local studies and making

Knitsonik does amazing work with knitting and sound. Her books encourage others to connect their lives to knitting, and there is a lot of potential for interesting local studies knitting (you really need to look at the knitted designs about bricks, fruitcake and roads). Knitsonik also combines knitting, sound and place (have a look at her work on this).

What a beautiful workshop today, all making knitted jewelry from my handspun silk, while exploring the books of Lady Zoe Hart Dyke (aristocratic 1930s sericulturist who established a silk farm in a castle...where our handspun silk was grown...) and listening to my recordings of silkworms from 2015. This intangible heritage project funded by @aceagrams and hosted/supported by @the.merl has provided one of the richest opportunities yet for me to engage knitters in my creative knitting and sound process and practice, I am so grateful for the experience and to all the knitters who have come so far! Last one is next week... Sheep bells. Looking forward to it already.

A post shared by Felicity Ford (@knitsonik) on Mar 31, 2018 at 6:59am PDT

Other knitters are also working in this space. Perhaps you have some local knitters, spinners, woodworkers, coders, crocheters and other crafters who can help tell the story of your place.

This post has been sitting in my draft files for a while. I thought it was time to move it along.

A few thoughts on the book New top technologies every librarian needs to know

New Top Technologies Every Librarian Needs to Know by Kenneth J. Varnum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book brings together many technologies being used in libraries, some of these have been around for a while, but sometimes with little implementation in libraries. Each chapter provides a solid basic introduction to a technology or a tool for example linked open data, data visualisation or digital publishing. There is usually a description of how the technology is used in a library as well as how it could be used in a library. There are helpful further references at the end of each chapter. This is a book to dip into, and come back to as it is episodic in style.

I read this as an ebook on the Indyreads platform which is provided by my workplace.

View all my reviews

Question for #glamblogclub

This post is a few, mostly unconnected thoughts, and some questions. Asking questions is important, but you don't want to sound like you are conducting an interrogation. This is important with colleagues as well as with people who use your library. You also want to make sure you are listening for the answer/s and not thinking about what you will say next. Pauses can be okay.

When you are helping someone find information, do you help them with formulating their question, or do you answer the question you think they should have asked? I once worked with someone who felt it was much better to answer the questions she thought people should have been researching, rather than the questions they were looking to answer. This is different to helping someone formulate their question, and not nearly so helpful (unless you want people to avoid asking you questions, and it could be very frustrating for students with school projects to do.).

Biblioteka Haburas Moris, NGO Roman Luan, Atauro Island

The reference interview/conversation or readers' advisory interview/conversation is about finding what the person is looking for, rather than the answer you want to give, and really helping them with their questions, rather than showing off your answers. It is also about listening so you are really providing the assistance/training they are seeking. This is not a post of inspiration but of a reminder of the basics.

 From earlier posts, there are a few more questions:

• How equitable is the help your library provides? 
• Who do you make space for in your library?

In case you are wondering about the photograph, it is from Biblioteka Haburas Moris, NGO Roman Luan, Atauro Island showing a locally produced book in Tetum.  There were other books in the library which certain donor organisations had given without asking the right questions.  For example on this island there was no postal service and no internet - so a book on how to use ebay was not going to be very useful.  The book on ebay use was only one example of the donor organisation not questioning what they were actually trying to do for the community. So if you are giving library materials to other countries think very carefully about it, and make sure you ask the right questions.

a few thoughts on The readers' advisory guide to genre fiction: Third edition by Neal Wyatt and Joyce G Saricks

The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction: Third Edition by Neal Wyatt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an excellent guide to readers' advisory work and is a pacy and engaging read. I would suggest reading it in chunks as it is helpful to think about how this information can be applied in your library. Each genre has a section which provides a definition, the characteristics and appeal including frame, setting, story line, tone, characterisation, language, style and pacing. Subgenres are explored. Key authors are suggested with an interesting mix of new and older authors. Information about fans of each genre is included (as to how much assistance they are likely to be interested in), as are 'sure bets'. One of the most interesting sections in each chapter is the reading among genres (so other genres you can suggest to particular readers), and 'reading the whole collection' which brings in non-fiction including poetry, graphic novels (although they are included in other places as well), audio books, film, television and video games. I really like the approach of making the whole collection work for readers' advisory work as there are some implications for how other enquiries are dealt with as well. Each chapter ends with a section called 'hack this book' where you can write in local information.

I read this as an ebook, however, for maximum use in a public library it may be necessary to buy a print edition (even with the rather tough exchange rates at present). This books could be very helpful for staff training, including detailed genre discussions.

While I do not agree with all the descriptions of each genre, they are very helpful.

View all my reviews