A Whole New Mind

Whatever Daniel Pink is selling, I'm not buying. Of course I was biased from the start...I detest required readings. And I don't think the Right brainers were ever out of fashion. Who else but a right brain genius would come up with computers in the first place? Or television? Or the internet? It took a lot of creative thinking to come up with all of that.

In Daniel's first chapter the only thing that kept running through my mind was..."is he name dropping?" Seriously, it was all "Havard so and so, Cal-Tech whosit, neuroscientist blah, blah, blah." I understand Pink is trying to support his thesis with knowledgable sources, but every other paragraph is filled with a new name. Don't get me wrong, I agree with many of his premises, but much of what he says seems, well, obvious. Obviously you can't make decisions without both sides of the brain...

And that brings me to another of Daniel's ideas...computers will take over medical diagnosis. Excuse me? Seriously? I guess since we are now relying on computers to make our romantic matches the next logical step is deciding what is wrong with us physically.
I can see the hpochondriacs of the world loving this. They will be taking every new drug that comes on the market. I prefer a face to face doctor. I tend to minimize pains and need a doctor to tell me to take things seriously.

And let me just bring up the idea of outsourcing...I get extremely frustrated when I try to describe a problem to a customer service rep. and can't make him/her understand me. And why do they have to give them "American" sounding names? Let's be honest, we know we aren't talking to a Jake or John. Let them use their own names. (ok i know that was totally off topic...but Daniel did mention outsourcing as a reason Right brainers will inherit the earth.)

Now chapter 3 has some interesting facts and ideas. A few I would like to share with my husband...MFAs are important! HA! He is under the misguided notion that an MFA will get you nowhere...guess his business behind is wrong, wrong, wrong! Oh, and I love the idea of an aptitude test based on New Yorker cartoons! I would kick butt on that test. The New Yorker is my favorite magazine of all time. The cartoons found in its pages are some of the best in the world.

Ok...back to the book...It is well written, has some great humor, but didn't deliver any Ah Hah! moments for me. And the whole Target senario...please...I shop target weekly and have never been that impressed with their stock. Give me Macy's anyday.

Pratt Visit

I have just returned from my first visit to Pratt...what a beautiful building for a library. I grew up using a library that was built in the 1880s. It had a spirling marble staircase, 3 floors, amazing marble statues...and a fabulous staff.

Pratt has the same feel. The staff was friendly, personable and they seemed to really enjoy their job. Well, most of them. Unfortunately, the person leading the morning tour was not exactly who I would have chosen to speak to a larger group for 2 hours. Areas I would have loved to spend more time talking about; Maryland Collection, African American Room, Specials...she glossed over or cut short, and areas of little interest she spent an inordinate amount of time discussing. And it wouldn't have been too horrible, but she didn't discuss the collections...sometimes she spent 15 minutes discussing the merits of the SAM software for computer reservations. Or the fact that the African American Collection had cushioned seats and carpeting while in the Business collection they only had wooden stools and hard floors that carried noise. The idea behind the tour is to inspire us...I was, just not by my guide. I spoke with some co-workers who took the later tour and they said their guide was wonderful.

I am envious of the materials and space the library has. I would love to go back and explore on my own. I could live in the children's room! The fish and the night and day rooms are cool! And speaking of the children's department...the Mother Goose presenter was fantastic! She kept our attention and taught us at the same time. I think my library does a great job with storytimes, but it is always helpful to have extra ideas in the back of your mind.

LATI

Ok, once again I find myself in a situation where I must be positive about something I would rather not do. Not because it isn't relevant, but since I have worked within the library system for a number of years, (not just in MD, but also in Las Vegas and in PA) I feel I am well versed in a number of the areas in which we are being "learned". I will say that my reference skills are not as strong as they could be, but only because as a children's librarian, I am not asked questions that require too many indepth or specialized resources. So I guess it is good that I am required to learn more about information sources.

I am also not an enthusiastic blogger...so bear with me. Who cares what I think? Not even my husband wants my every thought.

I am excited by my LATI project. It is an extension of an early literacy grant I worked on last year called Words on Wheels (WoW!). I will be choosing 100 children picture book titles and placing a label on the inside front cover of the book listing 3 parent/child activities to do as well as a question the parent can ask the child once the book has been read. I am hoping that this project will reach a broad spectrum of patrons that utilize our library. Texas has a similar program called 2x2. They started it a few years ago and every year they add 20 more titles to their list.

23 things finished!

And a cheer went up! HooRah!

Finally finished! On the whole I initially enjoyed learning what was new in library tech. But it all got old. I learned new things. Had fun playing with some of the graphics...but I just don't enjoy the internet enough to gain much from bloglines, tags, wikis, etc...the whole idea of the internet for me is the journey. What fun is it to search for info. if everything comes to you with out detours?

Thing 22 (i'm almost done!)

I just looked over Netlibrary and Overdrive...more places to register my name...I guess if I was lonely I would love soooo many people and places to know me...but actually, I prefer to remain as anonymous as possible.

I did enjoy seeing some of the titles available. It's nice to see such a wide range of topics and titles...YA, Fiction, Nonfiction. I just wish it were all available without registering...I know they need to know who is using their site...it helps with advertisers and such. It would be great if TumbleBooks got as many titles on their site...all you need to access them is your library card!

I guess I'm not approaching alot of the technology with the right frame of mind. I am going to be the mean old lady who hates anything new...I'll yell at the neighborhood kids when their ball lands in my yard...I'll get mad when I go to the store and have to use the self-checkouts...I'll leave my new answering machine my grandkids bought me in the box because I'm afraid to try and use it...you know basically behave like my Grandma Edna.

Podcasts

I just looked at Yahoo podcasts. I found a few podcasts that were interesting...Classic Books Alive, BigStoryTime.com, and Children's Radio. Classic Books is currently reading Huck Finn chapter by chapter. BigStoryTime has children's books read by a 5 year old and his friends...they do a great job. Children's Book Radio is ok. I thought they would just read a story, but it also has interviews with authors. More geared toward adults than children. I find these podcasts interesting...I think the library can use podcasts when it comes to storytimes. We could upload our weekly storytimes, infant, toddler and older, and then have it linked from our county library website. (Hmmmm...I wonder who would get tasked with this job...)

YouTube

YouTube...what can be said about this website...other than it is a huge waste of time. As I have said previously, how many versions of the same song does one person need to watch? The video I linked to this posting is on YouTube at least 5 different times with 5 different songs in the background. My son likes to watch music videos that have a warped sense of humor..."Candy Mountain...Charlie!" I think it's ok for families who can't get together often...maybe upload video of sporting events or school plays...but a majority of the videos are pointless. (except for the What The Buck Show...way way way inappropriate...but Funny!!!! This week the "host" rips on the Miss Teen USA who botched her question about 1/5 of Americans not being able to find the US on a map...if you haven't seen it yet and want to feel good about yourself...there are at least 5 different versions of it on YouTube.)

I also want to say YIPPEE I am almost done with 23 Things...