Video Librarian Sept - Oct 2013

Typically I get the Video Librarian issue and find around 8-10 movies I'd like to see. This time around I came up with a list of 36. That's a lot of interesting films to want to watch (not including the individual episodes of a few TV shows I feel like I should get to know.) This list reflects my genuine interest as well as an awareness of what is popular and available on the cable channels to which I don't (have the money, not to mention the time to) subscribe. Will I get to watch this full list? Probably not. But the intention to be aware of these films and shows is there.

1. The Kings of Summer
2. Rather than the movie "The Family" starring De Niro and Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones (okay, maybe along with the movie), read the book Malavita.
3. Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks, Somali Pirates)
4. In the fog (russian nazi collaborator foreign film)
5. The happy poet
6. From the Head
7. For the Glory
8. Masquerade (lee byung-hun) (we have this)
9. Now You See Me
10. Olympus has fallen
11. Electric Man
12. Shadow Dancer - we have
13. West of Memphis - we have
14. Father Goose (Cary Grant)
15. The File on Thelma Jordan (classic film noir)
16. The Great Santini (classic, Robert Duvall)
17. Jack Taylor Set 1 - rather than watch these private PI shows set in Ireland, there's a whole series of books by Ken Bruen that NMLS owns. Perhaps read one or two for that PI fix and for a look at Ireland culture. Try the Magdalen Martyrs.
18. The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis - for Zane when he's a tween, young teen.
19. The Newsroom - Sorkin's TV show - politics and news
20. Orphan Black BBC American show -  clones and conspiracy
21. Safety Last - B&W Silent Comedy
22. Suits - lawyers and corporate politics
23. a Girl and a Gun - we have
24. Bidder 70 - eco-activism
25. Herman's House - we have - solitary confinement and art
26. La Source - water rights in Haiti
27. War on Whistleblowers - we have
28. Superthief: Inside America's Biggest Bank Score 
29. What Plants Talk About - documentary
30. The Fruit Hunters - documentary
31. Charge - documentary about electric motorcycles
32.  Lee Hendrickson's Creative Travel Photography
33. The Cardboard Bernini
34. The Paper Mirror - documentary about artists Lehrer and Bechdel
35. Sommore: Chandelier Status
36. Makers: Women Who Make America - we have, documentary about feminism

There were several "non-fiction" or documentary files that looked informative and entertaining and if I had all the time in the world, I might have been willing to add them to my list, but unfortunately, one must be selective.

Reading While Getting Paid

When sitting on the desk and not able to work on a project, I can read any of the following from my library's EBSCO database, for free. It's not the same as flipping through the pages of the magazine, but that doesn't look like professional sort of thing anyway, does it? What, you're getting paid to set at the desk and read magazines?!? No, no. I'm getting paid to be current on the latest research in my field. This is just a reminder to me to read.

Acquisitions Librarian
American Libraries
Book Links
Booklist
Canadian Journal of Information & Library Sciences
Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children
Collection Management
Computers in Libraries
EContent
Emergency Librarian
Feliciter
Huntington Library Quarterly
Information Technology & Libraries
Internet Reference Services Quarterly
Journal of Academic Librarianship
Journal of Access Services
Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship
Libraries & the Cultural Record

Library Journal
Library Media Connection
Library Mosaics
Library Quarterly
Library Resources & Technical Services
Library Talk
Library Technology Reports
Library Trends
LJ: Library Journal
Online
Online Classroom
Online Searcher
Orana
Preservation, Digital Technology & Culture
Quarterly Bulletin of the National Library of South Africa
Quarterly Bulletin of the South African Library
Reading Online
Reference & User Services Quarterly
School Libraries in Canada
School Library Journal
School Library Media Activities Monthly
School Library Monthly
South African Journal of Library & Information Science
Teacher Librarian
Technology Connection
Yale University Library Gazette
Young Adult Library Services

Fighting Information Overload

There's a small article in the June 2013 edition of School Library Journal that talks about the current value of librarians not being in providing exhaustive services, but in providing selective information services. The four points the author makes are:

1. Weed the collection and pick the best. Then get to know all about it so you can use it well.
2. "Concretize" [not a real word] the resources. Best is to teach it in the moment, but if the moment if after hours (or whatever), then use products like CamStudio to make quick screen captures to teach it.
3. Categorize large groups of items into smaller, more specific groups. This way the user doesn't have to guess what a database does.
4. Start simple by introducing smaller sets of things and then progress to larger sets. Once the user has a handle on a topic, you can give more information.

As a customer, this is a no brainer. I prefer to shop at Trader Joe's because there aren't a million things to choose from and what they do have is great quality for the price. TJ's has done my work for me.

As a librarian, this is a little harder b/c I want to find everything. I don't know if what I have found will meet the need, so I want to send the user home with everything. I suppose to better serve the user I need to spend more time learning about his/her info need, spend more time in the reference interview.

Montessori Storytime: Trickster Tales

I didn't actually get to present a final storytime, but I thought I'd log the idea, just in case for the future.

Book: Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens - This is the story about how Rabbit tricks lazy Bear into letting him use Bear's fields to plant three different types of crops and keeping the best parts for himself!

Activity: Shadow Puppets - the idea is to put up a sheet large enough that the whole class spread out could practice casting shadow puppets on the screen. I'd need some bright light sources as well. Teach the kids how to use their hands and fingers to make an elephant, duck, spider, snail, bird, dog, and alligator. Images will be sharper when closer to the wall. Images will be fuzzier when closer to the light. You can also make a shadow puppet stage out of a box and create stick puppets or use stuffed animals - anything to create a clear shadow shape. Ideas came from Shadow Night by Kay Chorao and Making Shadow Puppets by Bryant and Heard.

Tale: Finally, I thought I'd try my hand at telling instead of reading a story. I liked the story "Bruh Possum & the Snake" found in Sure As Sunrise: Stories of Bruh Rabbit & His Walkin' Talkin' Friends by Alice McGill. Perhaps some felt figures could help to even out the presentation.

I hadn't selected any songs to go with it. I suppose while the shadow puppet screen is up, we could easily do "Eensy Weensy Spider". Also "Froggy Went a Courtin'" (http://freekidsmusic.com/traditional-childrens-songs/froggy-went-a-courtin/ has interesting lyrics) would be cool as it follows the animal theme.

There are several trickster tails out there, for every culture. Find the ones you like best.
For fun, here's two pictures of me during a storytime. Photos courtesy Lake Cities Montessori.