Sutherland Shire Libraries Staff News

Happy New Year

Happy New Year 2011!
As we are entering a new decade, the National year of Reading (2012) is getting closer! So in preparation, here is a reminder of some of the benefits of reading. It exercises and broadens your mind, expands your imagination, it builds, improves and maintains your vocabulary and comprehension skills, it increases your knowledge, enhances your ability to focus, informs you about the world, as well as being relaxing, entertaining and enjoyable. Now you know how good it is, why not make a New Years reading resolution. Here are some ideas to get you started!
· Make time to read more. It doesn’t have to be books, it can be newspapers, magazines, comics or even recipes for those budding master chefs.
· Read more widely. Challenge yourself to read outside your comfort zone and try genres you haven’t read, these may include a romance, science fiction, horror, or fantasy(or if you already read all of these, try humour, historical, family saga, adventure or chick lit).
· If you always read fiction, why not try a non fiction title or vice versa.
· Go green and download a book from overdrive.
· Aim to read 15 minutes every day. You’ll be amazed how many books you can read doing this.
· Buy an e-reader, load it up with books and take it with you everywhere.
· Stop buying books, or a least follow the adage “buy the best and borrow the rest”.
· Join a book group, or go one better and start your own.
· Read at least six books this year. That’s only one every couple of months.
· Write at least one review on “checkmeout” blog.
· Read an author you haven’t read before.
· Read a book recommended by someone else.
· Read a local author.
· Read a big book. By this I mean lots of pages… more than 400. If you find them too heavy to carry, see e-reader resolution above.
· Pick a book with an unattractive cover- remember, don’t judge a book by its cover!
· Read a book that’s been made into a movie. Then see the movie and compare.
· Read a book to someone else.
· Be naughty and read a banned book.
· Borrow an audiobook.
· Read a book of short stories- if you read them one at a time, they will probably fit into the 15 minutes of reading resolution.
· Resolve to read at least one book from the 1001 books collection. It’s never too late to get started.

Happy reading,
Monique

Adding Book Covers to CheckMeOut.blog

I've been asked a few times lately how you add open source book cover images to CheckMeOut.blog, so I thought I'd share my way of doing it.

I use Open Covers API, which provides the cover images for a vast number of books (though not all). If you follow the link, that will take you to the appropriate page in their site with insturctions.

Essentially you do the following:

1. Copy and paste the URL into a new window: http://covers.openlibrary.org/b/$key/$value-$size.jpg

2. Replace $key with either ISBN, OLCC, LCCN, OLID or ID (I use ISBN)

3. Replace $value with the actual ISBN of the book (check out Libraries Australia or WorldCat for this). Also note that some books have more than one ISBN so if one doesn't produce a cover image, another might.

4. Replace the $size value with M (for medium)

5. Test the URL. If you only get a blank screen, it just means there isn't an open source cover yet available for that book. If you see a book cover, you can cheer.

6. Go into blogger, click on insert image and copy and paste the URL.

7. Once you've inserted the image you can align it and resize it.

This is just what I use. If anyone else has other ideas then please leave a comment.

Have a great New Year!

Holiday reading

If you'd like to challenge yourself to a different read over the holidays, you might want to check out Inside Story's Best (Overlooked) Books 2010. It does come with a disclaimer that they weren't all necessarily overlooked, and they weren't even necessarily published in 2010, but they were the books read by Inside Story contributors during 2010.

It's a pretty eclectic mix and mostly a bit high-brow for me, but it may be just the list you're looking for.

Barb

Overdrive ebooks now readable on smart phones.

Last week OverDrive  released an update to the OverDrive apps for iPhone and Android, which adds support for eBooks from your library.
I have tested this update and am pleased to report I was able to download an e-pub ebook directly to my Android phone.
Anyone familiar with  Overdrive will be aware that when downloaded to a PC, audiobooks and ebooks are handled by two separate pieces of software, i.e. Overdrive media console and Adobe digital editions.
In this case, where downloads are direct to an iPhone or Android device, Overdrive media console handles both audiobooks and ebooks.
The small screen of a smartphone is less than ideal for reading ebooks but as noted below,  Overdrive are working on a similar app for the iPad tablet and the Android version will work on the Android tablets which are currently coming to market..

In an effort to widen access to Overdrive  digital downloads and to make the service more useable Overdrive continually release new products and features.
Whilst this is to be applauded, it makes it difficult to keep abreast of the state of play.

If you get questions about the service and are not sure of the answer try the help pages on the website.

If you are still not sure, just contact Ref and we will do what we can to clarify things.
 
cheers,
 
Max
 
More on this new app from Overdrive:
“Now your customers will be able to download both EPUB eBooks and MP3 audiobooks directly to their iPhone, iPod touch, or Android phone/tablet. New users can search for "OverDrive Media Console" in the Apple App Store and Android Market, while current users will be alerted to update the existing OverDrive app on their devices.
 
OverDrive Media Console v2.0 for iPhone and Android provides two major enhancements that improve the end user experience. First, the apps now enable users to download and enjoy EPUB eBooks on their devices (in addition to the existing ability to download MP3 audiobooks). The eBook reading experience includes user-inspired features for bookmarking and adjusting brightness and font size. Additional features will be added as the apps develop, including highlighting, annotation, in-app text-to-speech, and more.
 
