Hip and Broke A Songwriter's Journey by KD Rouse
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Ants, Stars, and Libraries
There are starts and finishes, but no beginning or end.
The infinite is in ants and stars.
The finite is in ants and stars.
Go in, in, and further in to an ant's eyelashes, and in, in, further in to the teardrop wobbling on a single lash,and in and beyond to worlds and causations behind the tear, and it goes on and so on until it's too much, and too little to see.
Dream of God with the universe as your ceiling, the stars rushing by, bigger and bigger, and bigger still until it's too much too much and too big to fathom, and find yourself right back with the ants.
Humanity is more ant than star, but ants are not forgetful of their Oneness.
To continue to elevate humanity, no one must be left behind. All of the world's citizens must have their basic needs met, and have at least the opportunity to love the library.
The library is bigger than four walls. It is concrete dedication to freedom, and must be protected for the sake of our future generations.
The infinite is in ants and stars.
The finite is in ants and stars.
Go in, in, and further in to an ant's eyelashes, and in, in, further in to the teardrop wobbling on a single lash,and in and beyond to worlds and causations behind the tear, and it goes on and so on until it's too much, and too little to see.
Dream of God with the universe as your ceiling, the stars rushing by, bigger and bigger, and bigger still until it's too much too much and too big to fathom, and find yourself right back with the ants.
Humanity is more ant than star, but ants are not forgetful of their Oneness.
To continue to elevate humanity, no one must be left behind. All of the world's citizens must have their basic needs met, and have at least the opportunity to love the library.
The library is bigger than four walls. It is concrete dedication to freedom, and must be protected for the sake of our future generations.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
My Vision of the Library of the Future
The Library of the Future has a prime spot in the community, a large piece of land protected by a Land Grant, and positioned on the community power grid, with back-up generators so it always has power.
It will be a community meeting place, a place to go in emergencies, a place where people can gather.
The building is large---like Grand Central Station. The First Amendment is above the entrance.
Inside are oasies of green, fountains, chairs, places to play checkers, for people to drink coffee, eat, and chat, large maps, large screen tv of the U.N., Congress, State Congress in action, Stock Exchange Reports, travel information.
The Library is sustained by revenue from food courts and rentals, handled by a 3rd party.
The building includes a post office, social service representives, a passport office and other information related services.
Non-profit agencies who serve the public have offices in wings, at reduced or no cost.
Our information is proactive. If a dangerously depressed old woman limped in on her last good leg, the future librarian could connect her with an actual person on the premises---someone who can actually help her.
It is accepted information that if a person wants help, it is available, but I can attest that sometimes its too much to be able to find it.
A person in acute pain does not have the capacity or energy to chase down that care.
People are suffering behind closed doors, and under bridges.
If you've lost your capacity to make money, you are at the mercy of a very cold world.
If the one-legged lady can make it into the Library of the Future, she is delivered with compassion to people who can actually help, and when she can stand on her one foot, she can hop to the Library of the Future and learn what she can do next.
We see gardens as information too, especially in urban environments, and the grounds provide beauty and respite for the community.
We have auditoriums inside and out, a variety of smaller meeting rooms.
Following the model of the shopping mall, information related services are consolidated in one building.
The same way that 'links' drive traffic to websites, the Library of the Future will create liasons that provide information and drive traffic to the Library.
We have achieved diversity by accepting college graduates as Jr. Librarians, able to do work towards a Master's in LIS as they work. We ensure qualified specialists in this way, rather than manning our desks with bored teenagers.
Computer labs are manned for on-the-spot computer assistance or training.
The Library is on the public transportation line, and includes a huge map of public transportation routes as well as a ticket office.
One wing is a museum with important archives and copies of documents are on display (Constitution, Bill of Rights). A reading room will have readable copies of old books.
Beleagured mothers seeking help for their families in one wing can check their children into the Children's Library so their children can enjoy learning experiences instead of waiting for help with nothing to do. Any parent seeking help, counseling, training can check their child in for a learning experience.
Major focus is dedicated to this wing in giving children opportunities for digital literacy, to hear stories, to have literary experiences. This wing is a colorful wonderland with literary inspired features, including some interactive beanstalks, rabbitholes, or pig's huts.
There are homework labs for all ages of youth for two or so hours each weekday. Liasons with local colleges provide extra assistance from future teachers during homework labs. Homework supplies are provided for any child who needs them and printing school projects are free. Businesses pledge support for literacy and digital literacy for youth allowing these expenses to be paid.
It will be a community meeting place, a place to go in emergencies, a place where people can gather.
The building is large---like Grand Central Station. The First Amendment is above the entrance.
Inside are oasies of green, fountains, chairs, places to play checkers, for people to drink coffee, eat, and chat, large maps, large screen tv of the U.N., Congress, State Congress in action, Stock Exchange Reports, travel information.
The Library is sustained by revenue from food courts and rentals, handled by a 3rd party.
The building includes a post office, social service representives, a passport office and other information related services.
Non-profit agencies who serve the public have offices in wings, at reduced or no cost.
Our information is proactive. If a dangerously depressed old woman limped in on her last good leg, the future librarian could connect her with an actual person on the premises---someone who can actually help her.
It is accepted information that if a person wants help, it is available, but I can attest that sometimes its too much to be able to find it.
A person in acute pain does not have the capacity or energy to chase down that care.
People are suffering behind closed doors, and under bridges.
If you've lost your capacity to make money, you are at the mercy of a very cold world.
If the one-legged lady can make it into the Library of the Future, she is delivered with compassion to people who can actually help, and when she can stand on her one foot, she can hop to the Library of the Future and learn what she can do next.
We see gardens as information too, especially in urban environments, and the grounds provide beauty and respite for the community.
We have auditoriums inside and out, a variety of smaller meeting rooms.
Following the model of the shopping mall, information related services are consolidated in one building.
The same way that 'links' drive traffic to websites, the Library of the Future will create liasons that provide information and drive traffic to the Library.
We have achieved diversity by accepting college graduates as Jr. Librarians, able to do work towards a Master's in LIS as they work. We ensure qualified specialists in this way, rather than manning our desks with bored teenagers.
Computer labs are manned for on-the-spot computer assistance or training.
The Library is on the public transportation line, and includes a huge map of public transportation routes as well as a ticket office.
One wing is a museum with important archives and copies of documents are on display (Constitution, Bill of Rights). A reading room will have readable copies of old books.
Beleagured mothers seeking help for their families in one wing can check their children into the Children's Library so their children can enjoy learning experiences instead of waiting for help with nothing to do. Any parent seeking help, counseling, training can check their child in for a learning experience.
Major focus is dedicated to this wing in giving children opportunities for digital literacy, to hear stories, to have literary experiences. This wing is a colorful wonderland with literary inspired features, including some interactive beanstalks, rabbitholes, or pig's huts.
There are homework labs for all ages of youth for two or so hours each weekday. Liasons with local colleges provide extra assistance from future teachers during homework labs. Homework supplies are provided for any child who needs them and printing school projects are free. Businesses pledge support for literacy and digital literacy for youth allowing these expenses to be paid.
The Library is Unique
No one could forsee the impact of the world wide web. A virtual world has been created, and as more and more of our information is digitized, there is danger that the public will view the physical library as unnecessary.
In my mind, the library is unique in its dedication to people, and to the preservation of our first amendment rights. Even if all the world's information were digital, and our society paperless, we still need people helping people with information. We still need a watchdog for our first amendment rights. We are still tactile beings who need tactile experiences, and we will always have a need for open access to information and tools for all of our citizens or future citizens.
For the Library to survive in the future, I think it needs to command a central place in society, and expand its idea of information and service.
In my mind, the library is unique in its dedication to people, and to the preservation of our first amendment rights. Even if all the world's information were digital, and our society paperless, we still need people helping people with information. We still need a watchdog for our first amendment rights. We are still tactile beings who need tactile experiences, and we will always have a need for open access to information and tools for all of our citizens or future citizens.
For the Library to survive in the future, I think it needs to command a central place in society, and expand its idea of information and service.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Library Studies: Perception, Politics, Funding
Allen, Bryce. 2003. "Public Opinion and the Funding of Public Libraries." Library Trends 51, no. 3: 414. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 20, 2011).
This study focuses on the theory of public choice as a driving factor for library funding. The author finds that positive public opinion about library services appears to have no impact on public library funding. While the library has a positive reputation for service, there are other services that may be deemed to have higher priority in funding.
Weiss, L. (1996). Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age: A report on the public's opinion of library leaders' visions for the future. Washington, DC: Benton Foundation.
Although this article is written in 1996, it still provides some interesting insight into the future of the Library, as envisioned by library leaders and the general public. Weiss finds that the public envisions the library of the future more as a museum than a place to seek current information.
Lagoze, Carl Jay. 2010. "Lost Identity: The Assimilation of Digital Libraries into the Web." ProQuest LLC, 2010. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed July 20, 2011).
The adoption of the Web 2.0 model for the exchange of information, and the increased evidence of the efficacy of this model for activities such as learning and scholarship, make this author question the viability of the library information model and the digital libraries that were meant to instantiate that model online.
Niemi, William L., and David J. Plante. 2008. "Democratic Movements, Self-Education, and Economic Democracy: Chartists, Populists, and Wobblies." In Radical History Review, 185-200. Duke University Press, 2008. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 21, 2011).
Democratic movements drive change towards more egalitarian treatment of all people, creating support for libraries.
Roe, George. 2010. "Challenging the Control of Knowledge in Colonial India: Political Ideas in the Work of S. R. Ranganathan." Library & Information History 26, no. 1: 18-32. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 22, 2011).
Ranganathan's pioneering work of the 1930s challenged the ideological structures of colonial rule, advocating libraries and librarians as agents of a national political awakening, especially amongst the rural poor. However, the potential to spread mass self-education across India was lost through Ranganathan's simultaneous reliance on the state to deliver social reforms following Indian independence.
Bracha, Oren. 2007. "Standing Copyright Law on Its Head? The Googlization of Everything and the Many Faces of Property." Texas Law Review 85, no. 7: 1799-1869. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 21, 2011).
Google announced the Google Print Library Project which makes texts of book digitally searchable online. The project is in partnership with five major libraries including Harvard and Oxford libraries. According to the author, two separate copyright infringement lawsuits against Google were filed by the Authors Guild and a group of copyright owners. An opt-out option was given to authors wherein their works will not be included in the database if they do not give their permission.
Hall, Rachel. 2010. "Public Praxis: A Vision for Critical Information Literacy in Public Libraries." Public Library Quarterly 29, no. 2: 162. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 21, 2011).
Public libraries in the United States have a radical opportunity to incorporate information literacy into their service missions. This article explores the reasons why public libraries are not addressing information literacy and engages the educational theories of John Dewey, Paolo Freire, and New Literacy studies to argue that critical information literacy in public libraries is essential to the vitality of democratic societies. In order to deliver these services to their communities, public libraries must provide not only the technologies and instruction for information literacy, but also the impetus for action—what Freire called “praxis.”
This study focuses on the theory of public choice as a driving factor for library funding. The author finds that positive public opinion about library services appears to have no impact on public library funding. While the library has a positive reputation for service, there are other services that may be deemed to have higher priority in funding.
Weiss, L. (1996). Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age: A report on the public's opinion of library leaders' visions for the future. Washington, DC: Benton Foundation.
Although this article is written in 1996, it still provides some interesting insight into the future of the Library, as envisioned by library leaders and the general public. Weiss finds that the public envisions the library of the future more as a museum than a place to seek current information.
