December 2011
26 posts
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Libraries close to observe New Year's
Most Sarasota County government offices, including libraries, will be closed Sunday, Jan. 1, and Monday, Jan. 2. Libraries resume regular hours on Tuesday, Jan. 3.
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Links I Love Friday
The Global Bicycle Race, www.greatbikeride.com/globalbicyclerace: “On 18th Feb 2012, the 18,000 mile Global Bicycle Race will begin in London.”
So, who feels up for an 18,000 mile ride?….Anyone?
Me neither!
But I will check up on this site after February 18 to see what happens, and I now feel inspired to find books about bicycle touring and voyages around the world in SUNCAT:
...
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Links I Love Friday
“Infographic of the Day: How Bikes Can Solve Our Biggest Problems” from Co.Design: “There’s tantalizing data suggesting that biking could go a long way to solving America’s obesity crisis. And much more.”
Hmmm, well, this seems more than a little far-reaching,* and the infographic creator even admits “correlation isn’t causation.” But I think...
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Links I Love Friday
“Venn Ding Machine” cartoon on ilovecharts: What’s better than Venn diagram humor?
I can barely remember a time when I didn’t love Venn diagrams. They are simultaneously simple and complex. Find out more about Venn diagrams with the help of my old friend Wikipedia.
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That Reading Challenge and My Very Own Year's Best...
Yesterday I completed the reading challenge I’ve been working on all year but had only mentioned here once because I didn’t think I’d actually complete it.
I still can’t quite believe I read 52 books this year….but I did….I really did! (My year’s reading choices are pictured at the bottom of this post in reverse chronological order.)
Unfortunately, I...
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Judging the Books of 2011 by Their Covers
You know I love judging books by their covers, and the end of the year is the time all the book-cover-judgers come out of the woodwork with “best of” lists. Here are four of those lists:
“Editors’ Choice: Top Book Covers 2011” from Kirkus Reviews
“The 10 Best Book Covers of 2011” from Flavorwire
“Top 10 of 2011 (Day 2): Top Covers in 2011” from...
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Links I Love Friday on Thursday*
“10 Simple Ideas for Green Gift Wrapping” on Mighty Girl: Maybe these are too late for you to use for this year’s winter holidays, but they would work for gifts throughout the year. My favorites are the Yarn Wrap, Newspaper Bow, and Newspaper Flower.
My mother and I used to try to outdo each other wrapping Christmas gifts. The winner each year earned the right to call herself...
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Links I Love Friday on Thursday*
“Quiz: How Well Do You Know Your Favorite Holiday Music?” from Real Simple: “No matter how many times you’ve heard these popular Christmas songs—and you’ve probably heard them a lot—you still may not know the words….See if you can pick out the real words.”
I love both Christmas songs and mondegreens so this quiz really brightened my day.
...
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Links I Love Friday on Thursday*
Dollar Bill Origami Instructions, www.origami-resource-center.com/dollar-bill.html: “The next time you give cash as a gift, try folding it into one of these fun dollar bill origami models before giving it. Cash & Origami: it’s like two gifts in one!”
Do you think it’s taboo to give cash as a gift, regardless of whether it’s folded into interesting shapes or...
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Holiday Closings for Christmas
All 9 libraries will be closed from Friday, Dec. 23 through Monday, Dec. 26. Regular library hours resume on Tuesday, Dec. 27.
Don’t forget to check out materials for your reading and watching needs before Friday. Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!
Photo: “twenty one days till christmas” by juliaeatssweaters on Flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.
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Vaclav Havel
Playwright and former Czech president Vaclav Havel also died this weekend. He and Kim Jong Il are alike in one way: You can also find out more about Vaclav Havel using SUNCAT.
Search for “Havel, Vaclav” as a subject to find out more about his life.
Search for “Havel, Vaclav” as an author to find his writings.
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North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has died. What does that mean for North Korea, Asia, the World?
Find out more about North Korea with help from SUNCAT, the library catalog. Search for “Korea (North)” as a subject.
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Links I Love Friday
Forgotten Bookmarks, www.forgottenbookmarks.com: “I’m a used and rare bookseller. I buy books from people every day. These are the personal, funny, heartbreaking and weird things I find in those books.”
“Together this collection of lost treasures offers a glimpse into other readers’ lives that they never intended for us to see.” (Source: LISNews.org)
The...
