Banksy

I started #blogjune with a post about ROA, so it seems fitting to end this month of blogging with a post about Banksy as the move is from very large and complex ideas to often (but not always) small and complex ideas whose apparent simplicity is misleading.
Banksy seems to be challenging us to not take things for granted, to enjoy the temporary (which can be a challenge in libraries keeping collections and access for perpetuity), and to look around us.   You can see a lot more of his art in this set on Flickr.

Dimitri Tsykalov

I have recently come across the work of this artist. You can see a lot more examples of his work over at Bored Panda, and at the artists website.

 After looking at these carved fruit and vegetables I won't be taking red cabbages for granted. It has made me think about how as Dimitri Tsykalov carves back the fruit, he is showing something hidden, which only he could see or imagine before he did the carving. His carving and art work makes the idea, and the art work, visible to the rest of us.

Source: boredpanda.com via ellen on Pinterest

This is not a new idea, but this is also how we need to show our ideas to others, and make sure we are describing an idea so that to others it does not appear as an uncarved piece of fruit but as the idea we are actually trying to present. Looking at this cabbage, maybe sometimes my descriptions of ideas are more like the cabbage before the carving rather than afterwards when the skull is visible. This is making me think that I have to make sure my ideas are carved apples or cabbages, rather than with the ideas hidden.

scanning for shopping or scanning for library information?

I have written about this before, because it seems a great way to connect people with library content, without people having to be closer to the library than via whatever mobile device they are using.  I still think it is a great idea, which is why I keep photographing it.

It can make the library visit much more location based, and could have interesting collaborations between libraries, as well as by libraries and other cultural institutions.


I really like the idea of a location based library experience (which currently is usually available only if I am in a library), but which could be available anywhere, informing me of resources which relate to the history of the area, or suggesting books or ebooks for loan, or connecting me with digitised images, oral histories and so much more.  There are very exciting ideas for libraries to explore in this area.

It is a way also of promoting that there is a library app which is has relevant tools as people are encouraged to download the app, and can try it on the spot, with prompts.  Easy.

You can see a few more photographs of this through the link below.
 

I like it when events make it easy to connect via social media

This photograph was from Vivid Sydney and they made it really easy to connect with them via social media.  No guessing was involved, it was really clear, and they gave appropriate options.

The Guardian data blog

This is an amazing blog.  The stories come from sets of publicly available data.  Each blog post usually includes a link to the original data set so that you can do your thinking about it as well.  This is an interesting kind of journalism, and as more large data sets become available, one we may see more of.  It also highlights some methods which could be used for other research as well, making full data sets available or linking to full text electronic resources when they are available.  This blog is using journalists skills to bring the ideas together, but by making the link to the original data set clear, as readers we are being challenged to explore the ideas for ourselves.  There is a gateway to world government data, to help each of us with our research.

Creative commons

I really like Creative Commons.  On Flickr my images are licensed with attribution, non-commercial, share alike.  This makes it easy for people to reuse the images (and they do) without asking.  I set it up this way so that people don't have to ask. Some still do, but the point is, they don't have to - which is what I really like.  Material is available for reuse, without it being complicated, and rights are managed in a fair way.  I like this for when I want to reuse content too.

Stitch London

Stitch London provides a lot of pleasure.  It sounds like a really fun group to be involved with, so as I am not in London, I follow them online.  I enjoy reading their blog, and following them on twitter.  This will lead you to exploring the creations of Deadly Knitshade, and many others.  You can also enjoy the Stitch London book.

Trashcam project

 This is a photographic project in Germany, using cameras in bins.
I like the results, and I like the story.

early thoughts on rebelmouse

I found out about RebelMouse because I went to hear Cory Doctorow talk.  He mentioned Peter Black, who I started following on twitter, and he tweeted about his use of RebelMouse. 

At this stage you have to ask for an invite, which I did for a work related social media channel and for myself at the same time.  My invite came through in less than 48 hours and the work related one still hasn't.  I have no idea of the criteria.  I am hoping the other invite comes through because it will have some interesting potential for collaboration.

