Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Evolution of English

British Library Maps Evolution of English,
Contribute Your Accent by Reading Mr. Tickle Aloud


From ReadWriteWeb
By Audrey Watters / December 19, 2010 1:45 PM
For those that have been busily searching Google's new Ngram Viewer to assess how language has changed over time, here's another project that might pique your interest, one that involves another great literary work, Roger Hargreaves's children's book Mr. Tickle.

The British Library wants to map different words and accents and chart the changing pronunciation of the English language. As part of its exhibit Evolving English, the British Library is adding to its already sizable collection of 20th century recordings of the English voice, and it's asking any English speaker worldwide to record their voice reading Mr. Tickle aloud.

Comparing Accents

In order to compare accents, the British Library is examining words in lexical sets, those that share certain pronunciation patterns. According to phoneticians, reading long lists of words aloud is not ideal as it tends not to be "authentic" or conversational, so reading prose aloud is preferable. And since you're likely to read it casually and with confidence, no matter your age or native language, a children's book is apparently even better.

The British Library says it chose one of the beloved Mr. Men series as the book contained all the lexical sets. (Personally, I preferred Mr. Chatterbox and always found the ending of Mr. Tickle to be quite annoying.) For its part, Mr. Tickle contains words like "mischievous," "postman," and "extraordinary." Do you say "miss-cheevy-us" or "miss-chiv-us"?

To add your voice, you can either use the British Library website or an Audioboo mobile app. Copies of Mr. Tickle are available on the library website, as well instructions on how to tag your upload so it appears as part of the collection.


Saturday, December 18, 2010

Oh, The Places You'll Go

The rage is eBooks and everyone loves free titles. This year's best Free Reference Websites (Twelfth Annual List) compiled by RUSA (MARS Section) included a free eBooks site.


from Reference and User Services Quarterly, Fall 2010
ebooks @ Adelaide, http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au
The University of Adelaide provides full-text ebooks of classic works of literature, philosophy, and history from a variety of countries, most available free online to anyone because the copyright has expired. Users can browse by subject, title, author or search by keywords. The formatting is attractive and very readable, with fonts and page layout that approximate to what the eye is used to seeing in a print book. Titles can be downloaded to eReader devices supporting the ePub standard (such as Sony, BeBook, Bookeen, B&N nook, or the iPhone). Brief author biographies and links to other resources are provided for each work, as are MARC records. Ebooks @ Adelaide is useful for any library seeking an additional source of electronic books.
Author/Publisher: University of Adelaide
Free/Fee-based: Free
Date Reviewed: 2/11/10

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Web Site Design

From David Lee King's Blog


Answer these Questions for your Website
by David Lee King
posted on November 2, 2010

We’re in the midst of a website redesign for our library. As we start looking at content, links, buttons, headings, etc – stuff like that – you know what we’re thinking?
We’re thinking this: does this link/content/heading/etc answer these questions for our customers?
  • What can I do here?
  • What can I do next?
  • Why should I care?

Answering these are really hard! Think about it for a sec – take a pretty normal link, like the library web designer’s favorite – “Library Databases.” Answering that “what can I do here” question certainly gets into how you label that section of your website (’cause we all know that “Library Databases” means nothing). Perhaps something like “Find articles” or “do some research” might work better?


Or think about a blog post – answering the “what can I do next” question can be as easy as linking to a set of related articles, topics, or even related books at the end of the post. I do this on my blog – when you’re reading it on the actual website, when you finish reading the article, you’ll see a list of related blog posts I wrote. What’s this get you? Website visitors staying on your site for longer amounts of time. More clicks. Hopefully, more conversions – more people clicking “attend this event” or checking out a book, etc.

“Why should I care” is a favorite one of our library director, and it’s probably the hardest of the three questions to answer. One way to do this is in the content itself. So your first couple of questions get the customer to your content … and then your content itself will need to answer that “why should I care” thing.

The answer could be any number of things, ranging from “because you can borrow it for free” to “because you’re a small business owner, and these resources will help you be profitable.” See where I’m going with this? Another way to say “why should I care” is to ask “what’s in it for me” or “why is this interesting?” Give them that reason.

Give your customers a reason to stay on your site by having great content AND by actually telling them why they might want to stay. Do that, and my guess is that … they actually WILL stay on your site – your digital branch – longer, doing more things.

Could be a good thing!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Old Friends

The flipping of the calendar to December signals a very important thing to me, the availability of the new World Almanac and Book of Facts. I have received this book every year for Christmas since I was little and it continues to be my favorite source for many things at work and home. With sections for history, geography, politics, entertainment, and sports, this book can answer most ready reference questions in an instant. The tables for perpetual calendar, wedding anniversary gifts, and weights and measures are particularly useful. I am always amazed by the wealth of information included in each year's edition. If I were stuck on an island and could could only bring 5 reference sources (isn't that always the case?), this is my #1 choice.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Deck the Halls...






From mlive.com


Delta College Librarian Constructs Christmas Tree Out of Books
Published: Friday, December 03, 2010, 1:20 PM Updated: Saturday, December 04, 2010, 8:21 AM
Brandon Howell The Bay City Times



FRANKENLUST TWP. — From a distance, it looks like a Christmas tree is adorning the main window inside the entrance to the Delta College Library.
Upon further inspection, though, one will find that it's not a blue spruce or a Douglas fir, but rather a meticulous amalgam of books.

Librarian Jennean Kabat spent six hours with a couple of coworkers carefully assembling the decoration the day before Thanksgiving. It was an idea she gleaned from the Internet.

"I was looking for inspiration — because I do all the displays — and came across this library in Connecticut who had done something similar," Kabat said. "So I said to my coworkers, 'Let's try building one of those!'"

The literary structure — which is buttressed from within by a wastebasket — is comprised of over 100 books. At the bottom, red books were used to simulate a tree skirt. Green books fill out the body of the tree while gold ones round out the top, mimicking a star.
The tree is constituted predominantly by copies of publications such as Congressional Quarterly Almanac and The Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature.
Those books were chosen for a reason.

"We went into the collection and took a few of the books that aren't used quite as often as others," Kabat said. That hasn't stopped some students from giving the library staff a little good-natured grief.