Lagoze, Carl Jay. 2010. "Lost Identity: The Assimilation of Digital Libraries into the Web." ProQuest LLC, 2010. ERIC, EBSCOhost (accessed July 20, 2011).
The adoption of the Web 2.0 model for the exchange of information, and the increased evidence of the efficacy of this model for activities such as learning and scholarship, make this author question the viability of the library information model and the digital libraries that were meant to instantiate that model online.
Niemi, William L., and David J. Plante. 2008. "Democratic Movements, Self-Education, and Economic Democracy: Chartists, Populists, and Wobblies." In Radical History Review, 185-200. Duke University Press, 2008. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 21, 2011).
Democratic movements drive change towards more egalitarian treatment of all people, creating support for libraries.
Roe, George. 2010. "Challenging the Control of Knowledge in Colonial India: Political Ideas in the Work of S. R. Ranganathan." Library & Information History 26, no. 1: 18-32. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 22, 2011).
Ranganathan's pioneering work of the 1930s challenged the ideological structures of colonial rule, advocating libraries and librarians as agents of a national political awakening, especially amongst the rural poor. However, the potential to spread mass self-education across India was lost through Ranganathan's simultaneous reliance on the state to deliver social reforms following Indian independence.
Bracha, Oren. 2007. "Standing Copyright Law on Its Head? The Googlization of Everything and the Many Faces of Property." Texas Law Review 85, no. 7: 1799-1869. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 21, 2011).
Google announced the Google Print Library Project which makes texts of book digitally searchable online. The project is in partnership with five major libraries including Harvard and Oxford libraries. According to the author, two separate copyright infringement lawsuits against Google were filed by the Authors Guild and a group of copyright owners. An opt-out option was given to authors wherein their works will not be included in the database if they do not give their permission.
Hall, Rachel. 2010. "Public Praxis: A Vision for Critical Information Literacy in Public Libraries." Public Library Quarterly 29, no. 2: 162. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 21, 2011).
Public libraries in the United States have a radical opportunity to incorporate information literacy into their service missions. This article explores the reasons why public libraries are not addressing information literacy and engages the educational theories of John Dewey, Paolo Freire, and New Literacy studies to argue that critical information literacy in public libraries is essential to the vitality of democratic societies. In order to deliver these services to their communities, public libraries must provide not only the technologies and instruction for information literacy, but also the impetus for action—what Freire called “praxis.”
Monday, July 25, 2011
I Need Professional Help!
I have spent hours of my life now scouting the internet for publishing opportunities, only to decide that I need professional help--representation by a literary agent. Early in this web log, I wondered if the digital age would threaten the library as we know it, and if all the self-publishing opportunities on the internet would render agents and publishing houses unnecessary to authors.
As a result of my studies thus far, I do believe that the future of the library as a physical place is threatened, and that every effort should be made to ensure its continued existance for all future generations. I believe librarians will be more necessary in the future, rather than less, and I think ideas could be implemented that would ensure that the library remains central to communities in the future.
Like librarians, I think literary agents are even more crucial in the digital age, rather than becoming obselete as I had wondered. I have come to this conclusion because of the abundance of information presented on the internet.
I feel like I'm dying of thirst in the middle of the ocean.
There are scams and shams, many opportunities, and many opportunities for fools to part with their money on the internet.
I have also realized that I do not have the skills, aptitude, patience or judgment to serve as my own literary agent. I need professional help.
As a result of my studies thus far, I do believe that the future of the library as a physical place is threatened, and that every effort should be made to ensure its continued existance for all future generations. I believe librarians will be more necessary in the future, rather than less, and I think ideas could be implemented that would ensure that the library remains central to communities in the future.
Like librarians, I think literary agents are even more crucial in the digital age, rather than becoming obselete as I had wondered. I have come to this conclusion because of the abundance of information presented on the internet.
I feel like I'm dying of thirst in the middle of the ocean.
There are scams and shams, many opportunities, and many opportunities for fools to part with their money on the internet.
I have also realized that I do not have the skills, aptitude, patience or judgment to serve as my own literary agent. I need professional help.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The American Library Association i.e. the ALA
The American Library Association MissionThe ALA Constitution, adopted in 1892 and reinstated by the ALA Council in 1988, states that the mission of the ALA is “to provide leadership for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.”
The Official ALA Motto:
"The best reading, for the largest number, at the least cost."
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/missionhistory/mission/index.cfm
The ALA has also committed to eight Key Action Areas to focus the Library's energies and resources: Access, Confidentiality/Privacy, Democracy, Diversity, Education and Lifelong Learning, Intellectual Freedom, Preservation, and The Public Good.
The Goals of the ALA
The ALA equips and leads advocates for libraries, library issues and the library profession, and plays a key role in formulating legislation, policies and standards that affect library and information services.
ALA promotes excellence and diversity in the library field.
ALA provides leadership in the transformation of libraries and library services in a dynamic and increasingly global digital information environment.
ALA provides an environment in which all members, regardless of location or position, have the opportunity to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from engagement in their association.
ALA operates effectively, efficiently, creatively and in a socially responsible fashion to accomplish its mission.
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/policymanual/updatedpolicymanual/section2.pdf
I am relieved to see how dedicated the ALA is to the survival of the library.
While the library has traditionally held the position of cataloging the world's information, it is not competing or claiming to compete with Google in maximizing easy access to information. The library is about people helping people, providing the open access needed to close the digital divide. The library provides "the human touch"--something I believe will be even more crucial in the digital future.
"Respectfully connecting people to the information they seek" is how I see the library.
The library is dependent on the public's perception of its usefulness, and their willingness to devote local, state and federal tax dollars to sustain them. While libraries are still valued, they have experienced steady budget cuts. Will people still see a need for the library as a physical place, and sustain this place in the future?
The Official ALA Motto:
"The best reading, for the largest number, at the least cost."
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/missionhistory/mission/index.cfm
The ALA has also committed to eight Key Action Areas to focus the Library's energies and resources: Access, Confidentiality/Privacy, Democracy, Diversity, Education and Lifelong Learning, Intellectual Freedom, Preservation, and The Public Good.
The Goals of the ALA
The ALA equips and leads advocates for libraries, library issues and the library profession, and plays a key role in formulating legislation, policies and standards that affect library and information services.
ALA promotes excellence and diversity in the library field.
ALA provides leadership in the transformation of libraries and library services in a dynamic and increasingly global digital information environment.
ALA provides an environment in which all members, regardless of location or position, have the opportunity to participate in, contribute to, and benefit from engagement in their association.
ALA operates effectively, efficiently, creatively and in a socially responsible fashion to accomplish its mission.
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/governance/policymanual/updatedpolicymanual/section2.pdf
I am relieved to see how dedicated the ALA is to the survival of the library.
While the library has traditionally held the position of cataloging the world's information, it is not competing or claiming to compete with Google in maximizing easy access to information. The library is about people helping people, providing the open access needed to close the digital divide. The library provides "the human touch"--something I believe will be even more crucial in the digital future.
"Respectfully connecting people to the information they seek" is how I see the library.
The library is dependent on the public's perception of its usefulness, and their willingness to devote local, state and federal tax dollars to sustain them. While libraries are still valued, they have experienced steady budget cuts. Will people still see a need for the library as a physical place, and sustain this place in the future?
"Do one thing and do it well."
In business it is recommended to "Do one thing and do it well."
The very successful Google names this principle as the guiding force behind their decision to dedicate themselves to the search.
Google has worried me on behalf of the library.
This is Google's Mission Statement:
"Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
This is the first thing of Google's "Ten Things" statement, written in addition to their Mission Statement.
"It’s best to do one thing really, really well. We do search. With one of the world‘s largest research groups focused exclusively on solving search problems, we know what we do well, and how we could do it better. Through continued iteration on difficult problems, we’ve been able to solve complex issues and provide continuous improvements to a service that already makes finding information a fast and seamless experience for millions of people. Our dedication to improving search helps us apply what we‘ve learned to new products, like Gmail and Google Maps. Our hope is to bring the power of search to previously unexplored areas, and to help people access and use even more of the ever-expanding information in their lives." ---Google
Until the digital age, and increased digital literacy, the library was the place to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Wasn't it?
The library cannot out-search Google, nor can it stay ahead of IBM and Sony in technology. If we go to a paperless society, are libraries doomed?
There is no umbrella protection for the future of public libraries through the Library of Congress. According to the Library of Congress Mission Statement, the LC's mission is "to support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people."
http://www.loc.gov/about/mission.html
This is an interesting article concerning libraries’online public access catalogs (OPACs) competing with, and even threatened by Web search engines.
http://eprints.rclis.org/bitstream/10760/16057/1/advances_in_librarianship_preprint.pdf
The very successful Google names this principle as the guiding force behind their decision to dedicate themselves to the search.
Google has worried me on behalf of the library.
This is Google's Mission Statement:
"Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."
This is the first thing of Google's "Ten Things" statement, written in addition to their Mission Statement.
"It’s best to do one thing really, really well. We do search. With one of the world‘s largest research groups focused exclusively on solving search problems, we know what we do well, and how we could do it better. Through continued iteration on difficult problems, we’ve been able to solve complex issues and provide continuous improvements to a service that already makes finding information a fast and seamless experience for millions of people. Our dedication to improving search helps us apply what we‘ve learned to new products, like Gmail and Google Maps. Our hope is to bring the power of search to previously unexplored areas, and to help people access and use even more of the ever-expanding information in their lives." ---Google
Until the digital age, and increased digital literacy, the library was the place to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Wasn't it?
The library cannot out-search Google, nor can it stay ahead of IBM and Sony in technology. If we go to a paperless society, are libraries doomed?
There is no umbrella protection for the future of public libraries through the Library of Congress. According to the Library of Congress Mission Statement, the LC's mission is "to support the Congress in fulfilling its constitutional duties and to further the progress of knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people."
http://www.loc.gov/about/mission.html
This is an interesting article concerning libraries’online public access catalogs (OPACs) competing with, and even threatened by Web search engines.
http://eprints.rclis.org/bitstream/10760/16057/1/advances_in_librarianship_preprint.pdf
Friday, July 22, 2011
"To do a certain kind of thing, you have to be a certain kind of person."
The avenues for publishing on the internet are multitudinous.
An author can self publish e-books, or create print-on-demand books in a variety of ways, ranging from the bare bones do-it-yourself approach to paying exorbitant amounts for book design, formating, publishing, and marketing.
An author can self-publish or publish through traditional means, working with an agent and/or publishing house, who will most likely utilize both print and digital opportunities.
There is a dizzying number of internet sites offering advice to authors on how and where to get published. One such site, Marketlist.com, http://www.marketlist.com/ is an online resource for genre fiction writers, providing information on genre-specific electronic publishing opportunities.
I explore these sights and quickly remember my many former attempts to wade through print versions of the same information. I stalled then and I am stalled now.
There is too much information.
Given lists and lists of publishers with names, facts, and figures, I am quickly overwhelmed and resentful of the time it takes. I still can't decide who or where to send my work.
Even armed with facts and figures, I still don't know who these people are.
I don't know where I am sending my creations, my pets.
I don't want them to go just any place. I want them to go to the "right" place, and I've never been able to identify the place I feel is "right."
Now I am seeing the efficacy of the agent.
"To do a certain kind of thing, you have to be a certain kind of person."
Hsin Hsin Ming
I have made a personal creed of working with what I have and going from there. This has led me to explore the world of do-it-yourself projects, but I can only get so far on my own. I do not have the interest, attention span or capacity for detail to wade through all the options and plan a course of action.
