Your Brain as an Index

Occasionally, I hope to delve into a few topics related to librarianship, as I am studying at the Drexel University iSchool for a Masters degree in Library and Information Science.

Courtesy of Andrew Sullivan and The Daily Dish, I saw this blog post by Peter Suderman @ The American Scene postulating how Google is tranforming our brains into indexes.

Money quote from Your Brain as an Index:

Why memorize the content of a single book when you could be using your
brain to hold a quick guide to an entire library? Rather than memorize
information, we now store it digitally and just remember what we stored —
resulting in what David Brooks called “the outsourced brain.” We won’t become books, we’ll become their indexes and reference guides, permanently holding on to rather little deep knowledge, preferring instead to know what’s known, by ourselves and others, and where that knowledge is stored.

This is an interesting concept which I would like to explore further. As I get older I am less and less interested in memorization, and more interested in quick and easy access to information, so on an anecdotal level Suderman's comment rings true.

Comments?

P.L.

BookCrossing

I recently heard about a cool site called BookCrossing. The purpose of the site is to recycle and re-use books by placing them anonymously in public places and then tracking them over the web. It's kind of treasure hunting + serendipitous re-gifting of used books, that helps to promote literacy. According to the website, the definition of bookcrossing is: "“the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.”

Membership is free. If you choose you can become a paid member to support the organization. What a great phrugal way to share books that you no longer need or want! I'm going to set aside some older paperbacks to try it.

P.L. the Phrugal Librarian

FLP Book Corner Big Book Sale

The Friends of the Free Library Book Corner is having its annual Big Book Sale from May 15-17. Everything is on sale! Every day, the store offers a 10% discount for students with student ID. (I don't know if discounts are combined, but you can try!) Volunteers are needed - call 215.567.0527 for more information.

The 3/50 Project

While I was in Wayne, PA today I browsed around a nice independent bookstore called Reader's Forum. They sell mostly new books in the store, but both new and used books online. In their front window I noticed a sign about the 3/50 Project, a movement to support independent, "mom and pop", brick-and-mortar local retailers.

I think this is a very worthwhile project that helps money earned in local communities stay in local communities. My goal with this blog and my website is to help support local bookstores in Philadelphia. I hope that my readers will support their local stores as well.

Doreva

Walk a Crooked Mile Bookstore - 30% Sale and Yard Sales

One of the bookstores I am going to be featuring on my website, Walk a Crooked Mile Books, is in the process of thinning out their stock. Thus, they are offering a 30% sale on ALL BOOKS until Mary 23, 2009.

Also, WACM hosts wonderful yard sales for the Mt. Airy community. The small fee that the bookstore charges goes towards hosting and advertising, with excess going to support the independent bookstore. They have been voted Best of the Northwest by the Philadelphia City Paper both as a bookstore and as a yard sale.

Yardsales: 9:00a.m. - about 2:00 p.m.

• Saturday, April 25
• Saturday, May 9
• Raindate - May 16

The bookstore sells coffee, tea, cold drinks, and cookies/snack crackers at the sale. Usually there is a vendor selling soft pretzels, and sometimes vendors sell baked goods. (If the person with the baking website wants to sell baked goods, sign up with Greg Williams at 215-242-0854.)

I will be a vendor on May 9th, selling lots of used stuff TBD. Feel free to come by and visit!

Tomorrow I will be talking to Greg, WACM's owner, about my project and hope to get an interview and pictures to begin work on my site. He's a great guy who is very committed to the neighborhood of Mt. Airy. I am happy to showcase his bookstore on my blog/website.

Doreva

Walk a Crooked Mile Bookstore

7423 Devon St. (Devon and Gowen Streets at the Septa R7 Mt. Airy Train Station)

215-242-0854

wacmbook@aol.com

Color testing in progress

This week you will see a bunch of color shifts on this blog, since it is the easiest way that I have found to test hex colors on a website without having to set up test webpages. When we start working on CSS I will make test pages for the final project site.

I used the Hex Color Chips website, and it is great, but it still hard for me to visualize colors from chips. (I am no good at picking housepaint colors from swatches either.)

I confess that my favorite color scheme is light colors on a black background. It's the design I have used for personal webpages in the past. However, I recognize from our readings that a black background with light text can be difficult for people with visual impairments to read. So for the final project I will look for a more accomodating color scheme.

My topic is used bookstores, so when I hear the word "bookstore" I think of a spectrum of browns and burgundies for old books and then wood tones or grey metallic for shelving.

Other colors that I am looking at this week include: charcoal and slate grey, turquoise, mediterranean blue, what I have heard called "petroleum blue", light blue and light grey.

This week I will be searching for other sites whose colors I like very much and will post about them.

Have a good week!

Doreva

Saying no to "Creepy Treehouses"

In my INFO530 class we are discussing the use of information systems by libraries to create a form of competitive advantage. In one discussion, a classmate mentioned the concept of "creepy treehouse" - the "icky" forced feel of a website or resource that is so painfully obvious in trying to draw in younger viewers with the latest technologies. Here is a definition from Flexknowlogy.

As I mentioned before, I am already creeped-out by being contacted by members of my own high school class on Facebook. I don't want my site or blog turning into a "creepy treehouse". I don't think this site, focusing on secondhand bookstores in Philadelphia, will ever look like that.

However, as more libraries are jumping on the Web 2.0 bandwagon, I have to ask the questions:

• What's the line between cool, acceptable, and creepy?
• How do you keep your library's website or Facebook page from becoming a 'creepy treehouse'?
• Do you charge younger, more electronically-connected people with its maintenance?
• Do you solicit volunteer posts from students?

Doreva