Safe For Work

Closing the Branch

2010-03-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

It's been a rough couple of days here at Morrison. First we found out that there are going to be layoffs and branch closings. Never did we dream that the Morrison library would be one of the libraries to close but we are and we're moving sadly on. On Friday the staff sat around seeing who would receive the telephone call notifying them they would enter the ranks of the unemployed in two weeks time. A significant number of our staff we let go and we'll miss them.

A small miracle did take place Friday afternoon. A few children decided to set up a cookie and lemonade sale at our front entrance to help raise money for their favorite library. A more apt display of why we come to this branch everyday could not have been thought up by an army of consultants. We thank them for their loyalty. They brought more than one person to tears.

Browser Statistics

2009-12-21T16:52:00.001-08:00

Interesting trend going on here. It's good so see Firefox closing the gap.

Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Browser Market Share

Downtown Panorama

2009-11-23T10:01:00.001-08:00

Downtown Panorama
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

The other day I went driving around town and was looking for a spot to do a panorama from. I found this spot here that gave me a view of downtown I hadn't seen before.

Cell Size and Scale

2009-10-28T10:20:00.001-07:00

I've always loved stuff like this.

2009-10-13T15:22:00.000-07:00

Readin'

You may not believe it but being a librarian isn't all about learning how to use the current social media technology, helping people apply for jobs online and blogging about video games. We also find time to read occasionally.

I've started and stopped a couple of books recently. I was getting antsy because I was having trouble find a book to really focus on. I started one the other day that had been sitting on my desk for a few weeks and it has really grabbed me. The book is a science fiction novel called Orbital Resonance by John Barnes. It's the story of 13-year-old girl living on a space station that has been fashioned out of an asteroid. Asteroid space stations were created to grow food for a planet Earth that has ruined itself through war and disease. The children the book focuses on are the first generation born on the space station and their lives are nothing more than attending a grueling schooling that is preparing them to continue the work of the space stations. I can't believe I've never heard of this book before. There's so much I don't know.

There are two new novels that I am greatly anticipating getting my hands on, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld and Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Coincidentally, both books are steampunk. I've read one book by each of these authors in the last couple of years. Westerfeld's Peeps is a vampire novel that truly has a unique take on the vampire story and Priest's Fathom which is a great take on the old gods subgenre of science fiction. Priest has the distinction of being pimped by both Warren Ellis and John Scalzi. It looks like steampunk may soon become the new vampire so this is a good chance to read some good steampunk before every hack in the world starts pumping them out.

My booktalk audience

2009-09-18T12:06:00.001-07:00

My booktalk audience
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

About twice a year I go to Merrrywood, a retirement community on Park Rd, to give a half hour booktalk. I've been doing this for about five years now and I still get a little nervous before I start. It's always a challenge for me to deliver a talk to these residents and come off sounding like I know what I am talking about. I never assume to know what I am talking about but it's nice if others think so.

Having to give booktalks here has forced me to broaden my reading a bit. I can't go in there each time with my usual mixture of World War II, science fiction and baseball books. I am always on the lookout for a book that I will enjoy and that I can use for material when I go to Merrywood. Robert Harris, whose book Pompeii I loved, is a perfect example of a writer who writes books I love that I can use when booktalking.

2009-09-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

A Twittering Library

We are trying that new social media thing. I've had a personal Twitter account for a while now. I've been having a grand old time annoying my friends with it. We decided to create an account for the Morrison Library. You can view our Twitter page here. We're trying to build an online community to interact with. We've already arranged to have some guerilla art left in the branch, recommended a CD from our collection and shared a couple of quotes with a quote lover. I hope we can get some library users to join us in our experiment.

We are also on Facebook. A lot of our Facebook entries mirror what we Twitter but we are there too if you want to be a fan. While on Facebook just do a search for Morrison Library and you should find us pretty easily.

Morrison Library is on Twitter

2009-08-27T10:46:00.000-07:00

Our username is morrisonlibrary and we've just started. We hope to start interacting with your library users that way. I think it'll be fun if we get some participation. Maybe we can even do reference questions...

Back from Vacation

2009-08-26T13:11:00.001-07:00

I got back from vacation Monday. I drove to northern Michigan. That's where I was raised. I have been posting pictures from my trip on my personal blog. You can see them here if you are interested.

New fun stuff on Wolfram Alpha

2009-07-30T16:24:00.001-07:00

A while back I mentioned the new search engine Wolfram Alpha in a post. According to what they've been writing on their blog they are constantly upgrading the searches you can do on it. Now you can do word searches. Someday the internet will come to my house and read to me.

2009-07-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

New fun stuff on WolframAlpha

A while back I mentioned the new search engine Wolfram Alpha in a post. According to what they've been writing on their blog they are constantly upgrading the searches you can do on it. Now you can do word searches. Someday the internet will come to my house and read to me.

More Fun with Twitter

2009-07-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I sent out a Twitter message concerning the location of the local Goodwill computer store. I did not expect the response I received, from the Goodwill people. They must monitor any tweets concerning Goodwill and respond to any that may have questions they can answer. Very smart use of Twitter.

Tweet of the Day

2009-07-27T16:56:00.001-07:00

While finishing up the research for a class I am teaching this Wednesday on internet searching I came across this great Twitter message about how the library can save you money.

Library Summer Hours

2009-06-30T10:10:00.001-07:00

Library Summer Hours
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

Just in case you missed the sign as you came into the library recently, here are our summer hours.

2009-06-22T17:35:00.001-07:00

Word Website

Thanks to the mighty Metafilter I came across a new word website today. It is called Wordnik. According to the website they are "ongoing project devoted to discovering all the words and everything about them." I like this site. Check out the entry for frog. It gives you the word's appearance in public domain documents at Gutenberg site, several definition options, a recorded pronunciation, occurrences of the word in Twitter posts, synonyms and images from Flickr. Pretty impressive.

The Garden

2009-06-09T12:56:00.001-07:00

Entrance Garden
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

As you come in the building you can see our garden. For the last two years the garden has been the brainchild and project of one of our librarian's, Kate.

This is a stitch of three photographs. I used the free software called Autostitch. It's a great tool.

2009-05-26T17:41:00.000-07:00

We’ve been banished from an Eden of oscillation

Science fiction writer, John Scalzi, regularly allows guests to write an entry on his blog. It's usually a novelist who has a new book coming out. This week China Mieville breaks down the crime novel. Great stuff.

2009-05-18T10:56:00.001-07:00

New Search Engine

Have ya'll heard about the new search engine called Wolfram Alpha? It's designed to give you answers instead of linking you to websites. I was messing around with it today and plugged my birthday date in. It will also compute fairly complex searches like largest countries by area in Africa. You can also compare different states or countries by entering them and separating them by commas. I did California, Michigan and North Carolina here. If you look near the bottom you can see it generated a graph comparing the population growth of all three states. I am going to use it for reference questions at work and see how it does me.

