September 24, 2009

Happy Punctuation Day!!

Did you know that there was a specific day set aside to celebrate punctuation? Me neither! I have been accused of over-punctuating, but I think there's no such thing!! If punctuation is used correctly, you can hear an author's tone in their writing. I have several favorites -- the dash (particularly, the double dash) comes in handy, as does the comma. You can't live without quotation marks, parentheses or question marks... but, oh, what happens when punctuation is used incorrectly! It makes me crazy!

In celebration of Punctuation Day, give yourself the gift of watching Victor Borge and Dean Martin do their bit about Musical Phonetic Punctuation. It's very funny!

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August 11, 2008

Summer Olympics

I am not a sports fan. I'll repeat, I am not a sports fan. But, I am a technology fan and I am continually impressed with the new uses of technology. Take for example, the Olympics... There is the official website for the Olympics. Then, there's the NBC Olympics site. Want even more information? Go to Beijing's Olympic site. You can see LIVE video, plus email and text message alerts, athlete profiles, in addition to the expected schedules, scores and results!

Does all of this Olympics talk make you yearn to know about the Ancient Olympics? You know what the prize used to be for winning an event? An olive leaf crown! But, ancient Olympians also received the same kind of attention and fame that our current athletes do. Except that now, it's broadcasted all over the world and they're famous instantaneously!

One of the coolest things that I've seen is from the East Meadow Library. They have a blog written by Michael Bernard Schanzer, who is actually in Beijing!

Aside from the technology, I admit to being captivated by the athletes themselves. I was drawn to Michael Phelp's enthusiastic whoops and hollers and saddened by Alicia Sacramone's falls. It's an awful lot of pressure on those athletes, and they show amazing poise through it all. The largest pressure on my children right now is finishing their summer reading books -- and that, it turns out, is a tremendous struggle!

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January 29, 2008

Safe Driving in Roslyn

I attended a presentation last week by Maureen McCormack, a prosecutor for vehicular crimes in Nassau County. She works with the district attorney, Kathleen Rice. One of Kathleen Rice's goals was to reduce the number of drunk driving accidents in Nassau County by making stiffer penalties and by education. The program was sponsored by East Williston/Roslyn Community Coalition for Drug-Free Youth and brought to us by the district attorney's office. The room was packed with concerned parents and teenagers, which I thought was a testament to how much this community worries about the safety of our children.

I was so glad to be there with my daughter so that she could hear these important facts from an impartial source. It's not just her mom that is scared for her safety, but it is a fact that the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24 is automobile collisions. According to a letter from Kathleen Rice, "Last year in Nassau County alone, there were more than 100 fatal incidents and hundreds more that caused serious physical injury."

The first point that Ms. McCormack made is that many fatal accidents involve not alcohol, but speed and distraction. Speed and distraction kill. She said that distraction -- fiddling with the radio, ipod, cell phone has become a huge problem for this generation of new drivers.

She told the teens not to get into a car with "that idiot." She explained that we all have at least one friend who is "that idiot" -- the one who takes unnecessary risks, who doesn't think things through, etc. Don't get into that car. Call your parents, call a friend, call a cab, but don't get into that car.

Her advice for dealing with aggressive drivers, was to put your pride aside and just get out of the way. Don't engage -- just let it go. This is great advice for every driver!

She made a very interesting point about the type of vehicle you allow your child to drive. If you buy your son or daughter a powerful sports car that can go 130 mph, there is a chance that they may just test that out. If you drive a powerful BMW or Mercedes, then pass it on to your child -- it may just be too powerful for a new driver. Think about this before you give your teen the keys. It is more important to keep them safe than to worry about their social status. Maureen McCormack said that her son drives a very old Gremlin! He won't be gunning the engine and showing off for his friends, but he will be safe!

We can empower our children to make the right decisions and to drive safely by educating them and by driving by example. Remember, our children are watching us -- drive the way you'd like to see them drive.

