Friday, January 14, 2011

Kid Friendly E-Readers? I'm In!

Okay, what are all over my home and car? What do I trip on in the morning? The answer: my kids' books. My kids have a lot of books. I mean a lot, a lot, a lot of books. They drag them all over the house, and kids books are the worst to try and fit on a shelf. They are all different sizes, shapes, and materials. Library books are a nightmare because they always get damaged.

We need to invent a kid-proof e-reader! Wouldn't that be perfect? No more books to pick up from under the dinning room table. No more worries about damaging library books. It would be the ideal baby shower gift. Libraries could stock up on e-books, and parents could just download them without a worry!

They make other kid-proof electronics like personal CD/DVD players and digital cameras--e-book readers couldn't be that hard to make for kids! Just make it water-proof, and drop-proof and your good to go!
Although they don't meet my standards of "kid friendly," here is a link to a website that reviews some of the kid friendly e-readers out there:
http://www.best-ereaders.com/2010/07/12/ereaders-for-kids-early-start-for-reading/
Will my grandkids be looking at e-readers?

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Typical Librarian

Okay we all know the two stereotypes about librarians. One is a little to PG-13/R rated for this blog, and the other is of the grumpy, old woman wearing a cardigan, glasses and a bun who is obsessed with trivial rules.
I'll let you decide about the first, but I know that as a profession we would like to leave the grumpy, old librarian image behind!
Let's get away from this image!
www.mcphee.com/laf/
It isn't too hard to figure out why the image of the grumpy, rule obsessed lady has become ubiquitous with librarian. Let me list three things that are harmless to the non-library world: talking, eating, and talking on a cell phone (not while driving). Walk through library doors and you are likely to treated like a criminal for doing any of the aforementioned actions. Although I am officially part of the library world, I am not, yet, an official librarian so please let me make an argument for all of these activities on behalf of the non-librarian world.

1) Talking. Even laughing or giggling! Communication is very important. I have young children, and I spend a lot of time trying to encourage them to speak. People must speak to learn collaboratively or work on projects. I know that a lot of noise is distracting, but have you ever walked past a person with an iPod. They blast loud music into their ears with those things so I am pretty sure that a little chatting isn't going to distract them. Bottom line: Please use common sense librarians. Try to satisfy patrons of all noise levels. If you shush more than once a day, should you revise your noise level policy?

2)Eating. Hey, I get low blood sugar and pass out if I don't eat every few hours. Seriously, I almost had to quit my job when I was pregnant because I couldn't eat at the library where I work, and I was always dizzy and shaky! People like to eat. When your patrons check out the books they are going to eat around them. Couldn't we just take out the trash and vacuum more often to avoid the supposed pest issue? Can't we figure this out because us non-librarians really like to eat. Please.

3)Cell Phones. People like their cell phones. We really like our cell phones*. *please see my post "my new phone..."
Stop telling us we can't talk on them! We have already established with section 1 that you do not like talking, but how is whispering into a phone different than whispering to a person at the library? Please read this article in Library Journal.com, and consider having a  "no rude people on cell phones" policy instead of a "no cell phone policy."
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6652439.html
I am inviting librarians to join the rest of the world, and enjoy some talking, eating, and cell phone usage!

Friday, January 7, 2011

The Colbert Report's Take on Libraries in the Recession

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Red Lending Menace
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical Humor & Satire BlogMarch to Keep Fear Alive

This is so funny! I end up crying every time I watch it!

The $180 Textbook.

Remember the disheartening days of undergraduate studies where you would walk out of the bookstore on the first day of class sans $300-500?  Textbooks are very expensive. I recently took a class called Human Growth and Development. The textbook, in paperback, was $180. The original copyright date was 1997. I was taking the class in 2009 and it was the 11th edition of the book. You do the math. That's right: 1997 + 11=2008. There was basically a new edition every year. Do you think I could sell it back after the class? No! There was a new edition coming out for the 2009-2010 school year.

I wonder if libraries should offer current textbooks. It would be too expensive to buy enough for everyone, but would having a copy on reserve for students be helpful? Would that be okay with the college bookstore?

I think that e-textbooks might be a good option for universities and faculty to examine. It could provide an economical way for students to get information required for class. There is an article in CampusTechnology that talks about the future of e-textbooks.  Here is the link:


http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2009/09/30/Embracing-Electronic-Textbooks.aspx?Page=1\

Enjoy!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

My new phone....

okay so i have wanted a smartphone for a long time. my husband being the practical type has talked me out of it for awhile. i told him that as a library professional i needed to be up to date with technology. students may be using their phones to access databases ect.
as of yesterday i am the proud owner of a smartphone. i am sending this post from my phone. i apologize but i cant seem to make the caps or alt key work so no punctuation for this post except for the period. okay i wanted to post a picture from my phone but i dont see that as an option. i will email the picture to myself and add it via my laptop. if anyone has an lg ally and knows why i cant use caps or alt with the qwerty keyboard while posting please let me know.
yeah for my attempts to tackle this phone.

Part two from my computer with capitalization and punctuation!  Okay, I know the picture isn't related to libraries or technology. It is just a picture of the new vinyl wall decals I put up in my dining room, and I took it from my phone and emailed it to myself!
Do you guys love to read customer reviews before you order something? I love, love, love the fact that I can check out what other people have to say about most things from books, DVDs, appliances or smartphones before I buy something. Here is the web page and reviews for the phone that I got:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/store/controller?item=phoneFirst&action=viewPhoneDetail&selectedPhoneId=5502&deviceCategoryId=1##

Welcome to Bookin' It with Miss Dewey D.!

Welcome to my blog. This is a spot where I hope to inspire thought and conversation about the past, present and future of libraries! If I may, let me explain the title of my blog "Bookin' It with Miss Dewey D." I use "bookin' it" in two senses. First and most obviously, books, in any format, are a big part of libraries and a great way to share information. I would like to give credit to my co-worker for creating the evergreen that is displayed in the background. The second meaning of the phrase "bookin' it" is that libraries are bookin' it--as in moving quickly--to keep up with all the advances in technology!

As anyone who works in a library probably know, us library professionals wear an information technology hat quite a bit! A blog that I really enjoy and find very helpful for technology/library related questions is called "The Travlin' Librarian." Here is his entry about how to embed a youtube video into your Power Point presentation: 

http://travelinlibrarian.info/2009/03/embedding-youtube-videos-into/

Enjoy!