2009-05-15T07:57:00.001-07:00

Another Wikipedia Story

There is good advice in this article on a hoax played by a Wikipedia user. We use Wikipedia here at the library a lot. It's most useful to me as a tool to start a search. A lot of times a teenager will come up to the reference desk and say something like, "I have to do a report on Some King III." You can then ask the kid who this person is and a lot of times he'll have no idea. You can plug that name in Wikipedia and then you'll know where to start looking. I can tell if this person has enough renown to warrant a full biography or if I'll have to grab a book on his country's history and look the person up in the index.

Philip Pullman Interview

2009-05-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I read The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. Quite a few people whose opinions I respect had raved about it so I took the plunge. I was a marvelous book and I thought I would share an interview with him that I found here.

View from the Morrison Circulation Desk

2009-05-04T15:04:00.001-07:00

View from the Morrison Circulation Desk
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

If ever wondered what the view was like from behind the circulation desk.

2009-05-04T12:25:00.001-07:00

Dracula as it Happens

I've seen similar projects before but this is kinda cool. This blog is posting each journal entry from the novel Dracula on the corresponding day. It started yesterday, May 3rd. Think of it as a blog from the past.

2009-04-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

Where be the Swine Flu?

If you are an amateur flu sleuth or just plain scared out of your wits see the map below.

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map

2009-04-16T17:02:00.001-07:00

Email tips

I found a nice tip sheet on writing efficient emails on the mighty Lifehacker website just now. You can read the article here. The main tip, pointed out in the Lifehacker entry, is to always revise. I try to remember to do that myself as much as possible. My favorite trick for proof reading is read what I wrote backwards. Start with the last sentence and move up the document. When you take what you wrote out of context it's easier to find errors. When you read a document from start to finish your brain edits and puts in words that aren't there because you expect them to be there.

2009-04-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Gmail at Five Years

I hope everyone on the face of the earth has a Google email account by now. If you are still using Yahoo email just because you have been for ten years go ahead and make that switch. The sooner you do it the easier it will be to make the transition. Gmail is worth it just for their superior spam filtering software. I found an interview with Gmail's Senior Product Manager (what does that mean?) that's informative. Another reason to try Gmail is that it's always evolving. There's always something new to play with on it but it never changes so much to where you feel like you have to re-learn how to do the basic stuff. Gmail: It's Fun!

For further reading I found a history of Gmail written up at Wired.com. Thanks to the mighty Lifehacker for the link.

Who is Really Who on those Social Websites?

2009-03-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

I found a good website via the Charlotte Observer yesterday. This site, called Valebrity, verifies whether or not that celebrity's Twitter, Myspace, Facebook or Bebo page really belongs to who claims it. There are a few fake celebrity accounts out there so Valebrity offers a unique service. The only celebrities I follow on Twitter are a couple of writers and funny ladies, Paula Poundstone and Joan Rivers and funny man, John Cleese. I may drop Joan Rivers, mostly what she does is pimp her QVC appearances. If you just have to follow one celebrity on Twitter may I recommend Paula Poundstone? Her tweets are pretty clever.

I was pleased to see that all of the famous people I have followed on Twitter have turned up to be real. I was pretty confident of that anyway because I had verified these were real accounts by visiting the webpages of each person I followed. It seems that is pretty much what this website does.

2009-03-25T09:27:00.001-07:00

A day trip to Asheville, NC

Getting up at 6 am and driving two hours may not be ideal but when you get to spend the day at a great workshop and your lunch hour and breaks taking panoramic shots of downtown Asheville then the day could be worse. It's impossible for me to say how much I love downtown Asheville.

I took this shot out behind the Pack Memorial Library in Asheville.

This was taken by the Civic Center. I saw Bob Dylan and Tom Waits at the Civic Center. If you look closely in the right of the photo you can see someone being interviewed by local television.

2009-03-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

An Open Letter to Local High School Students

I'd like to inform you that the Morrison Public Library is open on days other than Sunday. Please, come in on a Wednesday night, you'd be amazed by how much more help the reference librarians can give you when you are not one of three or four students standing in line at the reference desk. I know Kurt Vennegut said the secret to life is farting around but you should first finish your homework before you fart around. We are here to help and we can help you more if ya'll would stagger your library times. But, you know, if you all want to wait and come in on Sundays we can handle that too.

2009-03-20T07:43:00.000-07:00

Cool Contest

I didn't know this but this month is Love Your Indie Bookstore Month and the writer, Joe Hill, is sponsoring a contest that is designed to get people to purchase books from their local indie bookstore.

2009-03-17T17:22:00.001-07:00

36 Views of the Space Shuttle

This is cool. A whole bunch of views of the recent space shuttle launch.

2009-03-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

Old Slides

I've been shopping on eBay recently looking for older slides to purchase. Since slides are originals and people tended to store them in firm boxes they seem to come out of garages and attics in pretty good condition. I bought my first box last week and the slides showed up over the weekend. There is no date but most of the shots are in the Tuscola County area of Michigan. They were advertised on eBay as being shot in 1970 but I don't see anyway to narrow it down that closely. I think early 70's is a safe bet. Here are a few.

This is the Deford Methodist Church. I can find little or no information on this church. The last reference to it from a Google search is 1967. Dig the outfit

I think someone may be moving from the Tuscola area because there are several shots taken from a car and there is this shot of some folks standing next to a U-Haul truck. I would think if you are going to take a bunch of shots from a moving vehicle you are more likely to be leaving that place.

Here is a shot from a moving car. This is the picture that told me where these photos were taken. The Caro pharmacy and Oasis Tavern are located in Caro, MI. I think the Oasis Tavern may still be there. Who knows about the pharmacy...

I like this picture. Driving through a rainstorm with someone's foot reflected in the window.

I like this shot of the John J. Barden Hardware Store. I still am not sure what city this is in. I'm think either Cass City, Kingston or Caro.

The last picture I pulled out of the box was a nice surprise. This is a picture of Tiger Stadium, in Detroit, MI, taken from a moving car motoring down the highway right next to the stadium.

You can see a more contemporary view here. I think the overpass is blocking the angle that matches the picture from the slide.

View Larger Map

That was a fun little project. I think I'll do it again.

2009-03-11T12:17:00.000-07:00

Vital Speeches of the Day

I am of the opinion that the online resources that we have access to via the library's website are under utilized. Too often a Google search is the default search for homework today. Internet sources are good sources but there is so much information available in our databases that any project will only be strengthened if the student or researcher takes a look there.

