Thursday, June 24, 2010

What are some good photography resources for my patrons?

There are a number of great websites out there to help your patrons learn more about photography. Whether it’s getting reviews on the best type of camera to buy, finding a simple way to edit photos online, and/or learning to develop skills in photography, the sites below are a few of the most helpful:


Picnik
Picnik is an easy online photo editing application that has almost all of the basic features an amateur might need to edit their photos. Most users will find it fairly easy, but depending on their level of skill, he/she might also be interested in some of the other photo editing sites that are linked here.

DPreview
DP Review (Digital Photography Review) is a great resource for finding out information on the lastest digital cameras in all kinds of categories from the most basic to the professional model. This site is also useful because of its “learning” section which helps explain the lexicon of digital photography to those who are not familiar.

Another site to consider is CNET, for its simple reviews.

photo.net
Photo.net has a great learning center that explains the basics of picture taking in a number of different circumstances, from weddings to wildlife. Unfamiliar vocabulary is easily explained and beginners can quickly learn the technical requirements for whatever may interest them. In addition, this site has numerous forums that allow users to join and share information with others (however you don’t have to sign up in order to view them).

Monday, June 21, 2010

Who are the People in Your State Library Resource Center


Meet Julie Strange!
Statewide Coordinator, Maryland AskUsNow!

What do you do?
I am the Statewide Coordinator for Maryland AskUsNow!, Maryland’s online information service. We’re available 24/7 to Marylanders for all their information needs. Being Statewide Coordinator means that I manage the grant that we’re funding by, coordinate and train librarians around the state, am in charge of new partnerships and marketing initiatives and have my hands in customer relationship management, system troubleshooting, our online presences and social media planning. In general, I make sure that our librarians get what they need so that our customers can get what they want.

How did you get here?
I’ve always had an interest in learning but while knee-deep in the research for my undergraduate thesis (on interpersonal communication & computer mediated communication) someone suggested I go to library school. I didn’t know what I’d be getting into, but I knew that I wanted to continue my schooling so I went off to Rutgers to earn my MLIS. It was there that I met Dr. Marie Radford, a key player in virtual reference and reference excellence research and practice. Once I began working on her grant-funded research project on interpersonal communication within virtual reference interactions, I fell in love with virtual reference and the rest is history. From there, I came down to Maryland to work with Joe Thompson on AskUsNow! in November 2006.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?
What isn’t to love? I get to help customers get the information they need when they need it, meet so many amazing library professionals all across the state, and get involved with many statewide projects (like LATI and VisionQuest). In addition, I’ve had the opportunity to travel the country and expand my network- there are so many amazing people out there doing such amazing things- both inside and outside of library land.

My favorite thing, though, is probably the fact that I get to do so many different things and wear so many different hats- it’s always exciting!

What’s a book that you didn’t expect to like – but did?
That’s a trick question. I don’t read books I don’t think I’m going to like! :-) Though, since I usually tend to read non-fiction I’m always pleasantly surprised when I can really get into and enjoy a work of fiction!

What is your favorite SLRC program, service, or training?
I appreciate all that SLRC offers to our Maryland Library Community- the trainings, resources, collections, tours, and programs. I have a special place in my heart, though, for LATI- especially since I am involved in it for 2010!

What do you do when you’re not reading?
When I’m not running AskUsNow! or reading, art is a huge part of who I am- design, painting, film & music included. Traveling is also something I love- I am slowly marking all the states off my list, but also have a handful more countries I want to explore. I love being outside- kayaking, being at the beach, enjoying the world. But I never know what things the world will bring, so I will usually try anything at least once.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Review Thursday: Fiction

Lake Shore Limited by Sue Miller (2010)

Sue Miller's sweetly melancholy, beautifully patterned new novel fills the description of literary fiction as a story where nothing happens: nothing, that is, but the quiet, important tumults in people's hearts. Leslie, 59, wavers between contentment with her marriage and a craving for something more, embodied mainly in an almost-lover from her past, Sam, but also in Gus, the adored younger brother she lost to 9/11. Gus's lover, Billie, a female playwright, had just decided to break up with him when he died. Ambivalent about his death, she clings all the more fiercely to his memory, finding it hard to embrace someone new. Her paralysis confuses Sam, who sees his own attraction to her as a happy accident, unlike poor romantic choices he made in earlier years. Meanwhile, Rafe, 45, uses his lead role in Billie's new play to express his changing feelings towards his wife, stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease. Exploring a man's conflicted response to the news that his wife may have died in a terrorist attack, Billie's play reflects the inner dilemmas of all four protagonists.

Luminous detail, transparent prose, and psychological depth give Miller's world an absorbing realism, though few real people achieve the serene wisdom granted to Leslie, Billie, Sam, and Rafe in the end. Edith Wharton, another moralizing chronicler of New England, would have appreciated Miller's emphasis on wisdom's price, the renunciation of certain dreams and pleasures. But her faith that domestic happiness is possible at all makes her more akin to contemporaries Anna Quindlen and Anne Tyler. Like Billie, who rejects one play ending as "too Ethan Frome-ish," Miller tips her story's difficult emotional balance towards joy.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Review Thursday: Children's Books

Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal (2009)
Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

Born a slave, legendary lawman Bass Reeves became one of the most respected marshals to tame the Wild West. He apprehended thousands in his thirty two year career, including his own son, but only had to kill fourteen of them. This arresting (pardon the pun) portrait treats its subject with dignity all the while treading close to tall tale territory in its telling. From a humorous run in with a skunk to Reeve’s powerful response when coming across a lynch mob, Nelson gives a well rounded portrayal. With plenty of colorful turns of phrase and illustrations that show a steely-eyed African American hero, this larger than life biography will capture the imagination of readers and appeal to a wider age range (8-12) than Gary Paulsen’s fictionalized The Legend of Bass Reeves (10-12). A Coretta Scott King Award Winner

A Million Shades of Gray (2010)
Cynthia Kadohata

Set in Vietnam after the Americans have ended their part of the war, we meet 13 year old Y’Tin whose only goal is to be an elephant handler. His elephant, “Lady”, is the center of his world. When his village is overrun by North Vietnamese forces, Y’Tin sees his way of life change immeasurably. Not only does he have to help dig a mass grave, he must, after escaping, find his way through the deep jungle while protecting a friend and Lady. Y’Tin fears he will never be able to trust anyone or anything again, especially when he finds that the starving survivors want to eat the village’s domesticated elephants. He finds out that the truth has as many shades of grey as an elephant’s hide or the jungle in dim light. The first juvenile novel to address this time in history from the indigenous Vietnam viewpoint, this would be a powerful counterpoint to Patrol by Walter Dean Myers (a US soldiers point of view) or Kadohata’s ( a Newbery award winning author) Cracker!: The Best Dog in Vietnam. (11-14)

Ned’s New Home (2009)
Kevin Tseng

Ned, a charming bright green worm, has a wonderful home, an apple, but it is beginning to decompose. His mission is to find a new abode. A pear, lemon and a pile of blueberries all have serious faults (too wobbly, too sour, and won’t hold together). A plan for a cherry house is foiled by a hungry bird, who accidently delivers Ned to the best new house of all, an apple still hanging from its tree. With warm colors and visual humor, this is a comforting story that has an ecological undertone. The endpapers even show the life cycle of the apple from seed to fruit and back again. Use this with Peter Horacek’s A New House for Mouse for an equally agreeable paean to apples as the perfect dwelling place. (3-5)