A'int That the Truth

Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them
- A. A. Milne, Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh

Summer Reading Club

The NC staff have tolerated procreation with butterflies and carnage with praying mantis. Exhibited above is a happy release.

It's Summer!

Summer is in full swing. The branch is decorated for summer reading club, prizes organized, packets stapled, and volunteers organized. LATI is wrapping up with the showcase next week. I have worked on my early literacy project all spring and I hope the display clearly shows how hard I have worked. I put together my portfolio, a display board and a PPT. I'm glad I'm finished with summer reading kicking off on Monday.

Summer is blooming!

A Whole New Mind

Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind covers many aspects of the physical mind and the workings, along with expectations of our current society. The organ that studies itself is very interesting indeed. I have experienced headaches for many years and I wonder how so many aspects of the brain could be effected. My MRI didn't include any interesting photographs for me to view as Dan Pink experimented with. My father has suffered with depression and it is interesting how medication and therapy as effected his brain. Lastly it is very timely as a friend's teenage son tried to damage his entire frontal lobe. We are all holding our breath as he recovers to find out what personality will be revealed after recovery from this severe trauma. When I went to Pratt I attended the teenage brain basics and found that very interesting. I don't know that I have a specific question but I would like to discuss any of these topics with Daniel Pink.

My mother says we have everything we need and most of the things we want. As our society separates the classes more distinctly we will watch the automation and jobs diversify across the globe and economy. I think we are raising an entitled group of children who have never experienced hardship. I do not truly believe the most conceptual will always be at the top of the heap. I'm not sure the personality of a creative person is indicative of being the most competitively successful. Like Vivian I have a teenage son and an elementary school age son and I would hate to find we are educating them for jobs that will become obsolete or outsourced.

I have not finished the book, just the first three chapters, but I would encourage a reader to check it out and be "open-minded" about the diverse subjects this book covers. I found it be initially be a quick read but plan to revisit the title when I have more time. Empathy, play and meaning are all topics I would appreciate.

On May 1st LATI went to the Enoch Pratt Library. First there was a tour of the library and then a Google and more class. Teen Brain Basics was also very interesting. The slide show starts with a Honore's friendly face on the corner as promised. The main hall is quite grand. I was interested in the children's department and enjoyed the fireplace (Starbucks--eat your heart out) and the fountain. The basement storage is really voluminous! I hope I can return.

SLRC

MedlinePlus Challenge

First, I would like to say it is a pleasure to get together for the LATI face-to-face meetings. Now to the challenge, Google search vs. MedlinePlus; MedlinePlus is one of our information resources listed on our databases so I always feel at ease knowing that I am giving reliable information. I searched the general topic of breast cancer and then more specifically tumors. Google responded with 54,900 hits in .30 seconds! The top ten included 4 .com, 1 .gov, and 5 .orgs. The hits were well documented, many journal articles, while a few required registration to the site. The first general hit did seem appropriate for a patient without the "oncology jargon" the other sites had. The Google site was useful, but I do prefer MedlinePlus. The information and links are plentiful and well organized. The resource is well documented and the information valid and screened. I think it is especially important to lead a patron to MedlinePlus first so they are receiving accurate information.

Chicken Truck, Chicken Truck, Just My Luck!

A patron came in yesterday and asked for a book about housing chickens. I'm not thinking that would be a common question for urban or suburban libraries, but in Carroll county it is. All of our books are in the hands of poultry keepers accross the county, I told her about my "chicken tractor" that I made out of old cron crib panels. Yum, egg omelet with a little fresh asparagus tips.

Spring Crops!

I can't imagine anything tastier, asparagus, watercress, and rhubarb, after winter and a dreary spring!

Happy Spring

How Full Is Your Bucket?

If your interested in filling your bucket and others you can check out this site and take the interview. Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton, Ph. D. have filled a book with positive strategies for work and life. I do believe that I am an encouraging person (mostly due to Nancy B.'s comments, thanks!) but I would generally not choose to read this book if it were not for LATI. http://www.bucketbook.com/content/default.aspx?ci=12142

Beautiful Day Outside...

It's a beautiful day outside; what are all of these people doing in the library? I have completed on-line Customer Service Training, not to be confused with CCPL's Pro-active Customer Service Training. I'd have to agree with Melanie F. about the limited time spent and the quick clicking of answers. I do hope that I give excellent service to 100 people more often then my final score inplies.

Spring is Peeping

The chicks have arrived and Nate is caring for them. Twelve little beauties.