The online resources are extensive and it's difficult to keep up with everything that is available. Today a coworker told me about a resource available via MasterFILE Premier called Vital Speeches of the Day. I was surprised to learn that it gives us access to full text speeches back to 1934. How's that for a treasure trove of primary sources (modern teachers love primary sources)? I did a quick search and found an interesting speech by Winston Churchill which he delivered in the House of Commons on November 29th, 1944. In this speech he is extolling the British people to not give up on the war just yet. Though they may be winning and assured of victory now is not the time to think that further sacrifice is not required.

He says, "As when climbing a hill, when there is always another peak beyond, it is at that very moment that we in this island have to give that extra sense of exertion and effort, that boundless and inexhaustible dynamic energy that we have shown, and which records made public emphasize in detail that we have shown during this struggle."

When I help people in the library many of them do not know that you can specify which journal or magazine you would like the database to search. You can see from the screen shot below that I specified a search for "Churchill" in the year 1944 that had been published in the journal "Vital speeches of the day." You may have to click on the picture below to see it clearly.

This is a very powerful tool and if you know what journal you would like to search and you don't know whether or not the library has access to this journal you can do a search here. This will tell you if a branch carries the magazine, if it's at the Main Library and how far back the archives go (main library's archives can be on microfiche, microfilm or hard copies and can go back quite a long ways) or if the magazine can be viewed on one of your online resources. Not only that, if it's available on an online resource it will provide a direct link to that resource. Be aware that if you are attempting to use an online resource from home that you will need to enter your library card number.

Remember, the best way to find out what is available on those online resources is to try and few and do a few searches of whatever interests you. That will help you later when you are doing a more serious search.

2009-03-09T10:48:00.001-07:00

New Web Project

I find this new project to be very intriguing. A website that actually answers factual questions rather than doing a basic web search. As a librarian this could be really helpful with some questions. For example, we often get a teenagers that come to the desk and say something like "I need to do a report on Anthony III." And I'll have to do a reference interview to determine just who exactly Anthony III is before I can continue. Sometimes there may be more than one Anthony III. If I can type "Who is Anthony III" into this new tool and get a quick answer then I'll know where to begin my real research.

An Evening With Mark Twain

2009-03-04T16:52:00.000-08:00

On March 27th at 7 pm you can experience Mark Twain as seen through
the eyes of Dr. Elliot Engel. This event will also include refreshments and
a silent auction. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased only at the Morrison Regional Library. For more information you can call the reference desk at 704-416-5431.

The buzz on the street is that Dr. Engel is amazing as Mark Twain and this small intimate performance is not to be missed. Tickets are limited so get yours...today!

Sharon and Fairview

2009-03-02T10:02:00.001-08:00

Sharon and Fairview
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

Took a walk and took this panorama at the corner of Sharon and Fairview. It's gotten real pretty out as the sky has cleared and the sun has come out.

2009-03-02T09:20:00.001-08:00

The Great Blizzard of 2009

We are still hanging in there. The Mountain Dew and the coffee are holding out just fine. The sun has come up and it is releasing us slowly from the deep freeze we have endured. Local news has yet to report any fatalities. Us Carolinians are nothing if not a hardy folk. There is no precipitation anticipated for the next couple of days and for that we are thankful. The low tonight is supposed to be 13 and we are much afeared. We just got back from a walk and our noses are really cold. We endure.

Frozen Flowers. Can you feel their pain?

Walking Down the Street

A Tree

Melanie Gazes up with Wonder at the Snowman (now with cap)

2009-03-02T05:11:00.001-08:00

The Great Blizzard of 2009

It snowed and snowed and snowed last night. The trees in our backyard that our landlord never has trimmed were dropping limbs like leaves in autumn. The power flickered a couple of times and we lost power for thirty seconds once. Wendell and I stood by the road and watched cars drive by too fast. After I went to bed, Wendell and Randy built a snowman in the side yard. Then it snowed and snowed and snowed some more. It was pretty treacherous but we got through the night and today we rise in a wonderland of wintry type stuff. We are shut in. We have coffee and Mountain Dew. We will survive.

The Morning Sun Kisses the Tree Tops

Wendell and Randy's Snowman

Reverse Angle of Snowman

See How Dark and Dreary it is?

Long Meadow Road

Wendell Had to go to Work

A Firetruck Full of American Heroes

The Snowman in Better Light

Chris by the Snowman for Scale

The Snowy Tree Across the Street

2009-03-02T04:14:00.000-08:00

Library is Closed

According to official library Inclement Weather Hotline, all public libraries will be closed today. Now I am off to take a picture of the snowman my roommate and his buddy, Randy, made while I was sleeping last night.

2009-03-01T20:39:00.001-08:00

The Great Blizzard of 2009

It's been snowing for a few hours now. The school system has announced that they will be closed tomorrow. There's snow in the air and on the ground. So far everyone is safe but we get cold when we go outside. We will persevere.

Our Backyard

The Driveway

Ice Encrusted Trees

The Backyard Again

Let it Snow

2009-03-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

Want to know if the library will be open tomorrow or not? Well so do I. Personally, I am banking on us closing for the day. If I was a betting man I would bet what's left of my 401K on a snow day tomorrow. Check here before you brave the elements tomorrow morning for an update. You will know as soon as I do. You don't need that scrolling thing at the bottom of your television, all you need is this blog.

Good Harbor in Leelanau County, MI

2009-02-19T07:42:00.001-08:00

How about another sunset? This guy used to live on the coast of Good Harbor. I think it was Kevin that first showed me this magical place. I cannot go to Michigan without going here to walk around at least once. I got lucky on one of my trips up there in the 90's and captured this nice sunset. I just scanned it in today and I am very pleased that this particular negative is not scratched all to hell. I increased the contrast a little bit but otherwise this picture has not been messed with. I have always liked the swell you can see running down the coast line. I'd like to say I planned that but I just got lucky.

2009-02-18T14:39:00.001-08:00

The Alden Boat Landing

One of my favorite places in the world is the boat landing on Torch Lake located in the village of Alden in Antrim County, MI. There is a L shaped breakwater with moorings for small boats. It's always drawn me and my Dad. You can walk aways out into the lake, feel the breeze and watch the water change color as clouds move across the sky. There's never really any other people down there, it seems, and it's a good spot to enjoy the lake by yourself. I used to walk down there a lot on weekends when I stayed with Dad during my teens while he sat in the local restaurant and finished his coffee while reading the Sunday paper.

View Larger Map

View Larger Map

If you follow this link you can see the L shaped breakwater. That is where the pictures below were taken in August of 1997 on a cloudy day. What you always hear said about Torch Lake is how beautiful is the light green color in can produce. You can see that here in the top picture. I'm disappointed because the slide is damaged. There are scratches on it and a discoloration going horizontally across. I even had the scanner set to maximum retouching and that helped some..

