Caffeinated Books?

I've just been reading about a fantastic piece of technology called the Espresso Book Machine. Manufactured by On Demand Books, these machines are able to print library-quality paperback books on demand, quickly, and for a low cost. The digital library available for printing by the EBM includes over a million books provided through the Open Content Alliance, and they also have a partnership with Lightning Source Inc, which provides access to nearly a million titles that are currently in copyright. It usually takes about 4-7 minutes to print, trim, and bind a single book, and the cost is around ten dollars per book. There is a lot if interesting information at On Demand Books' FAQ, including the fact that "a single machine operating 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, can produce over 60,000 books per year with minimum supervision." They claim that the books produced by the machine are indistiguishable from any paperback on a bookstore shelf. Check out their brochure for a ten-step outline of how the machine works, and for a list of current locations. Among the first to get these machines were the University of Alberta bookstore, the University of Michigan library, and in 2007 there was one on exhibit at the New York Public Library. Check out the University of Michigan's video about the machine and what it means for their library. Out-of-print, rare, or hard-to-find books become accessible to anyone, and they can take home their own copy for relatively cheap. Truly amazing. And espresso means fast, not coffee.

Pimp My Bookcart

Unshelved.com hosts a contest every year for libraries to create the most pimped-out bookcart. Check out some of the pictures of the winners here! My favorites are the covered wagon, the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, and the "support glitteracy" hippie bus. It looks like a lot of kids have had fun decorating the bookcarts at their school libraries. This could be a great program to get kids excited about the public library as well!

One Space or Two?

Lately the battle of the spaces has been brought to my attention. Since high school, I have been a faithful member of the school of two spaces; I put two spaces between a period and the start of a new sentence. I have noticed that whenever I post on my discussion boards for class or create a new post on my blog, my writing is automatically altered so there is only one space instead of two. This automatic altering, I would guess, is the source of my troubles when I was attempting to incorporate ascii art into my blog post-- Blogger automatically undid the "art" part and slid my beautiful butterfly into oblivion.
So what's the deal? I did a little bit of research and discovered what this is all about. And it has to do with technology! Back in high school when I was using a mechanical typewriter (and printing presses were this way, too), the letters in the typeface were all the same width. Because there were so many resulting gaps within the text, a double space was used to aid the reader's eye in detecting the beginning of a new sentence. With the advent of modern technology, computers and such, the fonts we use today are proportional; an "o" and an "i" no longer take up the same amount of space. So the end of a sentence is easily recognized with only one space, and putting an extra space in there can create "rivers" in the text that can be unattractive and distracting. The MLA officially uses a single space after all punctuation marks, but they do say that there is nothing wrong with using two unless you are specifically asked not to. This is a useful thing for a librarian to know! I would imagine that grammar and format questions are not uncommon at a reference desk, especially an academic one.
Until further notice, I think I will stick with my current habit, especially since these things are sometimes automatically adjusted for me.

Sand in Technology at the Beach

I tried to use my digital camera the other day, for the first time since Spring Break.... and something is wrong. It won't focus, I think because it's having a problem moving the lens in and out (also it is making a really weird noise, it sounds like a grating noise, NOT good).
So my theory is: I got sand in my camera. Despite my careful care for it, I did take it to the beach one day, and it was in my beach bag for a short while, so it's possible there may be some sand in there. I'll take it to be repaired, and we'll see what the diagnosis is. I'm guessing death by beach. Nature is stronger than electronics.

Technology at the Beach

While on spring break last week, I did a little bit of thinking about technology at the beach (just a little bit- mostly I was relaxing!). I went to the beach with a few friends, and we spent most of our time either laying on the beach or swimming in the ocean. And I read a book! It was so great for me to be able to read a novel for pleasure; it's something I never can find the time to do while school is in session, and even if I had the time, I do so much reading for class that it might not be quite as enjoyable.
While I was reading my novel, I considered the Kindle. I've done some reading up on it at Amazon's website, and one of the advantages they mention is the fact that if you go on vacation, you don't have to pack twelve books in your suitcase. You can carry them all, nice and compact, in your Kindle. But I started thinking that if I had spent $350 on a portable reading device, I would certainly NOT want to take it to the beach. As it was, the paperback I brought with me was a wonderful read, but I was not terribly concerned about preserving it- it got a bit sandy and quite damp from traveling in my beach bag. If it had been stolen while I left it beside my towel and took a dip in the ocean, I would have been disappointed, but not heartbroken. If I had taken a Kindle, I would have been nervous the whole time! I would not have wanted it to sit unguarded, or get sandy or damp, and so I probably would have left it in my condo and not brought it to the beach at all. So why bring it? The paperback was much more practical (for this vacation, at least) and it did survive the trip in one piece.
In the same vein, when I got home I realized that I had not taken a single picture on the actual beach. I never wanted to bring my digital camera because it might get wet or stolen. I did see one person on the beach carrying one in a ziploc bag... too much hassle for me.
Another thing about technology and vacation- I really appreciated having a break from the computer. The hotel we stayed at did offer computers with internet access, and I went in there once to see if midterm grades had been posted. I actually logged onto Facebook, and when it arrived at my homepage I decided I didn't really want to deal with it after all. It just didn't seem like the right thing to do on vacation. I didn't even check my email, I just went out to the beach. So my spring break was very relaxing, I think partly because it also included a break from technology.

