The newest issues of NoveList RA News is out today with my article,"Readers' Advisory Blogs You May Have Missed."
Click here to read it.
Also, don't forget the great archive of NoveList RA News back issues. Whether or not you have a subscription to the database, you can always access them here for FREE!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Literary Tumblrs
I have been contemplating new formats of web based RA information. Earlier this month I posted about vlogs. Today, I want to talk about Tumblr for a few moments.
Tumblr is a free service where people can create "micro-blogs." These have more information than a Twitter post, but less than a full blog. Often, Tumblr accounts use a picture and caption format to pass on information. Others use Tumblr as social networking platform.
Click here for more info.
With the increase in popularity of Tumblr, there has been a subset of its users who have chosen to use it for literary and bookish pursuits. Some have used it to create long lists of favorite last lines of books, publishers are on there trying to sell books, and there are even some libraries giving Tumblr a try to some moderate success.
The best primer on literary Tumblrs is this article from early February in The Millions. I waited to post it so that the comments could grow. With the extra links listed in the comments, this is a great way to introduce yourself to all Tumblr can do. Conversely, it is also an excellent way to see the platform's limitations. Some of these sights are awesome, while others are just plain bad.
In terms of using it as a resource for leisure readers, it may be limited. But as a way for your library to connect with users, and as a way for you to stay informed quickly and easily it might work. Like the vlogs discussion, I suggest you at least look into Tumblr and think about how you may use it. Whether or not you do dive into Tumblr is less important.
I do have a colleague, Leah who has been on Tumblr for awhile and is a big proponent of it. If you want more information, I would suggest you check her out on Tumblr here.
If there are other new formats or resources you would like me to blog about, please contact me.
Tumblr is a free service where people can create "micro-blogs." These have more information than a Twitter post, but less than a full blog. Often, Tumblr accounts use a picture and caption format to pass on information. Others use Tumblr as social networking platform.
Click here for more info.
With the increase in popularity of Tumblr, there has been a subset of its users who have chosen to use it for literary and bookish pursuits. Some have used it to create long lists of favorite last lines of books, publishers are on there trying to sell books, and there are even some libraries giving Tumblr a try to some moderate success.
The best primer on literary Tumblrs is this article from early February in The Millions. I waited to post it so that the comments could grow. With the extra links listed in the comments, this is a great way to introduce yourself to all Tumblr can do. Conversely, it is also an excellent way to see the platform's limitations. Some of these sights are awesome, while others are just plain bad.
In terms of using it as a resource for leisure readers, it may be limited. But as a way for your library to connect with users, and as a way for you to stay informed quickly and easily it might work. Like the vlogs discussion, I suggest you at least look into Tumblr and think about how you may use it. Whether or not you do dive into Tumblr is less important.
I do have a colleague, Leah who has been on Tumblr for awhile and is a big proponent of it. If you want more information, I would suggest you check her out on Tumblr here.
If there are other new formats or resources you would like me to blog about, please contact me.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Monday Discussion: Dream Author Interview
As I have mentioned previously, I will be posting my interview with best selling author Jonathan Maberry on March 4th, so in anticipation I am gearing up here on RA for All all week.
This got me thinking about other authors I wish I could interview. I do personally love Maberry; in fact, in the new book, I proudly proclaim Maberry and Joe Hill the "New Kings of Horror." So, I think after interviewing Maberry, Hill would be the next on the top of my interview list.
I would also love to interview Jasper Fforde since his books are so clever. It is clear he is a book lover and a reader.
In terms of dead authors, I wish I could have the chance to pick the brains of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe. They were such geniuses and way ahead of their time. I would have loved the chance to talk to them and see how they saw themselves and their work.
These are just the ones off the top of my head. I am sure all of you have many authors you would love the chance to ask a few questions to, so why not share them here?
For today's Monday Discussion, let me know which authors, living or dead, you would love to interview. What would you ask them? To see what I did ask when I had the chance to interview Maberry, check back on March 4th.
Click here for the Monday Discussion archive.
This got me thinking about other authors I wish I could interview. I do personally love Maberry; in fact, in the new book, I proudly proclaim Maberry and Joe Hill the "New Kings of Horror." So, I think after interviewing Maberry, Hill would be the next on the top of my interview list.
