Best "Your Book Has Shipped" Email Ever!

This cinches it. I LOVE Better World Books. First they take our library discards at absolutely no cost to us and pay us a percentage of the money they make off of selling the books. And they recycle anything they can't sell.

Then, I order a textbook for class from them, using a 15% discount card and saving lots of money over what the book was selling for at Amazon or half.com.

And now, they send me this absolutely awesome, unbeatable "Your Book Has Shipped" email:

(Your book(s) asked to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?)

Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already - the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it's time to see the world!

I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?

I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but after the close calls I've had, I'm ready for anything (besides, some of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn't take me with her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, I've found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana.

But hey, enough about me, I've been asked to brief you on a few things:

[insert shipping information, order number, and other details here]

Eagerly awaiting our meeting,

Case Studies in Abnormal Psychology

Better World Books, you made my day. :)

Primary Source on Dinosaurs

In an academic library, you don't get quite as many humorous reference questions as I'm sure public libraries get, but this one threw me for a loop. A student asked me to help her find a primary source on dinosaurs.

I had to think about that for a bit. First I thought, hmm, there wasn't anyone around during the time of the dinosaurs to document the experience. Then I thought, am I on candid camera?

I asked some questions about what type of information she was hoping to find and finally realized that she probably needed a geological study. After a few more questions, I determined she was in a First Year Science class.

Now the dilemma: how to find a "primary source" (what the professor really meant was peer-reviewed - I confirmed this later) on a geological study that a non-science major in an intro science course could understand. Thank heavens for Science and Nature - both are considered peer-reviewed but have articles that are easier to read than other journals. I think I ended up using EBSCO to search for articles on dinosaurs within Nature.

Another Librarian Song

"See a librarian for a good time."

Check out this humorous librarian song on YouTube.

Sony Reader

This parody of the Sony Reader advertisement I previously wrote about makes me laugh. :)

Librarian Wins Award

Sometimes you read something, and you just don't know what to say. I have no words to express my reaction to this.

[Link found on The Laughing Librarian]

Sexier than a librarian? Ha!

Saw this ad (or one very similar) for Sony's E-Reader in DC. Certainly not sexier than this librarian.

Librarians at Work

A great video (approx 2 mins) to show you just what exactly it is that we librarians do all day.

Work Out Video for Librarians

I have had a blog post about this video saved in my reader for, well, a very long time. I finally watched it, and I recommend you do too. It's under 5 minutes in length and quite amusing.

And, of course, it's on YouTube.

Where DO short pencils come from?

I love this YouTube video (mentioned in the most recent ALA American Libraries Direct Newsletter) describing where short pencils come from.

Addy Will Know

Today is just post-tastic, I guess. :)

Here's a fun new librarian song: Addy Will Know by SNMNMNM. Lyrics are here. Even better, they are asking librarians to send in videos of themselves singing the song, and they'll make a video out of those. The only way I'd even consider participating was if it were a silent video, though.

It's a pretty catchy tune. I give my coworker permission to go around singing this one, if only he will lay off Chocolate Rain. :)

Definition of Librarian

Well, I don't think anyone can beat the Uncyclopedia's definition of Librarian. The people who wrote and edited that entry really know what a librarian is!

Better World Books Funds Literacy

I got my first Quarterly Better World Books Libary Newsletter today. And yes, that is how they spelled library in the newsletter's name.

Humorous spelling error aside, check out the newsletter and scroll on down to some of the stats. For example, you can see how much they've sold some of the books for and how much they've given to libraries and various literacy initiatives. Those are some nice amounts. They also say they have "Saved over 5,250 Tons of books from landfills." Excellent! :)

Looking to buy a book? Contribute to various literacy programs by buying it through Better World Books.

Spelling corrections... or not.

So, our online catalog (keeping with the OPAC posts, I guess), has recently added spelling suggestions for what it assumes are misspelled words. I am going through a bunch of Spanish language gift books and since the spellchecker must be limited with its foreign languages, I am getting some great suggestions.

For example, I look for "El Acoso". The OPAC asks me: "Did you mean el tacos?" Why no, I did not. Thank you for asking. Oh, and by the way, it would be "los tacos."

Entertaining Things

1. Apparently you cannot sign up for Facebook with the first name of Zelda. Not sure how that is supposed to fly with people who are really named Zelda.

2. McDonald's has a survey going on for residents of the US and Canada. However, on the receipt survey you get at McDonald's, it says "In order to win, a Canadian resident must correctly answer a skill-testing question". So I had fun envisioning what skills they might test:

Do you want fries with that?!?! ..... No this is not a trick question!
Quick! How many calories in a 6 piece chicken McNugget?
How high can you flip a McDonald's pancake?!
List all the ingredients in the Asian Salad!
How many Big Macs can you eat in 10 minutes?!?!

However, I have since looked up the Official Rules, which say: "If a potential winner is an eligible Canadian resident, such potential Canadian winner will be required by law to correctly answer a mathematical skill-testing question, administered by the Judging Organization, by e-mail, mail, or phone, without assistance of any kind, before he/she can be declared the winner of any prize."

Boy, I really feel sorry for Canadians. They need mad math skillz, and they can't even phone a friend - all just to win a gift certificate to McDonald's!

Hehe

Great comic!

Slip'n'Slide @ your Library

Attention Case Alumni (i.e. about half my regular readers - it just occurred to me how many of you are Case grads!)

There's a great Google video of some students having fun with a Slip'n'Slide at the Kelvin Smith Library. There seems to be a great deal about the setup, so if you want to just skip to the part where they are slipping and sliding in the library, jump to about 13:30 of the 18 or so minute long clip.

And please, please comment if you ever had the opportunity to participate in something similar. :)

Poor Powerpoint Presentations

Stephen Abram links to this video of a comedian detailing "How NOT to Make a Powerpoint." It's hysterical and yet there is all too much truth in what he says.

Reference books really ARE useful!

So it's summer break and essentially that means I've got lots of extra time to weed the reference collection. Right now it's dictionaries of all sorts. I'd like to share a few random, and clearly very useful, facts with you.

1. According to the book, Narcotics Lingo & Lore (1959), "Muggles" are "Marijuana cigarettes." I kid you not. Shame on you, J.K. Rowling.

2. Some terms for smoking marijuana cigarettes, according to the same book, are: "Bounce the goof balls", "Drink Texas Tea", "Lie in state with the girls", and "Twist a giraffe's neck". Honestly, what were they smoking when they came up with those phrases?! Oh wait, I know.....

Lame, sorry.

3. I found a book that answers a question I've had since grad school. Just how do you pronounce Djibouti? Well, folks, look no further than the International Book of Names (1938): je boo te' - all vowels have long marks over them. so Gee-boo-tea, with accent on the last syllable is my best guess.

Humorous Library Questions

I am not a public librarian and do not get nearly as many humorous questions from library patrons as the public libraries do, but I have greatly enjoyed a recent thread from a listserv I am on (LIBREF - archives here), asking for funny reference questions. The Star Beacon in Ashtabula, Ohio recently published a story that included some of these questions. It's definitely worth a read.

And some other humorous anecdotes can be found in the main story about the job of a reference librarian at Ashtabula County District Library here.

Everytime We Touch... in the library

Wow, a friend [thanks reyn!] sent me this link to a YouTube video of "Everytime We Touch" by Cascada. That definitely happens in my library. Daily.

Excellent.