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October 17, 2007

Heutagogy -- My New Favorite Word

I love when you hear about a totally new concept that you can identify with. Today, one of my "Facebook friends," Chris Hambly, linked to this new-to-me concept of heutagogy. The more I read about it, the more fascinated I am by it's implications.

The quick wikipedia definition is: "Heutagogy is the principle of teaching based upon the concept of truly self-determined learning. It is suggested that heutagogy is appropriate to the needs of learners in the twenty-first century, particularly in the development of individual capability, individualised learning and independent learning using the internet-based systems including multimedia, virtual learning environments, online assessments and social software...It is a learning theory based on concept of self determined learning fostering independence in adult learning. It is a learner centered theory of learning emphasizing that adults learn when they are ready. It assumes that people have the ability to learn continuously throughout life and in real time. This is accomplished through various interactions with one's environment."

How does this apply to life in a library? In the past, the job of a librarian was to "give out" information. There are still some people who expect that and it remains part of our job. However, the expectations of librarians have expanded exponentially in direct relation to our use of technology, the availability of information and the role of the internet in our daily lives.

People don't just want "the facts, ma'am," but they want to know how to access the information themselves, from home or even from the road, if possible. This fantastic article talks about "knowledge sharing" as opposed to " knowledge hoarding."

So, as we adjust to the role of the "new librarian," we struggle to model and teach flexible learning (if one search isn't successful, try another), and increasing the capability, not just the knowledge of the patron. I'm writing as a librarian, but this also applies to our roles as parents. Don't just impart knowledge -- teach your children how to learn. What better gift can you give to your child than the ability to be a self directed, capable learner?

Posted by Michele at 9:54 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 5, 2007

Ignorance is Not Bliss... It's Dangerous

This past weekend, there was anti-semitic graffiti and vandalism in our area -- two incidents in Roslyn, two in Manhasset (at the same location) and one in Munsey Park.

In this post-9/11 world, when it is so difficult to convey an atmosphere of safety to our children, how do we even begin to explain what happened in our neighborhood last weekend? How is it possible that in 2007, living in an educated, intellectual, upper middle class, North Shore neighborhood that these types of incidents occur? Don't we know better? Don't we educate our children to know better? Scarily, no.

I had to explain to my own children that there are people right here in our own neighborhoods who hold these very ignorant beliefs. They belong to a white supremacist group that is worldwide. The group is called the National Alliance, and they "dehumanize both blacks and Jews, depicting them as threats to "Aryan culture" and "racial purity." What??!! And, not only do they maintain these beliefs, but they feel free to act upon them in a violent and destructive manner. This is not what we want to teach our children.

The good news is that the community jumped right on it, and the vandals were caught the very next day. And, everyone is taking the charges very seriously. Hopefully, parents are talking to their children, and the schools and religious institutions are doing their part to insure that our values are in the right place.

Here's the scary part... "Moreover, the NA [National Alliance] does not appear to be siphoning members from these declining groups but actually recruiting a fresh cast of educated, middle-class bigots and young, alienated racists." So, they're targeting our children and young adults. What can we do to protect them?

Let's begin the school year by redoubling our efforts at being kind and respectful of and to one another, and by talking to and educating our children.

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September 1, 2006

Beauty in Our Own Backyard

We were supposed to go to Splish Splash yesterday, but it was a little chilly, so we decided to do something else instead. Our friends suggested going to the Atlantis Marine World Aquarium in Riverhead. My kids moaned and groaned about how boring it would be to go to an aquarium, but it took all of five minutes and less than 10 feet into the building before they became excited about touching the manta rays in the touch tank! The aquarium itself was beautiful, but the best part was the boat ride we took. It was a two hour boat ride into the Peconic River. The docent was a wonderful woman from an organization called Blue Ocean. She explained all about the plant and animal life around Long Island as we cruised along the river. Then, they let us off on a small stretch of beach to explore firsthand the beauty the Long Island shoreline has to offer. If you're looking for something to do on this long weekend, consider a visit to a beautiful place in our own backyard!