I had assumed that the digital age would negate the need for agents, but I don't think I will ever be a successful writer without the expertise and navigation skills of an agent.
Likewise, I believe that in the face of the explosion of digital information, the need for skilled librarians increases rather than decreases.
An author can self publish e-books, or create print-on-demand books in a variety of ways, ranging from the bare bones do-it-yourself approach to paying exorbitant amounts for book design, formating, publishing, and marketing.
An author can self-publish or publish through traditional means, working with an agent and/or publishing house, who will most likely utilize both print and digital opportunities.
There is a dizzying number of internet sites offering advice to authors on how and where to get published. One such site, Marketlist.com, http://www.marketlist.com/ is an online resource for genre fiction writers, providing information on genre-specific electronic publishing opportunities.
I explore these sights and quickly remember my many former attempts to wade through print versions of the same information. I stalled then and I am stalled now.
There is too much information.
Given lists and lists of publishers with names, facts, and figures, I am quickly overwhelmed and resentful of the time it takes. I still can't decide who or where to send my work.
Even armed with facts and figures, I still don't know who these people are.
I don't know where I am sending my creations, my pets.
I don't want them to go just any place. I want them to go to the "right" place, and I've never been able to identify the place I feel is "right."
Now I am seeing the efficacy of the agent.
"To do a certain kind of thing, you have to be a certain kind of person."
Hsin Hsin Ming
I have made a personal creed of working with what I have and going from there. This has led me to explore the world of do-it-yourself projects, but I can only get so far on my own. I do not have the interest, attention span or capacity for detail to wade through all the options and plan a course of action.
I had assumed that the digital age would negate the need for agents, but I don't think I will ever be a successful writer without the expertise and navigation skills of an agent.
Likewise, I believe that in the face of the explosion of digital information, the need for skilled librarians increases rather than decreases.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
First Amendment, Law, IMLS, & the Library
The Library ensures our First Amendment rights as ensured to U.S. citizens by the Bill of Rights.
The First Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
However, libraries are not commanded by the U.S. Constitution.
Libraries exist because communities want libraries.
The Federal government provides some support for libraries, but the primary funds for library support come from state and local taxes.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 77.6% of public library income is acquired from local funds, 12.1% from state funds, and 0.9% from federal funds. The remaining income (over 9%) comes from other sources, including user fees, special events, and private fundraising efforts involving foundations, corporations, individual philanthropists, and "Friends of the Library" groups.
http://nces.ed.gov/
In 1956, Congress passed the Library Services Act, providing funds for the provision of library services to unserved areas, primarily rural communities. A 1964 amendment established the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) to extend monetary aid to all areas with inadequate library services, including urban areas. In 1996, the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) replaced the expiring LSCA. It focused federal funding efforts on information access through technology and information empowerment through special services, providing federal funds to state library agencies according to population.
LIBRARY SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY ACT (LSTA)
To promote improvements in library services in all types of libraries in order to better serve the people of the United States.
To facilitate access to resources and in all types of libraries for the purpose of cultivating an educated and informed citizenry; and
To encourage resource sharing among all types of libraries for the purpose of achieving economical and efficient delivery of library services to the public.
The federal administration of the program was then shifted from the Department of Education to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, (IMLS.)
http://www.imls.gov/
The Institute of Museum and Library Services Mission Statement:
Through Grants to State Library Administrative Agencies, the largest of all of its grant programs, IMLS provides funding to state libraries to provide visually and physically impaired Americans with braille materials and recorded audiobooks.
The First Amendment:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
However, libraries are not commanded by the U.S. Constitution.
Libraries exist because communities want libraries.
The Federal government provides some support for libraries, but the primary funds for library support come from state and local taxes.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 77.6% of public library income is acquired from local funds, 12.1% from state funds, and 0.9% from federal funds. The remaining income (over 9%) comes from other sources, including user fees, special events, and private fundraising efforts involving foundations, corporations, individual philanthropists, and "Friends of the Library" groups.
http://nces.ed.gov/
In 1956, Congress passed the Library Services Act, providing funds for the provision of library services to unserved areas, primarily rural communities. A 1964 amendment established the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) to extend monetary aid to all areas with inadequate library services, including urban areas. In 1996, the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) replaced the expiring LSCA. It focused federal funding efforts on information access through technology and information empowerment through special services, providing federal funds to state library agencies according to population.
LIBRARY SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGY ACT (LSTA)
To promote improvements in library services in all types of libraries in order to better serve the people of the United States.
To facilitate access to resources and in all types of libraries for the purpose of cultivating an educated and informed citizenry; and
To encourage resource sharing among all types of libraries for the purpose of achieving economical and efficient delivery of library services to the public.
The federal administration of the program was then shifted from the Department of Education to the Institute of Museum and Library Services, (IMLS.)
http://www.imls.gov/
The Institute of Museum and Library Services Mission Statement:
"The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development."
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
SmashWords, SEO's, Google & the Library
You can pay any amount of money to publish your book on the internet, depending on how much you are willing or able to do yourself.
Amazon, one of the largest publishers of ebooks will make your word document into a PDF file for $300. This is a ridiculously high price for reformating a document.
Even if you don't own the software, you can go to the Adobe site, get a free software trial and make your own PDF's for free.
The premium publishing package at Amazon is over $5,000. and includes cover art, formatting, publishing, and marketing. There are other sites available. I was able to publish my book in paperback for $7.00 at Lulu.com, doing the work myself.
Internet publishers are many, and many are expensive. Smashwords is a highly respected site that offers free digital publishing to authors, and free E-books to readers.
http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords
"Smashwords makes it fast, free and easy to publish and distribute your ebook to the world's largest ebook retailers and mobile phone apps. Authors control the pricing, sampling and marketing of their books."
Marketing is crucial to an author's success, but how to market is a matter of hot debate.
I found one SEO--search engine optimization company that argues for paying perhaps thousands of dollars a month for their services. This is what they claimed in their website:
"The easiest way to be 'penny-wise, pound-foolish' is to hire an SEO company or professional who is only going to charge you $50 for a month's link building activities. $50? What a great deal, especially if they promise that this includes blog commenting, content marketing, blog writing, press release distribution and directory submission. Let me be the first to tell you that doing all of that can take 20, 30, 40, even 50+ hours when done right. If someone is only getting paid $50, chances are you aren't going to be getting their best work. They might be employing black hat SEO techniques or outsource their projects overseas. Both of these scenarios are going to cause problems down the road for you and your website."
It is unclear what it is that you are paying for. Even $50. a month is costly. I can't imagine spending thousands.
There is a sucker market on the internet where you can pay too much for too little. Unless you have proof of the SEO company's success with other clients, I would be very wary.
I did become concerned that all our digitized information might be tainted, manipulated by advertisers, and the search engine optimization companies.
According to their website, Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Advertising is clearly identified as a “Sponsored Link” at Google, and its founders state that ads do not compromise the integrity of their search results.
Google's 'Ten Things' is a very inspiring list of their core values. This is one of the list:
"Democracy on the web works.
Google search works because it relies on the millions of individuals posting links on websites to help determine which other sites offer content of value. We assess the importance of every web page using more than 200 signals and a variety of techniques, including our patented PageRank™ algorithm, which analyzes which sites have been “voted” to be the best sources of information by other pages across the web. As the web gets bigger, this approach actually improves, as each new site is another point of information and another vote to be counted. In the same vein, we are active in open source software development, where innovation takes place through the collective effort of many programmers." From Google 'Ten Things'
http://www.google.com/about/corporate/company/tenthings.html
I imagined Google as a monster trying to eat the library, but they are entirely dedicated to the search, and have made many useful liasons with the library.
Google Book Search expands through digital scanning partnerships with the libraries of Harvard, Stanford, University of Michigan and Oxford as well as the New York Public Library in 2004.
In 2005, more than 100 libraries on 10 campuses of the University of California join the Google Books Library Project.
Together with LitCam and UNESCO‘s Institute for Lifelong Learning, Google launched the Literacy Project, offering resources for teachers, literacy groups and anyone interested in reading promotion.
Googles history belies manipulation by the search engine optimization companies, so is there anything they offer that the consumer can't do for themselves?
This looks like a helpful site for publishing opportunities. It is possible an author would gain more name recognition by publishing in specialized sites dedicated to a single genre.
http://www.marketlist.com/writers_index/
Amazon, one of the largest publishers of ebooks will make your word document into a PDF file for $300. This is a ridiculously high price for reformating a document.
Even if you don't own the software, you can go to the Adobe site, get a free software trial and make your own PDF's for free.
The premium publishing package at Amazon is over $5,000. and includes cover art, formatting, publishing, and marketing. There are other sites available. I was able to publish my book in paperback for $7.00 at Lulu.com, doing the work myself.
Internet publishers are many, and many are expensive. Smashwords is a highly respected site that offers free digital publishing to authors, and free E-books to readers.
http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords
"Smashwords makes it fast, free and easy to publish and distribute your ebook to the world's largest ebook retailers and mobile phone apps. Authors control the pricing, sampling and marketing of their books."
Marketing is crucial to an author's success, but how to market is a matter of hot debate.
I found one SEO--search engine optimization company that argues for paying perhaps thousands of dollars a month for their services. This is what they claimed in their website:
"The easiest way to be 'penny-wise, pound-foolish' is to hire an SEO company or professional who is only going to charge you $50 for a month's link building activities. $50? What a great deal, especially if they promise that this includes blog commenting, content marketing, blog writing, press release distribution and directory submission. Let me be the first to tell you that doing all of that can take 20, 30, 40, even 50+ hours when done right. If someone is only getting paid $50, chances are you aren't going to be getting their best work. They might be employing black hat SEO techniques or outsource their projects overseas. Both of these scenarios are going to cause problems down the road for you and your website."
It is unclear what it is that you are paying for. Even $50. a month is costly. I can't imagine spending thousands.
There is a sucker market on the internet where you can pay too much for too little. Unless you have proof of the SEO company's success with other clients, I would be very wary.
I did become concerned that all our digitized information might be tainted, manipulated by advertisers, and the search engine optimization companies.
According to their website, Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Advertising is clearly identified as a “Sponsored Link” at Google, and its founders state that ads do not compromise the integrity of their search results.
Google's 'Ten Things' is a very inspiring list of their core values. This is one of the list:
"Democracy on the web works.
Google search works because it relies on the millions of individuals posting links on websites to help determine which other sites offer content of value. We assess the importance of every web page using more than 200 signals and a variety of techniques, including our patented PageRank™ algorithm, which analyzes which sites have been “voted” to be the best sources of information by other pages across the web. As the web gets bigger, this approach actually improves, as each new site is another point of information and another vote to be counted. In the same vein, we are active in open source software development, where innovation takes place through the collective effort of many programmers." From Google 'Ten Things'
http://www.google.com/about/corporate/company/tenthings.html
I imagined Google as a monster trying to eat the library, but they are entirely dedicated to the search, and have made many useful liasons with the library.
Google Book Search expands through digital scanning partnerships with the libraries of Harvard, Stanford, University of Michigan and Oxford as well as the New York Public Library in 2004.
In 2005, more than 100 libraries on 10 campuses of the University of California join the Google Books Library Project.
Together with LitCam and UNESCO‘s Institute for Lifelong Learning, Google launched the Literacy Project, offering resources for teachers, literacy groups and anyone interested in reading promotion.
Googles history belies manipulation by the search engine optimization companies, so is there anything they offer that the consumer can't do for themselves?