Mystery Shopping

A new assignment for LATI involves Mystery Shopping. I believe customer service has gone by the wayside in most stores which is why I love places were I know or have met the owner. My favorite nursery is Season's Past Farm in Littestown, PA. Last summer when I bought this yucca my family and friends said "A YUCCA?!?" This variegated one has been beautiful all winter long. It's not my grandmothers Yucca plant!

Happenings

I'm really looking forward to spring and bleeding hearts in the garden. We started the spring season in our children's department and I'm much happier reading mud and sun stories rather than cold and snowy. In preparation for Catching the Reading Bug our branch ordered a butterfly habitat. Much to our surprise the caterpillars have arrived! They're out on display and the children have enjoyed watching them crochet a house around themselves.

The Art of Possibility

In LATI we were asked to read The Art of Possibility by Benjamin and Rosamond Zandler. I usually don't choose motivational books to read, but I enjoyed this one. You have to love Rule 6: Don't Take Yourself So Seriously. They had me when they were quoting from the movie Babe. He's a world known conductor and she's a family therapist so I wasn't expecting them to be so down-to-earth. I found the quote from Marianne Williams about light and dark to be very thought provoking. If you haven't checked this title out you may want to.

Happy Birthday George!

Yesterday was my first face-to-face meeting with my LATI group. I've got to wonder if the first congressional congress members were as confused as the folks in our room. I found Honore to be very interesting and met a very nice variety of new LAs. I think we have a great smaller group and I look forward to our Discussion Board. Our first assignment for the week was on reference materials. I love the Almanac and it never ceases to amaze me with the number of facts it has. The Almanac may hurry along my need for reading glasses.

Winter vs. Spring

Back in the beginning of the summer I didn't feel like the spring photo was "good enough" to put on my blog. A little snow can go along way to changing a girl's mind!

I'm Just Happy With Green

In February you've got to be grateful for what ever bloom you get. The sun is shining now, but it sounds like we can expect some more bad weather just for the long weekend. If you're wondering the flower is a Hellebore, commonly known as a bearbritches.

Happy Valentines Day!

Yes, I know its a sappy holiday, but its sweet when my 9 year-old son gives me a painted box with hearts glued on and is filled with a pink frosted cupcake. He also gave me a PPT he made. I asked "Is it about how much you love me?" He said "no, its on fungus." I'm afraid any girl he has in the future is going to have to just recognize what they're getting!

Thing 8

Just a post on thing 8--online production tools. I found the idea to be very useful especially in a group setting where multiple people are contributing to one project. Contributors from different sites could create a cohesive project. I don't know if Microsoft is doomed but free products, you've got to love them! I accomplished downloading a book. It was fairly simple and I can't wait to see what my son thinks.

Confession Time

Download an audio book?!? I have had my mp3 player for more than 6 months now and I still haven't downloaded a book. Time to head to the digital consortium and check out a book. I am not inclined to listen to books but I'll give it a try. That warm snap last week forced these snowdrops to emerge. A sign that spring is on the way.

Beginning Blogging

As I review the 21 Things I learned this past summer I checked out my first learning entry. Here is the url to paste--http://beardblog2.blogspot.com/2007/06/habits-can-be-good-things_08.html.

"To learn it, do it!"

As I search for a learning quote that would be most precsient and qualify as "appropriate" for LATI I wander on both sides of the fence of practical and abstract. Here are a few more-

"Vertical thinking is digging the same hole deeper. Lateral thinking is trying again elsewhere." Edward de Bono.

"To learn it, do it!" - Roger Schank.

Marvin Phillips:
The difference between try and triumph is just a little umph!

The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "aparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough proplem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people.
K. Patricia Cross

What is important is to keep learning, to enjoy challenge, and to tolerate ambiguity. In the end there are no certain answers.
Martina Horner, President of Radcliffe College

As far as the last quote there have been several times in my life when I thought I knew without question answers but as I change and hopefully grow it is clear life is always in flux.

Learning Quotes

I sure wish it were sunny and summery rather than rainy and icy! I've been on the search for a learning quote. Here are a few I'm partial to--

Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. - Winston Churchill

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." - John Powell

Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. - Mark Twain ìPudd'nhead Wilsonî

Back to Blogging

I haven't blogged since the summer but now that LATI is about to kick-off here I go again! I participated in the pre-launch telebridge conference call with June last Thursday. Another e-mail came this week and next week we'll get started. We are suppose to have a "learning" quote. Lisa, our branch manager says that after 10 months of ELI training her advice would be to note that--"all change, is experienced as loss". Are we all hesitant to change?