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August 21, 2006

Love a Librarian?

For the 6th year running, the NYTimes is offering a Librarian of the Year Award. I happen to know one of the winners from last year -- Harriet Fargnoli, a children's librarian from Great Neck, and she's wonderful! There are over 1500 applicants from across the country and 21 winners. This is what the NYTimes says about the award:

"The New York Times has long been committed to fostering literacy and building awareness of issues important to our local and national communities. Our work with libraries is an essential part of this commitment. The New York Times Librarian Awards were created to support and recognize public librarians, who do so much to nurture a better-informed society. This year, the sixth year of this national awards program, we will honor 21 public librarians from across the country. The Times Librarian Award recognizes those librarians in public libraries whose exemplary performance and outstanding community service have made their libraries friendlier and more accessible institutions. "

I applaud the NYTimes for offering this award -- after all, there are many industries that make up a community, but, I believe that the library (right up there with the schools) is one of the most important. If you love our library and have interacted with our excellent reference staff, gotten great book recommendations, taken advantage of our amazing dvd, cd or audible book collection, used our Electronic Databases, have children or teens who've loved our programs -- by all means, write to the NYTimes and let them know! I'd love to see Nassau County represented in this list of excellent librarians!

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August 11, 2006

Vocation Vacation

If I had to start all over again and choose an alternate career, it would definitely be doing something with animals. I am a lover of all animals, large and small, and sadly, because of allergies in my house, I can only love them vicariously. Today, though, a colleague (thanks, Margaret) brought a new idea to my attention. It was an article in today's USA Today, called "Take a Vacation, Try a New Vocation." The idea is that if you are unhappy in your career, or want to try something new, vocationvacation may be for you. For a price, you can spend a day or two doing something you've always wanted to try. I see this as an opportunity for college students, trying to figure out what they'd like to do, retirees who would like a short, interesting vacation, some of them would even make a great 40, 50, 60th birthday present -- it could really be for anyone! Me, I'd try the dog training position!

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August 9, 2006

Cool New Toy!

I had to share this cool new toy I just found on the web. I am still trying to live down my Floyd Comma Pink post, and this is my online apology for my lack of musical knowledge. Unlike many of our library teens, I remember vinyl records -- that's all we had "back then!" Now, of course, we're lucky enough to have cds and digital recordingss so readily available -- for free, from the library!!

And, what record did Bryant Library set? We were the first library blog in Nassau County!!

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August 4, 2006

Surfing the Web

We have unintentionally taken in a boarder -- a garden orb spider has taken up residence outside our home. We've been watching her closely. We have to -- because sometimes she builds her web clear across our walkway. It takes a lot to rattle me and I am not a squeamish person, but the one thing that can shake me to the core is a spider. Don't ask me why. I realize they're generally harmless, but they freak me out nonetheless! However, I have become very curious about this spider and have learned some very interesting spider facts. For instance, she spins the web after dark, usually around 9:00 at night, but it's always gone by morning. What happens to the web? I found out that this particular kind of a spider (a garden orb spider) eats the web and whatever has been caught in the web before dawn. The web is, in itself, a source of protein. (Myself, I prefer chicken!) The web is tremendous -- sometimes spanning up to 4 feet! How, I wondered, does the spider do that? Apparently, they start by building a "y" shape.

I love that we refer to the internet as "the web." And, the fact that my garden orb spider begins her web with a "y," or as we say, a "why" just tickles my funnybone!

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August 1, 2006

Where Do You Keep Your Library Card?

A woman had applied for a new library card and was told it would be mailed to her. She was confused yesterday as she explained that she had received something in the mail, but it didn't look like a library card. Thankfully, I was working with Irene, who, having spent time working in the Circulation Department, was familiar with this concern. For all who need enlightenment -- the library card arrives at your home as a 4x4 inch piece of plastic. It seems self-explanatory, but I guess we can't assume anything. So, here goes... when you open the envelope, punch out the larger of the two cards -- this is the library card that goes in your wallet. The smaller one is the "keycard." Bear with me, this one involves yet another couple of steps... punch out the small circle in the corner and attach this one to your keyring. Between these two cards, you should always have your library card readily available.

