How to Find a Good Book

(in response to the chapter "Readers Advisory Services: How to Help Users Find a 'Good Book'" by Mary K. Chelton in The Portable MLIS)

I am one of those people who has never (at least not as an adult) approached a librarian to ask for help in finding something.  I suppose this is kind of funny, given that I am in the process of becoming a librarian.  Then again, I'm also the kind of person who never stops to ask for directions, or for help finding which aisle houses the cereal, so I think this is an overarching element of my personality.  Because of this tendency not to admit I need help, I never really honestly thought about how a librarian would help somebody find a book she might enjoy.  This article made me start considering that.

One thing that stood out for me was the assertion that "reading literature is a means of self-exploration" and "unless the book has meaning for the reader, all the rest is useless."  This is a phenomenon I have observed in movies and TV, so it makes complete sense that it would translate to books.  Kids often enjoy the book Where the Wild Things Are because they feel like they have difficulty conforming to adults' idea of "proper" behavior; They can put themselves in Max's shoes.  Similarly, I like the show "Firefly" not because I am a science fiction buff per se, but more because I can see my own struggles in the struggles of the characters.  

This of course means that at least some of the time, helping a member find the next book to read may be significantly more complicated than saying "Oh, you like Stephen King? Well, here.  Read The Tommyknockers."  I know that one of my favorite books of all time is The Terror by Dan Simmons.  However, I've tried to read other Dan Simmons novels and haven't been able to get through them.  I would love to find another book like that, but I don't know where to look.  (Maybe I should ask a librarian!)  I am interested to delve more into what kinds of resources are available to help with book recommendations.  

The article also mentions placing similar books together on the shelf (an incredibly enticing idea for somebody who loves to organize!) or making online suggestions available via E-mail.  I have also heard of libraries whose websites employ the Amazon-esque "If you enjoy this, you might also like..." model.  I think this is a fantastic idea, especially for people like me who hate asking for help.

 

Evil Librarians League

Last week, as part of my "Intro to the Library and Information Profession" class here at Syracuse University, we went as a group to the library and were able to view (and in some cases, handle) a variety of interesting books in the special collections. We saw some great stuff (a 500 year old atlas comes to mind--I love maps!) but the most memorable item of the day was one we didn't even get to see.

I texted my friend J.P. "They have books bound in human skin here!" His response: "What kind of librarian are you trying to become?" I of course informed him that I was in the process of becoming an evil librarian (insert maniacal laughter.) Our texted conversation continued as I climbed into bed, at which point he asked me what kinds of books would be bound in human skin.

Oh goodness. This, I think, is in part what led me to this profession in the first place. I have to know everything. I couldn't go to sleep now. That was a great question! I climbed out of bed and did some research.

Anthropodermic Bibliopegy. It turns out that many different kinds of books were bound in human skin. A "common" use would be for anatomy textbooks or other books related to the medical profession (and in these cases, the skin was often donated for this purpose.) Sometimes books about the crimes and/or trials of death-row criminals were bound in their own skin. Anthropodermic bibliopegy was also apparently practiced on the victims of the French revolution (and I would be willing to bet that those skins weren't willingly donated...)

Most of this information, by the way, was gleaned from a really great article from the Harvard Law Record, "Books Bound in Human Skin; Lampshade Myth?" by Dan Alban.

This topic is interesting of course because of its macabre nature. I love that stuff (A couple of my more memorable trips were to the Bodies Exhibit in New York City and the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia.) It is interesting on a deeper level, though, in that it raises the issue of relative comfort level with regard to death. In the past, when death was something people saw all around them, a book bound in human skin would be a neat curiosity, but not so appalling as to keep people from doing it. These days, when death is tucked neatly away in the halls of antiseptic hospitals, if you wanted to bind a book in human skin you may actually have to be an evil librarian.

Help! The library is poking me!

There is a lot of talk these days about social networking. I will be the first to admit that my usage of facebook borders on pathological (if I disappear one of these days, you'll know I've been sent to social networking detox). However, I was, until very recently, not aware of any sort of "issue" surrounding libraries and social networking. If you had asked me what kinds of challenges librarians faced regarding social networking, the only thing I could have imagined there being was whether to allow people to use social networking tools in libraries.

However, the more I delve into librarianship as a career, the more my view is shifting. Instead of seeing facebook, youtube, twitter and the like as the massive time-suck it is for me, many librarians are looking at how we can use these resources to further the mission of the library.

What I have seen in reference to these websites, for the most part, is suggestions about how they can be used by the library as a new way to communicate with patrons. This is a generally good idea, but I think that these tools can be used for far more. Setting up a presence on facebook is not a pointless endeavor. It is easy and requires only a minor time commitment. However, what I see as the real potential in social networking tools and web 2.0 lies more in how it could be used for library programs.

Given the idea of the library as a place that brings people together in order to share information, ideas and experiences, it makes a lot of sense to use social media. Maybe library patrons could be encouraged to contribute to a library-sponsored blog or message board, writing book reviews or sharing creative writing they have written. Another possibility would be to get people involved in a project that involves recording video and producing shorts to be posted on youtube. There is certainly a lot of potential.

hello, my name is...

Hello, my name is Veronica Stork and I am an information addict.

More specifically, I am a master's degree student in Library and Information Science at Syracuse University in New York.

I always knew that I wanted to do something intellectual. Of course, as a child, this meant that I was going to be an Indiana Jones-style archaeologist. Once I realized that the job description for "archaeologist" didn't actually include fighting Nazis, however, I decided to move on. Eventually my dream evolved into one in which I would be a teacher, but then something happened.

I moved into a house whose previous owner had been a librarian. She had died, leaving her extensive book collection behind. This was one of those houses where every wall was covered in books. I was surprised there weren't books lined up in the bathroom (there were, however, books lining the hallway.) Librarianship wasn't even something I had remotely considered until then, but this woman's life and living space fascinated me. I had just graduated college with a degree in East Asian Studies that I didn't know what to do with. The world was open to me, so to speak.

I spent a few more years debating whether I still wanted to be a teacher or whether I wanted to go into Library Science. Finally, I made my choice. It was kind of late to be applying to schools, but I scrambled around doing like a madwoman taking the GREs, securing letters of recommendation and finally sending out the applications. I applied to three schools, sat back and waited.

When I got the acceptance E-mail from Syracuse, I was shocked. This was by far my first choice school, the school I thought I had no prayer of getting into. Of course I was going to go!

So here I am.

In the interest of avoiding redundancy, I am just going to link to my Syracuse website, which has other fun info about me, like what mountains I like to punish myself by climbing and where my occasionally clever poetry has been published.

That's all for now!