Video Walls Report

Some college libraries are installing large-scale video walls to share digital materials and facilitate collaboration. Including my alma mater, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Read the full article from the Chronicle of Higher Education:
http://chronicle.com/article/Colleges-Look-to-Big-Screen/131609/

Some of my favorite quotations...

"More and more goes on in the virtual world, and people are just staring at screens," says Gregory D. Hager, a professor of computer science and chair of the department at Johns Hopkins, who is working on the wall together with library officials. "It's sort of a fracturing process." As more and more educational content is available online, he argues, the university needs to pay attention to the benefits of collaborative work on the campus. "It's about people interacting with people, building the community of scholars."

Kel Guerin, a doctoral student in computer science who serves as my guide, pulls up a few projects that he and other programmers are building for the wall. One simply displays two high-resolution pictures side by side, to let researchers compare them. He puts two medieval manuscripts on the screen. Sayeed Choudhury, associate dean for research data management, who is helping to lead the project, says an art-history researcher asked for that function, complaining that the best she could do otherwise was to put two slides side by side on a light table. "She said, 'I want to be able to dance with the manuscripts,'" says Mr. Choudhury.The screens aren't standard TV's you could pick up at Best Buy. They are designed to deliver pictures in extremely high resolution.

"When people come into libraries, they expect to see books, and they identify the libraries with books even though they've been shifting so much to digital materials," says Joan K. Lippincott, associate executive director of the Coalition for Networked Information, a group that promotes digital innovation on campuses. "Libraries need to find a way to make digital information visual so that people come to understand the kind of information that's being developed in digital formats."

I especially love that last quotation. People don't want to lose libraries, and books on a shelf is a quick way to show materials. It's important that we continue to develop new digital media to share our collections as more of them are found online.

Top Teen Books - Nominees

2012 Teens’ Top Ten Nominations

Austen, Catherine. All Good Children. Orca Book Publishing. 2011. (9781554698240).
Max, his sister Ally and their mother return home to Middleton to find Ally’s classmates
acting strange. It is the future, and the government has created a “vaccine” to make kids
easier to teach- they are less rowdy, less likely to question, and willing to obey any
direction. Max’s family has a choice: to be “vaccinated”, to flee their home, or stay and
fight.

Bick, Ilsa. Ashes. Egmont USA. 2011. (9781606841754). Alex, Tom, and Ellie join
forces after an electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky. The pulse kills most of
the world’s population and destroys all computer devices, but it also turns some who
remain into zombies or gives them superhuman senses.

Cabot, Meg. Abandon. Point. 2012. (978-0545040648). Pierce has experienced death
before and barely escaped. When she moves from her old town to a town called Isla
Huesos - Island of Bones - for a new start, she realizes that death wants her back. Can
she escape death once again?

Cross, Julie. Tempest. St. Martin’s Griffin. 2012. (9780312568894). Jackson is a
typical college kid until the day his girlfriend, Holly, is shot. Jackson decides he must
use his one incredible gift, the ability to time travel. He goes back in time two years,
trying to discover a way to alter the future so that Holly lives. The future is full of
uncertainty and the past is full of betrayal- is there anyone Jackson can trust?

Dessen, Sarah. What Happened to Goodbye. Penguin Group/Viking Juvenile. 2011.
(9780670012947). Ever since Mclean’s parents divorced, she has lived in four towns in
two years – each time taking on a new persona. Mclean expects to leave Lakeview in
six months, but soon finds that she doesn’t want to – she just wants to be herself.

DeStefano, Lauren. Wither. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 2011.
(9781442409057). In the future, experimental genetics ensures that males only live to
25 and females to 20. When 16-year-old Rhine is kidnapped and sold into marriage, she
is determined not to let her walls down for anyone so she can escape and go home to
her brother. But when she meets her sister wives and Gabriel, a handsome servant, she
finds it harder than ever as she tries to plan her escape under the watchful eye of her
sinister father-in-law.

Forman, Gayle. Where She Went. Penguin Group/Dutton Juvenile. 2011.
(9780525422945). This sequel to Gayle Forman’s If I Stay is narrated by Adam, Mia’s
ex-boyfriend. Shortly after the devastating accident that killed Mia’s family, the talented
cellist moves to New York, where an accidental meeting brings them back together.

