Some people say that Prezi zooming makes them motion sick. Sometimes, you want visuals, but don't need many slides. Here is an example of how I used Prezi for motionless visual aids. I could just as well have put this information on a poster board, but that would take up too much room in my house. 

Even though there is a hyperlink in the presentation, when I use this, I open the link in a new tab before I begin. With both tabs open, it is easier to explore the search engine and flip back to Prezi.

For an unknown amount of time, I will have an unknown amount of computer access and an even greater unknown amount of internet access. Once all these unknowns are resolved, I plan to come back with weekly posting. Until then, I will post as I am able.

Last week, I heard on the radio that one of my favorite authors was speaking the next night at a nearby university. Being that he's from another country, I never expected him to be near our small towns. I was sad; I had to work that night.

Because of the nature of my non-medical companion job, changing a shift inconveniences at least four people, so I try not to ask for changes, but someone talked me into at least asking and surprisingly, it worked out.

The only other reading I've been to was when I was in Barnes and Noble years ago and a poet was there. That event bored me.

So I was dubious about the entertainment value of this event, but was willing to give it a try since Mr. Smith is such an enjoyable author. I wondered if he secretly hates public speaking and only does it because his publisher makes him. If that were the case, I would feel sorry for him. Doing what one enjoys shouldn't necessitate one doing what one strongly dislikes.

I can't remember the last time I laughed so much. It was a thoroughly entertaining evening. Alexander McCall Smith is as delightful a speaker as he is a writer. I'm so happy I went.

5 Hours

This was my last day until the summer semester. Soon after I arrived at the library, the room was filled with the scent of pizza. Soon after that, groups started wandering the library. I'm proud of the regular students. Even with the extra activity and resulting louder environment, they still tried to maintain an appropriate noise level among themselves.

Because the scent of pizza was so prevalent, more than one student stopped and sniffed the air before looking sad when they realized the pizza was behind closed doors. One student even stopped a tour guide and asked if there were leftovers.

Can you print for me? I really need this and don't have any money.

Do you have a pen I can borrow?

Where do the printouts go?

Do you have any books on how taxes work in America?

Do you have scrap paper and a pencil I can borrow?

Where do the printouts go?

Do you have anything about James Baldwin that talks about his works? I don't need things he wrote.

Where is the pizza?*

Can we print from these computers?

Where is the pizza?

Where is the place they help with resumes? I think it is called the Career Center.

Where are the books on Stalin? You don't have a card catalog anymore.

Where do the prints go?

*This is the same student who asked about leftovers. I hope he was asking because he is attracted to free food, not because he is hungry. Too many people are secretly lacking enough food. 

I think my first goal setting class was in elementary school. I have been thoroughly exposed to the concepts of setting realistic, accessible, changeable goals. I've even taught classes on the concepts. And yet the overall message I learned growing up and through school is that stopping what you started is quitting and quitting equals failure and failure is bad.

Perseverance, determination, gumption, sticking with it. These are good. That little side note about how goals need to be changeable? Nobody wanted to focus on that. They wanted to focus on success and success meant completion of the original plan.  Add all this training to my own personality and quitting or stopping a plan is very difficult for me. I want to find a way to make it work.

Then comes life experience, which I don't take to be some condescending idea that only adults of a certain undetermined age that is always older than the person speaking can have. After college, I expanded the variety of my life experiences by traveling and working seasonal jobs. I learned that quitting can be the better choice. Even knowing this, it is hard for me to stop what I start.

A few weeks ago, I was completely stuck on a Codeyear exercise. Nothing I did to fix the problem or find out what the problem was worked. There was nothing I knew to do differently. I thought I was at the end of the road and would have to quit the class. I resigned myself to knowing that I had learned something - something being better than the nothing I knew before.

But I couldn't let it go. Over the next week, I went back and circled the same circles with the same results. Before, we weren't allowed to move on until we had completed the current lesson, but on a whim, I checked and this time, they let me go on. I felt much better. Maybe with time, I could come back and figure out what had me stuck. Plus, if I could move on, then I wouldn't have to quit.

With this encouragement, I again tried to fix my problem. I don't know how, but I was able to complete the assignment and finish the section. Did I learn anything about coding? No. I have no idea what I changed or why that fixed the problem. But it still feels good to slay the beast or conquer the wall or whatever metaphor you want to use.