I am enjoying it.  You have to remember that it is not showing all of your tweets - just the ones with some kind of visual element, so it works well for tweeted websites and images, and not text only.  Yesterday I was tweeting all day at a conference, and less than a dozen of the tweets showed up on RebelMouse.  I realise that this is not necessarily a problem.

I like RebelMouse as it provides a different way of looking at tweets. 

Go to RebelMouse and ask for your invite - and see what you think about it.

the folk on twitter

This post is about you.  I learn a lot from the people and organisations I follow on twitter, who are on my lists or who other people follow on twitter and retweet or converse with.  I enjoy discussions on twitter with many of you, and appreciate the sites and ideas you direct me to via your tweets.  The ideas and sites are wide ranging, with library and technology being heavily represented, but also data visualisation, digital humanities, games, reading, writing, food, knitting, art and lots more.  I enjoy the the diversity of twitter and of the ideas I can have access to, and the discussions which I can participate in.  I like the international connections which have happened as well as the ones with people only a few streets away.

So much on twitter is about the kindness of strangers.

I also like that some of your tweets have made me laugh out loud, and others have had totally different effects.


Thank you.

Liz Danforth

I have been following Liz's work online, and her involvement was critical to the effectiveness of a seminar I organised in World of Warcraft, because of her skill, enthusiasm and connections.  When I heard that Liz was going to be involved in Wasteland 2, it was a very easy decision to back this on Kickstarter.  I was a keen reader of all of Liz's posts for the games related blog she used to write for Library Journal (archives of it are available).  You can read her own blog here, and make sure you check out her presentations.  So as you can tell - I am a fan of her work, so it was very exciting for me last year on holidays to have the opportunity to meet her.
 

The Pogues

They still can play amazing music.  They are storytellers, with their own stories and with retelling the stories of others.  I like storytellers who know what they are doing and can do it well, and the Pogues are master storytellers, bringing us with them whether we are listening to their recordings, or singing along with them at a live event.

Brent Weeks

This is another author with a fair bit of action and adventure in his novels as well as mind blowing ideas.
 
I like the way Brent Weeks has amazing incredible ideas and and create these whole worlds around them, causing readers to feel sympathy for characters we may not have expected to.  There is a lot of loyalty and tension in his world, and the complexity is really engaging.  There are also laugh out loud moments.

Matthew Reilly

So I read Matthew Reilly novels...
I like the crazy action.  It really keeps the action of my own work firmly in perspective.  I like that his novels include teams with diverse skills, which can operate as a series of self managing teams if need be.  Everyone has something different to contribute, and you never know who really is the enemy, and the enemy can change.  Put like this they sounds like more like manuals than action novels, but first and foremost they are action novels, which are fun to dwell in for the time it takes to read them.

Loani Prior

This one is predictable for anyone who watched me knit and crochet my way through twelve tea cosies to match the #readit2011 reading themes each month.

Loani Prior is the inspiration behind that.  You  can find out more about her work here.

Tea cosies are crazy things, but I think that is the point.

Dale Chihuly

You can read all about his work and work out where you can see his art in public locations or museums (not many in Australia).
 
His work is very beautiful.


 It is also collaborative, and that is one of the areas which I find really interesting. Many artists working together for amazing creative purposes.

Moosewood Collective

This is the people working and running a restaurant in Ithaca, in update New York.  They also write amazing recipe books.  This is impressive for a range of reasons:

• this collective has been effective for many years
• there are incredible, creative recipes for vegan, vegetarian (with a few for pescitarians)

You can see some of their recipes on their blog,  but most are in their recipe books.  Just a note there are a couple of books written by someone using the collective knowledge, but making personal profit - I don't use use these.  The books written by the collective are best.

If you ever are in Ithaca, NY make sure you go to Moosewood.  While you are there visit the Ithaca Bakery (totally amazing bread) and Purity Icecream.

The folk at Blizzard

These are the people behind some really big PC based games, including World of Warcraft, which I play.  I don't play all that much, but I still enjoy going and seeing the stories which are coming out.  Some of them are laugh out loud, and others are sobering.  I play for the stories.
 I have been having fun with the Pandaria beta (and enjoying being on a European server with multilingual discussions about the game).