Literally minutes late the clouds to the west started breaking up and the sun started shining under the clouds and one of the best sunsets I have ever seen developed. First it looked like this.

As the sun moved lower and the light got more red in it an amazing thing started happening.

Then the sky exploded.

The only places I have seen where the sunsets rival those on Torch Lake are in the Mojave Desert and Okinawa.

2009-02-16T15:04:00.001-08:00

Another Racing Picture

This is another picture from my fall trip to the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 1991 Winston Cup Mello Yellow 500. This shot is from turn 4 looking toward the start finish line. You can see race winner, Geoff Bodine, just crossing the finish line while taking the checkered flag.

We Are Open

2009-02-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is President's Day and the banks and schools are closed but the public library is open for business. There is a short waiting list at 1:50 pm for out internet computers but the wait is only about ten minutes. There are still some open tables if you need to study and our wireless appears to be functioning.

Cross Posting

Since I have a hard time finding the opportunity to post on this blog I am gong to start cross posting here from my personal blog. My daily life is so much a part of being a librarian, both in the library and outside it, that my personal and professional blog pretty much are the same thing anyway. If I read a good book I am going to mention it on both blogs so why only cross post occasionally?

A Couple of Literature Related Links

2009-02-11T12:24:00.000-08:00

This is a cross posting with the Morrison Writers Club blog but these two links are too good to not share.

I found out today that the Virginia Quarterly Review is putting a bunch of it archives online. You can read about that here. First search I am going to do? Donald Hall, of course.

There is a great science fiction short short story on the New Yorker's website here. It has a great twist on the first contact/alien invasion story.

Libraries, Google and the Future

2009-01-27T16:56:00.001-08:00

Found a nice article in the New York Review of books about Google and libraries. The future of libraries, like most institutions and businesses, is an unknown. I guess the future has always been an unknown but 25 years ago people weren't seriously discussing the possibility of a world without physical libraries. It's both frightening and exciting to be living in the future.

2009-01-27T15:16:00.000-08:00

John Updike

As a librarian I feel it is my duty to say something in regards to the death of the great American writer, John Updike. It was two years ago that I read my first Updike book. I read the first book that featured his famous character, Rabbit. The novel is called Rabbit Run. I found his writing to be good almost beyond compare. It is so good that more than once I stopped reading and took a second to appreciate the genius of the writing. Like Steinbeck, not only is his skill at a level few of us ever approach, it is also accessible. Great writing doesn't have to be difficult, just great.

Poe on the BBC

2009-01-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

Just find a some great information on a blog at the Wired website. The BBC is presenting dramatizations of Poe's work and you can hear them online. Interesting stuff.

Reading on the Rise

2009-01-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

News to warm a librarian's heart. The best news is that young adult reading is rising faster than adult reading.

2009-01-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

Google and Newspapers

This blog post at Wired has some good ideas on this topic. Personally I think once newspapers are no longer run by corporations and are less concerned about making a big profit then we will settle back down into a world of smaller niched newspapers that are successful on a local level. Something like what the Mint Hill Times is attempting. It's the wild west all over again.

2008-12-23T15:48:00.001-08:00

My Year End Book List

Most of these were published in the last year or so. A couple are older but were new to me. These are not in any order nor did I limit it to a certain number of books. I went over my list of books I read in 2008 and these were the ones that stood out. If I finish it before 2009 I would also add my current read: "American Lion" by Jon Meacham. It's the story of Andrew Jackson's years in the White House.

The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick: the second novel by Swanwick set in his world of Faery. A modern version of the faery world where characters speak like modern Americans and fairy tale characters at the same time. I don't know how he does it but it's amazing to read it.

The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin: A fantastically written account of how the current Supreme Court lineup came to come together with some nice history of the court thrown in. I'm probably naive for being surprised by how much politics is involved in this institution.

Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker: One of the more eye-opening books about World War II I have have ever read. It's what we need occasionally, a reminder that history is not preordained.

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow: A young adult SF novel in the vein of the classic YA stuff by Heinlein and Asimov. Good science, good story and instructions on how to be an individual.

City of Thieves by David Benioff: An adventure novel set during the siege of Leningrad during World War II. The writing is so good that I was awed by his talent several times.

Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe: An older piece of SF that I learned about from Michal Swanwick's blog. It's set in the far future where super-science and a medieval society combine to make a fascinating world that is a pleasure to get lost in.

One Minute to Midnight by Michael Dobbs: The story of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's scary and fascinating. It's a miracle we are all here right now. What impressed me the most was that the professionalism of the Soviet officers is a big reason this did not explode into World War III.

Driftless by David Rhodes: Another shockingly well written piece of fiction. It's about a small farming community in the midwest. That is all. It's enough. It's funny, deep and will break your heart. I can't recommend it enough.

Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides: Another older book. The story of a POW rescue operation in the Philipines during World War II. If you are looking for a great WWII adventure story and you haven't read this yet you are in for a treat.

2008-12-18T12:50:00.000-08:00

Poetry Competition

I just recieved a flyer in the interoffice mail about a poetry competiton sponsored by the Lanier Library of Tryon, NC. It's called the Sidney Lanier Poetry Award. You can view information on it here. They even have a category for high school students.

Upcoming Events

2008-12-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

Since I haven't posted anything here in a while how about a quick list of what fun stuff we have coming up here at the branch?

Tomorrow, Saturday December 13th from 2pm until 5 pm we will be hosting a "Gift Wrapping Party." Bring your presents and a roll of wrapping paper to get a jump on the holiday season. There will be a gift tag station and other fun ideas to make you presents special. Cookies and hot apple cider included.

On December 16th at 7pm the "New Book Club" will be discussing Julia Glass' I See You Everywhere. They are always looking for new members.

On December 22nd at 6pm the Teen Writers Group will meet here. If you have a teen that enjoys writing and would like to meet other writers and participate in sharing and writing exercises bring 'em on by. Our group has been meeting for over two years and we have a great core of kids that are very supportive of each other.

2008-11-11T11:33:00.001-08:00

Have you seen the white whale?

No, not New Gingrich, I am referring to the original white whale, ya'll: Moby Dick. Is anyone here interested in an online annotated version of Herman Melville's classic? You know I read that book when I was way too young to understand it. I should read it again. Who wants to start a discussion group?

Yes, We Are

2008-11-11T10:11:00.000-08:00

Open that is. The library is open today and we are open for our usual hours. C'mon in, we don't want to sit here by ourselves. Not that we are but you know what I mean.

2008-10-31T13:01:00.001-07:00

More Early Voting

Early voting is now completely out of control. The line stretches around the front of the building as you can see below and then curves around into the parking lot on the side of the building which you can see in the following pictures. Craziness. The wait is at least two hours.