On the other hand, I saw something today that was new to me. A woman came in to use the computer. After I had signed her up and directed her to the correct computer, she picked up her shirt and inserted the card into her bra! Okay... I guess she won't misplace it... maybe she didn't know about the keycard!

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July 21, 2006

Second Life

I have read a lot about Second Life Library in the blogosphere over the last several months, but I hadn’t had the time to investigate. Yesterday, I downloaded Second Life and began the experience. I’ve never participated in the online gaming world, but I thought I knew kind of what to expect from observing my daughter’s playing Sims. It turns out that Second Life turns Sims on it’s head. Sims is a game – Second Life(at least the library) really isn’t.

Yes, it’s virtual and digital, but it’s also an educational experience. Consider this description from Beth’s Blog “What has been going on here is experimentation to understand the possibilities and potential of virtual worlds as an educational, instructional, therapeutic, marketing, and/or collaboration medium.” Clearly, SL has business implications as well. In one of her recent posts, she discusses the fundraising possibilities on SL and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life that’s taking place this weekend. The Librarian in Black reports that the BBC has rented space on SL for music festivals (Second Life News)

Second Life has become big business, too -- it boasts over 200,000 subscribers. A recent Business Week article says, “All that has caught real-world investors' attention, too. On Mar. 28, Linden Lab raised a second, $11 million round of private financing, including new investor Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com Inc.” “In January inside Second Life alone, people spent nearly $5 million in some 4.2 million transactions buying or selling clothes, buildings, and the like.That can add up to serious change. Some 3,100 residents each earn a net profit on an average of $20,000 in annual revenues, and that's in real U.S. dollars.”

So, real life librarians are once again stretching out of their comfort zones to meet the public where they feel comfortable. Second Life is a new way to interact with the public, and with our colleagues to do what we do best – organize and promote the dissemination of information. This time, however, we're doing it in a virtual world. (Can I say that I occasionally feel a little like Jane Jetson?!) ALA Techsource explains it like this,"The process of creating the Second Life Library 2.0 in the Second Life virtual-reality environment has been very interesting to date. Basically, a group of avatars controlled by self-selecting volunteer librarians has been working to create and launch the new library. The Alliance Library System, headquartered in East Peoria, Illinois, is the real-world library organization providing the impetus and overall management of the project."

When you enter the Second Life Library, the Reference Desk is the first thing you see – this, in itself, is an improvement over most “real life” libraries. Even if a librarian is not at the desk, you can IM any one of about 5 librarians to ask for help. The library itself has 8 floors – each floor has various meeting rooms, screens for PowerPoint presentations, books written by SL authors, book discussions (three of them that I read about had the authors “present” at the discussions, computers, interactive art, sculpture, posters, government documents, historical, etc. For example, within the library, you can check out real e-books, read magazines and newspapers and peruse databases. Some vendors, OCLC and EBSCO, for example, are giving trial subscriptions to proprietary databases and the public otherwise wouldn’t have access to (except through their libraries, possibly). Techsoup (an online “techy” space for nonprofits) has a presence there. They recently did a “mixed reality event.” How’s that for a new phrase?! It was a presentation that took place in a publicized area of Second Life, but also in a hotel in California at the same time!

After a few hours, when my eyes started to cross and my brain started to hurt, I wandered out of the library to see what else I could find. I saw a group of people (avatars, really) standing around. As I got closer, I realized that I could eavesdrop on their conversation by reading along with the chat they were having. I introduced myself and it turns out that one of the women was also a librarian and one of the “big names,” Lori Bell, Alliance Library System, in Illinois, director of innovation or, as she’s known at SL, Lorelei Junot! They’re planning to launch a Second Life section for teens in the fall! You can read more about Second Life on their blog or visit their myspace page.