This looks like a helpful site for publishing opportunities. It is possible an author would gain more name recognition by publishing in specialized sites dedicated to a single genre.
http://www.marketlist.com/writers_index/
Monday, July 11, 2011
The Luck of Being Down on Your Luck in America
I have always been drawn to edges, underbellies, silver linings, and contrasts.
I have lived long enough so I can finally see where my high wire dances over perpendicular precipice have led.
I did not feel like I landed until I was 30, and now at 50+, I can see what I have gained by my unexpected life and experiences.
I expected to be a slightly plump, cookie-baking home-maker. I was tossed into the world instead, and have tried on many lives.
I have dined under chandeliers, and sold my plasma to feed my children.
I have been on stage, singing and playing my songs to cheering thousands, and I have been an invisible nothing girl.
I have been a smiling, bobbing waitress, and a recluse.
I have ridden in limosines, and I have ridden a child's bicycle with no seat to work.
I was taught it was more blessed to give than to receive, and found myself on the receiving end, accepting Christmas presents for my children from local churches.
I have had a middle class ego, astonished to find myself having to apply for food stamps.
I have believed in the power of prayer, and known that many a pious mother before me has had hungry children.
I seek non-violent confrontations, but I would have killed to protect my children.
I am an escapee from domestic violence, a displaced home-maker turned head of household.
I have been on top of the world, and I've been close to dying alone.
I have been painfully shy, and astonishingly bold.
I have been unable to listen. I learned to listen.
I loved the church. I rejected the church and went my own way.
I am reborn, and reborn but not like people say.
One brief fling with another female musician and I'm a lesbian.
Two failed marriages and I'm a double divorcee.
People can't decide if I'm ugly or beautiful, smart or stupid, crazy or sane; I answer to many names.
I have expected justice and been deeply dismayed.
I have believed that doctors and dentists, counselors, psychiatrists, and hospitals cared about me and mine, and I have been invisible, staring in horror at the dollar signs shining in their eyes as they slam the door and lock it.
I have held my cocktail, chatting and bobbing at the snobbiest of snob events with the Virginia Horsey Set, while my best friends back home are a motley crew of characters: scarred-up and perpetually broke, some toothless, some blacker than coal, some gayest of gay, some say some: crazy.
I am compassionate/ruthless, empathic/self-absorbed, an angry dreamer who loves microscopes and telescopes, angles and edges...and maybe just maybe the things I've learned are useful to others.
I've always, always loved to figure out how to replace misery with joy, the changes I would make in society's response to poverty. I know what it feels like to be down on your luck in America.
I have lived long enough so I can finally see where my high wire dances over perpendicular precipice have led.
I did not feel like I landed until I was 30, and now at 50+, I can see what I have gained by my unexpected life and experiences.
I expected to be a slightly plump, cookie-baking home-maker. I was tossed into the world instead, and have tried on many lives.
I have dined under chandeliers, and sold my plasma to feed my children.
I have been on stage, singing and playing my songs to cheering thousands, and I have been an invisible nothing girl.
I have been a smiling, bobbing waitress, and a recluse.
I have ridden in limosines, and I have ridden a child's bicycle with no seat to work.
I was taught it was more blessed to give than to receive, and found myself on the receiving end, accepting Christmas presents for my children from local churches.
I have had a middle class ego, astonished to find myself having to apply for food stamps.
I have believed in the power of prayer, and known that many a pious mother before me has had hungry children.
I seek non-violent confrontations, but I would have killed to protect my children.
I am an escapee from domestic violence, a displaced home-maker turned head of household.
I have been on top of the world, and I've been close to dying alone.
I have been painfully shy, and astonishingly bold.
I have been unable to listen. I learned to listen.
I loved the church. I rejected the church and went my own way.
I am reborn, and reborn but not like people say.
One brief fling with another female musician and I'm a lesbian.
Two failed marriages and I'm a double divorcee.
People can't decide if I'm ugly or beautiful, smart or stupid, crazy or sane; I answer to many names.
I have expected justice and been deeply dismayed.
I have believed that doctors and dentists, counselors, psychiatrists, and hospitals cared about me and mine, and I have been invisible, staring in horror at the dollar signs shining in their eyes as they slam the door and lock it.
I have held my cocktail, chatting and bobbing at the snobbiest of snob events with the Virginia Horsey Set, while my best friends back home are a motley crew of characters: scarred-up and perpetually broke, some toothless, some blacker than coal, some gayest of gay, some say some: crazy.
I am compassionate/ruthless, empathic/self-absorbed, an angry dreamer who loves microscopes and telescopes, angles and edges...and maybe just maybe the things I've learned are useful to others.
I've always, always loved to figure out how to replace misery with joy, the changes I would make in society's response to poverty. I know what it feels like to be down on your luck in America.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
My Prime Directive Changes...and Changes
The vow to nurture my children, and deliver them safely to adulthood was my prime objective, and fueled my journey through many trials for 30 or so years. While I remain their devoted mother forever, my job is done. They are grown. I have to find new reasons to go on.
Depression is a beast, mania, a constant struggle to channel.
Apparently I suffer delusions, and there is no convincing my doctors otherwise.
But I hear songs no one else hears.
It seems natural to me that I would see a thing here or there that no one else sees.
I can function in this world, but just barely.
I think it is the strain of so much input that sabatages my attempts to join the world in a meaningful way job-wise.
My system goes haywire in the marketplace.
My hearing gets better, my vision gets worse.
Florescent lighting, beeps, and blings, the stares, the summations, the emotions swirling are loud, so loud.
I hate it.
Maybe there is a name for it, but I try not to listen to names, for you can believe your label and maybe think you're sick when you just have different wiring, just a little tricky to handle, even with meds.
So as good as I am at "book-learning," I have never been able to translate what I can do into a "real" job, and have been forced to be one of the working poor, paying my college loans out of my tip money.
My every attempt at a higher paying job began with me bucking myself up and then squishing myself into the part. It never worked, not even once. I've had to accept that I can only be what I am and find the job that can benefit from what I've learned.
My decision to go to Library School was made by scanning the world for a real job where I could fit. I refuse to end my life begging and borrowing from my children, eating turnips and wondering how to pay the light bill. I thought I had a real chance of being able to stay at a job in the library. I could use my B.S. and I could prevent being a burden to my children in the future.
Going to Library School has opened my eyes.
Librarians can work in a wide variety of settings.
You just have to find your niche.
Depression is a beast, mania, a constant struggle to channel.
Apparently I suffer delusions, and there is no convincing my doctors otherwise.
But I hear songs no one else hears.
It seems natural to me that I would see a thing here or there that no one else sees.
I can function in this world, but just barely.
I think it is the strain of so much input that sabatages my attempts to join the world in a meaningful way job-wise.
My system goes haywire in the marketplace.
My hearing gets better, my vision gets worse.
Florescent lighting, beeps, and blings, the stares, the summations, the emotions swirling are loud, so loud.
I hate it.
Maybe there is a name for it, but I try not to listen to names, for you can believe your label and maybe think you're sick when you just have different wiring, just a little tricky to handle, even with meds.
So as good as I am at "book-learning," I have never been able to translate what I can do into a "real" job, and have been forced to be one of the working poor, paying my college loans out of my tip money.
My every attempt at a higher paying job began with me bucking myself up and then squishing myself into the part. It never worked, not even once. I've had to accept that I can only be what I am and find the job that can benefit from what I've learned.
My decision to go to Library School was made by scanning the world for a real job where I could fit. I refuse to end my life begging and borrowing from my children, eating turnips and wondering how to pay the light bill. I thought I had a real chance of being able to stay at a job in the library. I could use my B.S. and I could prevent being a burden to my children in the future.
Going to Library School has opened my eyes.
Librarians can work in a wide variety of settings.
You just have to find your niche.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
KD Rouse/Library School & Finding My Niche
In our first semester of library school, Dr. Hersberger assured us in her calm, matter-of-fact way, that there was a niche for each of us in the library world, giving us tips on how we might find this niche if it wasn't apparent.
Even though she spoke to the whole class, the others dropped away when she said this, and I heard her speak to me alone.
She upset my entire plan, and allowed me to dare to seek my ideal library niche.
As much as I love children and literature for children, I love being free to roam the library field, imagining where I fit the best.
Most of my classes have had projects involving topics of our choice, and I have chosen science and biology topics rather than the type of children's lit or humanities topics I usually choose.
This has given me confidence that I can research, understand and relate information about topics outside my comfort zone.
It also dawned on me that if the information exists, as a future Librarian, I should be able to find it. This knowledge is empowering because I have been flummoxed by how to get from here to there on several areas of my life.
I now know that if I can formulate the question, I can find the answer.
I started Library School because I figured if I had to work a real job, the Library was a good setting. I planned on being an elementary school librarian because I could finally use my teaching certificate in a viable way after 30 years of disuse.
I figured I had just about enough work life left in me to prevent being a burden to my children in my old age.
Throughout our trials, I always figured I'd worry about myself later.
When my youngest child left home, that time began.
But Dr. Hersberger invited me to dream and explore--things I love, and by dreaming and exploring, I am learning where my niche lies and where it does not.
Even though she spoke to the whole class, the others dropped away when she said this, and I heard her speak to me alone.
She upset my entire plan, and allowed me to dare to seek my ideal library niche.
As much as I love children and literature for children, I love being free to roam the library field, imagining where I fit the best.
Most of my classes have had projects involving topics of our choice, and I have chosen science and biology topics rather than the type of children's lit or humanities topics I usually choose.
This has given me confidence that I can research, understand and relate information about topics outside my comfort zone.
It also dawned on me that if the information exists, as a future Librarian, I should be able to find it. This knowledge is empowering because I have been flummoxed by how to get from here to there on several areas of my life.
I now know that if I can formulate the question, I can find the answer.
I started Library School because I figured if I had to work a real job, the Library was a good setting. I planned on being an elementary school librarian because I could finally use my teaching certificate in a viable way after 30 years of disuse.
I figured I had just about enough work life left in me to prevent being a burden to my children in my old age.
Throughout our trials, I always figured I'd worry about myself later.
When my youngest child left home, that time began.
But Dr. Hersberger invited me to dream and explore--things I love, and by dreaming and exploring, I am learning where my niche lies and where it does not.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Books Make Free Men to the Chagrin of Would-Be Enslavers
Father Eby had such a beautiful, sonorous voice that I didn't even much mind sitting through the sermons every Sunday, singing in the Good Shephard Episcopal Junior Choir.
I vowed to read the Bible, and bored by who begat whom, finally skipping ahead to the words in red, thanks to an Apocropha.
The words in red, what Jesus is purported to have said, is baby, and religion, its bath water.
Christ's teachings spoke to me, shaping how I wanted to live.
Later I wondered if I should be a Jew because Jesus was, and I don't think he'd be very pleased with what has been done in his Name.
I think he'd enter the temple and kick over all the tables in a terrible temper.
I didn't see the humor until much, much later; my nineteen year old self, blythe, earnest, and proud, presenting, and defending my paper that proved quite clearly that Christ Fufilled the Prophecies and stuff and so-on to my two professors, who I remembered later were both Jewish.
They were kind, and while I was entirely oblivious to it at the time, their manner, their polite-ness, maybe their silences, floated up in my memory from time to time and gave me questions, until I saw it and laughed loudly.
When I understood more
the impact of politics,
that history belongs to the Victor,
the power of translation to change a work,
how many lies I had been taught as history,
the lengths some will go for money and power,
that the same wisdom occurs in a variety of religions,
that poverty is not an accident,
and that my God would have a sense of humor and overlook it
If I'm wrong to think the Christian leap of faith, blood sacrifice of an innocent, idolatry, and fear, is illogical.