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Links I Love Friday
“Yoga Cat” on YouTube:
Picture both the yogini and cat in this video about 95% less graceful and fluid, and you’ll have a good representation of what my cat and I go through each morning.
If you like “Yoga Cat,” you might also like “Cat Yoga” on YouTube:
I tried searching for library materials about both yoga and cats, but SUNCAT let me down....
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Links I Love Friday
“25 Everyday Things You Never Knew Had Names” on BuzzFeed.com: “There are so many things out there that we deal with or see everyday, but have no idea what they are called. This is a list of 25 ridiculous real names for 25 everyday items.”
How fun, eh?
Thanks to YOU who sent me this link!
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Library Snapshot Day Results →
On November 2, 2011, libraries from all over the state of Florida collected stories, pictures and statistics of all the happenings in their library for the Florida Library Association’s Library Snapshot Day. This year, over a quarter of a million Floridians visited their libraries in just one day. Take a look at some of the other stats from just one day:
56,813 people used computers in the...
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Librarian Anniversary Again
Today is the ninth anniversary of my graduation from library school. Last year I suggested links to help you read up on librarianship as a career. This year I’m feeling much less serious and suggest you consider a novel about libraries or librarians.
Search SUNCAT for these subjects:
Libraries—Fiction
Librarians—Fiction
Women Librarians—Fiction (In case you were...
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Links I Love Friday
“IT Security for Libraries” series on LISNews.org: Although this series says it’s “for Libraries,” there are many good tips and things to think about for individuals, too.
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Links I Love Friday
“A Possible Second Home for Humanity Found, but the Commute’s Brutal” on the PBS NewsHour: “Scientists have discovered a so-called ‘Goldilocks’ planet with a temperature that is not too hot, not too cold, but maybe just right to support life.”
I love hearing about discoveries in outer space like this one or the other recent story about the discovery of...
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Links I Love Friday
“Discover Your Meta-Identity by Twitterfying Yourself” on UtneReader.tumblr.com: Here’s something silly for the end of a long week: Discover your own “Twitter Character” at visual.ly/twitter.
I visualized my Twitter account and faced off against @scgovlibrary.* Here’s how we compare:
*If you use Twitter and you haven’t followed the library...
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"Selling Books by Their Gilded Covers" on... →
“If e-books are about ease and expedience, the publishers reason, then print books need to be about physical beauty and the pleasures of owning, not just reading.”
I agree…but I’m an admitted judge-a-book-by-its-cover person.
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The Golden Globe
Before leaving for work this morning, I watched the last half hour of a documentary (“Deep Water”) about the first solo, nonstop sailing race around the world: The Sunday Times Golden Globe Race from 1968 and 1969. The race did not end well for most of the participants.
I’m usually fascinated by stories of real adventures, both those that turn out well and those that...
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Links I Love Friday
“CClone 365-2011” photoset on Flickr: Photos of “Star Wars toys, stormtroopers, Clonetroopers and lego.” I will never get tired of macro photos of action figures—especially Stormtroopers. Is there anything funnier? It’s also slightly creepy because it’s real and unreal, but I think that’s part of the charm.
So, who feels like reading Star Wars books...
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Links I Love Friday
“Traffic Warnings, 17 Syllables a Sign” by Michael M. Grynbaum on NYTimes.com: New York City is posting street signs written in haiku. How whimsical—I love it! Find the 12 signs here. I like that so many of them are about cyclists. Yes, they’re about cycling dangers, but in haiku it seems less frightening.
The same YOU as before sent me this link, and I do love it. Thanks,...
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Links I Love Friday
“NameVoyager: Explore name trends letter by letter,” on The Baby Name Wizard: “Surf the NameVoyager by name endings, letter combos & popularity.” Who doesn’t love looking up names?! Search for your own name and see how popular it’s been over the years. Mine peaked in the 1960s and has dramatically declined since then.
Dictionaries of names are always a...
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NaBloPoEvWoDaMo 3 Wrap-Up: "Winning, duh"*
The third annual NaBloPoEvWoDaMo has ended! Since NaBloPoEvWoDaMo is self-designed, I’ll admit it would be difficult for me to fail at it, and this year was no exception! November had 19 workdays; I published 19 posts.
The more exciting news is that for the first time (and after at least three previous attempts) I successfully completed NaNoWriMo, writing 51,116 words in 30 days. I doubt...