Lake Orion online catalog is one of the best that I’ve found in that is relatively easy to limit my search (not all libraries’ catalogs are efficient).

While I was there I also learned a professional photographer, Paula Kurzawa, will be in the library this coming weekend to provide her service for a mere $10 and the proceeds benefit the library rather than the photographer. Nice Gift.

The ~New~ Library

Stories and history were taught orally. Children and community listened and learned the stories. Later, books came to be the location of the histories and we valued the volumes, we treasured them, perhaps we owned some, often for a life time.

The idea of a sharing books, a library, was first put to the test in this country by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia, the same city where today, a bookless library is makings its debut, thanks to the closed locations of the available stacks.

When I was a child I loved books and the libraries, where there seemed to be an endless supply, as I ventured into the world of my Junior High School Library, a natural stepping stone for me from the Public Library where I had a library card from as early as I can remember.

Today people communicate via short bursts of consciousness; we speak out to the Universe and see who responds, not necessarily within walking distance but a much larger radius, via Twitter, IM, FB, text, chat, cell phones, and emails. We are creating and sharing content, this time it’s creating a wave of collaboration to create a Universe book, a Resource of information and knowledge beyond our wildest dreams.

With a world population that has tripled since my childhood years, I know we’re more crowded. But between the overwhelming addiction to constant connection/constant stimuli/immediate gratification, where we know we are part of the universe, we keep talking and someone somewhere is listening (I’m not just talking about big bro today).

We collaborate. We create more knowledge by sharing all of this information we dream up, stuff from the collection consciousness.

Library

Libraries are alive and well in 2009. The cornerstone of my youth, brick building on the corner, housing an unlimited number (it seemed to me) of mysteries that kept me awake at night, under the covers, flashlight in hand. They’ve changed a bit.

My current enrollment at Wayne State University in the Library and Information Science Master’s Degree program is giving me quite an education. Libraries are Information Access points. The librarians are Information Access Specialists.

Want the answer to a question? Google it or Ask a Librarian. What’s the difference? Google will provide you a list of websites that have a pretty good chance of providing the answer to your query, if you searched correctly and if you choose a reliable source from that list Google gave you. However, the librarian will probably ask you a few questions to make certain that the question they hear is the one you truly are asking. Then, they will tell you where they found the answer and what it is. Chances are very good it will be an accurate answer from a reliable source and current.

How’s that for an information source? No charge of course. Public Libraries are funded by the municipality, so you paid for the service when you sent in your taxes. There are no charges for the information services, or the movie rentals at the Public Library.

So, why do we hesitate to ask our questions or use their services? I think we don’t know what an excellent resource is available to us. The center is usually close in the neighborhood, but you can talk to them via live chat, or telephone. Just ask for the Reference Librarian.

Get online and find out if the movie you want is available or the music CD and then reserve it online. You can drop by and sit in a comfy chair and browse any of many magazines in all sorts of interests and take home the movie of your choice, free of charge.

Check it out.