My review of The Invisible Library

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a good solid three stars, and highlights how wide the three star rating is for me.

I enjoyed reading this book.

Maybe it was not good to read it so soon after The Aeronaut's Windlass but that is how my reservations came in at the library.

This book is about a library (or rather The Library) and the collection policy for it which does not appear to be written down anywhere. Okay, that is one interpretation of what is it about, but it is what drives the story forward - how to obtain a very specific book for the collection. As we see how one book is obtained, we hear stories and rumours of other items being obtained in similar or different way.

There are librarians (or actually Librarians - the capitalisation is important) who travel to parallel worlds, collecting near identical editions (mainly of fiction). There are a range of procurement methods, including theft, and this becomes a slightly discredited method through the book. This theft is off putting (and I don't agree with libraries using theft or theft like practices to develop their collections, and yes I know this is a work of fiction).

There is a dragon, stylish dressing, zeppelins, vampires, werewolves, fae and some very interesting action sequences in the steampunk mix. All of the characters can deliver surprises (and I won't mention exactly what they are because of spoilers). There is character development which works well. This also turns out to be yet another political thriller in my accidental year of reading political thrillers.

It is the first in the series and I will be very interested to see what happens next and look forward to reading the next title.



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Is your social media mentioned on vehicles?

I liked this, it was simple, and clear. The social media was consistently present on promotional material - see here for some more examples.

Instameet at the USA National Archives

This is a lovely story in so many ways. It is a lovely use of Storify, it is great to hear that the USA National Archives ran an Instameet, and that is was so successful (judging from the great photographs). It is very much about the building architecture, but that is fine.

Finding out about online resources in library buildings

When I visit libraries and other places I like to see what I can find out about their online presence when I am onsite.  These are just a few examples.

Denver Library made it easy to find out about their local music


their ebooks and other online services as well.


Arapahoe Libraries had promotions including for ebooks, and zineo posters and screen savers


Robbins Library tells about the Massachusetts wide ebooks collection


Boston tells people about their renovations

Central Park encourages people to share their playground images

The Blood bank encourages sharing on social media

and the Australian Museum provided a hashtag (as well as other information not shown in this photograph)

Discovering collections discovering communities (DCDC) 2015 a Storify thanks to @C_Fryer

This has some great ideas for and examples from local studies collections (as well as many other collections as well)

My review of A little book of craftivism

A Little Book of Craftivism by Sarah Corbett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The title sums it up well. The reader is given the background to Sarah Corbett's involvement in craftivism, and that leads into the rest of the book. There are some strategies about how to be most effective in craftivism, and also information about how to cross stitch. There is wit in the strategies as the aim is to engage. There are some very good strategies, many involving action and patience.

This is very much a personal view (but that is kind of the point of this book). I would suggest reading it as a companion piece to Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism but it stands alone too. I read it because I had been following the author on social media.

It is an engaging and quick books to read. It is also a book to go away and think about, and to look back at.

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Visiting the Australian Museum

I recently visited the Australian Museum and was really interested to see the new work there.

They are still great at letting you know how to connect on social media




The new gallery looks amazing - and I was not sure how I would react, but the brilliant light and impressive arrangement was actually really powerful.

My photographs in no way do it justice.
The mix of technology was good. There was a big range in the ages of people exploring the space and taking photographs of it.
They are also telling a really interesting story about the history of museums and collecting in the Long Gallery.

I had a fun time at the museum.

Oz comic con, Sydney... a few things

This banner gave clear instructions about correct behaviour and people seemed to abiding by this. While I did not take many photographs, I asked permission of each person I photographed as wonders like this were too amazing to lose.


Some organisations were making sure they could be found online...

There were also some vert interesting promotions.

It was my first time to Oz comic con, and it was a fascinating cultural experience. Amongst everything else it was a great way to be able to talk with Australian comic creators, and see some of their work at the the sketching out phase. There were some very interesting marketing methods, and some creative options for libraries to think about.