Anna Campbell and Another Cool R.A. Tool

Hey, if you're a Regency freak, you should head over to Title Magic today where romance author Anna Campbell talks about her long road to publication and how writing contests got here there. And she's giving away a signed copy of her new book, Untouched, to the person whose comment she likes the best!

And Library Person discovered What Should I Read Next while slogging through del.ic.ious this morning! It's a U.K. site that takes its users' lists of favorite books and uses them to create reading suggestions. Seems like it works a little bit like Library Thing, but it's a little simpler to navigate. The search bar is right there in the front.

After 24 Things, or w00t!

So, did you guys hear that Miriam Webster's #1 word of the year is w00t? W00t. W00t?! Okay, I admit, I use this word on a regular basis because I play World of Warcraft with Morgan and my brother and future sister-in-law and a bunch of friends. You pwn an Orc, you yell w00t. That's just what you do. But #1 word of the year? I don't know how I feel about that. I mean, I really don't use the word in everyday conversation. I'm sure some people do, but I guess I'm part of the old crusty era of gamers who prefer to use old and crusty English in real life. It makes me wonder when we'll officially be changing the spelling of the word "you're" to "ur."

So, even though I'm done with the 24 Things, I don't think I want to let this blog go dark yet. Right now, I'm just writing for myself and whichever 24 Things participants found me interesting enough to actually read what I thought, but, as we go forward and integrate more web 2.0 tools into our jobs, our blogs just might have just enough potential to become a little something more. You never know!

Thing #24, or Done!

You know, I'm usually not a smug person. But when this program was introduced to us at Staff Development Day, I figured it would be a rehash of all of the technology I used anyway and that I'd breeze right through it. Boy, was I wrong! I think my prior knowledge helped a little, but most of the time I was learning right along with everyone else and having a great time.

In addition to the Things, I learned that I wasn't utilizing the technology I did use to its fullest extent. I was ignorant of how wide the world of podcasts really was. I had no idea what a wiki could really do. RSS feeds save me so much free time now! And although there are some tools I don't see myself ever using again, *glancing sideways at technorati* just knowing about them has enriched my knowledge base. I know I have them as resources if ever I need them. And that's a good thing.

Not only did I enjoy the contents of the program, I'm also thankful it came along when it did. The universe has a way of smooshing things together when I need those things simultaneously. And now that I find myself in the position of having to self promote, both during and after the contest (Dead Chessie comes out in June!), I have more tools at my disposal. Funny how things work out.

I would love to see another program like this in future. Not just on technology tools, but on other things that would help us in the course of our everyday work. A L2.0 style program might help us a little with cross training when we can't always leave our positions to work in other areas.

Thanks, Jerianne, for putting this one together. You rock!

Thing #23

Before this Thing I usually just used podcasts related to sites that I was already visiting. Like NPR's podcasts and online archives and Holly Lisle's podcasts on writing. I'd never used a podcast directory before. I found that I enjoyed Podcast Alley the most purely for aesthetic reasons. I got a lot of the same results from the different directory searches.

I added Holly's podcast and one I found called The Kissy Bits: Romance Writing Without Cooties. Figured I could learn something about the industry now that the Anna books are considered paranormal romance.

I was really surprised at the sheer amount of podcasts and the wide range of subjects. For some reason I had it in my head that podcasts were for techy people on obscure subjects or for music aficionados. But there are cooking podcasts, and booky podcasts, and political podcasts. I don't know that I'm ready to create one of my own. Nobody wants to listen to my weird, high, girlie voice! :-) Maybe I could talk Morgan the Telecommunications Superhero into broadcasting for me if I have something to say in that medium.

Oh! I almost forgot! I was searching for short story markets right before I started this Thing and found Escape Pod. They pay $100.00 for SF stories to be narrated and turned into podcasts. They maintain sister sites for Horror and Fantasy as well. They actively look for stories that are quick in pace and aren't overly wordy or description heavy so that they'll sound good in audio format, which is the kind of spec fic I like to read in print anyway. Anyone who enjoys audio books and speculative fiction should try 'em out!

Thing #22

I love READS! I usually use it for e-books, but that's another post (as I learned the first time I tried to write about this Thing!:-)

READS does two things. It allows our patrons to use us when we're closed, when they're on the go, or when they can't come to us. Anecdotally, READS has been a big hit with several Smyrna patrons. I have a stay-at-home mom who actually jumped up and down and squealed when I told her about the service (to the chagrin of the elderly lady standing behind her). And every time she and her children come in, she tells me how much she enjoys it. One of my audio patrons, who was notorious for extreme late fines and forgetting to return discs and cassettes with cases, now almost exclusively uses READS. It's made his life a lot more convenient. Not many of our truck drivers have made the switch yet. Most of them still have cassette players in their big rigs. But I have a feeling that'll change when they become comfortable with MP3 technology and personal FM radio transmitters. I'm working on it!

READS also fleshes out our audiobook collection quite nicely. Audiobooks can cost anywhere between $20.00-$140.00. Working within a budget means I'm not always able to order everything our patrons will want. So I take care of the certain-to-be high demand items and the essential items first, and after that, I can pick and choose what to fill our collection with. If READS or another branch already owns a title I'm considering, I feel pretty confident to choose something else on my list, knowing that I can refer our patrons to READS.

I tell patrons that, once you have overdrive installed, browsing READS and checking out books is as easy as shopping on Amazon. Only instead of your credit card information, you enter your library card number. And READS has an amazing selection! Just browsing the new additions list I saw I Am America and So Can You, The 47th Samurai, A Lick of Frost, and Eat, Pray, Love (which I've been recommending to patrons after I heard the author do a reading on NPR, months before Oprah! But I'm not bitter.)

Thing #21

I love Bob Ross. I don't even paint, but I love him! He's so wacky, and his outlook on art seems so pure compared to the stereotypical blocked, agonized, tortured writer or painter. Art doesn't have to come from pain. It can. But it doesn't have to for it to be real.

Speaking of art from pain, my hubby gets a kick out of James the Nintendo Nerd. JtNN rants and raves as he works his way through difficult levels, critiquing the games as he plays them. His frustration and creative use of profanity is hilarious. But if you're easily offended by language, you might want to give him a miss.

I can see us using online video to do a variety of things. Like offering select storytimes online. That way non-patrons could see the wonderful things that Sandy and Sherry offer for kids here at Smyrna. And children who are sick, and shouldn't come to storytime and expose everyone, can stay home and still enjoy the program.

It might also be fun to try a Reading Rainbow style book presentation for kids, adults, and YA. We could feature staff picks this way as well as invite patrons to participate. It might be a thrill to see them online, and we could showcase some of the good stuff in our collection. It's another way to handsell.