My husband says that the only people who need a Second Life are those who don’t have a “first life!” Point taken – anything that proves to be this much of an enormous time suck is suspicious. But, I have to say that there is a lot of fascinating stuff here. SL truly blurs the line between reality and virtual reality.

Posted by Michele at 10:18 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 18, 2006

We're in Hysterics

Okay, I know that I've lost all music credibility, and deservedly so, but... I've mentioned before that my 15 (soon to be 16-year-old) brother, Josh is in a band called Hysterics. We've seen them play a number of times and they're very talented! They're becoming quite successful lately -- they filmed a music video last week, will probably sign with the record label V2 this week, are playing all over the Northeast, from now through September and they were pictured in Teen Vogue (August)!

While these four guys are clearly talented musically, they are surprisingly non-techie, considering their age. I am finding it very interesting, though that despite this fact, the web seems to be driving at least some of their success. They do have their own website. One of them put up a myspace page, which isn't updated very often, but appears to get plenty of attention -- they have almost 2500 friends -- plus, you can hear a few of their songs! Then, they are also on Music for Robots, which is a "music blog." There are even Hysterics fansites! At first, they were a very local NYC band, but now they have gotten publicity nationally! Once their cd comes out -- who knows where it will take them?!! Maybe we can even get them to the Bryant Library!

Posted by Michele at 10:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 7, 2006

Lucky in Love and in Library

Okay -- it's no secret. If you know me for 5 minutes, you know that there are two things that I love and am passionate about: my family (or to be more specific, my husband) and my profession.

Today, I came across these 5 tips from Leslie Burger's (President Elect of ALA) Inauguration Speech, at The Shifted Librarian. As you read them, try to think not only of libraries, but also of the things that make up a happy marriage. I they're perfect! Not that I'm an expert, but this weekend we will celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary. Maybe this does make me an expert...!

"Our Libraries Transform Communities Toolkit will be a source of many ideas and much inspiration. I’d like to share just five tips that are especially important to me. "

1.
The first is to be passionate. Believe 150% in what you do. Share your passion with others. Engage in shameless promotion. Be out there in the community.
2.
Create a vision to guide the future. Focus every aspect of how you do business to reflect that vision. Engage your board, staff, Friends, faculty colleagues, students, etc. Don’t just talk…listen.
3.
Walk on the wild side. Try a different new practice each week or month. Do what businesses do. Hire for attitude as much as skills. Challenge the status quo. Give someone the title of 'chief innovator.'
4.
Build a culture that encourages and rewards change. Encourage your staff to take some risks. Offer rewards for new/different ways of doing things. If they turn out be better, great! If not, recognize, appreciate and learn from the effort. Be relentless about promoting the changes you want to see. Good example: The library that encourages staff to keep track of how many times they say no and figures out how to turn no into yes.
5.
'Keep everlastingly at it.' That’s what John Cotton Dana, our first and perhaps greatest library promoter would say. Never give up."

"If you all think this sounds like a pep talk, it is. . . I am now the official library cheerleader. I love and believe in libraries. I can’t think of any other work that provides the stimulation and excitement that I find each day. We in this room are fortunate to call ourselves librarians."

Is it any wonder that I feel so lucky in my professional (and married) life?!! So, happy anniversary to me (and to Andy) and congratulations to Leslie Burger!

Posted by Michele at 11:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 16, 2006

Change-ing Hunger

Yesterday, marked the culmination of a year long effort on the part of Lauren Pulver - nursery school teacher, synagogue educator, parent of two, concerned citizen and dear friend. Together with a concerned and motivated bunch of teenagers, they have been collecting 40,000 quarters -- each quarter represented one person from Long Island who goes to bed hungry every night. The quarters will go to the Interfaith Nutrition Network (The INN). The teens, from Roslyn, Great Neck, and Port Washington, have participated in several social action projects this year, a few of which have been with the INN, including making hundreds of sandwiches one day, and also helping out in the soup kitchen on another occasion. They are thrilled to see their project come to fruition!

Posted by Michele at 2:41 PM | Comments (0)