When I see a flower, I am unafraid.
When I see the "Justice" System preying on the poor,
when I know how expensive it is to be poor, with added chains, spit, and indiginities and almost impossible to escape,
When I know that hunger is more about power and distribution than world resources,
When I know the system set in place to deal with domestic violence makes things far worse,
These things, and many more: When I see them, I know it could be different.
Each world citizen should have their basic needs met in order for the world to evolve to a place where higher thought is even possible. When you are hungry, your dreams are of food. When you have food and shelter, you may dream of many things.
The Library is at a unique crossroad in the transition from providing citizens with basic needs and ensuring the right of each person to have information and the tools needed to access it, a higher level need. The Library gives the homeless shelter from the elements, and gives the lonely a place to be, while it provides the books, computers, and instruction that allow higher level thinking opportunities.
I am intrigued with the future of the Library.
I plan to write my vision for the Library of the Future when I learn more about what the library is facing with the digital age.
I vowed to read the Bible, and bored by who begat whom, finally skipping ahead to the words in red, thanks to an Apocropha.
The words in red, what Jesus is purported to have said, is baby, and religion, its bath water.
Christ's teachings spoke to me, shaping how I wanted to live.
Later I wondered if I should be a Jew because Jesus was, and I don't think he'd be very pleased with what has been done in his Name.
I think he'd enter the temple and kick over all the tables in a terrible temper.
I didn't see the humor until much, much later; my nineteen year old self, blythe, earnest, and proud, presenting, and defending my paper that proved quite clearly that Christ Fufilled the Prophecies and stuff and so-on to my two professors, who I remembered later were both Jewish.
They were kind, and while I was entirely oblivious to it at the time, their manner, their polite-ness, maybe their silences, floated up in my memory from time to time and gave me questions, until I saw it and laughed loudly.
When I understood more
the impact of politics,
that history belongs to the Victor,
the power of translation to change a work,
how many lies I had been taught as history,
the lengths some will go for money and power,
that the same wisdom occurs in a variety of religions,
that poverty is not an accident,
and that my God would have a sense of humor and overlook it
If I'm wrong to think the Christian leap of faith, blood sacrifice of an innocent, idolatry, and fear, is illogical.
When I see a flower, I am unafraid.
When I see the "Justice" System preying on the poor,
when I know how expensive it is to be poor, with added chains, spit, and indiginities and almost impossible to escape,
When I know that hunger is more about power and distribution than world resources,
When I know the system set in place to deal with domestic violence makes things far worse,
These things, and many more: When I see them, I know it could be different.
Each world citizen should have their basic needs met in order for the world to evolve to a place where higher thought is even possible. When you are hungry, your dreams are of food. When you have food and shelter, you may dream of many things.
The Library is at a unique crossroad in the transition from providing citizens with basic needs and ensuring the right of each person to have information and the tools needed to access it, a higher level need. The Library gives the homeless shelter from the elements, and gives the lonely a place to be, while it provides the books, computers, and instruction that allow higher level thinking opportunities.
I am intrigued with the future of the Library.
I plan to write my vision for the Library of the Future when I learn more about what the library is facing with the digital age.
Information is Useless If It Cannot Be Accessed, etc.
On the night of the funeral, four daughters stand side by side in the dark, watching their homeplace burn.
Should we call the fire department?
Not yet, says the youngest. Wait.
We wait until its much too late, feeling our burden lift as the house collapses in a ball of flames.
Then we drink tequila in the graveyard, laughing.
At least that's how we dreamed it one time when our youngest pointed out that someday it would all be ours.
Inheritance is not an easy topic with the hoarder's child.
And too, there is an unspoken horror of becoming a hoarder too. What if it's genetic or catching?
Daughters 1 & 3(me) have minimal possessions to maintain order. We let go more than we keep.
Daughters 2 & 4 have a comfortable place for everything and everything in its place, masters of creating and using space.
Hoarding is an illustration of what could happen to information if the Library did not exist. We'd have heaps and piles of information without a way to access it. Information that cannot be accessed is useless, just as possessions are useless if they cannot be found.
I did not realize that my propensity to organize, group, list, and catalog my own life and information was a characteristic befitting a library school student.
I have written to understand, to clarify my many voices, to make sense of my barrages of sensation, to organize my thoughts, to locate what I think, to keep a record of my attitudes, for comfort.
When I assimilate my input or information and write, I feel an obligation to share what I've learned.
It matters not to me if it is read, but it feels wrong not to share what I've learned.
What good is my knowledge if it is buried when I am?
However, what I consider Knowledge simply becomes Information when I share it.
The symbiotic relationship between Information and Knowledge is intriguing, and as far as I can ascertain, they continually morph from one to another in crazy eights.
My knowledge is your potential information.
But my "knowledge" could be "wrong", or useless to another, which leads to considerations of perception and belief, where "right" and "wrong" are subjective.
My job is to share, however, and I cannot concern myself with how or if I will be received.
A story or a song carries with it, a sense of obligation, a feeling that is not really a story or a song if it is not offered up to the universe with the potential to be read or heard.
Humanity's upward spirals are due to sharing information, most easily seen by the breakthroughs in science by continual sharing, use, and assimiliation of knowledge.
Even scientific theory that has proven to be wrong has been important in the evolution of scientific knowledge, providing fodder for ideas, starting points for more accurate research, or acting as gauntlets thrown to other scientists.
I am grateful to authors like Martha Graham, and Maya Angelou, Thoreau, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin, Zen Masters, and countless others, that changed my life by speaking to me. Where would I be without them? How would I understand the meaning of my life without their wisdom and voice? I would be alone in the darkness, ashamed and untamed, unworthy to live, a mistaken vessel.
Alive or dead, my author/mentors reached out and spoke to me, cheering me on through life, advising and comforting, without ever knowing their impact on their future readers' lives.
Aside from doing harm to others, the only real "sin" I can ascertain is "hiding your light under a bushel basket," i.e. not sharing.
Whoever you are and whatever you have to offer must be shared or it is nothing.
Should we call the fire department?
Not yet, says the youngest. Wait.
We wait until its much too late, feeling our burden lift as the house collapses in a ball of flames.
Then we drink tequila in the graveyard, laughing.
At least that's how we dreamed it one time when our youngest pointed out that someday it would all be ours.
Inheritance is not an easy topic with the hoarder's child.
And too, there is an unspoken horror of becoming a hoarder too. What if it's genetic or catching?
Daughters 1 & 3(me) have minimal possessions to maintain order. We let go more than we keep.
Daughters 2 & 4 have a comfortable place for everything and everything in its place, masters of creating and using space.
Hoarding is an illustration of what could happen to information if the Library did not exist. We'd have heaps and piles of information without a way to access it. Information that cannot be accessed is useless, just as possessions are useless if they cannot be found.
I did not realize that my propensity to organize, group, list, and catalog my own life and information was a characteristic befitting a library school student.
I have written to understand, to clarify my many voices, to make sense of my barrages of sensation, to organize my thoughts, to locate what I think, to keep a record of my attitudes, for comfort.
When I assimilate my input or information and write, I feel an obligation to share what I've learned.
It matters not to me if it is read, but it feels wrong not to share what I've learned.
What good is my knowledge if it is buried when I am?
However, what I consider Knowledge simply becomes Information when I share it.
The symbiotic relationship between Information and Knowledge is intriguing, and as far as I can ascertain, they continually morph from one to another in crazy eights.
My knowledge is your potential information.
But my "knowledge" could be "wrong", or useless to another, which leads to considerations of perception and belief, where "right" and "wrong" are subjective.
My job is to share, however, and I cannot concern myself with how or if I will be received.
A story or a song carries with it, a sense of obligation, a feeling that is not really a story or a song if it is not offered up to the universe with the potential to be read or heard.
Humanity's upward spirals are due to sharing information, most easily seen by the breakthroughs in science by continual sharing, use, and assimiliation of knowledge.
Even scientific theory that has proven to be wrong has been important in the evolution of scientific knowledge, providing fodder for ideas, starting points for more accurate research, or acting as gauntlets thrown to other scientists.
I am grateful to authors like Martha Graham, and Maya Angelou, Thoreau, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin, Zen Masters, and countless others, that changed my life by speaking to me. Where would I be without them? How would I understand the meaning of my life without their wisdom and voice? I would be alone in the darkness, ashamed and untamed, unworthy to live, a mistaken vessel.
Alive or dead, my author/mentors reached out and spoke to me, cheering me on through life, advising and comforting, without ever knowing their impact on their future readers' lives.
Aside from doing harm to others, the only real "sin" I can ascertain is "hiding your light under a bushel basket," i.e. not sharing.
Whoever you are and whatever you have to offer must be shared or it is nothing.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Tout & Shout: The Importance of Marketing (To me & the Library)
I have self-published two books. Luckily all I had in mind was to hold them in my hands and read them like I was a stranger, because I only sold any to myself. This proves that you can accept a free ISBN# and even have a bar code, like I did for "Hip & Broke", but if you don't introduce yourself, if you don't tout yourself and your book to the world, you will never have readers.
Future Librarians abhor touting (although this is a weakness that is being examined by both me and the Library, and needs a full post in the future.)
I need to tout & shout because I want the luxury of time to write. I have two screenplays, one utopian novel, and a few other must-writes in my head, just waiting to spill out.
The Library, too, recognises its need for some fuss and fanfare. Librarians are typically not look-at-me people, look what we do, look what we've done.
I didn't realize until I started Library School, for example, the huge void the library fills in its service to the have-nots, and I've been a patron/fan of the library for almost 50 years. I don't think the public knows it, but unfortunately, it is not a look-at-me opportunity by its very nature.
The library is an equalizer, providing tools and resources to all, allowing access and experiences to its patrons. Another institution might be able to point this out, as it would surely be a blow, especially to the least of us, if the library were to cease to exist.
The Library is color-blind, however, and all men are equal. Librarians can't, don't, won't invade a patron's privacy. Any appraisal a librarian does is only for the purpose of serving patrons' needs. Promoting the library's service to the have-nots is not something a librarian does.
Future Librarians abhor touting (although this is a weakness that is being examined by both me and the Library, and needs a full post in the future.)
I need to tout & shout because I want the luxury of time to write. I have two screenplays, one utopian novel, and a few other must-writes in my head, just waiting to spill out.
The Library, too, recognises its need for some fuss and fanfare. Librarians are typically not look-at-me people, look what we do, look what we've done.
I didn't realize until I started Library School, for example, the huge void the library fills in its service to the have-nots, and I've been a patron/fan of the library for almost 50 years. I don't think the public knows it, but unfortunately, it is not a look-at-me opportunity by its very nature.
The library is an equalizer, providing tools and resources to all, allowing access and experiences to its patrons. Another institution might be able to point this out, as it would surely be a blow, especially to the least of us, if the library were to cease to exist.
The Library is color-blind, however, and all men are equal. Librarians can't, don't, won't invade a patron's privacy. Any appraisal a librarian does is only for the purpose of serving patrons' needs. Promoting the library's service to the have-nots is not something a librarian does.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
KD Rouse: UNC-G/late 80's
I was a stay at home mom for nine years and went back to school to finish my degree at UNC-G when it became clear that my children and I needed to seek higher ground.
I also started waiting tables at Mama Leonis, a job I kept for five years.