An Excellent Piece of Library News!

I just read in the Herald-Leader today that the Lexington Public Library is extending their hours! In these times of budget strains and economic woe, this is heartening news for librarians everywhere! Starting in April, every LPL location will stay open two extra hours on Fridays (closing at 7 pm instead of 5 pm), and they will extend their Sunday hours to 6 pm instead of the current 5 pm.
According to the paper, our current economic situation has sparked increased usage of the library, especially by people who are job-hunting. Increased usage! This is definitely a good sign. Even when the economy is under stress and unemployment is on the rise, libraries retain their immense worth to the community. The value of their services may even increase when some of our other luxuries are taken away.
The closing of the research library of the Wall Street Journal was a cause for concern for me, but this great news right here in Lexington gives me hope. Some libraries may be (wrongly?) seen as dispensable, but here in Lexington things have proven otherwise. In a time of need, our library has stepped up to serve its community, responding to increased usage by making themselves more available.

Be nice to your computer!

Thought I would share with you this sobering video about the dangers of technology.

Ascii Art and E-cards

My last two posts have been medically related, and today's is going to follow in that same vein. I found out today that UK Hospital offers a service through which you can send e-greetings to patients (I discovered this fact through my friend's family's blog, which I wrote about two posts ago). So I immediately took advantage of this fantastic service! You can create a greeting though this website, and a UK Healthcare volunteer will print it out and deliver it to the patient. Cards can be sent to anyone who is at UK Chandler Hospital, Markey Cancer Center or Kentucky Children's Hospital.

Originally, when I was thinking "e-greeting," I was imagining being able to pick a template or at least a picture or some kind of design to go on the card. I wanted to send a sappy card with fuzzy kitties and hearts and balloons... you can imagine my disappointment when I was not able to do this. As you'll see if you go to the site, the only option available to me were patient's name, room number, etc., and a box to enter "your message." So I was thinking, how boring can this be? My friend will receive a piece of paper with my typed message on it. And there are only so many of these :) :) :) a person can put up with.

I overcame this obstacle through the wonders of ascii art. You might have seen a little bit about ascii in our readings for module 1. Today it became very useful for me. I found a website that is a veritable ascii art bonanza! So now the only limit to my e-greeting is the size of the text box (500 characters) and the extent of this ascii dictionary. I was amazed at how many people have obviously put much time and effort into creating these designs. My e-greeting was ultimately a success-- I used the butterfly seen above. And in case anyone is wondering, it is nearly impossible to incorporate ascii art within the text of a blog!

Robots at UK Hospital

I read a really neat article in today's Herald-Leader about robots that are being used at UK Hospital. They are currently using two of these "TUG" robots, which are basically big mobile cabinets, to transport blood and other patient specimens from the draw point in the hospital to the lab across the street for testing. The trip between these two points is about a mile long (round-trip), includes crossing a pedway and using elevators, and is typically made about 15 or 20 times each day.
Sending the TUG robots is advantageous to the hospital because they now have a reliable method for delivery (apparently they have had problems with employees stopping to talk on cell phones, grabbing coffee, etc.) and they know about how long it will take. Previously, they had to pull employees from the phlebotomy station and send them to the lab with samples, which became a problem because patients were having to wait in long lines to have their blood drawn.
There are lots of pictures of the robots on Kentucky.com, and included in the online article, there is a video of one of the robots making the trip - here. The robots stop when their way is blocked and wait for it to become clear, and they are able to operate the elevators using radio signals (apparently they are very polite and wait for all humans to exit the elevator before sending it to the floor they need).
The hospital is paying $18,000 per year to lease the robots, plus $3,000 maintenance, and if they like them after the year is up, they may buy them outright. In the comments section below the online article, a few people have pointed out that for this expense, the hospital could have hired another employee. I'd be interested to know how much the robots will cost to buy, and how long they are expected to last, because it does seem that hiring another employee to do this legwork could be cheaper. But that does not take into account the hospital's complaint of employees calling in, dawdling, smoking, etc. These robots, so far, seem to have proven a more reliable method of transportation for these time-sensitive materials.