"We've had some people come by and ask, 'What if I need to use that book in the middle there?' and we've said, 'Too bad, you'll have to wait until January,'" Kabat said, adding that her project reminds her of the nerve-racking game Jenga.

Aside from her ambition to continually impress library-goers with her displays, Kabat said the Christmas tree represents a broader approach by the library this holiday season.
"We always have a concern because we have a diverse population here at Delta and everybody isn't all about Christmas," she said. "We wanted to get away a little bit from the traditional Christmas tree, but yet still celebrate the holidays."

Students and faculty have both made time to stop and appreciate the Christmas tree, Kabat said. "Students have been stopping by just taking shots with their phone," she said. "We've heard things like, 'That's so awesome! I love it! How appropriate for a library to do something like that.'"

Delta College Library Director Jack Wood also approves of the decoration — although Kabat surreptitiously constructed it during one of his vacation days.
"I love it. It looks pretty cool," Wood said. "We've been getting nothing but compliments."
For Kabat, the decoration presents a problem in the future.
"I'm constantly trying to outdo myself," she said. "I'll have to come up with something really great next year."


© 2010 MLive.com. All rights reserved.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

It's Great to be Needed




From the University of Texas Libraries comes this report...


"Surviving the Crunch"

"The days get shorter in more ways than you can imagine this time of the year, especially around the university campus as the final push of the semester evinces itself in the form of projects, papers and tests.

The Libraries does its part to help minimize the stress with a program meant to promote those resources and services that make the tasks at hand a tad less imposing.

This year’s Crunch Time outreach initiative highlighted library services and resources for students at The University of Texas at Austin between the hours of 11am-3pm on November 9, 10 &11. The program purpose is to promote the availability of in-person, drop-by assistance, subject librarian consultations, and the UT Libraries Ask a Librarian IM and email services.

During Crunch Time students are provided with Ask a Librarian contact cards attached to mini-Nestle Crunch bars, a series of time saving handouts and increased staffing at service points. A brief survey to determine awareness of service options is made available from UT Libraries computer workstations across the campus, and students who participate are entered in a prize drawing.

First introduced by the Reference and Information Services department at UT’s Perry-Castaneda Library in 2008, Crunch Time has become an annual event and three additional UT Libraries locations participated this year, increasing its reach.

Statistics indicate that students took advantage of the program and more of them were connected with the information they wanted, at point of need, as a result. Of the three locations reporting, there were 536 queries, with a large number of those (199) occurring on Wednesday, November 10, at the Perry-CastaƱeda (105) and Fine Arts (94) Libraries. There were also 193 participants in the services web survey. "

Jenifer Flaxbart is Head of Reference & Information Services for the University of Texas Libraries.

See more images from Crunch Time programs here.


Choosing the 100 Notable Books of 2010
From Paper Cuts
A Blog about Books
(a blog by The New York Times)

By THE EDITORS
Illustration by Joe Ciardiello
November 24, 2010, 3:49 pm


"Today, we published our 100 Notable Books of the Year online (they will appear in print on Dec. 5). The task of choosing them ­— or rather of excluding other superb books — grows harder each time. Consider it in terms of arithmetic: If we limited ourselves to a single work of fiction and nonfiction chosen from each of the issues published since Dec. 6, 2009, when the previous Notables list appeared, we would exceed our self-imposed limit.

Not that our decisions are determined arithmetically. On the contrary, we are guided by judgment, instinct and feel. The final result, for all its variety, implies a kind of logic, if not in our method, then in “the culture.” Not long ago the short story was presumed to be in extremis; our list includes nine short-story collections. When the Vietnam debacle ended 35 years ago, America entered a period of willed amnesia. But three novels on the list reimagine that war.

Patterns emerge from our nonfiction list too. It includes three biographies of baseball gods, contemporaries and rivals who together reinvented the game in the 1950s and ’60s. And we chose summings-up by songwriting prodigies who each redefined the term “popular music,” though in utterly dissimilar ways.
Readers will detect other patterns — and also errors of omission. We apologize for them, and stand ready to be scolded and corrected in the comments..."

Friday, December 3, 2010

Fun Factoid

This is the kind of trivia that crowds your head, keeping out valuable information like anniversaries or appointments, but it's so interesting (in a librarianish way).



Friday, December 3, 2010
Otis Hall Robinson (1835-1912), Rochester University Librarian



Happy birthday to the man who put the hole in library catalog cards. Today marks the 175th anniversary of the birth of Otis Hall Robinson who served as Librarian of the University of Rochester Library from 1868 to 1889. Robinson is noted more for his advocacy for library instruction than for his idea for dealing with the annoying tendency of library users to remove catalog cards and put them back in the wrong order (or to keep them for later reference).
But lets not underestimate the importance of that idea. How often has a single idea or practice been adopted by every library in America. Robinson's plan called for punching a hole in the lower left corner of each catalog card and running a rod through all the holes to prevent the removal of the cards. Later with the development of standard catalog cabinet drawers the hole was moved to the center of the catalog card. Although French librarian M. Pincon had similar thoughts, Robinson's holes (which were larger than the rod) were more effective. The catalog card above (a Harvard sized catalog card) started out with the hole to the left but was moved to the center later.

Robinson is listed in the Dictionary of American Library Biography Libraries Unlimited, 1978) where there is an excellent article about him by Edward G. Holley. There is also actually some information on the University of Rochester Library website about Robinson (although it is easier to find through Google than their website). Both sources provide a good picture of the challenges and limitations of academic librarianship in the 19th century. Robinson was exceptional in his views on serving the library and information needs of students. Even so, the library was only open a few hours each day.
Posted by Larry T. Nix at 8:44 AM

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

WorldCat.org Advanced Citations

American Libraries Direct (10/13/10) provides us with an article from NextSpace (Aug. 2010) about using WorldCat for citation functions.

25 Flavors of Exported Citation Lists
By Andy Havens

If you use WorldCat.org regularly, you probably already know that you can easily cite materials using the “Cite/Export” button on the detailed record page for any item. Clicking on that button brings up a box (Figure 1), allowing you to select from five popular citation formats: APA, Chicago, Harvard, MLA and Turabian. You can then either click on one of the “+” buttons to see the citation text in that format (great for copying/pasting directly into another application), or export the citation to RefWorks, EndNote or EasyBib.