I would also love to interview Jasper Fforde since his books are so clever. It is clear he is a book lover and a reader.
In terms of dead authors, I wish I could have the chance to pick the brains of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Edgar Allan Poe. They were such geniuses and way ahead of their time. I would have loved the chance to talk to them and see how they saw themselves and their work.
These are just the ones off the top of my head. I am sure all of you have many authors you would love the chance to ask a few questions to, so why not share them here?
For today's Monday Discussion, let me know which authors, living or dead, you would love to interview. What would you ask them? To see what I did ask when I had the chance to interview Maberry, check back on March 4th.
Click here for the Monday Discussion archive.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
RA for All Horror: Weekly Round Up
This week on RA for All Horror:
- I posted about the Monster Librarian blog and their fabulous "Genre Readers Bill of Rights"
- I was accepted into the Horror Blogger Alliance (more on that soon)
Next week on RA for All Horror, I will begin my countdown to my interview on 3/4 with New York Times Best Selling Author Jonathan Maberry with some posts on him, his works, and a review of his newest book Dead of Night.
The interview will run on both blogs.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Berwyn Public Library: No Longer a "Shhh!" Place
This week, the library was the COVER STORY in our local newspaper. Click here for the article.
After years of Tammy and I and now Kathy fighting to reshape the library's image as a fun and vibrant place, people are finally getting it. Props to Kathy for getting her catch phrase as the title. In the RA Department we don't Shhh! anyone; in fact we encourage conversation.
The article begins with a nod to our fabulous Book Lover's Club (which meets again on March 30th, by the way) and also mentions Trivia Night (which meets again March 6th), both of which are run by the BPL RA Dream Team.
So today, I just wanted to toot our horn! And remind you that the Library is a vibrant place. Come join us for some fun. Yes we have books and some designated quiet areas off in the corners of the basement, but for the most part you will find us smiling and chatting about what we are reading, watching, and listening to.
Please feel free to share with me some of the ways your library is trying to shake the "Shhh!" label.
On a related note, we conceived our Book Lover's Club to be a social club for people who like books. We hoped that by simply coming together to informally share books, people would not only find their next good read, but also meet some new friends. After 4 meetings this is starting to happen. Kathy and I couldn't be happier; we are bringing people together through books. It is a dream come true.
Here's an event for book lover's in NYC which takes our social club to the next logical step...Literary Speed Dating. If I weren't already happily married, this would be my kind of dating scene.
Have a great weekend.
After years of Tammy and I and now Kathy fighting to reshape the library's image as a fun and vibrant place, people are finally getting it. Props to Kathy for getting her catch phrase as the title. In the RA Department we don't Shhh! anyone; in fact we encourage conversation.
The article begins with a nod to our fabulous Book Lover's Club (which meets again on March 30th, by the way) and also mentions Trivia Night (which meets again March 6th), both of which are run by the BPL RA Dream Team.
So today, I just wanted to toot our horn! And remind you that the Library is a vibrant place. Come join us for some fun. Yes we have books and some designated quiet areas off in the corners of the basement, but for the most part you will find us smiling and chatting about what we are reading, watching, and listening to.
Please feel free to share with me some of the ways your library is trying to shake the "Shhh!" label.
On a related note, we conceived our Book Lover's Club to be a social club for people who like books. We hoped that by simply coming together to informally share books, people would not only find their next good read, but also meet some new friends. After 4 meetings this is starting to happen. Kathy and I couldn't be happier; we are bringing people together through books. It is a dream come true.
Here's an event for book lover's in NYC which takes our social club to the next logical step...Literary Speed Dating. If I weren't already happily married, this would be my kind of dating scene.
Have a great weekend.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Books: Paper vs Electronic
I have always been open to the discussion about the pros and cons of eBooks. Click here for some examples.
However, I have also made it clear that I personally prefer the printed book for my own reading.
Further proof in my corner, you can't do this with eBooks.
However, I have also made it clear that I personally prefer the printed book for my own reading.
Further proof in my corner, you can't do this with eBooks.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Student Annotations: Adrenaline
Tonight the students read in the genres of Adventure, Suspense, Romantic Suspense, and Thriller. Click on over to see what they thought about the books they chose.