Blogging in the Face of Adversity

I have lately been introduced to a use for blogs that I had not considered before. I have a friend who was involved in a serious accident recently. Her family and those who are very close to her have been keeping a blog about her progress, and updating it very regularly.
I am so glad they are doing this, and I can see its utility from more than one angle. From my point of view, I have been very concerned about my friend, and toward the beginning of the ordeal I felt like I was always asking people "what's happening now?" and "now?" and "any news in the last hour?" I was very concerned and really wanted a constant feed of information, but at the same time I felt guilty for asking because I don't want to make her family and friends dwell on it any more than they already are. Plus the answer to my questions has usually been "wait and see," and that can be hard. Now that I have access to the blog, I don't have to ask, I can just check the posts and keep up to date with recent developments.
I think this makes it easier on her family as well, because they don't have to keep answering the same tough questions over and over again, and they don't have to call everyone any time a bit of progress is made. And since we cannot currently send flowers, the opportunity to leave comments on the blog has provided concerned parties with a simple way to show their support for my friend and her family.
Also, the blog could serve as a record of sorts, if ever anyone would like to look back at this tough time and remember how it was overcome. Every day looks a little bit brighter.

Kindle?

I just discovered last night that I have an acquaintance who owns a Kindle, so hopefully soon I'll be able to see it! I have done some looking into them, and I have been very curious to see their e-ink technology. I hear people talk about them on many of my LIS discussion boards, and people always say the glare would be terrible, staring at a Kindle for a few hours would hurt my eyes, and so on, but if you do some reading about them, there is no backlighting, and supposedly no glare! Even in bright sunlight, they say it appears just like the page of a book. I would assume this means you can't read it in the dark. And according to my friend who has one, the display is truly amazing and doesn't hurt her eyes at all.
She has the Kindle I. I am so excited to see it. I will keep you all posted (ha).

The Singularity

I recently read an article in Rolling Stone about Ray Kurzweil, who seems like a very interesting character.  He is an inventor who pioneered enabling computers to read text and to translate it into speech.  He is in the Inventors Hall of Fame and has received the National Medal of Technology.  He is known for his ability to make accurate predictions about the future, and most interesting to me is his prediction of what he calls the Singularity, which he says will happen by 2045.  

The Singularity is the merging of humans and machines.  According to his predictions, in the 2030's, nanobots will course through our bloodstreams, eliminating disease and reversing aging.  They will be able to scan a person's brain and transfer it to a robot, so that if something happens to the body, the mind can live on.  After 2045, nanobots will replicate and spread throughout matter, stones, trees-- turning them into computers.  To quote Kurzweil, "the universe is not conscious, yet, but it will be."  

This "Singularity" is a very controversial topic.  There is fear that if computers become smarter than humans, they could get out of control.  Kurzweil says that an "out-of-control replicating nanobot" could destroy the Earth's biomass in only a couple of months.  

Many scientists are skeptical about Kurzweil's prediction, calling it a "new religion" (Kurzweil refers to believers as Singularitarians) and saying it is not likely to happen.  It does certainly seem quite a far cry from where we are right now.  Kurzweil refers to the exponential power of technology, saying that it is developing faster than we can imagine, but one virtual-reality pioneer says "the Singularity won't happen because software sucks."

Also interesting to note is the fact that after the Singularity comes into effect, Kurzweil plans to use technology to bring his dead father back to life.  He has been known for his amazingly accurate predictions in the past, but to me this one seems a little too far out there.  I don't know how anyone could say they know what life will be like that far down the road.  But it's definitely fun to think about.

Lead in Children's Books

I just read this article http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/01/30/lead.books/index.html about a new act imposed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission that could potentially hurt libraries that contain children's books.  Beginning February 10, books designed for children under 12 will need to pass lead content standards, and this apparently includes the testing of a representative sample of a library's current holdings, at the expense of the library.  "Regular" children's books (books not designed as toys) have not been required to be tested in the past, but the new law covers all kinds of books.  Here's what the director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division says:

"If libraries can provide evidence that broad classes of books don't pose a risk of harm to the public health, then they can be granted an exemption from the testing requirements.  If they can't prove that and if the books actually do pose a safety problem, then they shouldn't be sent home with kids."

It doesn't seem likely that libraries would be able to provide this "evidence."  Performing a study to determine such a thing would likely be costly and defeat the point of trying to get out of the testing in the first place.  But even if they can't, that doesn't mean that their books pose a safety problem!    I don't think it's fair to place the burden of proof on the libraries.  

But speaking of books that may "pose a risk of harm to the public health," are public library books sanitary?  Are they ever cleaned or sanitized?  How would you sanitize a book?  I've never really thought about this before, but after browsing the children's section extensively last week, I felt a strong urge to wash my hands.  I would certainly never think twice about letting my future little ones explore the children's section of the library, but I will be vigilant about hand-washing.  

Blog Initiation

This is my first blog post ever... already I am learning from this class!  I have never been much of a reader of blogs, but it's not too late to start.  Library users could potentially need help searching for specific blogs or even creating their own blogs, so Blogger will be a useful tool for a librarian to be familiar with.  I look forward to using it and learning more about it throughout the semester.