All this leaves me wondering, how does one know when to quit and when to keep trying? I suspect there is no one answer, that the answer will change every time. "It depends" isn't a nice, tidy answer, even with elaboration, and people generally feel more comfortable with nice, tidy answers, but I've always been more interested in the way things are rather than the way we like to pretend they are. Life is messy and I'm fine with that.

5 Hours

Am I allowed to check out this book?

Where is the copier?

Which way do I put the book on the copier?

Where is the writing center?

Do you have change?

Where do I find the cart to put the book on?

I'm looking for staff member X, but we've only emailed; I've never met her.

I can't find this book on the shelf.

I can't find this book on the shelf.

How do I use the catalogue to search for books only in this library?

Do other libraries have this through ILL?

I need books on the differences between Western and other medical treatments.

How do I place a hold on a book?

Which library do I choose in the catalogue?

Does the campus have a copier with a feeder? I have too many papers to put each one on the glass individually.

I need sources for my research paper on cell phones.

I need sources for my research paper on aliens.

Where may I print?

How do I use the information in the catalogue to find a book in the library?

I need information on overcrowding in prisons.

Can you help me find The Lord of the Rings books?

5 Hours

I need a secondary source for my paper on Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal."

May I check out reference books?

How do I check out books?

I need Journey of Loss by Timothy Quill.

Does this library have any books on physician assisted death?

Is the printer working?

Where do prints go?

Which name do I choose to get on the library's wireless signal?

I need books on Frederick Douglas.

Do you have four or five paper clips?

I need books about women and about furniture in the Victorian Era.

Where is the library catalogue?

How do I tell which books are in this library?

Where is the call number in the catalogue record?

Where may I print?

How much is it to print?

Where do the printouts go?

Not much going on. I shelved some microfilm and found an obituary in an 1998 newspaper. Turns out, an obituary is more than a death notice. Before, I thought the two sentence "Mr. Sam Goodwin of 785 Nowhere, Somewhere died on Friday, April 2" is the obituary. Turns out, the funeral and family information that comes out a few says later is the obituary that people want to read. I always thought it was simply extra information the family paid to have in the newspaper in order to show status. So even if I didn't do much, I learned something today.

My new project is Librarian Hire Fashion. It is in the beginning stages, so it doesn't look at all like what I envision. I try hard not to create projects that require others to do work, but decided this kind of resource was important enough to break my guideline. 

In order for Librarian Hire Fashion to be useful, it needs images (photos, Polyvores, drawings, etc.) of what you wore to a library-type interview that resulted in a job offer. 

Could you pass this on to anyone you know who might be willing to submit an image and submit an image yourself if you've recently received a job offer? By "recently" I mean, in the past decade, or use your best judgement, or whatever you want it to mean.

Thank you!

5 Hours

I need books, not articles, on high fructose corn syrup and how it affects health.

Do you have a sheet of paper?

I need Gale resources about Matt Christopher.

I need The Glass Menagerie.

What does this mean in the catalogue?

What information do I need for a citation?

Where can I copy?

5 Hours

SGA gave everyone with a school ID free lunch for their spring celebration. I ate the vanilla and the chocolate ice cream, but not the weird looking dessert that might have been cherry or strawberry crumble.

Do you have a pen I could borrow?

Is X here today?

Are we allowed to check out books?

I need to find Lewis Carroll in the Gale books.

Is that computer that no one is sitting at working?

I need books on the history of baseball.

Since we're taking a break from class until the weather gets hot enough for people to come inside, I helped in the local history room. I started by looking at a box of county registers and seeing if there were any that we didn't already have on the shelves. Then I looked through the microfilm newspapers for an obituary. The computer index said the obit was in a specific newspaper, but I looked and looked and looked and couldn't find it. I looked at the other two newspapers for that city and didn't find the obituary. Then I looked at the first newspaper and checked the day before and after, then read again the day the obit was supposed to be in. Nothing. It has to be there because it was indexed, but I can't find it. 

What I learned: these 1951 newspapers don't have a titled obituary section. The death notices are scattered throughout the paper and some have bold headings and some are a hidden few lines.