Science Fiction is the Literature of Change
In preparation for an RA staff meeting tomorrow during which each member of our staff will be book talking a SF title, I came across this post about the current state of the genre.
Click through, but then go and listen to the longer and more detailed Guardian Books podcast, Science Fiction Now and Tomorrow to which the post refers.
For our meeting, the staff was specifically asked to choose a first book in an established SF series that we had never read before. I am embarrassed to admit it but I had never read my choice, Foundation by Isaac Asimov.
Now, there is a whole different discussion to be had about whether Foundation is actually still considered the first one in this series or not, and I will get into that later when I post my review/notes for our meeting, but reading Foundation and listening to the above podcast in tandem has been quite enlightening.
One of the arguments the podcast makes is that the pace of technological change has been so fast for the last 60 years or so, that SF is one of the best ways for the average person to cope with this real life blur of change. Reading Foundation with a 21st century lens, this point was very clear to me.
I am also currently listening a wonderful new voice in Science Fiction, Ernest Cline, and his critically acclaimed debut novel, Ready Player One which is set in a science fiction future, but also looks back fondly on the technology, science fiction, and fantasy of the 1980s, the years of my youth. I cannot stress how wonderful listening to this book has been, and I am only about halfway through.
You would think the two novels would be very distinct being written decades apart. In fact, while their tone and subjects are very different, it is surprising how much the two books share. I have enjoyed the paring and it has really made me think about SF past, present and future. In fact, it made me think that another good RA training exercise would be to read a 20th century SF classic alongside a 21st century offering to compare and contrast.
I have SF on the brain these days. Look for more detail on all of this in the coming weeks. I will have reviews of both Foundation and Ready Player One, as well as some notes from what my co-workers share in our staff meeting tomorrow. And count on the fact that I will be throwing in some general observations about the past, present, and future of SF.
But whether or not you have SF on the brain, at the very least go check out the podcast and get a sense of the current state of the genre. Also, take a look at this post from last week when I talked about the Locus Magazine Recommended Reading List for 2011 (Ready Player One is listed there).
One final note: the department meeting tomorrow is also a part of our larger attempt to explore some of the genres with which we as a staff are less confident. I will let you know how it goes and what area we decided to take on next.
Click through, but then go and listen to the longer and more detailed Guardian Books podcast, Science Fiction Now and Tomorrow to which the post refers.
For our meeting, the staff was specifically asked to choose a first book in an established SF series that we had never read before. I am embarrassed to admit it but I had never read my choice, Foundation by Isaac Asimov.
Now, there is a whole different discussion to be had about whether Foundation is actually still considered the first one in this series or not, and I will get into that later when I post my review/notes for our meeting, but reading Foundation and listening to the above podcast in tandem has been quite enlightening.
One of the arguments the podcast makes is that the pace of technological change has been so fast for the last 60 years or so, that SF is one of the best ways for the average person to cope with this real life blur of change. Reading Foundation with a 21st century lens, this point was very clear to me.
I am also currently listening a wonderful new voice in Science Fiction, Ernest Cline, and his critically acclaimed debut novel, Ready Player One which is set in a science fiction future, but also looks back fondly on the technology, science fiction, and fantasy of the 1980s, the years of my youth. I cannot stress how wonderful listening to this book has been, and I am only about halfway through.
You would think the two novels would be very distinct being written decades apart. In fact, while their tone and subjects are very different, it is surprising how much the two books share. I have enjoyed the paring and it has really made me think about SF past, present and future. In fact, it made me think that another good RA training exercise would be to read a 20th century SF classic alongside a 21st century offering to compare and contrast.
I have SF on the brain these days. Look for more detail on all of this in the coming weeks. I will have reviews of both Foundation and Ready Player One, as well as some notes from what my co-workers share in our staff meeting tomorrow. And count on the fact that I will be throwing in some general observations about the past, present, and future of SF.
But whether or not you have SF on the brain, at the very least go check out the podcast and get a sense of the current state of the genre. Also, take a look at this post from last week when I talked about the Locus Magazine Recommended Reading List for 2011 (Ready Player One is listed there).
One final note: the department meeting tomorrow is also a part of our larger attempt to explore some of the genres with which we as a staff are less confident. I will let you know how it goes and what area we decided to take on next.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Magazine RA
In the past I have posted about providing readers' advisory service to people who enjoy long-format magazine articles. Click here for access to those posts.
