“Just before everything went black, I pictured the headline of my obituary:  FRIENDLESS NERD KILLED BY PEANUT.”  Ambrose Bukowski is the 12-year-old son of an overprotective single mother and he doesn’t fit in anywhere.   He doesn’t have a lot of people skills and even adults are sometimes stunned by the things he says.  Ambrose does have an indomitable spirit and a wry sense of humor.  He also excels at Scrabble.  Readers in grades 7 to 9 will love following Ambrose on his journey.

Seven Paths to Death is the sixth title in the historical mystery series featuring Seikei and Judge Ooka.   Fans will not be disappointed as Seikei follows the clues in tattooed maps to discover who is behind a hidden cache of weapons.  The series invites readers to a different time and place and one of the real pleasures to learn more about Japan’s culture.  The story does stand alone, but it would be enriched by reading the previous books.  The book is ideal for grades 4 through 7.

Parking job Washtenaw and Winnemac

They hardly ever park like this in Wilmette.

I don’t know why I procrastinated doing this write up.  I jumped right in to the project and I had great fun exploring Google.  I had used some of the special Google features in the past.   I’m addicted to real estate searches in warm climates and I usually hop between the MLS and maps to see how close to the ocean the houses really are situated!  For the purposes of this exercise I looked up the address of my childhood house.  I could not only explore the old neighborhhood remotely, but there was actually a picture of  the house.  (Somewhere along the line a foolish owner chopped down the mountain laurel.)  The day I chose the search news was the day Governor Blagojevich was arrested.  Needless to say there was a multitude of sites available.  I decided later to search  a less prominent event.  There was a small earthquake in SC near where my son is stationed.  The search led to two news videos and hundreds of print reports.  This was a very easy and specific search.  Product searching was entertaining, but there were too many commercial/item sale sites.  I much prefer our traditional library tools for product evaluations.  The book search similarly led to many book sale sites, but happily also included online versions.  I searched for Hilaire Belloc’s Cautionary Tales for Children and happily the University of Virginia’s copy has been digitized.  So when I have a late night yen for some of this delicious poetry I don’t have to wait till the library opens!  There are so many things to explore on Google.  I also recommend a trial of Google Scholar when you are looking for more “sophisticated” results.

I’ve been a fan of wikipedia for some time but I never gave any thought to setting up one myself.  I was also largely unaware of how libraries were incorporating wiki’s into their work.   I have really enjoyed exploring the world of wikis in libraries, though of course it’s a bit depressing to realize the layers of protection and control that need to be employed.   I can see many uses both professional and personal that are ideal for wikis.  My sisters and I are planning a trip early next year and a wiki page will be much easier to use than our traditional chain of phone calls.  I also wish that Wikis were available when I was more involved in planning professional meetings and training sessions.  Coordination would have been much easier.

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Endless Summer’ (Mophead Hydrangea)
Originally uploaded by jayjayc

Ask Away seems like a great resource for the general public. Librarians could probably find answers to most questions faster independently. I asked a question about winter preparation for a hydrangea bush. The 24/7 librarian was prompt and provided a response, but the answer was not sourced and she suggested I speak with someone at an outdoor nursery. It’s hard for me to divorce my librarian brain and look at this as a non-professional, the 24/7 aspect is certainly a plus but I have more confidence in p2p local service.
p.s. Sadly, this is not my hydrangea.

I have spent some time this week exploring the world of podcasting.  There’s a lot of interesting recorded information and entertainment out there.  Podcasting seems to have much more commercial “infiltration” than the other 2.0 features we’ve used.  I have not yet found that many library generated podcasts, but I’m not done looking (I have to spend more time on I-Tunes).  I have been thinking of library applications.  Perhaps the most obvious is as a suggested source of information for patrons.  Imagine doing an author study and being able to listen to the author discuss his/her work!  Podcasting with a video component (vodcasting?) could also be a useful tool to introduce patrons to library resources such as genealogy databases, or downloadable audio books, etc.  Libraries in multilingual communities could also provide podcasts in other languages.

I am lucky that I have the opportunity to search these databases on a regular basis.  I spent some time on the ones I use less frequently and I spent some time on TryItIllinois offerings.  Then, just for fun, I did look at the Historical New York Times for my birth-date.  It was not a big news day.  However, reports included reportage of Elizabeth Taylor’s first divorce (from Nick Hilton) and atomic bomb testing in Nevada. (Yes, they did test here.  This was intended to be a deterrent to the Soviet Union.)  Perhaps my favorite article was a report about the first demonstration of  the new desk sized (that is desk sized, not desk top) computer, Maddid, developed by Northrup for defense purposes.  It could be operated by one person!  With push buttons!  It could store 10,000 digits!  It could do the work of the usual warehouse sized computers!  Imagine.

Well, we were successful and have adopted this charming fellow to the right.  He is a two year old mixed breed.  The shelter claims he’s a shih tzu mix; I’m sure there’s some shih tzu in there but I suspect a fair amount of Havanese as well.  He’s a gentle lad and has no interest in chasing Mao.  She remains atop the piano till this is proved.  We’re waffling on a name:  Oreo (too common?), so perhaps Hydrox, or maybe Dixie Cup.  Any ideas?

Hours after reading the adventure, I picked my head up and realized I’d better post one to my blog.  It is very easy to get lost in YouTube.  I had hoped to find a Google video too, but I think I’ll let that wait for a day or two.  I think videos have great potential in libraries.  I saw a number of clever and innovative uses in YouTube.  Training and orientation videos seem to be the most popular.  One consideration is professional level of videos.  I saw quite a few that were unclear or amateurish.  When creating a video for a library it should be important to set the standards high.