From Drop Box

Current Line

2008-10-29T12:23:00.001-07:00

It's a bit longer now. I think we are looking at a two hour wait now.

The Current Early Voting Line

2008-10-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

Testing Photo Posting Again

2008-10-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

This time using Google's Picasa.

Small Size

From All we need is Blog?

Thumbnail

From All we need is Blog?

2008-10-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

People are Funny (more early voting)

I've taken several calls about the wait for early voting and I have informed a few people that the Marion Diehl Rec Center has less of a line than we do here at the Morrison Regional Library. A couple of people have reacted to this like I told them to hop in their car and drive to Michigan to vote. According to the all powerful Google Maps the Rec Center is only 2.6 miles away.

Early Voting

2008-10-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the year again. The time of the year when people stand in line all day so they can vote early. There are campaign signs all over the place, our parking lot is full and there are campaigners waving signs and handing out literature out front. It's a regular hootenanny. Early voting locations, dates and times can be viewed here.

The line is actually forming in the back of the building. You can walk around the outside of the library or you can cut through. This is the front of the line around noon today. This line you see here is not that bad. It was longer earlier, from what I have been told. I think the wait in this line is about 30 minutes. That's not too bad.

This is a view from the end of the line.

Here are the faithful with their signs and literature. It's easier if you just take what they want to give you and move on rather than so "no, thanks." Believe me.

2008-10-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Testing picture posting

I've been perusing a few photo hosting sites the last couple of days in preparation for the class I am teaching next Wednesday and I am really liking how the site called Photobucket plays well with other sites.

2008-09-16T15:26:00.001-07:00

David Foster Wallace

I don't know how many of you have heard of or read anything by David Foster Wallace. He has an enormous book called Infinite Jest that I have yet to read. All that I have read by him have been his essays. If you ever get a chance you should read the long essay called A Supposed Fun Thing I'll Never do Again. It's about a cruise a magazine sent him on hoping to get an article out of it. It's an amazing piece of writing. Whenever you read something by him you just could sense you were reading the writings of someone that saw the universe a little more clearly than you did. He could dig a little deeper and then do the hardest thing in the world, write about what he saw and make you understand. A lot of times he would do that and simultaneously make you laugh.

He was found dead on Friday. Supposedly he committed suicide. He truly was a great writer and it's too bad that, at 46, his output has ended. There is a good remembrance of him here. The quote used in the last paragraph is a good example of Wallace's writing.

2008-09-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

Igoogle gets really cool

I don't know how many of you mess with the personalized google paged called Igoogle but they have some really awesome backgrounds available now. I got me a Bob Dylan one.

PLCMC Madden Tournament

2008-09-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

This is going to be fun. The library now has Xbox 360's. We have multiple copies of Madden '09. We are having a tournament. We will be having a first round at 8 different branches and a final round with the 8 winners at the main library. The schedule is below. There are only 16 spots available at each branch so registration is required. There will be prizes awarded at each first round and the grand prize for whoever comes out on top at the finals is a $50 gift card for GameStop. Not a bad deal if you ask me. If you think you can beat 127 other Madden players call one of the branches listed below and get in the game.

Dates	Location	Event Time	Telephone
October 2nd	Independence Regional Library	6-8	704-416-4800
October 4th	Morrison Regional Library	12-4	704-416-5431
October 9th	Beatties Ford Road Library	5-9	704-416-3000
November 4th	South County Regional	1-4	704-416-6640
November 4th	Mint Hill Library	1-4	704-416-5200
November 10th	Freedom Regional Library	3-7	704-416-4221
November 15th	Main Library	12-4	704-416-0500
November 15th	Matthews Library	1-5	704-416-5000

Finals at the Main Library on November 22nd from 1-4.

2008-08-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

Joe Haldeman

I just finished a nice fairly short science fiction novel the other day. It's called Marsbound and it's by Joe Haldeman. It's told in a first person perspective in the voice of a 18 or 19 year old woman who is emigrating to Mars with her parents and younger brother.

The only problem with reviewing a science fiction book is that it's hard to discuss a book of science fiction without giving away too much. What I will say is that this character is a little different than what you might expect for a narrator in a hard science fiction novel like this. She's not a genius. She's a bright kid that is just starting college but is not in the top 1/10 percentile of her class.

Haldeman takes us through their long trip to Mars and manages to make the six-month trip interesting. Our narrator has an unexpected romance that is handled nicely and we get some good character development during the relatively down time.

He does in this novel what he has done in much of his most recent work, he places a story not too far in the future and changes the technology just enough so any of us would be comfortable in that world.

The first half of this novel is much stronger than the second half. First we meet the characters, they travel to Mars, establish themselves in the small rustic community and have some normal interpersonal conflict. Shortly after that the book takes a more galactic turn. For a while there I thought he might be producing a John Kessel type of story where the action takes place in a nicely realized setting with conflicts between humans. I was really hoping the action would stay on Mars and a couple of nicely set up stories would resolve themselves over the course of the novel. It's not to be, the novel expands beyond Mars and mankind realizes they may not be alone in the universe.

Not that the book goes south and is not worth reading. It's still a fine piece of science fiction and I tore through it. There is some nicely conceived alien biology and an appealing alien character called "Red" that is really worth experiencing. I think I would have been more satisfied at the end if it had stayed home on Mars a bit longer. Maybe it could have just been longer. I have felt that way about a few of his later novels and I reckon wanting a novel to be longer is a good thing.

Outside Looking In

2008-08-06T16:46:00.001-07:00

IMG_2281
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

Jessica saw this praying mantis clinging to the outside of one of the windows downstairs, right next to where the holds are kept. I stepped outside and the giant insect actually turned its head to look at me. I was ready for it to raise one of its claws and say, "Hello."

2008-08-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

The New York Times Daily

Every year we reevaluate our magazine subscriptions. This year I suggested we drop an expensive publication that, due to its free electronic format had become redundant, and pick up the daily New York Times. It's pretty pricey but I think it's worth it since the total cost was offset by our canceling the Sunday edition we were getting. We are now the only branch, other than the Main Library, that can say it provides its users with access to the New York Times Daily. We're pretty happy about that.

2008-07-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

How the Library can help

The Consumerists magazine website has a list of ways the public library can help you during tough economic times. You can read it here.

2008-07-05T07:58:00.001-07:00

The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts by Thomas Farley

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I tore through this book. Like the history of Saturday Night Live called "Live from New York" this is an oral biography of Chris Farley (interestingly, in this book the "Live from New York" book takes a pretty harsh hit from someone claiming he was misquoted in the SNL history). The oral format worked for me. As Tom wrote in the introduction, Chris Farley lived the type of life where all his friends had "Chris stories."

