Library Thing

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Refdesk.com is Wonderful!

I love http://www.refdesk.com. It has everything you need for ready reference. I have it open at my desk while I'm doing virtual reference or telephone reference, and I go there often when students ask research questions. I wish Rockford Public Library would add a link to www.refdesk.com on the RPL web site. It would be so easy to do, and I'd be happy to show admin how to do it.

Now that I've been playing around with 23 Things, I feel really technosavy!

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This a lot like 23 Things

While looking for things to add to my blog (tech explorations, natch), I came across these useful sites:

http://instructionwiki.org/Main_Page


http://supercrazylibrarianguy.wordpress.com/

Facebook

I do have a wall on Facebook. Here is the address: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=649342983

How do we possibly keep up with posting to all of these sites? Is there an easy way to post to all of them simultaneously?

Flickr photos

I have created a new Flickr account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/refdeskpaul/. You can see a couple of my photos by clicking on the link.

The Magic Nmber Seven Plus or Minus Two

Working through the 23 Things, I was reminded of George Miller's 1957 seminal research into the nature of working memory: The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information by George A. Miller (1956) of Harvard University. First published in Psychological Review, 63, 81-97. You can find a complete full-text copy posted at http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Miller/. I'll talk later about the wonderful things you can find posted at http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/, but now I want to talk a little about Miller's amazing discovery and its contribution to information theory. Dr. Miller was doing important grant research work for the U.S. Navy during and after the Korean War to learn how many bits of information a navy signalman could remember while transmitting or receiving coded signals. Though this was in the days before the digital revolution, Miller's research has played a crucial role in the theory and development of digital communication (as well as all communication and memory, human or machine). In essence, Miller's discovery is this: the human brain can retain in working memory only 7 bits of information (yes or no, on or off) give or take two additional bits of information. We suffer from information overload whenever we try to absorb more than 7 (+/- 2) bits of information unless we chunk this information into recognizable groups. An excellent example of chunking is telephone numbers: we can remember the 7 numbers in a phone number easily enough, but when we add the numbers of the area code we go immediately into information overload unless we chunk those numbers and piece the chunks together. Remembering 815 or 315 as one chunked bit rather than 3 separate bits is relatively easy. So, to dial long distance, you remember 1 plus area code plus phone number plus extension. Each one of these elements can be chunked and then pieced together, up to 7 +/-2 chunks. If we try to remember each number separately and in serial order, it seems extremely difficult because we are trying to remember more than seven (plus or minus two) pieces of information, and the cognitive load is tremendous. But if we remember separate chunks and piece them together, we can easily recall the entire number. Long term memory is similarly created out of "chunks" that are pieced together in recall.

Tackling the 23 Things is easy when you take each thing one at a time. But all 23 together can seem like an insurmountable ordeal....

State of the Blogosphere 2008

What is the current state of blogs? You know there had to be someone besides Pew that kept track of such things, didn't you? Here's a link to discover the state of the blogosphere 2008!

http://www.technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/

Enjoy!

A recent Library Journal article suggested that librarians use "member" to replace "patron" or "user" or "cardholder" and I like the sound of member and the way it works: member provides a feeling of belonging that is missing with the other terms; member implies obligations of membership; and member is easy to remember (sorry; I just had to do that because that's the way my weird mind works).

But I really like the term "member". I am a member of my community and a member of my community's library!

Book Notes - This is a quick, fun read

Author: Kerrelyn Sparks Date Read: 9-28-08

Title: The Undead Next Door Pub. Date: February 2008

Publisher: Avon Books mass market pbk (Imprint of HarperCollins)

Genre: Romance (Contemporary)
Sub-genre: Paranormal/Supernatural/Vampire Fantasy

Pages: 369

Appeal Characteristics: Combines supernatural fantasy with standard conventions of Contemporary Romance; love between mortal woman and vampire hunk; humor;
Pacing: Fast-paced emotional roller coaster; complications

Characterizations: Heather Lynn Westerfield, mortal
Jean-Luc Echarpe, vampire
Roman Draganesti, vampire
Angus MacKay, vampire in kilts
Robby MacKay, vampire
Emma MacKay, vampire wife of Angus

Lui, vampire of many names (Jacques Clement, Damiens, Ravaillac, etc)
Fidelia, mortal psychic & Heather’s babysitter
Bethany Westerfield, Heather’s mortal daughter
Shanna Draganesti, mortal wife of a vampire

Story Line: Heather Lynn Westerfield has always wanted to be a fashion designer, but Heather lives in Schnitzelberg, Texas, and Schnitzelberg isn’t exactly the heart of the fashion world. Then Jean-Luc Echarpe (E-sharp) world-famous fashion designer opens a shop in Schnitzelberg. He designs evening wear for vampires because he is a vampire. But the recently-divorced full-figure Heather doesn’t know that. Jean-Luc likes full figured women because they look healthier than most mortals. Lui, a vampire assassin, has been killing Jean-Luc’s girlfriends for more than 3 centuries, and Lui mistakes Heather for Jean-Luc’s mistress when Heather interferes with Lui’s attempt to kill Jean-Luc. So Jean-Luc becomes honor-bound to protect Heather and her extended family from Lui and the Malcontents. Heather comes to believe Jean-Luc is an immortal (like in the Highlander movies) but when she tries to learn Jean’s secrets and discovers he’s a vampire, she doesn’t see how they can have a future together. Will true love conquer all? Is there a way they can be together after all? Lots of humor, sexual tension, and plot twists in this “trashy” romance.

Frame: International jet-setter vampires meet small-town Texas mortals; high fashion

Plot Summary: Everyone in Texas carries guns; vampires carry swords; Teas mon meets Dracula
Similar Authors: Stephenie Meyer, Laurell K. Hamilton, Anne Rice, Lynsay Sands, Michelle Bardsley, Katie MacAlister, Mary Janice Davidson, Michelle Rowen
Geographical setting: Texas Hill Country
Time period: Now
Series: Love at Stake
Subject Headings: Romance--fiction; Texas—fiction; vampires—fiction.

It’s like sex—only better!

It’s like sex—only better!

The Reference Interview and Reference Transaction: It’s like sex—only better!
The intimacy—the interpersonal rapport and trust and vulnerability and openness—of the reference relationship is definitely a lot like sex. When it’s done right, it can be the most fulfilling act on earth. Both parties separate feeling completely satisfied, smiling, all aglow, and looking forward to their next encounter.
If it’s done wrong, however, one or both of the parties can leave the meeting feeling hurt and betrayed and never ever wanting to see the other ever again. It can be extremely painful . It can destroy egos with a single misspoken word.
Each get-together is fraught with tension. It is exciting and fearful at the same time.
Of course, many of these things are true of all human interactions. But it does give one a different perspective to look at the reference transaction in Freudian terms, doesn’t it?