Second, both apps offer a built-in 'Get Books' feature. If a library customer has already downloaded audiobooks from your library with a previous version of the app, your library will be displayed when he or she selects 'Get Books'. With a single click, the user can reach your site once again. If a customer is new to library downloads, he or she can quickly find your 'Virtual Branch' website and save it for single-click access going forward. Once users find your library using 'Get Books' feature, they can browse the 'Virtual Branch' website on their device, check out a title with their library card, and wirelessly download an EPUB eBook to the app.
 
Even with the release of OverDrive's apps for iPhone and Android, we know that there are additional requests to support other devices, including iPad. Currently the iPhone app will work on iPad with iOS 4 and enables the full browse, check out, download experience. However, an optimized version for iPad-with improved resolution and additional features is coming soon, along with apps for BlackBerry and other mobile devices.”
 
For more information on OverDrive's apps, visit the software page on OverDrive.com.

 

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The end of 'Delicious'

Just saw this item on Libraries Interact which discusses a leaked presentation to Yahoo's internal staff.

The rumour is, Yahoo will be shutting down their Delicious site. Not good news for library staff as we have used it to bookmark hundreds of reference sites. Let's hope the rumours are unfounded or we'll be in for a lot of work setting up another website to store links.

Barbara

Have you say on the future of the book!

Former Labor minister Barry Jones has written an article in today's Sydney Morning Herald encouraging interested parties to contribute submissions to the Book Industry Strategy Group's inquiry into the future of the book in Australia.

The BISG, Jones says, "is seeking ideas from writers, educators, librarians, publishers, retailers and - most importantly - readers about how to enhance the Australian publishing industry as an important sector of our economy, society and culture."

Ebooks and digital formats are of course a big part of this future, and Barry Jones includes the role of libraries in this change:
"Public libraries are starting to offer access to ebooks via downloads or by access to subscriptions taken out by the library. We want to hear about these initiatives and your experiences with them."

Read the article, then follow the link if you want to have your say. Submissions close 31st january, 2011.

Librarianship not dead yet

I read an interesting (short) article about the rumoured death of librarianship recently and it made me feel that maybe we shouldn't be worrying too much about where our careers are heading. If we really stopped to think about it, our profession has adapted to the changes in technology, but we are still in the business of connecting customers with information.

"The core of library service is organizing, providing access, and guiding others in the use of materials. Material format changes (handwritten scrolls to printed books to ebooks) and methods change, but the core service roles do not."

The author's library shares many similarities with ours, so if you want a quick synopsis on how far we've come, have a read.

Barb

Re: Online ILL manual kaput

Lucky that you ended it with love :)


Angela Livingstone
Information Services and Outreach Coordinator
Postal address
Sutherland Shire Libraries
C/O Sutherland Shire Council
Locked Bag No 4004, PO Sutherland 1499 Australia
Tel: 61  2  9710 0346
Fax: 61 2 9710 0236
Email: alivingstone@ssc.nsw.gov.au
Library web: http://library.sutherland.nsw.gov.au/
Council web: http://www.sutherland.nsw.gov.au

(Important: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the  individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please delete it and notify the sender via return mail.  You must not disclose the contents of this email to any third party without the consent of the sender.)



From:        Library
To:        Library & Information
Date:        09/12/2010 03:20 PM
Subject:        Online ILL manual kaput
Sent by:        Dianne Ollerenshaw

---

In trying to improve the ILL manual I have created chaos. Have run out of time to fiddle with Compass anymore. Will advise if I manage to get it functioning before I go on Christmas leave at the end of next week.

Love Di

Interlibrary Loans
Sutherland Shire Libraries
Locked Bag 4004, PO
SUTHERLAND   NSW   1499
AUSTRALIA

DX 4511, SUTHERLAND

ILL PHONE 02 9710 0454 FAX 02 9710 0236

library@ssc.nsw.gov.au
http://library.sutherland.nsw.gov.au

NSCL

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and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are

addressed. If you have received this email / fax in error please notify the

sender via return mail. You must not disclose the contents of this email / fax

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Mud Run 2010

Just a quick thankyou to all those who sponsored me for the mud run at such short notice. We raised almost $300 for the Cancer Council which is fantastic.

The run was hard with more mud than I had ever seen in my life. Before we even started people in our group pulled out because of rain and injury leaving just myself and husband and wife Matt and Mel to carry it for the team. The first 2.5km consisted of mud flat which, due to the rain, was very sinkable (I went down to my upper legs in many places). Most people doing the run were very athletic and the confused look on all our faces when we realised we had to walk through the mud was priceless ('we can't run? Running is basically all I do'). In fact, I soon realised that crawling was the key to getting through this section.

Following that we had a relatively flat fire trail made difficult by our very heavy, wet clothes (now I know why those guys I was laughing at were wearing Speedos). After stopping for water and a complementary red frog we all headed for the last section of the track which consisted of another mud pit with a rope to haul ourselves out of it, a river to swim across and the final mud pit that ensures you really are covered from head to toe in mud. We were then rewarded with a warm beer and a swim in the leech filled river (yes we all got them). It took a couple of showers to wash the mud out of our bodies and my white shirt will never be the same again, but it was definitely worth it.

I ended up with a time of 1hr 8 minutes which placed me at 48/210 in my gender/age group, 96/470 in my age group and 476/1099 overall so I'm pretty happy with it. I'm also exceedingly happy that I didn't lose my shoes.

Once again thank you for the sponsorship. It means a lot.