I like the big, crazy ideas, the jokes within the game from things outside (and brilliant example of this is an area with lots of Lewis Caroll references).  Playing World of Warcraft has changed how I think about games, and it has led to me try more in that area.  I have also been much more aware of some of the crazy (in a bad way) writing about games and appreciate the balanced views many (but not all) journalists provide in this area.

World of Warcraft is a big and complex world, and I an inspired by the people who created it, and who keep developing it.

Kings Comics

More accurately I should say the folk at Kings Comics. 
They have an amazing collection, and this is supported by incredible staff knowledge of the collection.  It is a model for libraries to look to.  I know it is different, but not so different in some ways.  The readers advisory elements are the same.  I know it is not about reading everything, but library staff should have good to excellent collection knowledge, across all formats and tools, and know who the other subject experts are in the organisation.

My recent experience at Kings Comics was excellent, and I will be returning soon to find some more reading.  Comics are an area I find difficult to choose.  I enjoy the format as there are some incredible storytellers and artists at work.  It is a format which works very well as ebooks, and some are even amazing on smart phones.  Kings Comics is making me think about the paper/e option because my last experience of visiting in person was so great that I want a repeat experience.  I learned about comics from a reader perspective (not mentioning my work at all), from staff who are also comic readers.  So much of how they were talking with me (it was quiet so there were two staff who could talk with me) was straight out of readers advisory training.  It was lovely to see, and I had two new comics.

I will be going back to discover some new comics to read.

Wil Wheaton

Reading his writing brings pleasure.  His blog is amazing, there is joy, frustration, love and so many ideas and emotions shown here.  Wil's enthusiasm for life is brilliant.  I really enjoy his short stories (an are of reading I generally dislike), and don't miss him on tumblr.  Wil Wheaton has recently written his first comic, and my purchasing of this will be another story in #blogjune, because of the discussion it started.


The tabletop series of videos are fun to watch - even if you don't play board games.  I am finding that they are giving me an ever longer list of games to try.

thanks to Library Manifesto for this one...

Watch this short video, hopefully it will make you smile

Frank Gehry

I know any architect is not without issues, some of their buildings will be amazing, and others just not work.  Everyone will have a different experience of the building, and a building which may be loved by many may feel all wrong to someone else.

 I really enjoy some Frank Gehry building, because of the sense of play and the way the design encourages the exploration of the building from the outside before you walk in.  The drama builds before you even see the content of the building.

I have only been able to visit a small number of his buildings, but I have enjoyed them.

I think there are ideas of changing how people look at things and think about them in his best work.  

Podcast: Neil Gaiman's "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains"

via @boingboing and @doctorow

I heard a live version of this when Neil Gaiman presented this as part of Graphic, and it is brilliant to be able to listen to this story again. Try some of his books, and look at some of his ways of communicating online.

Playgrounds by Monstrum

This Danish firm designs amazing, incredible and very beautiful playgrounds.  The playgrounds are designed to encourage children to learn.  I would like to see more of these ideas included in library design and there already is some great work being done in this in some public libraries in Arizona.  It would also be brilliant to see these designers involved in library design as well, or with libraries having these kinds of playgrounds outside.

You can see a lot more of Monstrum design here.

Get glue

GetGlue is an online community where you share what you are reading, watching, playing, or even thinking about.  You check in.  You can use your facebook login, or set up a separate account.  You can link to Facebook and twitter so you can share your interests more widely, or you can keep them within the GetGlue community.  Your interests can be public or private.  It also has an app so you can check in when you are out and about and let people know what is of interest to you.

I started exploring this to see if it would work with some things for work.  Not everything that you read, watch, play will be on GetGlue, but a large range is, so it is a possibility in a suite of twitter related tools.  I have been tweeting some of my reading from with GetGlue (as people who follow me on twitter would know).  There are a series of badges which you can be awarded like game points for activities such as checking in a certain number of times to a particular author, game or television program.   There are levels of fandom, some are even promoted by the publishers of the works.  It is a popular culture social connection site.  Not only can you see what people you know are reading, watching or playing, once you check in to a particular book, game, movie or television program you can see who else has checked in as reading, playing or watching the same title.  This opens the discussion to strangers who are interested in the same things that you are which is similar to other social media tools.