Waitressing, while seemingly beneath a person with my education, gave me experience in talking to many people, up close, over and over, until I was a walking, talking, efficient, philosophical, fun-loving, guru waitress. ("Musings of a Guru Waitress" by KD Rouse-unpublished)
Finishing my degree at UNC-G in the late 80's opened my world. It made me feel smart and built up my battered self-esteem. I felt nurtured and respected, and learned to speak to my classmates without a horrible lurch in my stomach. I didn't feel so much a black sheep by finishing my degree, my three sisters all having master's and beyond, successful jobs, nice homes, husbands, etc.
My experiences at UNC-G gave me confidence that I never had before, leading to the most powerful illustration I've ever seen as to the power of confidence: After a year of so of working at Mama Leonies, I went from being unnoticed to being hit upon by my customers and everyone wanted to be my friend. To me, I looked the same. Upon reflection of this surprising turn of events, I decided the only change was confidence.
I loved studying education, all the way through student teaching.
When I tried the real thing by myself, it was the hardest, most stressful job I've ever tried, and 30 years later I still shudder when I think about it.
Maintaining order and discipline in the classroom, and talking to the parents got me.
My first day teaching, I arrived early to be greeted by the two custodian ladies. They looked me over, leaning on their mops, and said, "Oh Chile, they are goin ta eat you up." "Lord, they surely is." I beamed at them wide-eyed while they looked at me sympathetically, shaking their heads. Oh, Lord. They were right.
I also started waiting tables at Mama Leonis, a job I kept for five years.
Waitressing, while seemingly beneath a person with my education, gave me experience in talking to many people, up close, over and over, until I was a walking, talking, efficient, philosophical, fun-loving, guru waitress. ("Musings of a Guru Waitress" by KD Rouse-unpublished)
Finishing my degree at UNC-G in the late 80's opened my world. It made me feel smart and built up my battered self-esteem. I felt nurtured and respected, and learned to speak to my classmates without a horrible lurch in my stomach. I didn't feel so much a black sheep by finishing my degree, my three sisters all having master's and beyond, successful jobs, nice homes, husbands, etc.
My experiences at UNC-G gave me confidence that I never had before, leading to the most powerful illustration I've ever seen as to the power of confidence: After a year of so of working at Mama Leonies, I went from being unnoticed to being hit upon by my customers and everyone wanted to be my friend. To me, I looked the same. Upon reflection of this surprising turn of events, I decided the only change was confidence.
I loved studying education, all the way through student teaching.
When I tried the real thing by myself, it was the hardest, most stressful job I've ever tried, and 30 years later I still shudder when I think about it.
Maintaining order and discipline in the classroom, and talking to the parents got me.
My first day teaching, I arrived early to be greeted by the two custodian ladies. They looked me over, leaning on their mops, and said, "Oh Chile, they are goin ta eat you up." "Lord, they surely is." I beamed at them wide-eyed while they looked at me sympathetically, shaking their heads. Oh, Lord. They were right.
The Future of the Library
Libraries have always held a cherished place in the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of U.S. citizens, but will future generations share this devotion to the library?
Laura Weiss, author of a 1997 article "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age" unearths an unsettling disparity between how library leaders envision the future of the library as opposed to a polling of public opinion. The role of the library shrinks as the public is asked to envision the library of the future. The public imagines it as a museum rather than a gateway to information. (1)
If we are a paperless society with access to information from home or a myriad of mobile devices, what need is there for a library?
Generations of us have gone to the library to do homework, and research, meet with friends and work on projects, to go to story time, use the computer, peruse the shelves for our next book to read, or simply to have a place to be. Libraries have always been a source of civic pride, a library seen as mandatory for any community of worth.
Of all groups polled in Weiss' article, the library is least valued by today's teenagers, the future lawmakers and taxpayers. Our current teens may be the first generation that does not have a sentimental attachment to the library, which spells danger for the future library.
The library has always been The Gateway for information.
With the internet, there are now many Gateways to Information.
Do the other Gateways lead to the Library?
Or does the Library lead to the other Gateways?
What is the Library of the Future?
I need to know:
What role todays library has in relation to the information on the internet.
Does the library have access to all of the information on the internet?
What is the source of the library's collection of digitized work from the internet? (Who gets what first and how does it come to the library)
Are electronically published works cataloged in a consistent format such as MARC (Machine Readable Copy)?
Is the Library of Congress still a main hub with a record of all published works?
How the Library of Congress is handling digitized information. Do the same rules of copyright apply to digitized information as to bound books?
(1) Weiss, Laura. "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age." APLIS 10, no. 3: 163, 1997. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
Laura Weiss, author of a 1997 article "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age" unearths an unsettling disparity between how library leaders envision the future of the library as opposed to a polling of public opinion. The role of the library shrinks as the public is asked to envision the library of the future. The public imagines it as a museum rather than a gateway to information. (1)
If we are a paperless society with access to information from home or a myriad of mobile devices, what need is there for a library?
Generations of us have gone to the library to do homework, and research, meet with friends and work on projects, to go to story time, use the computer, peruse the shelves for our next book to read, or simply to have a place to be. Libraries have always been a source of civic pride, a library seen as mandatory for any community of worth.
Of all groups polled in Weiss' article, the library is least valued by today's teenagers, the future lawmakers and taxpayers. Our current teens may be the first generation that does not have a sentimental attachment to the library, which spells danger for the future library.
The library has always been The Gateway for information.
With the internet, there are now many Gateways to Information.
Do the other Gateways lead to the Library?
Or does the Library lead to the other Gateways?
What is the Library of the Future?
I need to know:
What role todays library has in relation to the information on the internet.
Does the library have access to all of the information on the internet?
What is the source of the library's collection of digitized work from the internet? (Who gets what first and how does it come to the library)
Are electronically published works cataloged in a consistent format such as MARC (Machine Readable Copy)?
Is the Library of Congress still a main hub with a record of all published works?
How the Library of Congress is handling digitized information. Do the same rules of copyright apply to digitized information as to bound books?
(1) Weiss, Laura. "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age." APLIS 10, no. 3: 163, 1997. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
KD Rouse: Higher Education Eras-St. John's-Late 70's
St. John's College, in Annapolis, Maryland, (the Great Books School) taught me that I did not know how to listen.
Always a diligent student, I went to the required, very formal lecture every Friday night and no matter how I vowed to follow the speaker from start to finish, it would never last long, my mind wandering hither and to, about this and that, until the speaker's voice, laughter, clapping, or sudden silence would interrupt my
tangential reveries.
I found it a horrifying revelation, covering my lapses by bobbing my head, laughing, applauding when the others did.
I did the same thing as a child, watching my two older sisters for when to do what, how to look, what to say to avoid the minefields in the land of Oz.
I made a vow to learn to listen, and have practiced, making great strides over the past 30+ years.
I still prefer reading to listening, and writing to speaking because no matter where I go, I can come back and be where I left off, and, I can locate at what point the words became gloss and fodder and read again until I understand.
I still fidget or fall asleep in the time in takes to watch a whole movie.
It has taken me five decades to identify that it is almost impossible to repeat a conversation verbatim, remembering only what I took away.
I also finally realized how often I hear the musicality of speech over the meaning of individual words. I've heard whole forests and not one tree, loved songs my whole life without knowing a single word except in the chorus.
Words can become linked in my head so that I don't recognise the meaning of either word. While my vocabulary included the words "fatally" and "killed," I didn't understand the joke of "Fatally Killed" in a journalism class devoted to headlines until hours later, when I could see the words floating up from my memory.
To this day, I approximate what I think I've heard, the same little girl who was accused of being cheeky when she said "President," instead of "Present" at Bible School roll call, and makes people laugh at her inventive variations of their names. Whether they think I am cheeky or clever, it is usually neither. It is usually quite unintentional.
During my St. John's era, where we had required bi-weekly seminars to discuss our reading, I realized I did not know how to communicate my ideas to others effectively, speaking instead in leaps and bounds that no one else could follow. I was also stricken by nauseating fear when I thought about talking.
The same night Mortimer Adler was carried off the St. John's auditorium stage mid-lecture by a representative of the prankster-loving Junior class, (creating absolute outrage and scandal), he roared at us for presuming we could even hope to understand the Great Books at our tender ages, admonishing us to consider this only the beginning, that learning was a life-long pursuit in our own hands, that the Great Books are great because they will speak to you differently according to who you are when you read them, and that we should never consider our education to be done.
While he seemed crusty and salty, and the last person you would want to carry off stage in a gorilla suit, Mortimer Adler spoke to me that scandalous night and I listened.
I have also learned to accept my way of doing things, using skills I do have, and channeling my quirks to work for me. I think these things are the reason I can write songs, and why I have been compelled to write.
My inner librarian has guided me to seek order within chaos and sparked my interest in how information is grouped and retrieved, for knowledge is power and books make free men.
Always a diligent student, I went to the required, very formal lecture every Friday night and no matter how I vowed to follow the speaker from start to finish, it would never last long, my mind wandering hither and to, about this and that, until the speaker's voice, laughter, clapping, or sudden silence would interrupt my
tangential reveries.
I found it a horrifying revelation, covering my lapses by bobbing my head, laughing, applauding when the others did.
I did the same thing as a child, watching my two older sisters for when to do what, how to look, what to say to avoid the minefields in the land of Oz.
I made a vow to learn to listen, and have practiced, making great strides over the past 30+ years.
I still prefer reading to listening, and writing to speaking because no matter where I go, I can come back and be where I left off, and, I can locate at what point the words became gloss and fodder and read again until I understand.
I still fidget or fall asleep in the time in takes to watch a whole movie.
It has taken me five decades to identify that it is almost impossible to repeat a conversation verbatim, remembering only what I took away.
I also finally realized how often I hear the musicality of speech over the meaning of individual words. I've heard whole forests and not one tree, loved songs my whole life without knowing a single word except in the chorus.
Words can become linked in my head so that I don't recognise the meaning of either word. While my vocabulary included the words "fatally" and "killed," I didn't understand the joke of "Fatally Killed" in a journalism class devoted to headlines until hours later, when I could see the words floating up from my memory.
To this day, I approximate what I think I've heard, the same little girl who was accused of being cheeky when she said "President," instead of "Present" at Bible School roll call, and makes people laugh at her inventive variations of their names. Whether they think I am cheeky or clever, it is usually neither. It is usually quite unintentional.
During my St. John's era, where we had required bi-weekly seminars to discuss our reading, I realized I did not know how to communicate my ideas to others effectively, speaking instead in leaps and bounds that no one else could follow. I was also stricken by nauseating fear when I thought about talking.
The same night Mortimer Adler was carried off the St. John's auditorium stage mid-lecture by a representative of the prankster-loving Junior class, (creating absolute outrage and scandal), he roared at us for presuming we could even hope to understand the Great Books at our tender ages, admonishing us to consider this only the beginning, that learning was a life-long pursuit in our own hands, that the Great Books are great because they will speak to you differently according to who you are when you read them, and that we should never consider our education to be done.
While he seemed crusty and salty, and the last person you would want to carry off stage in a gorilla suit, Mortimer Adler spoke to me that scandalous night and I listened.
I have also learned to accept my way of doing things, using skills I do have, and channeling my quirks to work for me. I think these things are the reason I can write songs, and why I have been compelled to write.
My inner librarian has guided me to seek order within chaos and sparked my interest in how information is grouped and retrieved, for knowledge is power and books make free men.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
KD Rouse: My Angle(s) & Approach to Internet Publishing
I am approaching my study of internet from three major points of interest:
1) I am a Library School student, very interested in the impact digital publishing has on the library, the publishing industry, the librarian and the book.
I am curious about the future.
Is the future library going to be a museum like some predict? (1)
What is the library facing with the onslaught of digitized information?