Gaughen, A.C. Scarlet. Walker Children’s. 2012. (9780802723468). Will Scarlett is one
of the Merry Men, Robin Hood’s legendary band of thieves, but what few people know is
that Will Scarlett is actually...a girl! Disguised as a boy to escape from her past, Scarlett
robs from the rich and gives to the poor. When an old enemy of Scarlett’s appears, she
must choose: Keep her identity hidden? Or keep the people of Nottingham safe?
Goodman, Alison. Eona: The Last Dragoneye. Penguin Group/Viking Juvenile. 2011.
(9780670063116). As the battle for ultimate control of her home draws near, Eona finds
herself waging an internal battle that might cause more damage than the war
threatening to break out across the kingdom.

Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars. Penguin Group/Dutton Juvenile. 2012. (978-
0525478812). Hazel and Augustus meet and forge a relationship at a support group for
kids battling cancer. As Hazel and Augustus struggle with the “side-effects of dying,”
they come to learn the strength of wishes, the complexities of long human lives, and the
wondrous ways of the universe.

Gulledge, Laura Lee. Page by Paige. Abrams/Amulet Books. 2011. Illus.
(9780810997219). When Paige Turner and her family move to Brooklyn from rural
Virginia, she tries to make sense of her new life through her sketchbook, which exposes
her true personality and helps her find herself.

Lu, Marie. Legend. Penguin Group/Putnam Juvenile. 2011. (978-0399256752). June, a
fifteen-year-old military prodigy, is hunting Day, the outlaw she believes is responsible
for her brother’s death. What will happen when the two meet and discover the
government is corrupt?

McEntire, Myra. Hourglass. Egmont USA. 2011. (9781606841440). Emerson Cole
sees dead people- ghosts from the past blending in with her surroundings. When a new
consultant from a secretive organization shows up at her door to try to cure her,
everything changes. But diving into the world of the mysterious Hourglass Society
proves to be dangerous as the past merges with the present.

Meyer, Marissa. Cinder. Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends. 2012. (978-031261894). A
futuristic retelling of the classic Cinderella, Cinder, a cyborg and talented mechanic,
lives with her cruel stepmother and two stepsisters in the plague-ridden New Beijing.
Soon after meeting Prince Kai, Cinder must find the truths of her past, which may help
to save the future.

Myracle, Lauren. Shine. Abrams/Amulet Books. 2011. (9780810984172). When her
best friend falls victim to a horrible hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover
the culprits in her backwoods town in North Carolina.

Ness, Patrick. A Monster Calls, Inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd. Illus. by Jim
Kay. Candlewick. 2011. (9781406311525). Conor suddenly wakes up just past midnight
to find a monster outside his window. This monster wants something from Conor that he
is reluctant to give: the truth.

Oppel, Kenneth. This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein.
Simon & Shuster Books for Young Readers. 2011. (9781442403154). In this prequel to
Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein is on a dark quest to save his twin’s life. With help
from his best friend Henry and his lovely cousin Elizabeth, the three go on a quest to
concoct the mythical Elixir of Life. How far is he willing to go to save his twin?

Revis, Beth. Across the Universe. Penguin Group/Razorbill. 2011. (9781595143976).
Cryogenically frozen centuries ago, Amy and her parents are on their way to a new
planet aboard the spaceship, Godspeed. Unplugged from her cryo chamber, Amy
discovers she has been awoken 50 years early, in a failed murder attempt. With Elder,
the future leader of the ship, by her side they are on an adventure filled with murder,
lies, dreams, and stars.

Riggs, Ransom. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Quirk Books. 2011.
(978-1594744761). When Jacob was little, his grandfather would tell him stories of the
fantastical children’s home where he grew up and the seemingly magical kids who lived
there with him. When his grandfather is killed, Jacob sets out to find the home where
these children lived, unearthing a magical secret and uncovering his true heritage.

Roth, Veronica. Divergent. HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books. 2011. (978-
0062024022). Abnegation (selfless), Erudite (intelligence), Candor (honesty), Amity
(peace), or Dauntless (brave): where would you fit? Beatrice lives in a society where
she must choose either to remain with her family’s faction or set off towards
independence and her beliefs. And what happens when the unity between these
factions begins to fall apart?

Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. Penguin Group/Philomel Books. 2011. (978-
0399254123). In 1941, Lina, her mother, and younger brother are taken from their home
in Lithuania and sent to Siberia. The only thing that keeps her going is her secretlycreated
art and the hope that one day she’ll be be reunited with her father.

