What Does “Video” Mean Today?

Here's a topic that I've heard come up multiple times recently in different contexts, and I'm curious if there is any kind of wider consensus on it. The question is, what does the word "video" mean to people?

We're redesigning our catalog, and in the process of coming up with format description, we had a discussion (and disagreement) on whether "video" means just VHS tapes, or if it refers to to DVDs and other formats as well (like "music" is a generic term for anything on CD, tape, etc). We're also redesigning our website, and in that context, we weren't sure if the word "video" means physical tapes/discs, or if people would presume it means online clips/episodes/tutorials/etc - or both.

So I thought I'd take a quick poll - please make a selection, but also leave a comment below on why, or if I've missed an option entirely.

[poll link]

And a question for another time: in light of this, does the "video" in "video game" make sense?

Posted under Uncategorized | 13 Comments »

Reference Question of the Week – 4/8/12

This reference question marks the unofficial start of blood-borne pathogen season:

A patron called Monday morning and said he had been bitten by a tick Sunday while hiking, and wanted to have it tested for Lyme Disease.

He knew he could mail it to UMass-Amherst for testing, but wanted to know if there was a more local testing facility, so he could get results quicker. I didn't know of anything, so before consulting our Town's Board of Health, I just searched for tick testing massachusetts to see what came up.

The first result was a Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services listing of the testing services they trust - perfect. Only one was closer than UMass, but still not close enough for him to drop it off. It was $20 per tick, as opposed to the $40 UMass charges, and although the patron liked the cheaper price, he decided to go with UMass. They do their testing on Tuesday, so if he overnighted it, he'd get results quickly - besides, he said, he had already filled out the envelope before he called me.

Before we hung up, I offered to contact our local Board of Health to see if they knew of any services in the immediate area. He said they already did - it was they that told him about the testing at UMass, and they also referred him to the library if he wanted to look for more.

Ha. It makes me laugh when the resource I would consider the authority on a subject refers people to the library. It's always good to check multiple sources, but referral-looping like that makes me feel like I'm missing something.

And on another note: it's only April, and the ticks are already out in force and biting. Man, it's going to be a long summer.

Posted under Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Plans for Building a Big Wooden Book

A month or so ago, I received an email from another librarian, asking about my library's Fourth of July Parade float she saw on flickr. Some time in the past, someone built us a six foot tall open book, and we repaint the book each year with our float's theme.

Her question was this: could I provide pictures and measurements, so that they could build one for their library too?

I am always happy to share, but it turns out, none of my coworkers could even remember who built the thing, or how long we've had it - so of course, we have no plans or measurements for it. Also of course, being April*, the book is buried in our storage area under all kinds of stuff, so I'm not really able to get it out to take new pictures.

I was able to take some measurements though, so hopefully the sketches below and the photos on flickr are enough if you're interested in building one for your library. Everything is approximate, so don't be afraid to improvise and customize. Oh, and all measurements are in inches, and the bigger version of the sketch is a little more clear.

A few construction notes:

• the body of the book itself is hollow (this is the curved cage-looking thing above right); each side is made out of two semi-circles of plywood (one top and one bottom), connected by 1x4s. The length of the 1x4s will depend on how thick your semi-circle plywood is (and how tall you'd like your book to be). Thin sheets of paneling are then bent around the front to form the surface of the "pages"
• you can't see it in the photos, but the "text block" of the book rest on a little platform, which in turn rest on two 2x4s under the center of the pages, and these are what sit directly on the float. That platform, for some unknown reason, is just a little big narrower than the book itself. I'm not even sure it is strictly necessary, but the 2x4s are
• the book's "cover" sticks out about 2.5" all the way around the book. I think this was made with scrap wood though, because it's not a single big sheet - rather, it's little pieces sort of nailed on, just to cover up the back of it. We have two big holes in our "cover," so that if we needed to get inside the book we could (though I can't imagine why; Trojan Book?) - again, I think this was mainly due to not having a piece of wood big enough. It does mean, though, that the book looks kind of ugly from behind, so we always try to hide it on the float
• we have a few eye bolts screwed into the top corners of the book, so that we can tie it down for more security. We also have handles screwed to the back to make it easier to move around (sort of like this)

One nice thing about being a parade float is that, since most people are pretty far away from it, and the float is in motion, no one can see all the flaws: screw heads, chips, random wood nailed on to patch holes, etc. Just make sure the paint looks good, and the book will look very impressive.

The more I look at this, the more confusing it seems - feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

*I thought this was a great blog post for National Library Week - what better way to celebrate libraries than building a six foot tall wooden book? I guess you could build a six foot tall wooden ereader, but then you'd have to get rid of it the following year and build a new one, because it would no longer be compatible with your float.

