boxpunx

The other day, a fellow I work with at the library introduced me to these things called box punx. He found them on this website: http://harlancore.com/boxpunx/

I have to admit, they are pretty interesting. They are like these little creatures made out of paper all folded in odd ways. I had a hard time making myfirst one. I thought it was a little tougher than origami but young adults/teens seem to pump them out like a mini box punx factory.

If you decide to make one, you have to print out the template first. It prints out as a piece of paper with one odd shape on it. The instructions are towards the bottom of the paper. You cut this odd shape out and fold it according to the instruction and voila... you've created a box punx.

Don't ask me, I just work here.

-a highly wired lady

Can you teach yourself?

The other day I was speaking to a friend of mine on the phone. It was a usual conversation with this friend since. We spend a lot of our time talking about engineering, math, computer science, physcis and what some people would "nerdy" stuff. As we kept talking he told me if I had ever heard of MIT OpenCourseWare. And I said no. He began to explain what it is and he also gave me the website, which I will share with you.
MIT OpenCourseWare is this website (published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is for those who are looking to bone up on specific subjects or, if you are ambitious, dedicated and self-motivated... to go through an entire course online. Now, it's not like you are signed up for the course or you pay anything (yes, it's free.) It is courses that were offered in the past to MIT students, undergraduate and graduate level that are now posted to the public. Now, almost all of the coursework, including the syllabus, video lectures, lecture notes from the professors, exams, assignments, texts needed... it's pretty much all there. Just download it and work. There are no time constraints, you work at your own pace
I couldn't believe it when I found it. I was looking through the various majors, the coursework... it just seemed surreal. Now, it's not really an online course if that's what you may be thinking. There's no credit. And, I would be pretty sure that MIT is not going to offer any course online for free. There are a lot of reasons to use the site. For example, say you are an older young adult and you are looking to test out of a certain course. If you study and do the coursework, you can test out of it without having to pay for a class at the university or community college.
I guess it just depends on your style of learning. If you can learn this way and retain what you've learned through this methodology... then I would say, go for it. Especially if you are strapped for cash and time.
I had to mention it because it is an amazing resource, totally unbelievable.
I remember my friend saying "well you're the librarian, you should know about this." And I just shook my head because I knew it was true. It wasn't meant as an offense (what my friend said) but it just made me think.
So, you want to know how to find this... put in your address bar... ocw.mit.edu
Look to the left of the page. And, like I said, this is probably for the older young adults, but it's also for those who want to peek.
And that's about all.
-a highly wired lady

why I post and post and post

A Librarian, who I work with, presented an article to me today, "Librarian, cybrarian tribute is long 'overdue'; Here's a love letter to cool needed pros" By Craig Wilson.

This article appeared in on the front page of the USA Today newspaper; the date published is Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010.



There is a quote at the top of the article that reads "We have had this huge burst of information, yes, but how do you know what you want or need? That's where a librarian comes in: to usher people through."



This above quote is one of the major reasons I write this blog. Because information is at you everywhere. And it is accessible to the majority of the population in one way or another. Librarians' job is to know how to help you find the information that you need, that is appropriate for whatever info request you may have. It's not our job to give you the answers to things (no, we do not everything; people seem to think this.) It's our job to help you find your answers and that is through either teaching you how to use various information resources or steer you in a direction where you may be able to find them yourselves.



The past weekend. There were two ladies from our library system that went to an event called "School to World". They were there to represent the libraries by showing tweens and teens what we do and what we can offer them, for free. That we exist. That we are alive and well, for the most part. To me... this is the part of librarianship that is most important. The public needs to know how we can fit into their lives and the community. And, it is so important for the young adult generation to help us librarians learn how they are using information resources to find knowledge or their truth. What they are using to write their papers. Sometimes, I'm more interested in what they can show me and what I can learn from them versus what I know and can show them. But, it's always good to trade methods.



This generation will soon be the next information professionals or librarians. And they use and perceive information through different routes and in diverse ways. I believe that it is my job to help me create the library based upon what I know and their needs. And, how am I supposed to know if they do not know how important their you-tubing is or their wiki stuff. I used to think Myspace and Facebook was like "their" domain and now I'm starting to think... they have this whole other social networking web-world that most of us are unaware of unless we ask.



I just spoke with a woman on the phone during a reference question and after I explained to her some things about our library she was thankful and said that she didn't realize how important it is that our tax dollars go to libraries.

In my opinion, for whatever it counts, it is important to support libraries.

