Silly Hat Day

Yesterday was BCPL's staff day. The theme for the day was “Stress less…Enjoy the Rest" and to that end, we all received mini back massager toys and enjoyed a speaker, Rosanne Torpey, who spoke to us about laughter, silliness, perspectives, and stress. She spoke about how we all need to lighten up, rely on our technology less, be open to different perspectives more, and not forget to take that 30 minute walk or laugh break.

While on vacation i had a moment of clarity about my life and how i had let work and other things start to dictate what and how i do things, instead of keeping myself in control. I decided to return to work with my new attitude and infect everyone with it. As it turns out, i came home and got sick so i kept the infecting piece to myself for a while.

Then on Sunday, at a friend's baby shower, the brother of the father was making balloon hats for the few kids that were in attendance. Of course, i had to get one. I got a specially made "Level 10 Zany" hat and ring.

And, as if i hadn't gotten the point already... the keynote speaker yesterday kicked things into high gear for me and today i came in to work and announced that next week (during our department meeting) was going to be Silly Hat Day. To emphasize the idea, i've been wearing a newspaper hat i've had on my shelf for a year. I've already gotten many "thank you for making me laugh" comments from around the building and it's not even noon.

If there's one thing i've learned from my father (well, really there's tons) is to not take yourself too seriously. Life is too short to take things, especially yourself, seriously. Wearing a silly hat, or bringing a rubber chicken to a meeting (like my dad is known for doing) reminds people that we're all human, we're all in this together, laughter is good (and healthy) and allows people to be silly which helps force the tension out of your body and your mind.

Silliness and laughter really does make you feel better. Go ahead, try it now. Laugh. Even fake laugh if you have to, it will still work just as well. You'll feel your muscles relax and you'll be more centered to continue on with your day. You know it's true- you can't throw a ball while you're laughing can you? No, cause you're too relaxed!

I think it's important that even as a service like this one, spread out over an entire state, we all create a sense of community and fun. After all, life and work should be fun otherwise what's the point?

So won't you join me in Silly Hat Day on Wed, Oct 21st? Let your silliness be infectious! Upload your picture and post it on flickr, twitter, in the comments here or email me and i'll put them on the AskUsNow! flickr page in a private area only your fellow AskUsNow! librarians can see.

Thank you goes to Beth in Howard County, for prompting that this idea go beyond the walls of the building.

Update: a pool on flickr has been created if you'd like to upload your #sillyhatday photos there!

It's October...and thoughts turn to Poe

The darkening chill entered our living spaces with a suddenness that surprised each of us. Most upset was our cat who took to burrowing under the blankets until the warming of a mid-day sun melted her disposition enough to emerge from a semi-hibernation. Thoughts about activating the heater with the initial smelly blast, or at least getting a fire going in the livingroom's fireplace creep into my thoughts. I find I am checking our candle supply, making lists of winter needs for hands and feet, and am urged outside to prepare the garden and pond for the icy cold north wind's soon arrival.

I also find I am looking at our collection of books and movies and am drawn to the spooky ones. "I am Legend," "The Sixth Sense," "The Masque of the Red Death." My mood embraces Poe.

Edgar Allan Poe's death is said to occur on October 7th, 1849. In honor of that, here are some resources to share and delight!

1. A lengthy list of Poe's works are available through The Project Gutenberg. Scroll down about two-thirds of the page to find "Poe". Some are available as audio versions:

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/p

2. Five works are listed through Literature.org. These include "The Cask of Amontillado",
"The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Assignation", "The Tell-Tale Heart", and "The Tale of
the Ragged Mountains":

http://www.literature.org/authors/poe-edgar-allan/

3. A well-known (and often humorous) tribute site to Poe is called "The House of Usher."
This site offers a biography, myths and legends, works, films, and more:

http://www.houseofusher.net/

4. The "Poe Decoder" is a site 'started by a small group of Poe enthusiasts,' who offer literary
criticisms and resources:

http://www.poedecoder.com/

5. Baltimore (Maryland) is rich with Poe history. Two resources offer interesting biographies and information:

• The Edgar Allen Poe Society of Baltimore, online at:

http://www.eapoe.org/

• Enoch Pratt Library (of Baltimore) provides an online resource regarding its special Poe Collection:

http://www.prattlibrary.org/digital/index.aspx?id=180

Curl up with those lap blankets, a cup of tea, and a loving pet and experience Poe's world, deep into the recesses of madness and despair! But only for a while...we want you back in the real world by the morning!

