NovelList Plus the new easy button

So this week we are exploring novellist I've had a little bit of training on this before. So I went in searched "Harry Potter" under series, shazam up comes all the books of the series, but this was too easy Harry Potter was provided so I decided to do my own search for books in the "Alex Cross" series and viola up pops 16 titles. Next I used the Author read alikes option, typed in James Patterson (if you haven't read previous posts you should, anyways my favorite author) and got a good long list of other authors such as V.C. Andrews, Tami Hoag, Sandra Brown, Stuart Woods, the list goes on and on. So if I ever read all of James Patterson's books (highly unlikely since he whips um out so fast) I would have a fall back author. I know what your thinkin this is just too much good for one web site how can one web site have the right to put so many useful tools, but wait there's more. I also visited the recommended reads tab and found links to books based on adventure, horror, suspense, fantasy, mystery, way too many to list. This is a really useful tool to have when a patron knows what kind of books they like but don't know of any authors that they would like to read. So that was the 12th task wow this has been fun and that best buy gift card is going to make it all the better.

The Book Report Network

Hows it goin. I'm back again for another round of webolution. This time my opponent is the formidable Book Report Network. This site brings a lot to the table; book reviews, author info, books to movies, suggested books for book clubs, the list goes on and on. This site is really a catalog of many different sites that offer book based services. I visited all the listed sites briefly to find pretty much the same sort of set up for each, aiding in easy navigation from one page to another. I really liked the BookReporter site, as it offered all the information I could possibly want in the way of books.
Next I took to the Biography Resource Center to search for some info on James Patterson (one of my favorite authors). Using this utility I was able to find some very good info about James Patterson. Such as the fact that his writing career was only his secondary job he was also an advertising executive. I've known people who are writers and having the time to write and do another job is astounding. Patterson was born in 1947 in Newburgh, New York and was one of many of us who was turned off to reading by the school. Although later he went to college for English he never really saw himself becoming a writer. Until he landed a job as a junior copywriter and began writing on the side. Overall this task proved to be a very fun one as I love to read and can get quite a bit out of these sites.

Laptop consumer

How do yall back again I am to test out the liberry database MasterFile Premier. Not a bad database at all I actually used something like this a lot in school. Anyways since I'm gettin a laptop figured I would use the consumer reports to check and see if my purchase was a good one. As it turns out consumer reports is a big time hater on alienware systems cause I couldn't find any search results for this laptop. Come on consumer reports give me the hook up, down low on what chu tink bout my sweet rig. Although I couldn't find any alienware I was able to find the more cliche brands HP, Toshiba all those so at least I was able to find the laptops that my laptop could easily beat down in the school yard (According to David this might be able to be taken literally).
Any hows peace out to all my homies. Yall come back now ya hear?

Check it out. This is the laptop that I just ordered from Dell for school. It is an Alienware M17x self proclaimed "Most powerful laptop in the Universe". It has an anodized aluminum outer shell, making this sucker tip the scales at 12 lbs. You would be hard pressed to find one exposed screw head on this baby. It has facial recognition log in via the 2.0 webcam. It has multiple led light zones (4 in the keyboard alone, so I can have four different colors on the keyboard for a rainbow effect). Specs on my system are.....
Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8 GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz 2 x 2048MB
1GB Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M - SLI enabled
640GB (320GB x 2) 7,200 RPM (xMB Cache) - RAID 0
17in Display
Slot loading DVD & CD burner and reader


anodize

"Staples Easy Button" for Web Site building

Wow who knew that creating a website could be so easy. I went on to both Google Sites and Weebly, and checked out what both had to offer. The YouTube instruction video on Google sites was really nice it explained everything I needed to know to ensure that my website would be Safe, Secure, and fun. The weebly web page was even better although no video it was really nicely set up with step by step instuctions. So I decided to sign up for weebly, I however did not have any ideas to set up a good website at the time (as I did not want to set up a site that would not fully utilize my artistic side...................... HA HA even had myself convinced I have an artistic side there whew!!) Anyways maybe once I am inspired a little more I will be able to set up a good website that will be usefull to not only me but others as well. I will definetly refer back to these sites to get ideas when that happens.



That Was Easy

CC Remixed

So with this task I went to the Creative Commons webpage and was immediately confused. I didn't really understand what this site was about. I think that it only searches for licensed material but it seems kind of a pain. I'd rather just search google and if Jiminy Cricket happens to be sitting on my shoulder I will use the advanced search and look for only licensed materials. According to my fellow employees for every negative comment you need five positive comments so this is for you Creative Commons
1. Your use of the color green is staggering
2. You come up with tons of music choices for "All that Remains" although no "All that Remains" music but I figure your going outside the box, tryin to pry my musical shell open. Thank You
3. You offer your website in a few different languages
4. You give me the option to donate money to you
5. You have an FAQ major kudos here.

Book Catologing

For task #7 I went and visited all the links to the Reader Resources pages. With these I think the best ones are Library Thing, Goodreads, and Shelfari. These to begin with are really well set up each page is really appealing and professional looking. With the other websites I noticed that they had some of the same options but the way that the pages were set up (color schemes and fonts) really kind of pushed me away. I liked how Library Thing lets you set up a catolog then connects you to other people based on similarities in your readings. This would be really beneficial if you had nothing to read and were looking for a good new book, you could request information from someone else with the same book likes as yours and get some ideas on ones that they have read. Goodreads was also very nice because it sets books up into catagories so you can see which books are currently really popular in your favorite genre. Lastly I like the way that Shelfari offered the quick tour on the home page, so you can tell what options you have without having to sign up and see what all a membership comes with.