I had a friend awhile back tell me that he wants to be able to access whatever information he wants, any type of information, for free, whenever. Me, being a librarian... I was like, well... that's sort of possible but there is some information that is not free, that's just the way it is right now. However, Libraries subscribe to a wealth of information that is normally not free and un-google-able. This information is found in databases (each database is like a library of its own.) Databases are never free. The library pays a lot of money to subscribe to them and we offer them to our patrons/customers for free, as long as you have a library card.

Librarians are good people to help you with databases. There is a ton of information in these but if you don't know how to use one, you can spin in circles and eventually feel like throwing the computer out the window. Trust me.

So that's a good reason why you need libraries and librarians.

Don't be afraid to ask. Don't be afraid to ask to learn.

Because of the wealth of knowledge that exists in libraries... "Libraries are an arsenal of liberty"
Think about that one.

I even get on TMI overload sometimes.
-a highly wired lady

I actually had time to watch tv

This post is related to something I saw on TV, which is, an information resource so I can talk about it here.

Before I begin though, I have to let you know of an unforgettable quote from my friend and volunteer's blog. She writes, "I say thank-you and more than that, maybe next time you'll let me have my own ideas." Her blog is http://xxlikeitorleaveit.blogspot.com
You can find the link on the left hand side of this page.

Okay, so now I can talk about TV. I am not a usual watcher of TV except for the Olympics that just finished but one evening I sat down, just before the closing ceremony of the Olympics was going to air. And, of course, the national news was on.
So, big deal right? Honestly, I don't really watch the news, I like to listen to NPR but that's a different story. So, anyways... the news is on, blah, blah, blah and I'm lying on my catch listening to story after story of news coverage that is negative and maybe you could say paranoid? I don't know that's my opinion, but it was like, all of a sudden, I felt inadequate about something. Then, and this is the ta-dah, the commercials. No joke, almost every, if not all the commercials, were dedicated to pharmaceuticals advertising their newest drug. It's odd with those commercials. You never really know what sort of treatment the drug is for. A little misleading, but go ahead and talk to your doctor about it, right.

So why would I bring this up? How does this have to do with libraries. A lot actually. Especially if you want to be informed of good resources for health information. Now if you are a hypochondriac sort, I wouldn't use this because you will think you have every disease or illness that exists. I'll put out one really good source for now... http://medlineplus.gov It's called Medline Plus. It is a creation of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institute of Health. It's consumer-based health information, which means it was and is made for the public.

Okay, let me go back to the commercials. You may find this interesting or not. When I was in library school I took a class at the law school called advanced legal research. Now, let me tell you first that libraries at law schools are completely different in so many ways; yes there are other types of librarians out there.
In the course I had to do a project on the prescribing of off-label drug use. So this means... a doctor/physician prescribes a drug to you for an illness, condition, whatever, but it has never been approved by the FDA (federal drug administration) for this use. Some say this could be illegal or malpractice (thus where the law came in.) Physicians actually do prescribe certain drugs that have not been approved by the FDA for this specific condition, but they do it because of their experience and knowledge. However, it has been known that pharmaceutical companies have been known to push specific drugs onto younger docs or just docs. And sometimes, it has been noted that drugs pushed are pushed for off-label use. Well, the pharmaceutical company can't really do that, or they're not supposed to.

Anyways... going back to the commercials. When a pharmaceutical company advertises it's drugs on television you better believe they are approved by the FDA for that use. They are. But it's funny... you see I used to be a medical librarian and I remember having to do research for this one doc on this drug called Abilify. This medication is considered a anti-psychotic medication. But now, five or more years later, I see that this medication is now being commercialized as an add on to an anti-depressant. Weird huh. So, five years ago, if this drug were advertised as an add on to a anti-depressant, a law suit would have been slammed on the drug company for advertising the use of an off-label drug. It's weird, I know. If you've read this far.

But now, maybe you see how Librarians and Information Professionals play a role in this research process. They find the information that these doctors, lawyers, and scientists need.

Just goes to show you... you better know your information... and more importantly... how you display it to the public.
Does that make sense?

And seriously, can the news be a little more negative? No wonder why pharmaceutical companies put their ads in these slots.

-A highly wired lady.

cloudy competition

This is going to be short but important.

I had four winners for the Cloudy Competition I did here at the LT Library.

They were all girls, young ladies.

My winners were:

One teenager and three girls ages 12 and under.

I'm not going to name names because I want to be discreet. But I do want to say thank-you for participating and spending a few minutes on something that won you a pretty good prize.

I went out and bought four, $20 gift certificates to Borders so they could pick out whatever they wanted. I don't think they expected this prize, but it was good for them. We all need a little reward sometimes.