What are library leaders doing to ensure the library remains vibrant in the future?
Do we need to make ourselves technological leaders in order to maintain a central part of society or do we keep a place "right behind the curve?"
I am concerned about the future of the library.
We are fine now but we are on shaky ground with the current teens and subsequent generations.
Interest in the library is consistency ranked the lowest among today's teens as compared to other age groups. (2)
For the library of the future to maintain its value to the tech-savvy, multi-media generations of the future, it
will need to speed up the tempo, add more noise, food and drink except in the archives( a branch that is a museum) and provide experiences in information that can't be had as effectively as at home.
Our current teens were born to technology and have accepted rapid changes of format. They don't miss vinyl records, Beta tapes, or black and white TV, and I don't think they will miss the traditional bound book.
I think they will accept the latest, greatest, and think the bound book cumbersome and antiquated.
What is the library of the future?
2) I am an author of stories and songs, wondering where and how to publish. What are the options? Is it better to try to get an agent? Should I bypass trying to get published traditionally? Are there free options on the web that I can use to achieve the same results promised by expensive publishing packages?
3) I am a future promoter wanting my author to achieve her goals. What are effective methods of promotion on the web? Is it possible to bring an unknown author to the attention of the reading public without support from paid alliances with internet giants? My author has had a hap-hazard history with spotty promotion attempts before losing interest. To be an effective marketer, I need a systematic, well planned approach, taking stock of what works and what doesn't.
For a more complete listing, see Bibliography page in sidebar
1) Weiss, Laura. "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age." APLIS 10, no. 3: 163, 1997. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
2) Borawski, C. "Beyond the Book: Literacy in the Digital Age." Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children 7, no. 3: 53-54, 2009. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
1) I am a Library School student, very interested in the impact digital publishing has on the library, the publishing industry, the librarian and the book.
I am curious about the future.
Is the future library going to be a museum like some predict? (1)
What is the library facing with the onslaught of digitized information?
What are library leaders doing to ensure the library remains vibrant in the future?
Do we need to make ourselves technological leaders in order to maintain a central part of society or do we keep a place "right behind the curve?"
I am concerned about the future of the library.
We are fine now but we are on shaky ground with the current teens and subsequent generations.
Interest in the library is consistency ranked the lowest among today's teens as compared to other age groups. (2)
For the library of the future to maintain its value to the tech-savvy, multi-media generations of the future, it
will need to speed up the tempo, add more noise, food and drink except in the archives( a branch that is a museum) and provide experiences in information that can't be had as effectively as at home.
Our current teens were born to technology and have accepted rapid changes of format. They don't miss vinyl records, Beta tapes, or black and white TV, and I don't think they will miss the traditional bound book.
I think they will accept the latest, greatest, and think the bound book cumbersome and antiquated.
What is the library of the future?
2) I am an author of stories and songs, wondering where and how to publish. What are the options? Is it better to try to get an agent? Should I bypass trying to get published traditionally? Are there free options on the web that I can use to achieve the same results promised by expensive publishing packages?
3) I am a future promoter wanting my author to achieve her goals. What are effective methods of promotion on the web? Is it possible to bring an unknown author to the attention of the reading public without support from paid alliances with internet giants? My author has had a hap-hazard history with spotty promotion attempts before losing interest. To be an effective marketer, I need a systematic, well planned approach, taking stock of what works and what doesn't.
For a more complete listing, see Bibliography page in sidebar
1) Weiss, Laura. "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age." APLIS 10, no. 3: 163, 1997. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
2) Borawski, C. "Beyond the Book: Literacy in the Digital Age." Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children 7, no. 3: 53-54, 2009. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
Dr. Hersberger & Dr. Carmichael, LIS UNC-G (My favorite professors) & Me
Despite my trepidation, my decision to go to graduate school for Library and Information Studies at University of North Carolina, has been a positive, quietly life-changing, experience.
I was lucky enough to begin my continued education in Fall 2011, with what I call the Dream-Team, Dr. Hersberger and Dr. Carmichael, for two required courses, Intro to Library, and Research. I don't think I would have realized that Library School was the right place for me if I had started my coursework with any two other classes or professors.
I started Library School, beaten down and unsure.
Was I worth going into debt to go to school when I never even used my undergrad degree professionally?
While I raised three children successfully, and have had brushes with fame as a performing singer-songwriter, I have never been able to fit into the confines of a responsible job, preferring what I call Gypsy Jobs, such as waiting tables, and cleaning houses, living on the edge with my mind free, rolling with the roller coaster of bi-polarism, and putting the roundy rounds of a.d.d. to use.
Any responsibility besides my dedication to my children felt like an unbearable anchor on my shoulders, one I couldn't bear.
I taught 5th grade from Dec. to May in the early 90's and never went back. I was a star when I did my coursework for being a teacher, but the real job did not translate.
I felt hopelessly overwhelmed.
I lacked the air of authority and matter-of-factness crucial to a successful teacher.
I wanted to mother the children like my own and take them on learning adventures (!) but it was impossible.
Teaching and mothering, it turned out, were very different, something I had not realized while in school. First and foremost, a teacher has to have total control over his/her classroom to even begin to teach.
I realized the time and dedication it would take to become what I considered to be a good teacher was more than I could promise. I'd rather be a good mother/bum than a good teacher/frantic, overwhelmed, burnt-out-on-children-mother.
It looked absurd, even to me, paying my college loans with my waitress tips, and dancing on the edge of poverty with three children, but there you have it.
It is all I could do.
I could only function when my mind and expectations were my own in a job that was easy to find and easy to leave, and flexible enough to always be available for my childrens' special events.
I preferred renting our houses because if you have "nothing," you have nothing to lose.
I preferred putting my worst foot forward, flying under the radar and being invisible, for it gives you miles of freedom in your head.
I refused ceilings as man-made, replacing ceilings with sky. There I found vaulting freedom.
So....am I worth going into debt to go to Library School when I never even used my undergrad degree professionally? Will I do the same thing? Love the school part and hate the real job?
Fortunately, I had Dr. Hersberger and Dr. Carmichael in my first semester, both amazing, inspiring teachers.
The comaraderie I feel and the friendships I've made with my classmates are due to Dr. Hersberger's thought-provoking, but fun, interactive games. She's quietly powerful, academic and warm and can turn your world inside out and upside down. ( See my 6/17/2011 post: "My advisor is Dr. Julia Hersberger-Professor of Library and Information Studies at UNC-G" for more.)
Dr. Carmichael is an amazing spirit, a master storyteller, open, self-deprecating, warm and encouranging, as he twirls his long mustache. He turned research into magic, empowering and challenging us to embark on a journey of locating information, wherever it lives. I would love to read his autobiography!
Compiling my first bibliography about the bacteriophage was extremely gratifying. Despite some of my limitations, I proved to myself that I was capable of understanding very difficult text, out of my field, and explain it back in a clear and concise way.
On Tuesday Dr. Hersberger would rock my world, and I learned what it means: "The more you learn, the less you know" as we tried to apply definitions to what we thought were the simplest of words, like library, information, knowledge.
On Wednesday Dr. Carmichael says things out of the blue, like: "If any of you doubts your ability, or right to be here, I'm here to tell you that you're fine." I think Dr. Carmichael is a mind reader in addition to his other gifts. Dr. Hersberger has that same mysterious ability to talk to everyone and make it feel like they are talking directly to me.
"When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear."
Hsin Hsin Ming
I was lucky enough to begin my continued education in Fall 2011, with what I call the Dream-Team, Dr. Hersberger and Dr. Carmichael, for two required courses, Intro to Library, and Research. I don't think I would have realized that Library School was the right place for me if I had started my coursework with any two other classes or professors.
I started Library School, beaten down and unsure.
Was I worth going into debt to go to school when I never even used my undergrad degree professionally?
While I raised three children successfully, and have had brushes with fame as a performing singer-songwriter, I have never been able to fit into the confines of a responsible job, preferring what I call Gypsy Jobs, such as waiting tables, and cleaning houses, living on the edge with my mind free, rolling with the roller coaster of bi-polarism, and putting the roundy rounds of a.d.d. to use.
Any responsibility besides my dedication to my children felt like an unbearable anchor on my shoulders, one I couldn't bear.
I taught 5th grade from Dec. to May in the early 90's and never went back. I was a star when I did my coursework for being a teacher, but the real job did not translate.
I felt hopelessly overwhelmed.
I lacked the air of authority and matter-of-factness crucial to a successful teacher.
I wanted to mother the children like my own and take them on learning adventures (!) but it was impossible.
Teaching and mothering, it turned out, were very different, something I had not realized while in school. First and foremost, a teacher has to have total control over his/her classroom to even begin to teach.
I realized the time and dedication it would take to become what I considered to be a good teacher was more than I could promise. I'd rather be a good mother/bum than a good teacher/frantic, overwhelmed, burnt-out-on-children-mother.
It looked absurd, even to me, paying my college loans with my waitress tips, and dancing on the edge of poverty with three children, but there you have it.
It is all I could do.
I could only function when my mind and expectations were my own in a job that was easy to find and easy to leave, and flexible enough to always be available for my childrens' special events.
I preferred renting our houses because if you have "nothing," you have nothing to lose.
I preferred putting my worst foot forward, flying under the radar and being invisible, for it gives you miles of freedom in your head.
I refused ceilings as man-made, replacing ceilings with sky. There I found vaulting freedom.
So....am I worth going into debt to go to Library School when I never even used my undergrad degree professionally? Will I do the same thing? Love the school part and hate the real job?
Fortunately, I had Dr. Hersberger and Dr. Carmichael in my first semester, both amazing, inspiring teachers.
The comaraderie I feel and the friendships I've made with my classmates are due to Dr. Hersberger's thought-provoking, but fun, interactive games. She's quietly powerful, academic and warm and can turn your world inside out and upside down. ( See my 6/17/2011 post: "My advisor is Dr. Julia Hersberger-Professor of Library and Information Studies at UNC-G" for more.)
Dr. Carmichael is an amazing spirit, a master storyteller, open, self-deprecating, warm and encouranging, as he twirls his long mustache. He turned research into magic, empowering and challenging us to embark on a journey of locating information, wherever it lives. I would love to read his autobiography!
Compiling my first bibliography about the bacteriophage was extremely gratifying. Despite some of my limitations, I proved to myself that I was capable of understanding very difficult text, out of my field, and explain it back in a clear and concise way.
On Tuesday Dr. Hersberger would rock my world, and I learned what it means: "The more you learn, the less you know" as we tried to apply definitions to what we thought were the simplest of words, like library, information, knowledge.
On Wednesday Dr. Carmichael says things out of the blue, like: "If any of you doubts your ability, or right to be here, I'm here to tell you that you're fine." I think Dr. Carmichael is a mind reader in addition to his other gifts. Dr. Hersberger has that same mysterious ability to talk to everyone and make it feel like they are talking directly to me.
"When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear."
Hsin Hsin Ming
Friday, July 1, 2011
Tips for Marketing and Promotion on the Net
To promote your book on-line, you need to present yourself to potential readers. If you want potential readers to visit you, you must have a "place" for them to come. This is done by establishing a web presence by keeping an active blog or website. Search engines, like Google, are attracted to activity, trolling sites for keywords. The keywords used to describe your blog must match the content of your blog, which the search engine determines by scanning the pages for keywords and related terms.
The more links you have to other sites, the more you will be detected by the search engines. Reciprocal links are the best. Try to get other sites to link with you. Some publishing sites suggest joining discussion or special interest groups on-line, or twitter and tweet, to be able to link with other sites.