Posted under Uncategorized | Comments Off on Plans for Building a Big Wooden Book

Reference Question of the Week – 4/1/12

One night this week, a father brought his eight year old daughter to the desk, along with her new laptop and Nook Touch, and asked that I show her how to download ebooks. This was, hands down, the most interesting ebook instruction I've ever given.

Happily, everything went smoothly - usually the biggest hurdle is actually finding an ebook the patron is interested in downloading, but in this case, there were quite a few kids books that caught her eye (she struggled to decide between Junie B. Jones Has a Peep in Her Pocket and Barbie and the Three Musketeers).

We checked out and downloaded one, but when it came time to transfer it to the Nook, the father realized that he had left the Nook's cable out in the car. The daughter stayed at the desk with me while he ran out to get in. While we were waiting, I asked the girl if she had any homework to do that night.

She said she had expanding math to do, which they were just learning and she really didn't understand. I told her I had never heard of "expanding math" before (which was true), and asked her if she could show me. We got some scrap paper and a pencil, and the practice problem she came up with was 104 - 57. She explained it as she worked it out, and when she was finished the paper looked something like this:

This seemed slightly over-complicated, but I was able to follow her, and she actually explained it quite well. I had just never heard it called "expanding math," I guess. But when her father came back, his reaction made me laugh. He just stared at the paper, and commented that he's never seen her doing homework like that.

Anyway, cable in hand, we were back to ebooks. We plugged in the Nook, transferred the ebook with no problem, and they were delighted to see the text and pictures on the Nook's color screen. They went through the whole process again, this time downloading Go, Dog. Go! for her little brother, and again, everything worked smoothly.

The dad reminded the girl that she had homework, and said it was time to go. He started putting the Nook away, and told her to pack up the laptop. When she clicked Start > Shut Down, I overheard this exchange:

Father: Oh, you don't need to shut it all the way down, just put it to sleep.
Daughter: I don't like putting it to sleep.
Father: Why not?
Daughter: [leaning over and whispering] Sometimes it has bad dreams.

Again, a puzzled look on the dad's face, but mixed with a little humor, because it was a random and funny comment.

After they finished packing everything up, the only thing left on the desk was the scrap paper with the girl's math problem on it. The dad picked it up to take with him, saying,

Father: Come on, it's time for you to teach me how to do your homework.

And they walked away from the reference desk holding each other's hand.

All in all, this was one of the most ridiculously saccharin slice-of-family-life scenes I have witnessed at the library. The bad dreams comment kind of bothered me, but hopefully they will bond while doing her homework together.

Posted under Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

More On-The-Item Patron Reviews

A few months ago, someone donated DVDs to the library that had their personal reviews stuck to the covers. In that same theme, we recently found one of the library's Twilight books had been "reviewed" (rather harshly) in the same manner:

Although I still like the idea of patron interaction and reviewing books in context, this doesn't exactly qualify. The Avery label scraps made me laugh though.

Posted under Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Reference Question of the Week – 3/25/12

This isn't exactly a reference question, but it is something reference staff deal with all the time. A patron came up to the desk and said,

That man on the last computer over there is looking at porn.

This seems to go in waves for us, but we probably average three or four porn complaints a month. The way we handle this in my library is to print out our Appropriate Library Behavior policy, and highlight the line that says,

The library is a public building and objectionable or pornographic images that can be seen by others (either intentionally or accidentally, and either on screen on in print) are not permissible.

I then give it to the patron in question, while at the same time saying something like, "another patron complained about something they saw on your screen. Since this is a public building, you must make sure that anything on your screen is appropriate for all ages."

At least, this is how we handle first-time offenders - we don't accuse them of anything, we don't kick them out, we just make it clear that anything they do must be clean enough for kids and the general public. We approach it this way because porn isn't illegal, but very subjective, and just not something we can allow at the library.

But it got me thinking: there are other things the library can't accommodate, for one reason or another: color photocopying, notary service, etc. In these cases, we have little handouts at the reference desk that list other locations in town that can accommodate those needs.

So, I thought, why don't we also make a handout for the porn people, listing other places in the area that cater to Adult Services? Here's what I came up with:

From now on, whenever a patron complains about someone looking at porn, in addition to giving them a copy of the official library policy, I'm also going to give them one of these handouts - that way, we're maintaining our yes-based policy and fulfilling a core library function by referring them to the most appropriate resource.

It's formatted to print three per page - feel free to download and edit one for your library [ppt], or check out the PDF version.

Posted under Uncategorized | 14 Comments »