Banned Books Week Web Resource List

It's here! Banned Books Week for 2009, September 26 through October 3.

The American Library Association's website states:

Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them.

The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted bannings. Fortunately, while some books were banned or restricted, in a majority of cases the books were not banned, all thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, booksellers, and members of the community to retain the books in the library collections. Imagine how many more books might be challenged—and possibly banned or restricted—if librarians, teachers, and booksellers across the country did not use Banned Books Week each year to teach the importance of our First Amendment rights and the power of literature, and to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association; American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression; the American Library Association; American Society of Journalists and Authors; Association of American Publishers; and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.

For more information on getting involved with Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read, please see Calendar of Events and Ideas and Resources. You can also contact the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4220, or bbw@ala.org.

Resources and a delightfully entertaining puppet show are also linked on ALA's site, on: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

Resource Shelf, a blog for information professionals, educators and journalists, offers more information about this important week. See the "Banned Books Week for September 26, 2009" posting.

Celebrate the week with awareness and advocacy!

Back to School! These resources may be helpful for the whole year

With the approaching end of August comes the daily march back to school! To help prepare, Maryland AskUsNow! has come up with some resources that touch upon three big “Back to School” topics:

1. Dealing with the anxiety of the first day of school (new school, new teacher)--
2. Tips for finding those typical supplies (on a budget)
3. Some resources for homework help that include:

a. Atlases and Maps
b. Grammar
c. Math
d. Science
e. General Homework Help Resources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

1. Getting ready for that first day “butterflies in the tummy” feeling: Here are some sites to help you and/or your child with mental and emotional preparation for the new school year.

The National Mental Health of America offers a “Back to School Factsheet” with tips about helping reduce anxiety for that first day. Once you are on the home page, just type in "back to school anxiety" in the search box (and press enter).

KidsHealth/TeensHealth is another site that gives supportive advice.

Back to school preparation is a good opportunity to get organized, to start the year off with a homework plan of action (which also helps to reduce stress!). KidsHealth/TeensHealth’s page on “How to Make Homework Less Work.”

2. Having your school supplies ready without breaking your budget are other ways to get organized for the new school year:

The site “Great Schools” is for parents, and it offers a “back to school” section that includes a common supply list (which checkboxes) online at:

http://www.greatschools.net/back-to-school/supplies/supply-list-to-get-you-started.gs?content=109

“Organized Home” focuses upon getting those supplies on a budget:

http://organizedhome.com/time-money/back-school-save-money-school-supplies

3. Homework Help resources are like your favorite tools in your toolbox! The following feature the most common topics needed:

a. Atlases and Maps

i. National Geographic offers printable atlases at:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/atlas/

ii. A list of maps and other geography tools are found on Kids' Turn Central, at:

http://www.kidsturncentral.com/links/geoglinks.htm

iii. Thinkfinity includes additional links to maps and atlases:

http://www.thinkfinity.org/Homeworkhelp.aspx

iv. To calculate distances and to find latitude/longitudes, InfoPlease offers an easy way on their Homework Center area at:

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/

b. Grammar

i. FunBrain organizes grammar help by “Beginner” and “Advanced.” It’s part of the Family Education Network’s area called “Grammar Gorillas.” See:

http://www.funbrain.com/grammar/index.html

ii. Simple explanations of parts of speech and other grammar help is found through Scholastic’s site:

http://www.scholastic.com/kids/homework/grammar.htm

iii. InfoPlease organizes grammar help through levels, beginner to advanced:

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/english-grammar-spelling.html

iv. The Capital Community College Foundation provides an online “Guide to Grammar and Punctuation” with help for writing research and essay papers, too:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/

c. Math

i. A+ Math gives basic arithmetic/math help. It also lets you enter your problem to double check the result:

http://www.aplusmath.com/Homework_Helper/index.html

ii. Math.com organizes help from basic math to advanced topics (see left navigation area):

http://www.math.com/

iii. InfoPlease offers math help, but also information about the history of mathematics and a biography of mathematicians:

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/hwmath.html

iv. Webmath gives help from elementary to college level math, and shows how the result is obtained (very useful for double checking):

http://www.webmath.com/

v. A site devoted to algebra, called “Algebra Homework Help,” from People’s Math:

http://www.algebra.com/

vi. Purple Math (especially for Algebra):

http://www.purplemath.com/

d. Science

i. Chemical Elements, an interactive site featuring the Periodic Table of the Elements, is found at:

http://www.chemicalelements.com/

ii. Need to know about the human body? Homework Spot offers information at:

http://homeworkspot.com/theme/humanbody.htm

iii. Homework Spot also provides science resources for elementary, middle, and high school grade levels. See the left side navigation for grade levels, then click on “Science” to see choose the type of science you need help on:

http://homeworkspot.com/

iv. FactMonster’s science area is found on their Homework Help area, and offers science information for school-aged children at:

http://www.factmonster.com/homework/hwscience.html

v. AP Biology (high school level) help from MIT’s open source area:

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/hs/biology/biology/

vi. Rader’s site offers various science help –

1. Chem4Kids is found at:

http://www.chem4kids.com/

2. Biology4Kids, at:

http://www.biology4kids.com/

3. Geography4Kids, online at:

http://www.geography4kids.com/

vii. The Physics Classroom offers an online tutorial as a way to learn this fascinating subject:

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/BBoard.html

e. General Homework Help Resources (Ready Reference, such as dictionaries, online calculators, encyclopedias)

i. Many libraries list homework help resources on their teens’ and kids’ pages. The Baltimore County Public Library offers links to freely available online resources at:

http://www.bcpl.info/kidspage/homework.html

Databases are another important resource for homework help; ask your librarian for more information about how to access and use these.

ii. Maryland Public Library’s Sailor has a list of homework help resources online at:

http://www.sailor.lib.md.us/MD_topics/kid/_hom.html

iii. Homework Spot organizes help by grade level, and then by subject. See the left navigation area:

http://www.homeworkspot.com/

iv. FactMonster provides a Back to School resource area:

http://www.factmonster.com/spot/01school1.html

v. InfoPlease gives general homework help resources, including chemistry conversion help, math flashcards, and an easy to use “what happened on this day” history tool, at:

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/

vi. MIT offers Open Course Ware, for learners who would like to brush up or continue their education (no degree offered, but this is freely available). Parents can learn along with their children!

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

vii. And of course! Maryland AskUsNow! is an important resource when you need help finding information or library materials We’re here 24/7!

We hope you find these resources helpful! And welcome back to school - It's going to be a good year!

Submitted by: Cathay Crosby
August 13, 2009
Maryland AskUsNow!

Satisfaction is up!: survey data for FY09

It's that time again for running reports and submitting MFR's and soon, final grant reports.

I just finished running the (uber tedious*) survey report for all our institutions and the verdict is in! You're even more awesome than last year!

of our surveyed customers:

88.75% are satisfied!

86.27% say our librarians are excellent!

Check out the full report and see how your insitution compares.

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* This report is one of the last ones in QP that I have to run manually for what we need out of it. I have to run the report on a specific time frame 38 times to get the data for all our partner institutions. Then, i have to manually enter it (as cut and paste formats things in a useless manner) into xls. Then i get to have xls do math (that's the easy part).

As a point of interest, i downloaded a keystroke counter app before i did this report and found out that it took me 4,444 keystrokes, 630 left mouse clicks, 84 double mouse clicks, and 1114 spins of the mouse scroll wheel).