But did you know that you can use WorldCat Lists to perform advanced citation functions? Many people use WorldCat Lists for bibliographies and project materials, and citations are a perfect way to store and share that information.

Here’s how it works.
1. Create and/or view a list of WorldCat.org items.
2. While viewing the list, click on the “Citations View” tab.
3. If you want to select everything in the list, click on the “Select All” button, or manually choose the items you want to cite.
4. Select one of the five citation styles you want to use from the drop-down box.
5. Select how you want to export the list from the “Export selected references” drop-down menu.
6. Click on the “Export” button and specify the file/location.
That’s all there is to it.
You can export your citations as:
  • An HTML file. Perfect for creating a hyper-bibliography. Copy the HTML file into a blog or Web page and the embedded hyperlinks pointing to detailed WorldCat.org records for each item provide viewers with a way to get to the resources you've identified.
  • Rich Text format. Good for moving a long bibliography into a word processing document, complete with italic formatting where appropriate.
  • Export into RIS, EndNote or RefWorks. If you’re already working in one of these popular systems, your file will be available for use with minimal extra effort.
    No matter which citation style you use and which export function, the ability to create a variety of citation files from WorldCat Lists is a powerful way to share resources with peers, students and other information seekers.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

New Book

  • Senior High Core Collection 2010 Supplement to the Seventeenth Edition edited by Raymond W. Barber and Patricia Bartell

FYI: "This 2010 Supplement is to be used with the Seventeenth Edition, and comes to you as part of that service." (cover note)

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Oh, The Places You'll Go

Have an appliance, gadget, or device that needs fixing? The Web site http://www.ifixit.com/ is a user-driven information site containing free repair Q&A.
According to the About Us section...

"We are a community of people helping each other fix stuff. Come hang out with us- you'll find a friendly, helpful bunch of people who care about our things and want to make them last longer."

Their mission:
"Free Repair Manuals
We make it easy for you to fix things yourself with our online step-by-step repair guides, troubleshooting tips, and thriving community of repair technicians who want to help. Or, check out our teardowns — sneak-peeks inside the latest new gadgets.

Fix the Planet
Repair is recycling! The best way to keep electronics out of landfills is to keep them working longer. Toxic electronic waste is a global problem that we are working to solve. Self repair saves you money and helps the environment!

Help us teach repair
What if everyone had access to a free repair manual for everything they owned? That's our mission. Share your knowledge and help us fix the world.

We sell parts
We fund our mission of helping people fix things by selling useful service parts and tools."

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Netflix in Libraries

American Libraries Direct has recently posted articles about libraries using subscriptions to Netflix as a means of supplementing their their holdings and providing additional service to their patrons. Here are some follow-ups...

From the Blog:
Information Wants to Be Free
Netflix in Libraries and Hypocrisy
By Meredith Farkas September 18, 2010

"This afternoon, I read a post at the Wired Campus blog about libraries loaning out Netflix discs to students and faculty. They point to a guest post from a librarian on Tame the Web who discusses how she is doing this at her library. She touts it as a great way to offer more DVDs to patrons than her library could possibly afford to purchase. Then I see that there was a 2010 article in Library Trends, a scholarly publication, describing using Netflix to expand the library’s DVD offerings as well (I can’t read it because our databases have a 1 year pay wall for LT). At this point I am gobsmacked, not because this is a brilliant idea, but because I can’t believe librarians would actually publish and brag about how they are willfully violating a company’s terms of service.
According to Netflix, “The use of the Netflix service, including DVDs rented to you by us and the Netflix instant streaming discs is solely for your personal and non-commercial use.” They are not saying that you can give this to others. They are not saying that you can use this in the classroom. They are saying that this is for your personal use and you can’t make any money off it. Netflix does not have institutional subscriptions. Therefore, what the library is doing is in violation of Netflix’s terms of services and opens them up to legal repercussions. And it’s not just one or two libraries doing this. I found a number of other libraries offering Netflix discs to their patrons. This library states that the use of Netflix discs is “designed for instructional purposes only; it is not intended for recreational or home use” (which is the opposite of Netflix’s actual Terms). Does the library think that somehow that makes it better? This library makes money when someone returns a Netflix disc late, which could also test the boundaries of non-commercial use (I’m not a lawyer… just conjecture). This one charges a $50 lost fee when a Netflix disc is lost (is that how much DVDs cost these days?). This library also only loans out discs to instructors, as if that somehow makes it ok to willfully disregard the Terms of Use.

"So what’s the justification for this? In addition to the “this has saved us an enormous amount of money” justification Rebecca Fitzgerald at Concordia College, author of the Tame the Web post, makes 3 arguments in response: 1) “there have been no legal repurcussions involving our Netflix accounts”, 2) “No one from Netflix has questioned this”, and 3) “our library is not the first to use this program.” Well, clearly that makes it ok, right? This sounds like the same arguments people who violate copyright make. Well, you know, everyone is doing it. We need to do it because we couldn’t afford to provide all these things otherwise. No one has told me not to. Actually, they have. They told you not to in the Terms of Service, which you tacitly accepted when you signed up for the service.

"It’s annoying enough when average people do things like this, but librarians should be smarter than that. We are supposed to be the ones helping faculty stay on the straight-and-narrow regarding copyright. What kind of an example are we setting when we show such flagrant disregard for a company’s Terms of Service? And this not only opens a library up to being sued by Netflix; it also opens the library up to being sued by the studios that own the movies libraries are saving money on by not purchasing and getting through Netflix. There are a number of video on demand services that are designed for use by educational institutions, so it’s not like Netflix is the only option for making a huge wealth of video material available for instructional use. What it is is the cheaper option. Are librarians really this clueless and/or irresponsible?

