January 2010 task

I found downloading e-books using the Adobe Digital Edition to be much easier than downloading books using Overdrive. Once my book was downloaded (which took only seconds), i was glad to see that the format in which the book is portrayed is quite user friendly. It's nice that the font can be adjusted allowing readers to either increase or decrease the size of the letters (this would be a great medium for homebound patrons and anyone else who is visually impaired). I don't know that i could ever get used to reading books on my computer; and although e-books might not be so bad if read on an actual e-book reader, i think i still prefer to read books the old fashioned way.

task 12

Of all the research tools we offer, Novelist Plus is the one i have used the most. Being in homebound i have many patrons who enjoy reading books that are in a series, mostly inspirational--and believe me, there are a lot of them! So i use this function quite frequently when placing books on hold which are in a series. Many times in homebound we have very little to go on in regards to what type of authors out patrons like. Sometimes we have only one or two names to choose from. Once i've exhausted that particular author i will use the Author Read-alikes function in order to locate authors and books which they may not have read but will hopefully enjoy. I'd not used the Recomended Reads function before but after exloring its features i see that this too will really help me when searching for books for homebound patrons, specifically those who are interested in particular genres. Thanks!

task 11

Of the sites available on The Book Report Network, the one i found most useful was Bookreporter. I preferred this one because it not only provided information about various authors and books, but it also contained several interesting tabs including: Reviews, Books to Movies, Word of Mouth, and Daily Quote. Today's quote was from Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird: "I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what."

This time i chose to look up Pablo Neruda. I'm not sure if i knew this or not, but his mother died of tuberculosis a month after he was born. In his poem "Moon" Neruda wrote: "She died. And I was born / And so I bear / an unseen river in my veins." If you've not yet read his poetry, please make time to do so--it's simply amazing!

task 10

I was interested in doing some research about washing machines which are as energy efficient as possible. I used the advanced search field and came up with some decent information but most of it was older than i wanted, so i changed the date to show only articles from 2006-2009. I did come across and interesting article concerning the recall of certain front-loading washers which were catching fire because water was leaking onto electronic connectors. Perhaps it's just me, but this doesn't sound too efficient at all!

I chose to search for information on Jack Kerouac. Upon doing so i found seven articles to choose from.

task nine

http://poetrypunk.weebly.com

task 8

Not only has Nine Inch Nails released material using Creative Commons (very cool!) but Radiohead has too. This such a revolutionary and exciting idea! It's about time something was done to simplify the way we share and distribute art. I used the Google Images search interface and found some really interesting art. I did find the site a bit difficult to navigate through though; maybe once i become more familiar with it it will make more sense. There is lot of information available at Creative Commons, and i'm looking forward to visiting the site somemore in order to become better aquainted with it. I will definitely share this information with library users who are looking for copywrite information.

task 7

I ended up signing up for the Boulder Public Library's Goodreads page. I did so because it was so much fun. Once i got started rating and reviewing books i've read, i couldn't stop! It's definitely a site i'd like to visit regularly in order to discover what else it has to offer. I would really like to see us develop a similar website; i believe staff and library patrons alike would find it useful and fun. I for one would be very interested to contributing such an account.