New Year's Resolutions

Goal 1: I mentioned in a previous post that one of my New Year's Resolutions is to pay off my car much more quickly than the current payment schedule calls for. To quantify this goal, I found a calculator that allows you to plug in different additional monthly payment amounts. It then tells you how much money you'll save in interest and how many fewer months it will take. The one drawback is that I recently sent in a large-ish check to reduce the principal, so I had to do some rough calculations to factor that in.

Using the calculator, I aim to pay my car off in 18 months (current schedule calls for approx 28), and save myself approximately $141 in interest.

Goal 2: To learn more about personal finance and investing. This one is a bit harder to quantify. However, quantify I will. To meet this goal, I will read at least 2 finance books this year (fivecentnickel has some suggestions here and here) and keep up with the personal finance blogs I subscribe to (see the Finance section).

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

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.

Personal Finance

I am on a huge personal finance kick. I've subscribed to a number of blogs. I'll probably keep subscribing to more and slowly ween them down to the ones that are most applicable to me.

They always say it's never too soon to start working on your personal finance. I am lucky to work at jobs with pretty great retirement packages, so I already have that. However, there is certainly far more that I can do to manage and improve my personal finances.

Some great advice I've discovered includes the following:

1. Get a credit card that pays. I absolutely adore my Discover Card. I have never carried a balance on it, never paid them a cent of interest, and I have made tons of money, which I redeem most commonly in the form of Borders gift cards. More recently it has occurred to me that I should be using some of the other gift cards as gifts. What a great way to save money and still give a good gift. Apparently my other credit card has a version that pays as well. I might have to see what I can do to upgrade to that.

2. Find the discounts and use coupons! There are some great websites that I'm only just learning about: RetailMeNot has all sorts of great online shopping coupon codes and user submitted success rates. Ebates is another one I've seen but haven't really looked into yet.

3. Here's a post about 25 Ways to Save Money. I'd just like to point out number 17, thank you. Using the library saves you money!

My early New Year's goal is to pay off the money I still owe on my car far more quickly than the current schedule. One thing about goals is that you should probably quantify them. I will have to look at how much I still owe and determine an appropriate, reasonable monthly amount to pay.

Librarians at Work

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

Yet More Copyright Control

Attributor is a new company that scans the web for a publisher's content. For example, it can track how many times and where people have put up content from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

While Attributor seems interested in helping publishers with marketing and sales (if someone is posting book content somewhere, it's possible that the people who are reading it may want to buy the book, especially if only part of it is posted). However, publishers seized on the idea of using the application for copyright compliance reasons. Big surprise there.

According to the article in Publishers Weekly, tests have been done to track unauthorized copying of recipes and song lyrics as well.

Now that's Branding

While glancing through our newly added books, I came across two whose covers amuse me. Apparently, The Ohio State University has to decided to make it exceptionally clear which books they have published.

Check out the cover of Middle Passages and the Healing Place of History


or Victorian Sensations: Essays on a Scandalous Genre


Gotta love the upper lefthand corner (and also the top of the spine and upper right hand corner on the back - it wraps around). It's not uncommon for the publisher to be on the cover, this is just a very eye-catching version.

It's not easy being green

This isn't really a library related post (although I can try to tie it in), but lately I've become more and more interested in being as "green" as I can be. I keep checking out books or putting ones on hold that deal with being environmentally friendly. Some of the advice is too much effort, not applicable, or just silly (take your own towel to the gym and a huge amount of water will be saved? Why? It's not as if we won't wash the towel when we take it home), but there are some great ideas out there:

• Use canvas bags. Finally! A use for all those dang bags they give out at library conferences (I have at least 4!). Take them to the grocery store, use them when you pick up your library books (see, I can tie it in to the library), and more.
  
• Reuse gift bags, ribbon, and even wrapping paper. I've always done this, but now I can claim it's because I'm "green" instead of cheap. :)
• Buy LED Xmas Lights. They are expensive but LEDs last forever. I've been told that it is likely that the wiring will go bad long before the LEDs die. Plus, they are pretty cool looking. I haven't yet bought these, but am planning to.
  

I subscribe to two green blogs that are pretty good:

• Conscious Spending from Three Leaf Cards.com - This one not only has great green ideas but appeals to my frugal nature.
  
• Simply Green - Some bizarre ideas, but interesting.

Little Known Librarian Duties

I am a librarian. Most of you think of librarians as book, and perhaps video and CD, dispensers, but I also dispense many other things:

• Highlighters
• Scotch Tape
• Post-it Notes
• Paper Clips
• Pens
• Pencils
• White-out
• Glue
• Scissors
• Change for $1.00 for laundry

I don't know why I find it so amusing that students ask me for these things. Perhaps because when one shows up at the library with a huge poster board, you'd think that person would also bring stuff with which to stick things onto said poster board. And other items with which to cut out pictures for the poster board. Etc.

But I loan these things out. I have yet to have something not returned (well, minus the items that would naturally not be returned). If, some day, we become known as the cheap way to get as many paper clips as you could possibly need, then I might re-evaluate. But for now, I'll dispense away.

Personalize it!

Show Your Faculty Some Love #2: Individualize and personalize, part 2.