"Now, let’s imagine that there’s a grad student who is really impressed with his library’s collection and thinks it sucks that average folks in his community do not have access to the same wealth of books and DVDs. So, because he’s a grad student, he gets a longer loan time and he decides that he is going to check out books and DVDs for people in the community who are not affiliated with his university. He creates his own policies and loan times and even charges late fees to “borrowers” which nets him a little income too. Now, essentially, the library is loaning books out to people who are not members of the university community without their knowledge and in violation of their policies. Now let’s say that this guy is so brazen that he actually sets up a website touting this service he offers and a librarian happens to see this website. What do you think will be the reaction of the library? This guy would be in a whole heck of a lot of trouble. At a minimum he’d lose his borrowing privileges, but I bet it would go further than that. And how is this any different from what libraries are doing to Netflix?

"I have to say that I am still in a state of shock that so many libraries, including some major Universities, are doing this. I keep thinking that there is something I’m missing that somehow makes this ok. But I really can’t see it. Could someone enlighten me?"
From:
LibraryLaw Blog
Using Netflix in a Library
by Peter Hirtle September 18, 2010
"One of the things that Napster taught us is that just because it is easy to do something, it is not always legal.

There is a recent post that has been getting some buzz. In “Using Netflix at an Academic Library,” Rebecca Fitzgerald describes how Concordia College uses a Netflix subscription to supply movies to students. She reports that using Netflix subscriptions has been a great success, saving the library over $3,000 so far by substituting film purchases and licensing with Netflix rentals and instant play.

"The program appears to be popular with the students and saves the college money. It is easy - but is it legal? I don’t see how.

"Here is the problem: As one of the commentators on her post notes, when you sign up with Netflix you enter into a binding contract with them. The terms of that contract specify that “our DVD rental service and the content on the Netflix website, including content viewed through our instant watching functionality, are for your personal and non-commercial use only and we grant you a limited license to access the Netflix website for that purpose” (emphasis mine). As far as the instant play service of Netflix, its end user license stipulates that Netflix grants the licensee “a non-exclusive, limited, personal and nontransferable license, subject to and conditioned on your compliance with the restrictions set forth in this License Agreement, to install and use the Software.” To whom does this apply? Netflix stipulates that the licensee includes “members of your immediate household for whom you will be responsible hereunder and users of the personal computer or Netflix ready device with which you are accessing the Netflix Service and for whom you will be responsible.

"I don't see how a library subscription to Netflix could be considered to be “personal” – not when the purpose of the subscription is to lend the movies to others, rather than watch them yourself (as if a library could even watch a movie.) Nor can authorized users of a library be considered to be “members of your immediate household,” nor could library workstations be considered to be “personal computers.” I am not even sure that we could consider Concordia’s use to be non-commercial, since its purpose is to avoid paying purchase, rental, and licensing fees – and avoiding purchasing an item has at times been considered to be “commercial."

"It looks to this non-lawyer like Concordia may not be complying with the terms of the license. As a general rule, I think libraries should respect the terms of the contracts they enter into. If you don’t like a license, regardless of whether it is the license that accompanies an e-book reader or a Netflix subscription, try to change it. (At least one recent article suggests that we should be trying to negotiate different terms so that Netflix subscriptions can be used in higher education.)

"Of course, one can also ask how much risk does Concordia College face because of the library’s actions. In reality, the answer is probably "not much." Fitzgerald reports that to date “There have been no legal repurcussions (sic) involving our Netflix accounts.” If Netflix found out about Concordia’s program and objected, it is most likely that it would simply cancel the library’s membership rather than also bring legal action. I am a little more worried, though, about the possible response of copyright owners. Movies that have been secured via Netflix in violation of the license agreement between Netflix and the end user (or that are used in ways that Netflix has not licensed) are no more legal than pulling the movie off of BitTorrent. A copyright owner could theoretically sue Concordia College for willful copyright infringement (distribution, in this case), which carries with it a $150,000 fine per infringed movie. Until recently, however, suing schools and libraries was considered poor form, and so the risk of a lawsuit is likely still small.

"Given the potential high risks that a Netflix lending program entails, though, I would only enter into such a program with the full support of my institution’s legal department. I hope that Fitzgerald considers posting Concordia’s counsel’s legal assessment of the risks and benefits of the program. (And let me credit Fitzgerald’s piece for at least raising the issue, something that a Library Trends article that she cites in her post fails to do.)

"Is there any way a library can utilize Netflix in its collection development? Certainly negotiating with Netflix for different terms would be a start (though it would not surprise me if Netflix’s agreement with the film distributors might actually prohibit anything but personal, non-commercial use). A library could also consider buying individual memberships in Netflix for all of the students. But until I see a legal justification for a Netflix borrowing program, I think this has to go into the “easy – but not legal” category.

"UPDATE: An article on the topic in the Chronicle of Higher Education indicates that Netflix agrees with me that library use of a Netflix subscription is outside of the terms of use. It does not discuss whether such a use would, in addition to being a contractual problem, also be a copyright infringement."

New Books

  • Story Times Good Enough to Eat!: Thematic Programs with Edible Story Crafts by Melissa Rosetti Folini
  • ABC Read to Me!: Teaching Letter of the Week in the Library & Classroom by Toni Buzzeo

Monday, October 4, 2010

New Book

  • Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends edited by Marie L. Radford and R. David Lankes

FYI: "The rumors of the 'death of reference' have been greatly exaggerated. The theme of a 'Reference Renaissance,' was taken from the title of an editorial by Diane Zabel...This renaissance can be seen in the return to core values of service excellence in libraries and to the rising surge of innovative reference initiatives via virtual venues such as instant messaging, text messaging, and other emerging modes." - from the Introduction

New Books

  • What They Don't Teach You in Library School by Elisabeth Doucett
  • Conducting the Reference Interview (2nd ed) by Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Kirsti Nilsen and Marie L. Radford

New Books

The Tech Set - Volumes 5, 6, 7, & 10
  • # 5 Wikis for Libraries by Lauren Pressley

"Wikis for Libraries is a comprehensive guide to harnessing the power of the wiki as a collaboration tool, content management solution, and reference resource. Readers will learn how to leverage the potential of wikis to create internal knowledge bases and intranets within their organizations, facilitate collaboration among diverse team members, design library instruction tools, support special events, and create valuable online resources." - from the Foreword

