#54 - Books, Readers & Beyond:Social Networking through Books

#1 - I have never belonged to a book club, it would remind me too much of school. I might prefer to join one online if I had the time and inclination. There I could remain anonymous and be more at ease expressing my views.

#2 - I visited "Reading Group Choices" and found a section where it discusses setting up a book club. There is a section which gives tips and ideas on what may happen in a book club and how to handle it. For example, how to handle a member who just takes over the discussion (Boo Club Divas), suggestions on what to do to get the discussion going again (Dead Air), and suggestions on how to choose a name for your club. In this section you will also find a Fun Activities: games are suggested to get to know new members and to keep the discussion fun and interesting.

#3 - I went to Goodreads and looked at the book "Version of the Truth" by Jennifer Kaufman. Advertisement popups immediately come on. It shows 3 covers which looked pretty much the same. It shows where you can buy the item. There wer no discussion topics yet. The book has over 400 reviews by people with star ratings given. You can add a comment ont ehthe reviews. It also has quotes from the book. A strange area is that you can get upcoming events for the day from all parts of the world. For example "Northanger Abbey Meeting at Positanos Restaurant in Australia, wtih no more info! there is a section called Groups which I found a bit bizarre. For example a group called "Hannah Montana Haters; very juvenile, with cussing, bad language, etc. There is also and "Anti Twilight Club", and "The Haters Club."
I went to The Library Thing. For "Versions of the Truth" they had 3 conversations going. They had star ratings, as well as chart line illustrations with average ratings. It included 2 reviews by members. They have a "swap" section, but this title was not available for swapping. It also showed the book jackets.

I liked Library Thing better. I put in a general subject and it brought up a rather obscure book that I own. The site presumed to tell me if I would like it or not. It said I would not like it: wrong! I was not impressed. However, it gave an extensive and inclusive list of other titles on that subject which was very thorough

Week 10 - #23!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If someone would have told me in January that I would have an active blog in December I would never have believed them! However, amazing things happen everyday and here am I to prove it. Moreover, I have an avatar! (which I did enjoy making). A blog and an avatar are things that I would never have done if not for the 23 Things. Sometimes it was very frustrating, mainly because the instructions were minimal. However, thanks to a co-worker (Gloria) I was able to get through them. I have explored areas of the cyber world to where I never would have ventured. I am glad of this learning experience even if I probably will not be doing all these "things." I liked being able to do it at my own pace, but with a final date in mind. This is something to be proud of. Fait accompli.

Week 9, # 22

I first looked at the HCPL digital media site section on audio books. The broad subject categories are great for browsers, keeping in mind that one can also search by title, author, etc. I then looked at Agatha Christie mystery books and found all the info. given very thorough with the exception of the "reader" who is listed right below the author wtihout denoting that he/she is the reader. This may seem minor but patrons like some readers better than others and I tend to agree that a reader can make or break a book. The movies seem to be a little of this and a little of that but nothing too popular (our own branch's collection is better) and maybe movie buffs can find here titles which are not easily found elsewhere. I found that our HCPL digital media catalogs to be more attractive and easier to use than Librivox. The way the headings are displayed with categories and colored covers makes one want to find out more and stay longer exploring other titles.

Week 9 - # 21

Here is the podcast from Rick Steves travels. It would be more interesting if I could see the video also. I also went to "libraries" and visited Dynix Institute from whom I've taken classes before.

http://www.podcast.net/show/62421

Week 9, # 20

Watching the Librarian video was like going back in time! So that's how it used to be! I had never actually looked for anything in YouTube so I did a search for a historical person and voila! early 20th century movie clips and also slide shows. Amazing! I would like to explore more on YouTube, but at the moment we are not encouraged to do this since it slows everything down for the patrons. Maybe I can come to work early one day and look at this more in depth.

Week 8 - # 19

Zoho Writer is convenient and free! The fact that it can be shared, for example at work, is also very good. I created a document and sent it to my email, smiley face included. (I like this feature).

Week 8 - #18

Being a fan of HGTV I visited ratemyspace.hgtv.com which I had never done before. It was interesting seeing this other side of the TV show. I enjoyed being able to choose which room I wanted to view, for example kitchen, bathroom, etc. This gives it some kind of control. I also enjoyed other people's comments and seeing which ones agreed with my opinion and looking at others' viewpoints. I also went to myspace.com and found so much foul language that I left it and I'm not interested in it.