This book, like its subject's life, is funny, revealing, touching, maddening and ultimately tragic. There is a period in Chris' life where he really had his stuff together he was on top of the world and I was unaware of that. I was not prepared to for the Chris Farley that was sober and on top of things and brightening the world around him. That high period in his life makes his ending all the more depressing. Especially since it really seemed he was going to keep his addictions down and go on to break out from the "fat guy falls down" comedy and truly make something great one day.

What surprised me was the unanimous love for Chris by everyone that is interviewed. Surely they could have found someone out there that knew Chris that thought he was a jerk? Even at his most outrageous he could still find a way to make people love him. To me, that's another tragedy of his life. He was greatly loved and it seems he really didn't see it or, if he did see it, feel he deserved it.

It's also impressive for the honesty of all those interviewed. Sure, they all loved Chris but they do not airbrush his faults. Even some of things that made him endearing could become a pain in the behind if a schtick was carried on too long. His drinking, his drug use, his rehab and the problems of and caused by his family are all addressed here. It's an honest book and in a biography, that is all that you can really hope for.

View all my reviews.

2008-07-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

Reading List from Slate

I found an annotated weekly list of what the writers at Slate are reading here. I like it because it's a thematic list. Right now the current list concerns the birth of our country.

2008-06-27T10:06:00.001-07:00

Robert Sawyer Lecture on SF

I found this lecture on Robert Sawyer's website. It's an excellent analysis of what makes good and bad science fiction. I highly recommend giving it a listen.

2008-06-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

Music at the library

This Saturday we will be having a musician playing in the auditorium at the Morrison Library at 2 pm. Lenny's been playing music around Charlotte for over thirty years and he'll bring a wide range of acoustic Americana and blues songs to entertain us for about an hour. It should be fun for the whole family.

2008-06-11T16:05:00.000-07:00

...our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts

According to Nicholas Carr Nietzsche said that. The article I linked to is in the current issue of the Atlantic Monthly and in it Carr ponders what it means for our minds now that we rely so much on the Internet for our research. Diane Rehm recently did a show on a very similar topic.

What struck me early in my reading of the article is Carr's admission that he has a hard time getting into deep reading mode. I noticed that in myself but I hadn't thought to ask around of my readin' friends if they were having the same problem. As a TV raised child of the 70's it took me a while to become a good reader. I don't want to the internet to ruin me as a reader.

2008-05-31T13:02:00.000-07:00

Author Interviews

The Atlantic Monthly has published an index to their author interviews here. There's some pretty good stuff there.

2008-05-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

Summer film series

Wow, I haven't posted here in a couple of weeks. I've probably lost the two people that checked this every now and then. My buddy, Sam Shapiro, who is the manager of the Popular Library at the Main Library loves to put together film series. I work mostly evenings so I miss almost everything he does. Finally he has a series on Sunday afternoons this summer that I hope attend a few times. He's going to show westerns. Not only that, he is going to show two of my favorite John Wayne westerns, Rio Bravo and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. You can view the whole lineup here.

2008-05-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

How not to get taken

There is a nice entry on the official Google blog on how not to get scammed over the internet. You can read it here.

I've noticed I tend to get a lot of phishing emails disguised as communication from eBay. A good rule of thumb for eBay users is to log into eBay and see if there is a message in your inbox on the eBay website. If not, then the email is fake.

2008-05-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

New Robert Heinlein

It's not often you can say that a new book by a dead science fiction writer contains quality material that has never been printed before. There is a collection of scripts he wrote in the 1950's that is being released by Subterranean Press. It's called Project Moonbase and Others. Pretty neat, I think. The collection is a little pricey but I own pretty much everything he's ever released, admittedly much of it in paperback, so I may have to consider purchasing this.

If you are interested there is a script available for free at the Subterranean site. You can view it here.

2008-04-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Joys of Reading

Pulitzer prize winner, and now Nebula award winner, Michael Chabon has an essay in the Los Angeles Times about how cool reading is. You can read it here.

Scary Clouds over Southpark

2008-04-29T12:44:00.001-07:00

Scary Clouds over Southpark
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

During my dinner break yesterday I saw these clouds over Southpark. I couldn't resist taking a shot.

2008-04-24T12:09:00.000-07:00

Short fiction

I love science fiction short stories. Some of the best SF I have read has been in the short story form. Right now I am reading a collection called Wastelands. So far I am really enjoying it. My only criticisms of it are that there aren't enough older stories and and that first one by Stephen King was just silly. Other than that it's been a fun read so far.

Today I did find a list put together by Jonathan Strahan of all the science fiction short story collections he could find that are coming out in 2008. You can view it here. There sure are a lot.

2008-04-17T15:51:00.001-07:00

Brad Bird on Ollie Johnston

One of the classic Disney animators, Ollie Johnston, passed away recently. A personal favorite of mine, Brad Bird, wrote a nice piece on Mr. Johnston for an animation blog. You can read it here.

2008-04-17T09:33:00.001-07:00

People don't use Google?

From the smart people at Metafilter I found a chart displaying which search engines are used the most. You can view the chart here. I use Google exclusively, which do you use?

2008-04-16T11:39:00.000-07:00

Need more book blogs to read?

The always helpful Metafilter site today has an entry that links to a lot, and I mean a lot, of good book related blogs. You can view them here. Be sure to scroll down to the comments. There are some good suggestions there also. Metafilter is the brightest online community out there.

2008-04-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

I think I'll write a fake memoir

I see on the New York Times book blog that another memoir may be fake. I was thinking not that long before these fake memoirs were exposed that there were an awful lot of memoirs out there. "Can there really be that many interesting people in the world?" I thought. I think you should have to be at least 60 before you are allowed to write a memoir. I will tell you one thing, you are going to have to be at least 60 before I read your memoir.

2008-04-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

The Main Library

Did you happen to read the article on the early stages of the possible renovation of the Main Library? I like what I am hearing from Mr. Brown, the library director. I think looking at the Main Library as a possible Imaginon for adults would be a great idea. I know that teens meet up at Imaginon and spend a day there using the facility. Friends that don't live in the same neighborhood have a fun place to rendezvous. A place that their parents know is safe.

I would like to see a Main Library that is a facility that adults will go to just for the heck of it. A place in downtown where they don't have to worry about parking or dodging transients. Right now the Main Library isn't a gathering place. Those that work downtown use it for picking up items they have placed on hold or browsing the CD or DVD collection. When I go down to do research I see a bunch of homeless people hanging out and that's it. Most other people seem to come in and get what they want and leave. Balancing the needs of transient citizens and year round residents has always been a challenge for libraries in big cities. Books have been written on that topic, I think.