  • #6 Technology Training in Libraries by Sarah Houghton-Jan

"Emerging technologies enable libraries to create innovative new services which leverage the technology that patrons are currently using. But in order for libraries to remain relevant in this information age, librarians must be knowledgeable about these cutting-edge tools and trends. Technology Training in Libraries is an essential resource that outlines the steps to creating effective training programs from simple lunchtime brown bags to formal 23 Things courses, technology petting zoos, and peer trainer programs." - from the Foreword

  • #7 A Social Networking Primer for Librarians by Cliff Landis

"The coffeehouses and student centers of generations past have been replaced by today's online social networks. A Social Networking Primer for Librarians explains how to use today's most popular social networking Web sites to reach out to library patrons, promote your library, and build community." - from the Foreword

  • #10 Effective Blogging for Libraries by Connie Crosby

"Nowadays it seems as if everyone has a blog-but not all of them are successful. Effective Blogging for Libraries is a complete how-to handbook that provides practical tips and best practices for creating a winning library blog and informs readers about everything from blog posting techniques, to strategies for encouraging comments and dealing with negative feedback, to effective tagging. The book tackles approaches to blog marketing, managing staff bloggers, usability guidelines, and a variety of assessment methods." - from the Foreword

Friday, September 17, 2010

Virtual Shelving Practice

From the Stephens's Lighthouse Blog


Training Library Shelvers, Pages, and Clerks

Are you orienting a whole new team of pages for the new school year? Do you train shelving staff who are from the gaming generation?

I found this through LISNews who found it in a tweet via RT@shannonmmiller (Shannon Miller of the Van Meter, IA Library:

Check out Order in the Library…an online game using the Dewey Decimal system.

“There are three games you can play; the sorting game, the shelving game and the reordering game. There’s even a Spanish version. Go to it!”

I tried it and, sadly, failed and had to try again. Two slaps with a wet noodle for me. My library club shelving books days are over.

Stephen
Posted on: September 7, 2010, 7:11 am

Friday, September 3, 2010

VHS to DVD

As more of our collections become exclusively digital, the subject of this Ask the ALA Librarian article caught my eye.


VHS to DVD?
By Karen Muller
Created 08/26/2010 - 09:57


Q. With the increased use of DVD systems it has been suggested that we convert our VHS library of educational videos in VHS format to DVD. Is it a copyright violation to convert to DVD and discontinue use of the VHS tapes?


A. In most cases, yes, it would be a copyright violation. Reproducing a VHS to DVD without the prior permission of the rights-holder is an infringement of copyright. This kind of reproduction is not exempt because it is not “fair use” [2] as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright Code and it does not qualify as a lawful reproduction under Section 108 [3] of the Copyright Code.
However, in a situation where the VHS tape is lost, stolen or deteriorating or is in an obsolete format (a 3/4” tape is obsolete because the equipment is no longer being sold, but a VHS tape is not obsolete) and is not available in the DVD format in the market for a reasonable cost, the library can make a reproduction. But if the reproduction is in a digital format (DVD is digital), then that copy cannot leave the library premises.


Thursday, September 2, 2010

Music

While I am waiting for participants to arrive for my workshops I like to take advantage of the availability of streaming music and the speakers on my computer to set a mood. Usually I log into my Pandora account and pick one of my stations, but while reading a recent American Libraries Direct, I found a new source of streaming music.

Here's the snippet from the August 11 American Libraries Direct article about Grooveshark.

Listen to free music online with Grooveshark Steven Campbell writes: “Could Grooveshark be the best service for streaming music? A lot of people have taken to online music. It’s a great way to listen to your favorite tunes on demand and save your playlists or stations. There are many services that allow you to stream music, including Pandora and Last.fm, but my personal favorite is Grooveshark.”
...MakeUseOf, Aug. 10

Thursday, August 19, 2010

New Book


  • Public Libraries Going Green by Kathryn Miller

Saturday, August 7, 2010

New Books

  • The Complete Library Trustee Handbook by Sally Gardner Reed and Jillian Kalonick for the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations
  • Assessing Service Quality: Satisfying the Expectations of Library Customers by Peter Hernon & Ellen Altman

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Survey by OverDrive

Survey Results Give Insights About Your Patrons


July 29, 2010 08:50 by Shannon Lichty


Over the last few years, our library partners have experienced significant growth in download audiobook and eBook circulation. OverDrive is actively developing new features to enhance your download service user experience, and figured the best way to do find out what users want, is to ask them - so that's exactly what we did!


In June, we concluded a survey, linked on 10 of our highest traffic websites, with more than 5,000 responses from patrons around urban and rural America. The survey included questions regarding demographics, computer/device usage, borrowing habits, general feedback on user experience, and suggestions for collection development.


If you're like me, who loathed statistics class in school, the phrase "interesting data" may not have you jumping up and down. But trust me, these statistics are genuinely interesting:


• 74% of users are female, between the ages of 30-59.


• Nearly 70% have a college and/or postgraduate degree.


• 60% learned about the download service from the library's website (if our past blog posts and training sessions weren't enough to get you to promote on your website, hopefully this is!)


• 87% listen to audiobooks on an MP3 player, 44% of which are iPod users.


• 33% of users own an eBook reader (e.g., Sony Reader, Barnes & Noble nook)
For those who don't own an eBook reader, 90% stated that compatibility of eBooks from the library is an important factor.