Workin in a Library

Just took a long look at the two websites from Ohio's Library Council and the Houston Area Library Service's training site. These are some really nice websites for people who have just started working at the library. It was pretty awesome to see that both these web sites mention things for a new person to know, and how a lot of these things are things that I learned when I first started working here. Some of the pointers in these websites are not just unique to libraries as many of them are used in just about every business out there. The importance of the customer's satisfaction in any business is crucial to a business success. Without understanding of this golden rule customers would find other places to get what they were getting at your business. When every place you go to work for drills into their employees the importance of customer service then you start to get how big a deal this is. EVERYONE IS COMPETING to provide the best customer service.

To Bag or Not to Bag

I have been with the library since last September working public services. So needless to say I have filled many holds before. I bless the day that I learned about the add to bag feature, because it is just such a hassle to have to reenter patron information after every request. A lot of times there are patrons who come up to one of the desks with an entire series that they want to get and many of those titles will have to have holds placed on them. So it is really nice to have a feature where you can keep the patron information in the system until you get all the holds placed.

TO BAG!

Visiting some facebook pages

So I already have a myspace account thus I decided to visit the Coca-Cola facebook page and Barack Obama's facebook page as well. It was really interesting to see all the pictures that were on the Coca-Cola page of Coke can mureals and to see how many supporters each of these pages has. It was pretty nice to see that even with the president's hectic schedule that he can stay up to date with a facebook page (maybe he has a secretary that updates his page for him). Anyways I think that it is important for big companies and important people to stay up to date with the new age. I think it really shows how far they are willing to go to keep in touch with the world and hear from some of their supporters, because lets face it do you really think its possible to call the president and have a conversation (I think not), but with a social networking page you could send a message or even leave a comment that could actually be seen.

Question #1: Where can you find the form to Suggest a Purchase?

All the Above


Question #2: Which of the following branch libraries does NOT have public meeting room space?

Fruita


Question #3: Who is the Vice-President of the Library Board of Trustees?

Laurie Cahill


Question #4: Which behavior does the library's Code of Conduct policy NOT prohibit?

Cell phone use


Question #5: What hours is "A Novel Idea" bookstore open on Saturdays?

9am-5pm


Question #6: How many different ways can a patron contact a librarian on the "Ask a Librarian" page?

6


Question #7: Which poet will be featured at Poetry Night in September at the Central Library?

Muriel Rukeyser


Question #8: Which of the following is NOT listed as an "Academic Journal" database?

MAS Ultra


Question #9: What year was the Mesa County Public Library Foundation established?

1994


Question #10: What street is the DeBeque branch library located?

730 Minter Ave


Question #11: Use the "Community Directory" page to identify which district Steve King represents:

District 54


Question #12: What is the password to log onto the library's wireless service?

No password


Question #13: When is the November library board meeting?

November 19


Question #14: The Interlibrary loan form requires patrons provide which of the following?

All the Above


Question #15: Which staff member gave a presentation to the board at the May 28th meeting?

Gail Yerbic



During this task I learned more about the functionality of the sitemap and how easy it is to find what you are looking for with this tool.
Karen KllanxhjaGail YerbicCarol EldridgeVaughn Duckworth

Pandora and Last FM

So I am really familiar with pandora since I use it all the time at the library and on my ipod touch. So I decided to try out Last FM and see what it was all about. I went to the website and immediately I noticed how well the home web page was laid out and everything was super easy to find. I started with some music typed in one of my favorite bands (All that Remains to be exact), and the first song to pop up was my favorite song from the group ( "Two Weeks" if you like rock you need to check out this song). Not only does this website dedicate a radio to this artist for you but it also has band info and thousands of pictures. This is one of the many advantages to this website that pandora falls short at. With pandora usually when you enter a band you rarely get any songs from the band that you actually typed in. Also pandora has a limit on how many times you can skip a song if it is not something that you want to listen to, Last FM however did not have this as far as I could tell, because I utilized the skip button ten times without conflict. Last FM also has list of musical events going on in or around the area of your residence. Another thing that I have liked about pandora is that if there is a song that is playing that I really like and want to buy I have the option to purchase the song through itunes directly from my ipod touch. So I looked immediately for this option on Last FM and it was there as well. So the next step is to go on the ipod touch and see if there is a application for last fm and I will definately download that. This is a great website for music enthusiasts.

Self centered

So this is my first blog ever. I'm Brandon Lee Cole (just Brandon), I live in Palisade, Colorado amongst the many orchards which by the way are full of fruit this time of year. I went to Clifton Elementary and Rocky Mountain Elementary schools. Mount Garfield Middle was my middle school, and Palisade High School was my High School. All through middle school I played little league football playing a variety of positions from wide receiver, running back, linebacker, corner and others. I also played football my sophomore year in high school however after that I had to get a job to start paying for some of my own expenses so time for football was out of the question. I have worked in a variety of areas including the retail and service industries. Some of my hobbies are motocross (got my dirt bike this year and can already clear a double), paintball (got a paintball gun that can shot 25 paintballs a second), football, video games, movies, music, weight lifting, cardio (I run 1 hour at the gym every other day), and well shoot there are just way too many to list. Well this is pretty much what I'm all about so I'm out.