Book Crush:
For Kids and Teens
Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Interest
by Nancy Pearl
Z1037 .P35 2007
New Book Island, 2nd floor
Have you ever been so into a book that you couldn’t put it down? Maybe so into the book’s characters that you had a little crush on one of them? It may not have happened recently (unless you’re a Harry Potter fan), but maybe when you were younger. I read a lot as a kid, and today’s featured book brings back some memories.
Nancy Pearl, a rock star in the library world (seriously, she has her own action figure), has written a follow-up to her popular Book Lust aimed at younger readers that haven’t found out about ‘lust’ yet but are still in the ‘crush’ phase. Pearl recommends over a thousand books for children and teens, grouped into 118 lists to strike their fancy, whatever they’re into at the moment.
Who could use this book? This would be great for our budding teachers for putting together lesson plans or classroom displays. Parents with children under 18 would also find this useful to try to engage their youngster in the wonderful world of reading.
I’m not sure how everyone feels about the ridiculous amount of frozen precipitation that we’ve gotten already this winter, but did you see the size of the snowflakes falling down last night? They were HUGE.
Conveniently enough, we also had some large snowflakes in the Library. After reading one of the campus department newsletters, Dianne was inspired to host a snowflake contest. Library staff designed some excellent and creative snowflakes that were on display for all staff to then vote. Not surprisingly, Joyce won top prize and Denise (pictured at right) came in second. Those two win everything around here - they took top honors in the staff chili cook-off last year.
Congratulations to the winners! Maybe next year we’ll have the blog readers vote…
A piece of business before we get to the fun for Friday.
The Library has changed the prices of the Community Borrowers effective January 1, 2008. The price has increased to $10 for one year or $25 for three years. Check out the Community Borrowers section of the Borrowing Policies page for more information about the program, loan periods and other details.
Cheating:
Gaining Advantage in Videogames
by Mia Consalvo
GV1469.34 .C67 C66 2007
New Book Island, 2nd floor
When you see the word cheating on a book in an academic library, you probably think of crib sheets, secret signals during exams, or plagiarism. In this case, we’re talking about cheating in the digital environment - videogames.
Consalvo, associate professor of telecommunications at Ohio University, examines the cultural history of cheating in the context of videogames and the birth and expansion of an industry catering to gamers’ willingness to ‘beat the game.’ Her introduction uses a situation which perfectly exemplifies why some people cheat and others don’t: knowing about a gift before opening it. In her opinion, it takes the surprise and excitement away from receiving the present. She goes on to explore how players define cheating and the gaming community’s feelings and reactions to said devious actions. The author contends that the way in which we use videogames reflects ethics in other areas of life, not just the digital world.
It’s Friday! Time for fun and procrastination!
Check out Librophiliac Love Letter: A Compendium of Beautiful Libraries for a journey around the world of amazing places with lots of books. Some people may argue that librarians would be the only ones interested in this, but look at the architecture and design in which the culture and history of civilization have been preserved by these libraries. It’s astonishing to be taken back in time with the classical European libraries or glimpse at the future with the modern American libraries.
Thanks Carrie for the link!
Is your personal library out of control? Don’t know what you have? Or are you looking for recommendations for the next book to read from others who like the same genre? Got some spare time before spring semester starts? LibraryThing may be what you need!
Controlling your personal library:
Creating an account is easy and free. Add titles to your online library and tag them (assign words or phrases to describe them) for easy control and retrieval. Enter 200 books for free, as many as you like for $10 (year) or $25 (life). If you don’t want to share your library’s contents you can make it private.
Getting recommendations for books to read:
Either use the “Book Suggestions” tab to enter a title you own/love, and the system will suggest other titles to you, or search for books by authors, titles, or tags (words or phrases assigned to books by readers). Tags run the gamut from “vampire smut” to “string theory,” and with more then 21 million books entered so far, there has got to be a good book in there for you!
For more information, see About LibraryThing.
Looking for tax forms for 2007?
The University Library does not provide print copies of tax forms, however, forms are available online and can be printed out:
The Post Office usually has the most common federal tax forms, and the Irvin L. Young Memorial (public) Library, 431 W. Center St.) usually has both federal and Wisconsin forms.
The University Library is a federal depository with many federal, state, local, and international documents on a variety of current and relevant issues available to you in print, microfiche, CD-ROM, and electronically. Come check out your government at the University Library!
Tools for Radical Democracy:
How to Organize for Power in Your Community
by Joan Minieri & Paul Getsos
HM766 .M56 2007
New Book Island, 2nd floor
It’s now 2008, and I’m sure that we also have resolutions for the year that we would like to see happen. Sometimes, resolutions aren’t always about yourself, but about change in the world. You can’t effect change, you say? Well, this week’s New Stuff Tuesday book is just what you need. It’s essential for anyone that wants to make a positive impact.
Grassroots organizations have long been drumming up community support for various causes, some being more successful than others. Minieri and Getsos just so happen to know a thing or two about this sort of thing, as they co-founded the Community Voices Heard. CVH focuses on social justice, mainly dealing with poverty, in New York City and the United States. Their manual for organizing for reform outlines everything you could need to know - where to begin with finding partners to form a leadership team to conducting campaigns for public support. It also contains a resources section dealing with topics like raising money for the organization and creating a legal entity. This book will motivate you to start getting ready to take on the world’s problems.