-from OverDrive's Digital Library Blog

Monday, July 26, 2010

New Book

  • Boomers and Beyond: Reconsidering the Role of Libraries edited by Pauline Rothstein and Diantha Dow Schull

FYI: "A roadmap to the trends and perspectives of the library's role in meeting the needs of our aging population, this book offers

-Proactive ideas that serve the increasing longevity of your patrons

-Different perspectives on longevity from a variety of scholars and experts

-A section on librarians' responses to the issues

Supporting this growing population is a concern of many. Boomers and Beyond will help you find ways to be creative and take the initiative to build a better service model for these customers." - from the back cover

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

New Book

  • The Readers' Advisory Handbook Edited by Jessica E. Moyer and Kaite Mediatore Stover

FYI: "Readers' advisory long ago sprinted past merely suggesting books to patrons; it now encompasses many different formats and means of communication, working with patrons of all types and ages, in and outside the library building. To help librarians handle increased demand, experts Jessica Moyer and Kaite Stover have assembled a group of specialists who have created a one-stop resource for all kinds of readers' advisory issues." -from the back cover

Thursday, July 8, 2010

New Book

  • Mobile Technology and Libraries by Jason Griffey

FYI: "Mobile Technology and Libraries is part of THE TECH SET, a series of ten practical, concise guides to implementing today's best technologies in your library to enhance the library-user connection." - from the back cover

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Old Friends

Magill's Medical Guide
From the Salem Press Web site:
"The Guide is a perfect mix of accessibility and depth, providing general readers with an authoritative reference source that helps bridge the gap between medical encyclopedias for professionals and popular self-help guides. It is an up-to-date and easy-to-use compendium of medical information suitable for student research as well as use by general readers, including patients and caregivers. The Guide covers diseases, disorders, treatments, procedures, specialties, anatomy, biology, and issues in an A-Z format, with sidebars addressing recent developments in medicine and concise information boxes for all diseases and disorders."
Magill's Medical Guide is an often overlooked resource filled with a broad range of medical topics. The articles are written by subject specialists and include diagrams and illustrations.

New Book

  • Guide to Developing a Music Collection by R. Michael Fling

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Marilyn Johnson - Interview

Longshots #237 A Love Letter to Librarians
From LibraryBeat.org
May 17, 2010

Sarah talks with Marilyn Johnson, author of The Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All. Johnson describes what motivated her to write this tribute to the new librarians that have guided her into the digital age. The book features librarians that are taking the profession out into the virtual and real communities they serve, including the Connecticut librarians that challenged the Patriot Act, the librarian that created Radical Reference, and the creators of Second Life.

Listen now!
Download [16:56]

C-Span

C-Span Puts Full Archives on the Web

By Brian Stelter
Published: March 15, 2010

WASHINGTON — Researchers, political satirists and partisan mudslingers, take note: C-Span has uploaded virtually every minute of its video archives to the Internet.

The archives, at
C-SpanVideo.org, cover 23 years of history and five presidential administrations and are sure to provide new fodder for pundits and politicians alike. The network will formally announce the completion of the C-Span Video Library on Wednesday.

Having free online access to the more than 160,000 hours of C-Span footage is “like being able to Google political history using the ‘I Feel Lucky’ button every time,” said
Rachel Maddow, the liberal MSNBC host.

Ed Morrissey, a senior correspondent for the conservative blog Hot Air (
hotair.com), said, “The geek in me wants to find an excuse to start digging.”

No other cable network is likely to give away its precious archives on the Internet. (Even “Book TV” is available.) But C-Span is one of a kind, a creation of the cable industry that records every Congressional session, every White House press briefing and other acts of official Washington.

The online archives reinforce what some would call the Web’s single best quality: its ability to recall seemingly every statement and smear. And it is even more powerful when the viewer can rewind the video.

The C-Span founder, Brian Lamb, said in an interview here last week that the archives were an extension of the network’s public service commitment.

“That’s where the history will be,” Mr. Lamb said.
C-Span has been uploading its history for several years, working its way to 1987, when its archives were established at
Purdue University, Mr. Lamb’s alma mater.

The archive staff now operates from an office park in West Lafayette, Ind., where two machines that can turn 16 hours of tapes into digital files each hour have been working around the clock to move C-Span’s programs online. They are now finishing the 1987 catalog.

“This is the archive’s coming of age, in a way, because it’s now so accessible,” said Robert Browning, director of the archives.

Historically, the $1 million-a-year operation has paid for itself partly by selling videotapes and DVDs to journalists, campaign strategists and others.

Mr. Browning acknowledges that video sales have waned as more people have viewed clips online. “On the other hand, there are a lot of things people now watch that they never would have bought,” he said.

The archives’ fans include Ms. Maddow, who called it gold. “It’s raw footage of political actors in their native habitat, without media personalities mediating viewers’ access,” she wrote in an e-mail message.

Similarly, Mr. Morrissey said the archives made “for a really intriguing reference set.” He pointed out, however, that the volume of videos “is so vast that finding valuable references may be a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

C-Span executives said they hoped that its search filters would be up to the task. Mr. Lamb said, “You can see if politicians are saying one thing today, and 15 years ago were saying another thing.”

He added, “Journalists can feast on it.”

One of the Web site’s features, the Congressional Chronicle, shows which members of Congress have spoken on the House and Senate floors the most, and the least. Each senator and representative has a profile page. Using the data already available, some newspapers have written about particularly loquacious local lawmakers.

C-Span was established in 1979, but there are few recordings of its earliest years. Those “sort of went down the drain,” Mr. Browning said. But he does have about 10,000 hours of tapes from before 1987, and he will begin reformatting them for the Web soon. Those tapes include
Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign speeches and the Iran-Contra hearings.

In a tour of the site last week, Mr. Browning said the various uses of the archives were hard to predict. He found that a newly uploaded 1990
United Nations address by the Romanian president Ion Iliescu was quickly discovered and published by several Romanian bloggers.

While C-Span does not receive Nielsen ratings, a recent poll by
Fairleigh Dickinson University found that 52 percent of voters said they watched it at least once in a while. The poll did not distinguish among C-Span’s three channels. The original one, C-Span, shows every House of Representatives session; C-Span2 does the same for the Senate; and C-Span3 shows committee hearings, briefings, conferences and other events.

The archives of all three channels have been mostly uploaded, but they can only be streamed. Mr. Browning said video downloads were on his agenda. Users can embed the videos on other Web sites and clip small sound bites for repeat viewing.

The clips can help citizens gain access to important information, of course, but they can also be entertaining.

Last month one of the top clips on the C-Span site was from
President Obama’s health care summit meeting, but it wasn’t of a comment about proposed legislation, it was of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. caught on a microphone saying, “It’s easy being vice president.” A spokesman for the vice president told reporters that Mr. Biden was “obviously joking.”

Regardless, the archives are a reminder that the cameras are always recording. For politicians or anyone else captured by C-Span, Mr. Browning said, “there’s no more deniability.”

A version of this article appeared in print on March 16, 2010, on page C1 of the New York edition.


