No, I need True Mud, ya muppet

True Blood meets Sesame Street – what’s not to love?  It does seem to be missing a certain something.  Oh, I know – Eric.

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Ideals for the 21st century library

An excellent article by Dr Joyce Valenza Manifesto for 21st Century School Librarians 

The article is aimed at school libraries and librarians, but the points raised apply to all libraries, and should be required reading for all of us.  Your thoughts?  Comments?  How well do we measure up?

Thanks to the Bright Ideas blog for this link.

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Fun things to try in between aftershocks

A lot has happened in our little corner of the world since our last post.  Thankfully, we are all still here, safe and sound, and I think we all have a new-found respect for Mother Nature.

The trolley sustained very little damage – my life-size cardboard cut-out of Jensen Ackles fell over, and the glass broke in Rachael’s photo of Angelo, but other than that – all is well.  We have restocked our emergency kit, refilled the large plastic containers with wine, replenished the supplies of chocolate and we are ready to rock on!  Hmmm, maybe a bad choice of words.

Contrary to popular opinion on my Facebook page, I have found time to look at other things on the interweb other than www.geonet.org.nz.  Here are some goodies for you, to take your mind off the aftershocks.

Science & environment

• The Centered Librarian: 15 things you might not know about space – I love this stuff – so many conversation starters here 🙂   (Source: The Centered Librarian)
• YouTube – The Majestic Plastic Bag – A Mockumentary

• Dr Mark Quigley – Geology Homepage – Home – some great info here about the quake, the faults and all these peskily persistent aftershocks.

Books and reading

• Persnickety Snark: Top 100 YA Titles 2010 – What are your thoughts on this list? (Sourced via: A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy blog).
• Essay – The Kids’ Books Are All Right – NYTimes.com – This article is nearly a month old now, and you may have already read it.  If you haven’t, it is a good article on the great YA books out there, and their popularity with adult readers.

Art

• Miniature Art on the Tip of Pencil by Dalton Ghetti

What I would like to know is how on earth do you first find out that you are really talented at creating tiny little sculptures on a pencil tip?

 Libraries

•  McSweeney’s Internet Tendency: Dispatches from a Public Librarian. – some interesting library signage here.  Time to review some of our own signage?  Thanks to Helen for this link.
• We lose the discovery – interesting article about library users going straight to the OPAC to search, and a reluctance to browse the collection.  Do you see this happening in your library?

Fun stuff

• A Librarian’s Guide to Etiquette: Teams, Building – Now this really sounds like fun!  A trolley demolition derby would be my favourite.  We could have a network wide competition.  Any takers?
• 35 Lego Mega Constructions You (Probably) Haven’t Seen Before – Ever wondered what the people who have far too much time on their hands do? They build HUGE creations with Lego. I wonder how the Lego house would stand up to a 7.1 magnitude earthquake? (Source: The Centered Librarian)
• And finally, the latest singing librarians vid to hit YouTube

 

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Library – The Game!

Ooh, look what I just found on my LISNews feed! Order in the Library is an online game in which you pretend you’re a library assistant.

So, if you get the need to shelf-check but you’re at home and your bookshelf is already in pristine order, now you can do it in virtual reality! Or, if RFID means we really won’t be doing any more returns, you can always turn to this game to get your fix.

You get certificates as you complete each level. Maybe we should hold a staff competition?

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