I simply cannot emphasize the whole personalization thing enough. Today I attended the beginning of a meeting in one of the departments to which I am a liaison. I created a handout specific to their discipline detailing library resources for that discipline, and library services available to faculty. I put each of their names on the cover sheet. [This is something we did at my previous institution, so I should give credit to Andrew.]

The first one I handed out was met with "Wow. A woman after my own heart. Personalized!" (okay, I might be slightly off on the exact quote but that was close). I also received several other comments, including that I am very organized.

A little personalization goes a very long way. It can be surprising just how well-received these efforts are.

Also, as a note, I made guides for all the adjuncts. They weren't at the meeting, but I left them in their boxes and will send emails soon. Adjuncts often get missed, so they are great candidates for guides to library resources.

Library + Hotel = Good idea?

I am not sure what to think about this, other than, why not? The NYT ran an article detailing plans of the Donnell branch of the New York Public Library to sell their current space to a hotel company for oodles of money - with the stipulation that the library gets the first floor and two floors below ground.

They need money, their branch needs remodeled desperately, why not take the $59 million? Plus, being in a hotel might increase traffic, although I wonder what sorts of issues will come up with regards to travelers wanting to borrow books. Of course, "The two operations will have separate entrances and be divided by a wall."

It's all about Individualization

Show Your Faculty Some Love #1: Individualize and personalize.

I'm a bit peeved at myself, because I lost my list of ideas for blog posts in the "Show Your Faculty Some Love" series at some point in my recent move (it must be around here somewhere, honestly!). Oh well, I remember most of it.

Today's tip for connecting with faculty deals with the importance of individualization. I can't emphasize this one enough. Just a little extra effort goes a very long way.

For example, I recently sent emails to the faculty members in the areas for which I am the library liaison. Instead of composing one email and sending it to a distribution list, I wrote the email and sent it to each faculty member individually. I personalized each email by using their name in the greeting, and changing the department in the subject of the email, and the body. "I am the new library liaison to ....". It definitely took more time, but it was worth it. Of the approximately 38 emails I sent out, I received responses to about 11. Which is pretty good. The emails didn't need responses, they were simply introductory. I even received a list of books recommendations already from a professor from whom other library staff say they never hear.

Not bad. And it's only the beginning. More tips to come soon! :)

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.

I also need to work at Yale

Because there they have crazy drunken revelries complete with kettle corn, chants of "We love books!", streakers, and a midnight countdown for the opening of a new library. With over 1,000 students in attendance. And "several elbows were thrown as students tried to angle for best position in line to enter the library"!

Additionally, "Students around campus threw parties to celebrate the opening, including one in Swing Space that was publicized on an e-mail panlist."

A most excellent quote:

Said one visibly intoxicated girl as she arrived on Cross Campus, “I wish that our children were here to tell them that we were here, drunk as no other when the library opened. It’s too bad there’s no books, but we feel great.”

Talk about supporting your library.

I need to live in Australia

Because then I could watch The Librarians, a TV series (6 episodes) devoted to librarians and crazy library patrons. Of course, they are playing up the stereotype, but I bet it's funny! Read more about it here.

Update: Thank you to TB-) who has informed me that I can watch the episodes at ABC Australia's site for the show. Yay! I will have to do that soon!

Espresso Book Machine

Wow, this is pretty freaking cool! A NYT article discusses a machine that will print you out a book in less than 15 minutes. I really like that it's a way for people to get access to "those books that are out of print or for which there is so little demand that it would be too costly to print a few hundred copies, let alone one."

Library Arcade

Carnegie Mellon has created two games for research - one deals more with research questions, the other with organizing books by call number. I played the research game - not bad! Definitely worth a look! Read about the games here.

Fairfield Beach

I like this idea: using a movie to teach students some basics about the library. I also like that Fairfield Beach is a choose your own adventure type thing. Librarians wrote the script and had a student cast and film it.

I only wish I could see more of it. Watch a clip of Fairfield Beach on YouTube.

Political Wiki

Finally, just what I've been looking for: the Political Base wiki. Its aim is to collect all sorts of unbiased political information which anyone can add to. However, unlike Wikipedia, all submitted information must first go through a staff editor.

I've only taken a brief look so far, but I really like the fantastic chart for comparing the candidates. It makes it really easy to find out who supports which issues!

I have often felt I do not keep up with politics thoroughly enough to be a competent, well-informed voter. This web site looks like it will be quite helpful in that area.

Read the CNet review here.
Found in American Libraries Direct.

Search Engine for Free Full-text E-Journals

I have moved and started my new job! I didn't post for a while because, well, moving and starting a new job keeps one quite busy. But never fear, I'm back. :)

More about my new job later, but for now, I wanted to point out that I've been monkeying around with a new Google Custom Search Engine (see below in this post and also in the right-hand column of this blog). I'm now at a college that has access to far fewer electronic journals than I am used to in the wonderful land of Ohio Library Utopia. Therefore, I thought it would be a great idea to create a search engine that searches only those sites that contain full-text online journals.

I easily added all the Public Library of Science Journals. Google can search those without any problem. However, I'm having quite a bit of difficulty with Cornell's and the University of Michigan's Making of American Journals. I'm not sure if Google is just unable to search them because of the way the site is formatted, or if I'm just not picking the right URLs. With Cornell, I tried several to no avail.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Also, if you know of any online free full-text journals, send me an email and I'll add them to my search engine!

Search Free Full-Text E-Journals

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.