But one thing they may not realize yet. The reward for this competition will follow you through your studies and your life. It's worth way more than a gift card.

So, someday, when the LT library opens again. Maybe we'll do something else. I've already had some suggestions.

Or, who knows, we could always do it through the blog.

-a highly wired lady

a request

A young lady who has volunteered for our library in the past came in to say hi yesterday. I was happy to see her. I knew that she had been absent because of her load with school. I wish I had have been that dedicated to my school work when I was in high school. Actually, I wish I would have run x-country. That doesn't matter anymore.

She had a suggestion for me. A suggestion to write about a controversial topic. And I was like... what? Controversial topics are everywhere. But she had a hard time giving me an answer. So I told her to let me think about it and maybe something would pop up.

Music, the stuff that we listen to, the stuff that makes us dance (if you do that sort of thing, I do). Who doesn't like music and who doesn't have a preference for specific types of music?

Or, maybe you are someone who plays an instrument. I don't play an instrument, but I always wanted to learn how to play the drums and spin and scratch turntables. Now, I feel too old to play with turntables but maybe it will happen.

Any two people can get into a conversation about music. So... I thought it would be a good topic to bring up in regards to being controversial.

Where do I begin? I guess I can just tell you about my story and what I think and then if you want to argue or point something out, put it out there. Like what's your story?

I have been surrounded by music all my life. I used to watch my dad lay down beside his record player and listen to music. It was the way he relaxed and now I do the same thing.

Then, it was my older sisters who had a huge impact. Especially my oldest sister. She used to be into rap when it first started coming up and out... you probably don't know about these guys but they called themselves Run DMC. I can still remember some of those songs even though I was probably in kindergarten or first grade when she used to play it full blast in her Volkswagon bug. And yes, it was on a tape player. I used to get so mad when she played it that loud and now I do the same thing. Ha, ha, ha. There were other artists of that sort but I can't remember them off the top of my head right now.

My mom used to flip out that she would play "that kind of music", especially with younger siblings around. It just wasn't acceptable music, she would say. So what is acceptable music? Some of the best musicians were not considered "acceptable" when they came up.

I'll move on. Well "that sort" of music has stuck with me; the "type" that my sister played.

As I got older I remember listening to rap music and then it was eventually called hip hop. Okay, now I'm getting controversial.

I remember really getting into Cypress Hill, Naughty by Nature, Paperboy, Pharcyde, De La Soul, and then some of the R&B that went along with it. My parents hated it. They would get so mad that there was swearing in the music and sometimes offensive lyrics. But it never stopped me.

In high school, I found friends that listened to the same music and it was like I fell into this group of people; most of them were guys. We exchanged music and that's how I began to find underground hip-hop, that was when all those lyrics began to become poetry and the beats blew the speakers out. This is also around the same time that I took a creative writing class and began to learn how to rhyme myself or just write stuff down that I saw.

I never went to many parties, but when I did and I got to be the DJ, it was on. I swear, no lying. It was just an ironic thing because "girls" did not know or listen to this music. And so there was shock in many girls' faces that I played it. I got a lot of you know what from girls in high school. And, one reason was because I was different that way. Yeah, I listened to the radio, but then I had this whole other side that was like... "she's weird." All because of music.

A lot of the lyrics were stories, and very true ones. You just had to listen. I have had friends tell me that they liked this or that but then they said they never listened to the words. And I was like... what dude?

Or, even better, I used to dance classical ballet and remember that the beat of the music told me when to do what and one time I had a girlfriend that said... how do you know how to do that at that time. And I said... "can't you hear it?" And she looked at me like I was crazy. Umm yeah. Been called that a few times.

In college, I still listened to the same music and I was still dancing classical ballet (hmmm, that's an odd thing.) I remember it was like an extension from high school. I learned Wu-Tang Clan lyrics, Mos Def, Outkast way way way before they ever hit the scene like ten years later, Common, way way way before he had a middle-age crisis with the last album he put out. There was Busta Rhymes, KRS-One, Talib Kwali, Gangstarr, Das-EFX, Redman (saw him in concert, like the best concert ever.) And how could I ever forget Tribe Called Quest and Souls of Mischief. Not too long ago I bought a Del the Funky Homosapien album. You can laugh, but I couldn't believe that he was still at it. And I couldn't believe I bought it. But I have to admit, half of those lyrics I could so relate to.

There's too many awesome artists to name. I'm thinking of my CD collection (yes, I have one) and I can't even think of all the those CD's I have, that trashy, gangster music, as my mother and other people would say. But I'm not into gangster music, I never was.