I've always thought that partnering with a coffee shop would be a great idea for the downtown library. Initially I thought they were going to put in a coffee shop and then I saw that a cart had been stuck near the entrance on the first floor. I'd like to see a working coffee shop with its own entrance and periodical collection at the corner of Sixth and Tryon. It could be a gathering place full of good coffee, magazines, out-of-town newspapers and wireless internet. Something like a Border's Books and Music. Since it has its own entrance it could make its own hours and you could even have entertainment in there at night. A little stage could be stuck in the corner and you could have music, readings or even stand up comedy.

I'd also like to see a gaming room that was open the same hours as the library. Right now they have gaming events and every machine is used. A room devoted to gaming would be unique and a huge hit.

I remember traveling to Winston-Salem with a friend a few years ago to see a band play at a club. Being library people we decided we should go to the local main library. We did and we left pretty quickly. It was an old building full of homeless guys. It wasn't a bad library, I'd use it if I lived there. They had plenty of material and computers but it was just not a place that was conducive to killing a few hours of time. What did we do? We went to Border's. I would like to see the Mecklenburg Main Library become a place where someone like me would go the library to see what it was like and then stay for a few hours because it offered me a reasons to hang out.

2008-04-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

A Whodunnit

Last week I finished probably the fifth mystery I have ever read in my life. Maybe sixth if you count those robot SF mysteries that Isaac Asimov wrote. I remember the one I read was about a murder that took place on a planet where the human society that developed there loathed contact with other humans. If they didn't see each other in person how could someone be murdered? I guess that would be a...mystery.

The novel I finished last week was The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. It was the second Agatha Christie book I have read. Seeing as how it's a mystery I cant' say too much about it but I will say that I first decided to read the book because of the introduction written by Connie Willis for her new book of short fiction. Willis names this books specifically as one of her favorites and goes on to say that she learned almost everything she knows about plotting a novel from "Dame Agatha." Unfortunately the introduction also gives away the identity of the murderer. I read it anyway. I had never read mystery that I had known who was going to be the murderer before going in.

I will say this for Agatha Christie, each of her books that I have read I have torn through. I guess in any good mystery you get to the point where sleep and hygiene become less important than getting to the end and discovering who is the murderer. I don't see myself ever becoming an avid reader of mysteries but an Agatha Christie mystery every year or so might be a nice break from routine.

2008-03-26T12:09:00.001-07:00

Human Smoke

I just finished reading the most amazing book last night. It's called Human Smoke and it's by Nicholson Baker. The book is a series of paragraph to page-long vignettes about the lead up to and first couple years of World War II. Each tiny chapter covers a news story or diary entry and, at some point in the entry, the date will be given. It's written in a journalistic style with very little editorializing by the author. It is obvious, though, that the author's sympathies are with those who opposed the war rather than with those that worked to broaden the conflict.

I have seen at least one other review remark on the similarity between the beginnings of World War II and the current conflict in Iraq. I don't mean that there is any comparison between Hitler and Saddam although both of them were brutal mass murderers. The similarity that stands out in this book is when you compare the desire for war of Churchill and Roosevelt and George W. Bush and friends. In both instances the Western powers spoke of their desire for peace while rushing headlong into war. The similarity in the rhetoric will cause you to doubt your own existence.

What had always been impressed upon me was the inevitability of the Second World War. Hitler was bad and if it hadn't had been for Churchill and Roosevelt and the mighty sacrifices of the 'greatest generation' then we would all be speaking German right now. What Baker shows is the folly of that belief. There were plenty of opportunities to stop the war from spreading in 1940 and 1941. What is intriguing is that it may have been possible to avoid the ultimate horrors of the Holocaust if the goal of the allies was truly humanitarian and not on an aggressive war footing. Imagine that, lives saved by avoiding war.

The reviewer, Mark Kurlansky, sums it up better than I can: "It may be one of the most important books you will ever read. It could help the world to understand that there is no Just War, there is just war -- and that wars are not caused by isolationists and peaceniks but by the promoters of warfare."

2008-03-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Legal Forms

Surprisingly, one of the hardest questions to answer at the reference desk is whether or not we carry legal forms. We do have a few books on our reference shelves that can be photocopied but usually we just don't seem to have exactly what someone desires. There is a nice set downtown that people were always happy with when I worked in telephone reference but a legal form is something most library users don't consider a big enough project for a trip downtown. It is a very useful set of books. They are designed to be legal in North Carolina.

This last Saturday a gentleman came in and needed a Power of Attorney form. I showed him what we had on our reference shelves and he wasn't happy with it. He suggest I check online. I searched a site had saved on my Delicious bookmark page but it was a pay site and the forms were priced at over $25. We decided to search some more. I then searched the bookmarks of other Delicious users and found this form. He looked it over and thought it was perfect and I printed it out for him. I then bookmarked the site myself. If you ever need to do your own search you can do that here.

I never can know when I mention a website like Delicous if everyone knows what I mean. Delicious calls itself a "social bookmarking site." Essentially you use the site to bookmark other websites. You can then share what you find with others and use what others have bookmarked for your own purposes. That is what I did this weekend. I used what others had bookmarked to help me with the question. I searched for "legal forms" on Delicious and went to the site that the most users had bookmarked. After I did that I had the question answered and the form printed out two minutes later. It's the power of the hive mind.

My favorite use of the internet hive mind concept is a section of the site Metafilter (a collection of nerdy people that link to cool and interesting and educational and funny webites) called Ask Metafilter. It's simple, once a week each member of the Metafilter community can submit a question to the hive mind. There are some smart people on Metafilter and you get good answers from the community. I tried it for the first time a week ago and got these answers.

2008-03-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

100 greatest last lines

I don't recall seeing one of these lists before. I've seen the 100 greatest novel lists. I've seen the 100 greatest American novel list. I've seen the list of the best opening lines. Now the American Book Review has released a list of the 100 best last lines from novels.

2008-03-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

Arthur C. Clarke

Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke has died. I've been reading his stuff for a long time. I haven't devoured his books over the years like I have Robert Heinlein's but I consider his short stories to be a treasure.

2008-03-18T15:40:00.000-07:00

Submit art to the Library of Congress

The Library of Congress is getting ready to unveil a new display that stresses interactivity and they are asking for citizens to send their works of art to this website. They will take just about anything: poems, photographs, songs and essays and whatever else you can send as an email attachment. All they want to know is what inspired that piece of art.

Online Sports Illustrated Archives (Free)

A short while ago I wrote a post about some free quality online reading you can find on the internet. Today I learned about a new magazine to add to that list.

This Thursday the Sports Illustrated website will launch something called the Vault. The Vault will give free access to the archives of Sports Illustrated magazine. We may not know this but Sports Illustrated has been around for over fifty years and the writing at the magazine has been spectacular as long as I have been reading it. I started reading it in the early 80's. My Step Father's Mother bought him a subscription for him to SI every Christmas. You can read a good New York Times story on the story here.