Stiefvater, Maggie. The Scorpio Races. Scholastic/Scholastic Press. 2011.
(9780545224901). Every November, the beaches of Thisby come alive with the Scorpio
Races. The water horses are vicious, the terrain is treacherous, and death is likely, but
the reward can be beyond anything you could imagine. Puck Connolly is racing for her
family, Sean Kendrick for his passion—but only one can win The Scorpio Races.

Zarr, Sara. How to Save a Life. Little, Brown Books For Young Readers. 2011.
(9780316036061). A year after Jill’s father dies, her mother decides to adopt a baby.
Mandy’s been living in different places, but now that she’s pregnant, she wants to make
sure her baby has the love and support she never did. A story of two girls dealing with
grief, new life, and everything in between when their paths cross.

Zevin, Gabrielle. All These Things I’ve Done. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2011. (978-
0374302108). In 2083, water is rationed, paper is rare, and coffee and chocolate are
illegal. Anya Balanchine balances a mobster family, ailing grandmother, and forbidden
love - until it all comes crashing down.

Teens will vote their favorites in August and September, and

top books will be announced during Teen Read Week next fall.

What does a library conference look like?

Probably a lot like you'd expect of any conference held in a hotel convention center.

Lots of lecture listening in large rooms.

Occasional exhibit oogling, like this mission-style library chair.

A physics demonstration by a husband and wife team promoting the fun and educational presentations they give to school groups.

And if you're lucky, another school presenter (aka: the gecko) teaching librarians the chacha shuffle.

Any questions about the future of libraries?

Curious History of the Telephone Book

Last spring, the local Border’s bookstore was closing, and all books in the store on the last day cost $1. I loaded up on books for the library, including one by Ammon Shea titled The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book that Everyone Uses but No One Reads. Yes, I understand that it’s a book about the history of the phone book, but I promise that it’s fascinating. (Plus, it talks about cuttlefish!) Here’s a 10 list of things that I learned.

-Some telephone books insert fake listings so they can tell if other people copy their information. The fake entries are called Mountweazels because of a fake entry for Lillian Mountweazel that was included in an edition of the New Columbia Encyclopedia. (Read John Green’s Paper Towns!)

-According to the Supreme Court, the telephone book is completely lacking in creativity and thus not subject to copyright law.

-In the first part of the twentieth century, the San Francisco Chinatown phone book was organized geography (not alphabetically) and produced by hand over two weeks by resident Sam Wong. He hand painted the letters using a block of ink called mock which was made from the ink sacs of cuttlefish of the Monterey Bay.

-The District Telephone Company of New Hampshire produced the world’s first commercial telephone exchange and telephone book (1882), the world’s first telephone booth (1878), the world’s first coin-operated telephone (1879), and the first school for telephone operators in the United States (1907).

-James Baker was arrested in the 1920s. He admitted to 8-10 murders, and he was known for ripping the phone book over his victims and scattering the scraps over people that he killed. (The New York police department at the time was known for its corruption, so it’s impossible to tell if the story is true.)

-Hello was not widely used as a greeting before the telephone. Thomas Edison recommended that it be used when one answered the phone. His rival Alexander Graham Bell preferred ahoy. Other possibilities were, “Do I get you” and “Are you there?”

-In 1916, Clark University researched the most efficient organization of names and numbers in the telephone book. Researchers ran almost 4000 tests in which they timed subjects while they looked up numbers laid out in a variety of formats. The final decision for optimum efficiency was four columns to a page, 11 numbers to the inch, and staggered indentation.

-The Journal of Analytical Chemistry published an article about the smell of old books. The off-gassing several hundred VOCs is what we associate with the smell, and the authors characterized the scent as “a combination of grassy notes with a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness.” `

-Environmental opponents of the telephone book claim that the industry is responsible for killing 5 million trees each year. The telephone book industry counters that most books are made from paper and sawdust salvaged from paper mills.

-A clause in the 1996 Telecommunications Act gave individuals the power to publish their own versions of the telephone book. Because yellow page advertisements bring in a significant amount of money (14 million per year in the US), people in some communities receive a half dozen telephone books each year because of competing telephone book companies.

I easily could keep going. The whole book is full of tidbits like these. Consider picking it up if you want information to impress people at parties.

April is National Poetry Month

It's the poet's job to figure out what's happening within oneself, to figure out the connection between the self and the world, and to get it down in words that have a certain shape, that have a chance of lasting.

Galway Kinnell

Read a poem this month for fun.