I think there are big possibilities for readers advisory work, but you have to be part of the Get Glue community to really participate, and it does not seem to have a big following amongst Australian library workers.  There are a growing number of Australians using this.  I have noticed this with some of the checking in I have been doing.

It works as a community of interest connecting you to people you know as well as people who are reading, playing, watching, thinking about the same kind of things as you.

I am enjoying GetGlue and the ideas it can contribute because of the people who are using it to connect.

Dan Lepard, baker with attitude

Dan Lepard is great.  He writes amazing books on bread and baking, and you can read his articles in the Guardian (they include recipes). 

I like his attitude.  I like his recipes.  I have a really long list of ones to try, and I am working my way through them.  This one is on the list.

Sword and sworcery

It was inevitable that I would include at least one game into this.  The people behind Sword and sworcery are amazing.  I have not played my way all through this game yet, but am enjoying its loose story structure, incredible graphics and impressive soundtrack.  I am enjoying not racing through it.

It wonderful to see the way different creative ideas come together.  The way the game is structured effects my thinking (and this should be true of all effective games).  You get a little bit of an idea of the attitude about the game by looking at the website.

Beastman

He is an amazing artist, painting in a variety of locations. You can see quite a lot of his work on flickr.  Keep an eye out for it in unusual places.

I like that some of his painting remind me of banksias, they seem more positive depictions that than the bad banksia men of May Gibbs.  I have never felt that evil overtone from banksias, so I like the Beastman gives me the idea of banksias amongst so many other ideas.

Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef

As they say on their website
The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef (HCCR) is a project by the Institute For Figuring, a non-profit Los-Angeles based organization that pioneers creative new methods for engaging the public about scientific and environmental issues by putting people and communities at the core.

I really like this.  I am interested in learning more about science, in a variety of ways, and this is one.  I have not participated in this project, but have been having fun with some hyperbolic in smaller ways.

There is a TED X talk about the crochet coral reef project too.

apple advisory information instead of readers advisory information

I saw this recently

and it struck me as an interesting variation on readers advisory work, but this time it was apple advisory work.  It was teaching me about apples in an interesting and quick way.

The following image makes it more obvious what the apple rating scale is, tangy or sweet. I thought this seemed like a way of encouraging people to try different kinds of apples, but I also thought you could have a lot of fun with scales like this for reading ideas.

Opening the book has done some work around this kind of idea, on a now dead website with some literary fiction titles which was interesting, but restricted to certain reading types and including no non-fiction, graphic novels and so on.

I like the simplicity of the apple banner. It was clear to read and looked classy. I would be interested to hear from libraries who have been trying this kind of promotion.

Eddie Mabo

This is an amazing story of change, and of the persistence required for this change to happen.  This article is just one of many to cover the twentieth anniversary of this landmark change.

The National Library of Australia has key papers from this as part of their collection, and, quoting from their website,
In 2001, the Mabo Papers were placed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World International Register, in recognition of their unique place in history and the acknowledgement of Indigenous land rights.

It is also a reminder of the importance of Indigenous Knowledge, and how it is collected, preserved and accessed in libraries.

Cory Doctorow

I was able to hear Cory Doctorow last night, as part of Vivid.

I had heard him speak when he was in Australia for Aussiecon a few years ago, and it was a pleasure to be able to hear him again.

You can hear the podcast of his talk, read Boing boing, or check out his blog.

Make sure you also check out his other writing as well.

He reminds us that we all need to take action about improving copyright.

So I have followed Peter Black and Matthew Rimmer on twitter and  connected with Delimiter.  This only goes so far.  I now have to decide what to do next with these ideas, because I do want copyright to change and be better for those who create content and for those who use/access the content.

I am also going to reread How to fix copyright by William Patry which I initially found out about because I read Cory Doctorow's posts on Boing boing.

participating in blogjune

I am going to keep it simple.  I will mainly be posting about places I get ideas. The posts will be short, and you can go and see what you think.

I first saw the artwork of ROA at an exhibition at Cockatoo Island last year.  I like the way his work is amazing, but it also makes me look the the building it is on differently too.  I really like the work of ROA.


For more examples of ROA's work see this tumblr and on flickr.

Have a fun blogjune.