2008-03-07T14:43:00.001-08:00

Free Credit Report

A question that comes up every now and then is "How can I get my credit report?" People often end up getting suckered in by sites that will charge you to get your report but there is a free way to get it. Due to a law that was passed you can get one free each year from each of the three major credit companies. You can do it here. If you wish to verify the veracity of this website you can read about at the Federal Trade Commission's website here.

2008-03-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

Crooked Little Vein

I just finished the strangest book this morning. It's called "Crooked Little Vein" by Warren Ellis. It's a short book and it's about a down and out private detective in Manhattan (think Guy Noir with a potty mouth and a drinking problem) that is engaged by the President of the United States' chief of staff to find an ancient book that allegedly could change our country. The detective, Mike McGill, then embarks on a cross country journey and meets every type of whack job and freak you can possibly imagine. I gather that Warren Ellis has spent way to much time on the internet because he has mined the underbelly of the web and has decided if he's seen it there then it must be everywhere. Maybe it is, sometimes I don't need to know though. A fascinating, occasionally gross and funny book that is not for the timid.

I first came across Ellis because of Bryan Hitch who did the art work for the Marvel Comics series called The Ultimates. I was so taken by that series that I went to the comic bookstore Heroes Aren't Hard to Find and asked one of the always helpful staff to suggest some of Hitch's early work to me. He immediately mentioned a series called The Authority, a reimagining of the superhero team which was written by Ellis with art by Hitch. I love when things come together like that. Warren Ellis has a blog here. It can occasionally be a little not safe for work and he's frank with his use of strong language but he does link to some pretty fascinating stuff now and then. Like I said, he spends a lot of time online.

2008-02-19T16:37:00.001-08:00

Ed's Handy Dandy eBay Selling Strategies

I teach a class on selling your just on eBay at the library. In fact I am teaching it next month and I have been working on what I will use for tips at the end of the class. Here is what I have now. I've been selling on eBay since 1999 and I think this is all solid advice. The next time you sell some valuable family heirloom to a total stranger over the internet I hope you use a few of my tips.

1)Don't use a reserve. Your opening bid is your reserve. What are you afraid of? More than likely you didn't pay that much for what you are selling anyway. And if you don't want it don't be afraid to get less than you think you should. You'll get what it's worth without a reserve, believe me.

2) Set the opening bid low. I'm talking like $1.00 even if what you are selling may sell for more than $200. I have found that the lower you start the opening bid the more early bids you receive. The more early bids you receive then the more interest there will be in your item. More bids gives a potential buyer confidence in your item. If other people are interested it must be worthwhile. It's the same behavior you see at the library when someone brings a cart of books onto the floor for shelving. More interest equals more bids and more bids equals more competition. Competition means a higher selling price. It's a loop that fuels itself and it works. Don't be afraid. If it's really worth $200 then it will sell for $200 regardless of the opening bid level. The reward of a higher selling price outweighs the risk.

3) Set your shipping price low. Heck, set your shipping price less than the actual cost. A low shipping price shows your potential buyer that you are not looking to make every last cent off of him that you can. One of the biggest reasons I don't bid on an item is the shipping cost floating around ten dollars. Those people with high shipping costs are just trying to make an extra buck off their customers and, to me, that's just greedy. Just like a low starting bid a low shipping price may actually help drive the selling price of your auction higher and occasionally you make out like a bandit. Consider it a reward for not being overly greedy.

4) Avoid hyperbolic language. Don't call it rare if it's not really rare. The T206 Honus Wagner card is rare and what you are selling probably isn't. People know what they want and what you have. Getting carried away with your description causes doubt in the buyer's mind and you want them to have confidence in you. The more professional your writing the better off you will be.

5) Always, alway, always include a picture. Always. If you don't have a picture eBay now provides pictures for some items like books and DVD's.

6) Do not use the extra bells and whistles eBay offers to sell you. You don't need them. If you have something that people want it will sell without the extras.

7) Consider the timing of your auction. I like to end mine in the evening and, if I am on top of things, on Sunday evening. I know a lot of people can access the internet all day but there are some that can't. People like to bid late so why not end your auction when the highest percentage of buyers are at home, in their underwear and bidding on your stuff?

Murder Mystery Night

2008-02-18T14:28:00.000-08:00

On February 8th we had our Murder Mystery Night here at the Morrison Library. It was a huge success, over 100 people attended the event. Main Library computer nerd, Ian, was on hand with has super fancy digital camera to photograph the event. You can view his photographs here.

2008-02-11T12:42:00.000-08:00

A Retirement Party

Longtime circulation staff fixture, Joan, is retiring this week. Today we had a little shindig for her and you can see pictures of the event here. She will be with us until Friday so if you see her at the circulation desk this week wish her well.

2008-02-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

Michael Swanwick's "The Dragons of Babel"

Right now one of my favorite writers of speculative fiction is Michael Swanwick. I just finished a novel by him called "The Dragons of Babel." It's a fantasy novel but it's about as far as you can get from the traditional Lord of the Rings "high fantasy" as you can get. The world he has created, and used for a few short stories and one previous novel, is a world of magic and the modern. You will find familiar and unfamiliar fantasy world denizens that can speak in the purple ways of an imaginary past while simultaneously speaking like someone born in 2009. I don't know if I ever read stories like his before. It's like they exist in two worlds at once. The obvious influences are there yet the dichotomy of his world is what makes it unique, rich and very lived in.

These two extremes he combines in setting, character and language he also uses in his storytelling. In "The Dragons of Babel" he takes us from the humblest of villages, to refugees fleeing a massive war, a dirty, but still magical refugee camp and then to the throne room of the most powerful nation in the Land of Faery. Along the way we encounter handsome and cruel elf princes and dog-faced rapists and a ten year old girl with an ancient soul and a troop of randy female centaur soldiers and a city alderman who is a haint and can literally feel the pulse of his city and a metal dragon fighter/bomber who cruelly rules over a small village he crash landed near. All these settings and characters enrich this most realized of fantasy worlds. The novel is a mystery, a comic romp with palace intrigue, a love story that starts during a treasure hunt in giant landfill and a tale of the traditional hero's journey. It's a genius display of an imagination that has been released of all its bonds.

I understand from Swanick's blog that he is working on another book in this world. I can't wait.

2008-02-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

Follow the election

Google has put together a tool that can allow you to have live Super Tuesday election results appear on your blog. You can see it below. Google is so fun.

Morrison Panorama

2008-02-04T17:57:00.001-08:00

Morrison Panorama
Originally uploaded by zzazazz

This is the new photograph we will be using on our in-house programming schedule in March. It's a two picture panorama I took today.