Monday, June 14, 2010

New Book

  • Virginia Hamilton: Speeches, Essay, & Conversations edited by Arnold Adoff & Kacy Cook

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

New Books

  • Level Three Leadership: Getting Below the Surface by James G. Clawson
  • Global Perspectives in Children's Literature by Evelyn Freeman and Barbara Lehman
  • Public Services for the Poor: Doing All We Can by Leslie Edmonds Holt and Glen E. Holt
  • Crash Course in Storytelling by Kendall Haven and MaryGay Ducey

Saturday, May 29, 2010

New Book

  • Library Blogging by Karen A. Coombs and Jason Griffey

Friday, May 21, 2010

New Book

  • Go Get That Grant!: A Practical Guide for Libraries and Nonprofit Organizations by Gail M. Staines

FYI: "In these tough economic times, funding opportunities have decreased, while competition for money has increased. Thus, this how-to guide is a a must for anyone interested in writing, procuring, and implementing grants. Designed for libraries and nonprofit organizations, Go Get That Grant! includes information about the types of grants available through government agencies and foundations, as well as how to locate funding opportunities." - from the back cover

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

New Book

  • Bite-Sized Marketing: Realistic Solutions for the Overworked Librarian by Nancy Dowd, Mary Evangeliste, & Jonathan Silberman

FYI: "Written and designed to reflect the way people read today, this book is structured to quickly impart simple and cost-effective ideas for marketing your library. Filled with contemporary marketing ideas..." -from the back cover

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

New Books

  • Succession Planning in the Library: Developing Leaders, Managing Change by Paula M. Singer with Gail Griffith
  • Countdown to a New Library: Managing the Building Project by Jeannette Woodward
  • gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Teen Literature: A Guide to Reading Interests by Carlisle K. Webber

Saturday, April 24, 2010

New Book

  • The PLA Reader for Public Library Directors and Managers edited by Kathleen M. Hughes for the Public Library Association

FYI: "Welcome to the The Public Library Association (PLA) Reader for Public Library Directors and Managers, the first in a new series that is designed specifically for busy public library professionals. PLA staff and PLA committee members worked together to choose key articles, culled from the pages of Public Libraries and from chapters of bestselling PLA books." - from the Introduction

Monday, April 19, 2010

New Books

  • American Reference Books Annual (vol. 41)
  • Urban Teens in the Library: Research and Practice edited by Denise E. Agosto and Sandra Hughes-Hassell
  • Librarians as Community Partners: An Outreach Handbook edited by Carol Smallwood

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

New Books

  • Game On! Gaming at the Library by Beth Gallaway
  • This Book is Overdue! How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson
  • Teaching Generation M: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators edited by Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic and Robert J. Lackie

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

New Book

  • The Accidental Library Marketer by Kathy Dempsey

Monday, March 29, 2010

New Book

  • The Library PR Handbook: High-Impact Communications edited by Mark R. Gould

Thursday, March 25, 2010

New Book

  • Libraries and the Mega-Internet Sites: A Survey of How Libraries Use and Relate to Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, Ebay, Amazon, Facebook, YouTube, & Other Mega Internet Sites by Primary Research Group, Inc.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

New Book

  • Radical Reads: Working With The Newest Edgy Titles for Teens by Joni Richards Brodart

Friday, March 12, 2010

New Books

  • Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data edited by Nicole C. Engard (foreword by Jenny Levine)

FYI: "The goal of this guide is to teach you the basics of what mashups are and how they have been used in libraries worldwide. It is my hope that after reading this book, you will be inspired to make at least one change to your library site. This can be as simple as copying and pasting a bit of code into your site or adding a collection of ever-changing links. Take what you learn from these authors and add a dash of your own imagination; you'll be surprised what can evolve." -from the Introduction

  • Crisis in Employment: A Librarian's Guide to Helping Job Seekers by Jane Jerrard

FYI: "In difficult economic times people turn to their local library for help seeking new work. Crisis in Employment will give you the tools you need to support this growing group of patrons. based on interviews with librarians across the country, as well as research from ALA's Office for Research and Statistics, this ALA Editions Special Report offers advice and methods for providing appropriate training and education to job seekers with - tips for maximizing your library's physical resources, - a list of key reference resources useful to job seekers, - advice on building partnerships with key community organizations." -from the back cover

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

New Book

  • On the Road with Outreach: Mobile Library Services edited by Jeannie Dilger-Hill and Erica MacCreaigh

FYI: " The first book of its kind in more than two decades, On the Road with Outreach: Mobile Library Services provides step-by-step guidance for those wishing to initiate or improve outreach services in their communities. The essays collected here come from some the the best-known movers and shakers in the mobile outreach field-all of them subject experts and active outreach practitioners. Focusing on the practicalities of establishing and maintaining service to various populations, the book covers everything from design, purchase, maintenance, and automation of bookmobiles to planning and promotion and serving specific populations. Anecdotes, as well as sample service agreements, contracts, applications, staff schedules, and other working documents enhance the text. This is a must-purchase for anyone who has, is planning, or is even considering an outreach program." -from the back cover

Of Note : Part IV Books-by-Mail is by Lee County Library System's Kathy Mayo

The Passage of Time

In the very first post I made to this blog almost 3 years ago (3/27/07) I stated,

"The main subject posts of this blog, I expect, will be announcements of new books and materials received in the Professional Collection. I also hope occasionally to share with you articles I come across that may be of interest to you, patrons of the Professional Collection. Perhaps through the Comments you will share with me/us a book or article that you have read that has been beneficial to you in your work. This blog could be a very interesting experiment and will, undoubtedly, evolve. Let's see what happens."

Well, three years later the Professional Collection blog still strives to bring you updates about the new arrivals as well as interesting articles, videos, or snippets from other blogs. Recently, the blog has been targeted by comment vandals whose aim seems to be hijacking readers to to their porn sites. As a result of this trend, you may have noticed that I have made the comment process increasingly more cumbersome in an attempt to thwart such behavior. If you have a legitimate contribution to make, please do not allow the additional steps to hinder you.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Handy Information

In American Libraries Direct (2/17/10) I read an article originating in WebWorkerDaily, Feb. 16 about finding mailboxes for outgoing mail.