I'm like... don't hate the game if you can't hear the rules.

My dad later admitted to me that he liked some of the music I played. He liked the beats, he just would never admit it. And once in awhile I would watch him dance around and I thought he was making fun of me but then I realized that he liked it.

I will admit, I really dislike where the mainstream hip-hop has gone... it's like do you have anything really interesting to say? And a lot of the artists sound the same. They use the auto-tron. A specific device that changes your voice when you sing into it; a device that was created to hear specific frequencies of animal sounds in the ocean. It's like, if you can't sing and you can't rhyme then what are you doing? Who signed you?

I'm 30-years-old and I still blow my ears out with this stuff sometimes. Now, just because I've

written an essay all about my b-boy hip-hop love doesn't mean that I don't feign for other genres. I love indie/folk, some r&b, crazy instrumental, Sublime, MGMT, old jazz like Etta James and Bo Didley, and I have even rocked a Miley Cyrus song. I'm a music junkie. I love making CD's for my friends and I love getting them from them. It's like one of the best gifts.

I'm sure that everyone has their opinion and favorites and stuff that they cannot handle.

But if I have to say one more thing... it's about selling out. The Black-Eyed Peas, who have taken over during the past five or more years... shoot, I remember when I graduated from high school and they put out their first album... sans Fergie. The song that I most remember is called "Falling Up".

I'll never forget some of their lyrics in this song and how they represent themselves now, look below...

"I see you try to diss our function by stating that we can't rap,

is it 'cause we don't wear Tommy Hilfiger or baseball caps,

We don't use dollars to represent,

We just use our inner sense and talent,

If you try to dis the Peas you'll get handled by Apple Beavy,

Alligator, numero uno creator,

Black Eyed Peas be more than a playa,

Don't gotta represent no set just so I could get some respect,

Ga, ga, ga, ga, ga, ga, coooool,

A lot of feelings so I can get through,

Because the way that you did it I think you done corrupted the whole

Hip-hop sound so now I gotta follow up."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puQF3w9ZzX8&feature=PlayList&p=92A65138C681CA22&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1

The video to this song is old so I couldn't find it on Youtube, but I did find the song. And if you want to hear how they have changed, listen. Remember, this was before Fergie.

I gotta go, this is too long.

But before I do... if you would like to hear a song that is old school, underground hip-hop that talks about selling out... take a look at this old "Roots" video. Remember, you have to listen to the words. And there may be some offensive scenes, but I'm a librarian, I don't censor and if you truly hear the words you'll see that those scenes are a parody. "Never do what they do."

So this blog, or essay is a shout to Nicole... my volunteer. And, I have to say... your teacher who told you your creative writing blog is to racey needs to be checked. Sorry. Your opinion is way more valuable.

I was once a staff writer for a newspaper when I was 20 or so. I'll never forget an editor telling me that if you never write anything that doesn't stir someone, you are not writing well.

Never sell out.

-a Highly Wired Lady

Clouds in the Sky

Remember the "Cloudy Competition" I did here at the LT Library? If you don't remember or you want to learn more, look at the previous posts.
The competition ended on January 29th and I looked over the answers for those who participated the following day.

here were two age groups. The Young Adult/Teen and the Juvenile or those ages 12 and younger. Of the two age groups, I have to say that the Juvenile group did really well. In fact, I had a three-winner tie. So, now I'm trying to figure out how to split this prize for this age group.
I did have one winner for the Young Adult/Teen group.

There were a little over ten entries altogether which is more than I expected. Everyone did well but there was something lacking. There was one rule: tell me where you found your answers. That disqualified a lot of good entries. I hated to do that but that was a rule and I don't really like rules but I had to follow this one because it is so important that when you find an answer to something or you discover new information, you need to be able to retrieve it or tell someone else where you found it.
This is a lame example but think of a situation where you and a friend are talking about something you learned and you're just passing it along. They are probably going to ask you where you heard that from or found that answer. If you don't know, or if you're not sure... well would you trust them. Think of it as gossip. Someone says this, someone says that, the chain moves on and the next thing you know... what was passed along is maybe 5% of the truth. That is why writers and researchers cite or create a bibliography of their sources (where they found their information.) Otherwise, it's like... who are you to say that and why should I believe you?
Maybe now you see why it is a little more important. Or maybe not.

I'll announce the winners on the blog after I have called them and picked out the prizes. I'm sort of struggling with this (the prize part.)

I had a friend that used to always say "Where is your scientific proof?" I'll never forget this.

-a highly wired lady