Helping these readers is difficult because of the dearth of resources, but we have to keep trying because as I saw last week in this post on Book Riot, with the popularity of tablets, the magazine format is thriving.
I can see this in my own reading. I am a big fan of The New Yorker and have been a regular reader and subscriber for over 15 years. Before 2011, I would only be able to read them before bed or on vacation, but now with my iPad, I get access to the tablet edition. I am able to find a lot more time to catch up on older issues. I generally carry 1 paper issue with me in case I have some time to read, but when I have my iPad, I have access to every issue.
The study linked to in Book Riot talks about the increase in readership for all magazines with tablet editions. More readers means more questions at the RA desk. This is something we need to think about.
Right now, my only resource to help find readalikes for magazine essay readers is here. Thankfully, many of these longer essays are turned into books, so we can use traditional RA tools to find readalikes. Another place I like to point readers is to The Best American Writing series which has many nonfiction essay options, most of which were originally published in magazines in the first place.
What do you do to help these patrons? Are you seeing more of an interest in the magazine essay at your library? I would say ours has always been a small percentage of our nonfiction RA questions, but I have yet to notice an upswing. However, in the RA world it is all about anticipating our patrons' needs before they even know to ask. So let's get ready!
Helping these readers is difficult because of the dearth of resources, but we have to keep trying because as I saw last week in this post on Book Riot, with the popularity of tablets, the magazine format is thriving.
I can see this in my own reading. I am a big fan of The New Yorker and have been a regular reader and subscriber for over 15 years. Before 2011, I would only be able to read them before bed or on vacation, but now with my iPad, I get access to the tablet edition. I am able to find a lot more time to catch up on older issues. I generally carry 1 paper issue with me in case I have some time to read, but when I have my iPad, I have access to every issue.
The study linked to in Book Riot talks about the increase in readership for all magazines with tablet editions. More readers means more questions at the RA desk. This is something we need to think about.
Right now, my only resource to help find readalikes for magazine essay readers is here. Thankfully, many of these longer essays are turned into books, so we can use traditional RA tools to find readalikes. Another place I like to point readers is to The Best American Writing series which has many nonfiction essay options, most of which were originally published in magazines in the first place.
What do you do to help these patrons? Are you seeing more of an interest in the magazine essay at your library? I would say ours has always been a small percentage of our nonfiction RA questions, but I have yet to notice an upswing. However, in the RA world it is all about anticipating our patrons' needs before they even know to ask. So let's get ready!
Monday, February 20, 2012
RA Programs at PLA
I have been so busy getting ready for my own talk at PLA that I kept forgetting to plan the rest of my time at the conference.
No problem though, over on RA Online, they got it all ready. Here is a link to the full offering of anything RA related in Philly. Thanks to them for compiling it and including "Trends in Genre Series." Speaking of my talk, I am working on my handouts still, but I have my 3 "trends" up here.
Personally, I will not only be at the RA programs. Since I am the sole person from my library attending the conference, I also have a list from others at work with programs that seemed interesting to them. Besides, it will do me good to look "outside of the box" for a few hours.
Take a look through the RA schedule. Whether you are going or not, let me know which programs look the most interesting to you and I can post more information about them after the conference here on RA for All.
This is my sole post for today. No Monday Discussion. The Library is closed for President's Day and this is one of the few Mondays that my kids and I are all off. Time to go have some fun. The Monday Discussion will return next week.
No problem though, over on RA Online, they got it all ready. Here is a link to the full offering of anything RA related in Philly. Thanks to them for compiling it and including "Trends in Genre Series." Speaking of my talk, I am working on my handouts still, but I have my 3 "trends" up here.
Personally, I will not only be at the RA programs. Since I am the sole person from my library attending the conference, I also have a list from others at work with programs that seemed interesting to them. Besides, it will do me good to look "outside of the box" for a few hours.
Take a look through the RA schedule. Whether you are going or not, let me know which programs look the most interesting to you and I can post more information about them after the conference here on RA for All.
This is my sole post for today. No Monday Discussion. The Library is closed for President's Day and this is one of the few Mondays that my kids and I are all off. Time to go have some fun. The Monday Discussion will return next week.
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