"I do a lot of my correspondence electronically, but sometimes I still need to mail a letter. I know where the blue US Postal Service mailboxes are in my neighborhood, but it’s getting harder to find pickup locations when I’m on the road, since USPS has removed over half of its boxes in the past 20 years.

So I’m pleased that I’ve discovered MailboxMap. It’s a simple web site built around a Google Maps mashup. Just enter an address or zip code, and it will display a map showing the locations of mailboxes in the neighborhood. Click on a mailbox icon, and it will display pickup times.
MailboxMap also shows post offices and UPS locations, complete with hours. And there’s a mobile version, which has the advantage of displaying search results in a list, making it easier to skim for late pickups. It would be nice, though, if one could search for, say, pickups after 3:00 pm, or for Saturday pickups.

It’s not a perfect service; for example, it locates Seattle’s downtown post office on the wrong side of the street. Google Maps itself locates the same address correctly, so it’s unclear what the problem is. Nevertheless, MailboxMap is a useful service.

The site has been around for a couple of years, but it seems to be up to date, as it shows a recent pickup time change for my local box. It’s probably too much to hope that USPS will buy this site and add it to usps.com."

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

New Item

  • The Early Literacy Kit: A Handbook and Tip Cards by Betsy Diamant-Cohen and Saroj Nadkarni Ghoting

FYI: "This innovative and practical kit, put together by two well-know specialists in the field of early literacy, contains everything storytime presenters for children from birth to age five need to spread the word about school readiness skills to adult caregivers." -from the back cover

New Book

  • Moving Your Library: Getting the Collection from Here to There by Steven Care Fortriede

FYI: "Everything you need for the move is included - even specifications for boxes, moving carts, sorting trays, and a worksheet to calculate shelving layouts and growth rates. Moving Your Library is the complete kit for any librarian facing the daunting prospect of moving a library collection." - from the back cover

Saturday, February 13, 2010

New Book

  • Fundamentals of Library Supervision (2nd ed.) by Joan Giesecke and Beth McNeil

FYI: "Guiding supervisors through the intricate process of managing others, this comprehensive handbook addresses the fundamental issues facing new managers. It also serves as a welcome refresher and reference for experienced managers confronting new challenges in this complex and changing environment." - from the back cover

Monday, February 1, 2010

New Book

  • User-Centered Library Websites: Usability Evaluation Methods by Carole A. George

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Best Reference Selections - 2010

RUSA’s Best in Reference Selections for 2010 Presented at Midwinter Meeting

BOSTON—The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced its list of Outstanding Reference Sources for 2010.

The list is compiled by a committee of RUSA members who are readers’ advisory and reference experts. They review publications and online reference resources released in the previous calendar year and present their selections at the RUSA Book and Media Awards Reception at the ALA Midwinter Meeting.

The 2010 selections for the Outstanding Reference Sources List are:
  • Archaeology in America: An Encyclopedia (Greenwood Press), Francis P. McManamon
  • Encyclopedia of African American History: 1896 to the Present (Oxford University Press), Paul Finkelman
  • Encyclopedia of Modern China (Charles Scribner's Sons), David Pong
  • The Encyclopedia of the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars (ABC-CLIO), Spencer Tucker
  • Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy (Gale Cengage), J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman
  • Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Oxford), David Forsythe
  • Social Explorer, an online reference resource located at http://www.socialexplorer.com/
  • Broadway Plays and Musicals: Descriptions and Essential Facts (McFarland & Company Publishers), Thomas S. Hischak
  • American Countercultures (Sharp), Gina Misiroglu
  • Encyclopedia of Gender and Society (Sage), Jodi O’Brien
  • Encyclopedia of Marine Science (Facts on File), Nichols C. Reid and Robert G. Williams

The winner was selected by the Outstanding Reference Sources Award Committee, whose members include Estella M. Terrazas (chair), Cynthia Crosser, Anne-Marie Davis, Denise Goetting, Patricia L. Gregory, Danise Hoover, Deborah Fay Katz, Peggy A. Keeran and Patrick J. Wall.

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more at www.ala.org/rusa.

Tell Us Something We Don't Know!

Now published:
A Perfect Storm Brewing: Budget Cuts Threaten Library Services at Time of Increased Demand

About the Study

Today’s public libraries are vital community technology hubs that millions of Americans rely on for their first and often only choice for Internet access. Despite increased demand for library computers, however, libraries typically have not seen a corresponding increase in budgets and many are challenged to provide enough computers or fast-enough connection speeds to meet demand.

The Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study is a multi-year project that builds on the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries. The study assesses public access to computers, the Internet and Internet-related services in U.S. public libraries, as well as the impact of library funding changes on connectivity, technology deployment and sustainability in FY2007-2009.

Built on the longest-running and largest study of Internet connectivity in public libraries, begun in 1994 by John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure, this study provides information that can help library directors and library IT staff benchmark and advocate for technology resources in communities across the nation. The data are also of importance for policymakers at local, state, and federal levels, manufacturers of information and communication technologies, and the communities served.

The project is made possible by a generous donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the American Library Association.
For more information on the Public Library Funding and Technology Access study, please contact the
Office for Research & Statistics.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

New Book

  • Building a Buzz: Libraries & Word-of-Mouth Marketing by Peggy Barber and Linda Wallace

FYI: "Want to get the word out about your library in the most cost-effective way possible? You can achieve this with the effective word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) strategies laid out in this book." - from the back cover

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

New Book

  • Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects edited by Kwasi Sarkodie-Mensah

FYI: "Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects has been co published simultaneously as The Reference Librarian, Number 81 2003." - from the title page

Sometimes when journals are published, we skim the articles and years later we wish to revisit the concepts presented when they become relevant to us. Having topic-dedicated issues repackaged in book form somehow seems more readable. While many of the articles focus on academic libraries, as academics generally publish more, the core concepts translate to public librarianship.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Comments

Recently this blog along with two others I write have been plagued by Anonymous comments that are irrelevant to the associated posts. To combat these spam-like contributions, I have changed the settings on the blog to require registration for anyone wishing to comment. I apologize for any inconvenience this requirement may cause.