There are free sites where you can "feed" the search engines, and there are free sitemeters that track your site's activity. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the goal, and there are many articles on how to achieve this, as well as people you can pay to optimize your site for you. Search engine optimization relies on keywords which should appear in your page titles, your URL, headings and alt tags.
This site feeds your URL into a multitude of search engines for free:
http://www.addme.com/
This site offers a free appraisal of the speed of your website, simply by providing your URL:
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
Blogger.com offers a way to monetize a blog site with ads related to the keywords which could potentially drive traffic to a site. A custom search engine is also available. If a custom search is included, a successful blog or website can lead to a liason with an advertizing sponsor who is looking for places to advertise. I have been debating whether to add Google Adsense and the custom search engine to my site. Other than cluttering up my site, it could mean more traffic, and more potential to sell books later. The ads might prove interesting to my study of internet publishing as Google promises the ads will relate to the subject matter of the blog.
This is information about Adsense provided by Google:
https://www.google.com/adsense/www/en_US/afs/
The more links you have to other sites, the more you will be detected by the search engines. Reciprocal links are the best. Try to get other sites to link with you. Some publishing sites suggest joining discussion or special interest groups on-line, or twitter and tweet, to be able to link with other sites.
There are free sites where you can "feed" the search engines, and there are free sitemeters that track your site's activity. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the goal, and there are many articles on how to achieve this, as well as people you can pay to optimize your site for you. Search engine optimization relies on keywords which should appear in your page titles, your URL, headings and alt tags.
This site feeds your URL into a multitude of search engines for free:
http://www.addme.com/
This site offers a free appraisal of the speed of your website, simply by providing your URL:
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
Blogger.com offers a way to monetize a blog site with ads related to the keywords which could potentially drive traffic to a site. A custom search engine is also available. If a custom search is included, a successful blog or website can lead to a liason with an advertizing sponsor who is looking for places to advertise. I have been debating whether to add Google Adsense and the custom search engine to my site. Other than cluttering up my site, it could mean more traffic, and more potential to sell books later. The ads might prove interesting to my study of internet publishing as Google promises the ads will relate to the subject matter of the blog.
This is information about Adsense provided by Google:
https://www.google.com/adsense/www/en_US/afs/
Lost in Cyber Space
Publishing a book on the internet does not guarantee an audience. I did nothing to promote my self-published books on the internet and, as a result, I never sold any except to myself. I planned to sell my book Hip and Broke: A Songwriter's Journey at my shows, but if my intention had been to sell books on-line, I would have needed to invest major time and energy in marketing and promotion to not be lost in cyberspace like I was.
Every internet publishing site includes free tips on marketing, and offers packages with various levels of promotion included for varying fees.
I don't know yet if the marketing features offered by Amazon and other internet publishers can be replicated by the Do-It-Your-Self-er. There could be advantages for paying for promotion if the publishing site drives traffic to your website.
Driving traffic to your website is crucial for creating an internet presence from which books can be sold.
Every internet publishing site includes free tips on marketing, and offers packages with various levels of promotion included for varying fees.
I don't know yet if the marketing features offered by Amazon and other internet publishers can be replicated by the Do-It-Your-Self-er. There could be advantages for paying for promotion if the publishing site drives traffic to your website.
Driving traffic to your website is crucial for creating an internet presence from which books can be sold.
E-books &/or Print On Demand Publishing
The world of internet publishing includes digital copies of books in and out of print, books that are only found in digital form, and digital works that can be printed in book form according to demand, called Print-On-Demand or POD publishing. Publishing music and other translatable mediums is also possible on the internet, with opportunities for self-publishing and promotion.
The sites that publish E-books vary greatly. I self-published two books using Do-It-Yourself sites: Cafe Press and Lulu. At these sites, it is possible to design your book cover to cover, following specific guidelines for formatting (Adobe PDF files were required). There is no up-front fee and I was able to hold a paperback copy of my book in my hands for roughly $7.00 a book with the option to order one or thousands, the price decreasing as the quantity increases.
Cafe Press no longer publishes books, but Lulu is still active. Like other self-publishing sites, Lulu offers design and promotion packages with varied features in addition to do-it-yourself directions.
http://www.lulu.com/
While I succeeded in my goal to hold one of my books in my hands, I never sold any except to myself, even with the free bar code I obtained through Lulu. For a self-publishing author to actually sell books to the public is a trickier row to hoe.
The sites that publish E-books vary greatly. I self-published two books using Do-It-Yourself sites: Cafe Press and Lulu. At these sites, it is possible to design your book cover to cover, following specific guidelines for formatting (Adobe PDF files were required). There is no up-front fee and I was able to hold a paperback copy of my book in my hands for roughly $7.00 a book with the option to order one or thousands, the price decreasing as the quantity increases.
Cafe Press no longer publishes books, but Lulu is still active. Like other self-publishing sites, Lulu offers design and promotion packages with varied features in addition to do-it-yourself directions.
http://www.lulu.com/
While I succeeded in my goal to hold one of my books in my hands, I never sold any except to myself, even with the free bar code I obtained through Lulu. For a self-publishing author to actually sell books to the public is a trickier row to hoe.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA)
The DMCA or Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, was made effective in October 28th, 1998, by President Bill Clinton and the 105th U.S. Congress, in order to implement the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty (WIPO) and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty.
The DMCA amended Title 17 of the United States Code to extend the reach of copyright, while limiting the liability of the providers of on-line services for copyright infringement by their users.
DMCA Title One: Brings U.S. copyright law into compliance with WIPO and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty. It also addresses "anti-circumnavigation," making it illegal to try to "go around" security measures implemented on the web.
DMCA Title Two: Protects on-line service providers from copyright infringement by users as long as they adhere to guidelines.
DMCA Title Three: Assures that users repairing computers may make copies of software and other files without copyright infringement.
DMCA Title Four: Includes miscellaneous provisions such as adding to the duties of the copyright office.
DMCA Title Five: Boat hull designs are protected by copyright law for the first time, having previously been considered outside copyright law because their form and function were the same.
To read about the DMCA, this site is helpful:
http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
For a break-down and explanation of the DMCA, this Cornell law site is very clear:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/
The DMCA amended Title 17 of the United States Code to extend the reach of copyright, while limiting the liability of the providers of on-line services for copyright infringement by their users.
DMCA Title One: Brings U.S. copyright law into compliance with WIPO and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty. It also addresses "anti-circumnavigation," making it illegal to try to "go around" security measures implemented on the web.
DMCA Title Two: Protects on-line service providers from copyright infringement by users as long as they adhere to guidelines.
DMCA Title Three: Assures that users repairing computers may make copies of software and other files without copyright infringement.
DMCA Title Four: Includes miscellaneous provisions such as adding to the duties of the copyright office.
DMCA Title Five: Boat hull designs are protected by copyright law for the first time, having previously been considered outside copyright law because their form and function were the same.
To read about the DMCA, this site is helpful:
http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
For a break-down and explanation of the DMCA, this Cornell law site is very clear:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Pros and Cons of Electronic Publishing
Pros for Electronic Publishing
E-books save paper and ink.
E-books save space. Thousands of E-books can be stored in the space of one bound book.
E-books never go out-of-print.
E-book websites can include the ability to translate a work into many languages.
E-books can be instantly accessed from home without travel or delays.
E-readers can have features that allow reading in the dark, changing text fonts, or may have text-to-speech software for the elderly or blind.
Once the E-reader is obtained, the cost of individual E-books is less than printed books.
E-publishing makes it easier for authors to self-publish.
There are many free E-books. Anything written before 1900 is in the public domain, and current authors often offer selections for free in order to promote themselves. (1)
Cons for Electronic Publishing
Ebook formats and file types continue to develop and change through time through advances and developments in technology or the introduction of new proprietary formats. While printed books remain readable for many years, e-books may need to be copied or converted to a new carrier or file type over time. PDF and epub are growing standards, but are not universal.
Authors may not receive royalties equivalent to the use of their work.
Not all books are available as e-books. (2)
E-books do not provide the tactile sensations of a physical book, and cannot be wrapped as a present.
E-books provide samples to readers, introducing a possibility of readers grazing through many samples of work rather than ever actually reading a book from start to finish. Just as the spelling shortcuts used in texting have made it unclear whether our future generations will be able to spell correctly, the electronic book could change future generations to speedy grazers instead of readers. (3)
A book doesn't run out of power.
Documents in electronic form may degrade over time or become obsolete.
E-readers can't be dropped and must be protected from extreme temperatures and electromagnetic pulses and surges that do not effect books.
E-readers can malfunction and lose data.
E-readers are not biodegradable like the paper in books, and will hold toxic waste issues in the future.
E-books and software track data such as times, usage, pages, and details about what one is reading and how often. (Big Brother is watching.) (4)
Bibliography (For a description of each reference, please see Bibliography page in sidebar)
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-book
(2) Weiss, Laura. "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age."
APLIS 10, no. 3: 163, 1997. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
(3) Borawski, C. "Beyond the Book: Literacy in the Digital Age." Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children 7, no. 3: 53-54, 2009. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
(4) Herther, Nancy K. "The Ebook Reader Is Not the Future of Ebooks." Searcher 16, no. 8: 26-40, 2008. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
E-books save paper and ink.
E-books save space. Thousands of E-books can be stored in the space of one bound book.
E-books never go out-of-print.
E-book websites can include the ability to translate a work into many languages.
E-books can be instantly accessed from home without travel or delays.
E-readers can have features that allow reading in the dark, changing text fonts, or may have text-to-speech software for the elderly or blind.
Once the E-reader is obtained, the cost of individual E-books is less than printed books.
E-publishing makes it easier for authors to self-publish.
There are many free E-books. Anything written before 1900 is in the public domain, and current authors often offer selections for free in order to promote themselves. (1)
Cons for Electronic Publishing
Ebook formats and file types continue to develop and change through time through advances and developments in technology or the introduction of new proprietary formats. While printed books remain readable for many years, e-books may need to be copied or converted to a new carrier or file type over time. PDF and epub are growing standards, but are not universal.
Authors may not receive royalties equivalent to the use of their work.
Not all books are available as e-books. (2)
E-books do not provide the tactile sensations of a physical book, and cannot be wrapped as a present.
E-books provide samples to readers, introducing a possibility of readers grazing through many samples of work rather than ever actually reading a book from start to finish. Just as the spelling shortcuts used in texting have made it unclear whether our future generations will be able to spell correctly, the electronic book could change future generations to speedy grazers instead of readers. (3)
A book doesn't run out of power.
Documents in electronic form may degrade over time or become obsolete.
E-readers can't be dropped and must be protected from extreme temperatures and electromagnetic pulses and surges that do not effect books.
E-readers can malfunction and lose data.
E-readers are not biodegradable like the paper in books, and will hold toxic waste issues in the future.
E-books and software track data such as times, usage, pages, and details about what one is reading and how often. (Big Brother is watching.) (4)
Bibliography (For a description of each reference, please see Bibliography page in sidebar)
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-book
(2) Weiss, Laura. "Buildings, books, and bytes: Libraries and communities in the digital age."
APLIS 10, no. 3: 163, 1997. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
(4) Herther, Nancy K. "The Ebook Reader Is Not the Future of Ebooks." Searcher 16, no. 8: 26-40, 2008. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 1, 2011).
Monday, June 27, 2011
A Brief History of Electronic Publishing
While still in its infancy, E-publishing, and the growing popularity of electronic books (E-books) has, and is, having a huge impact on authors, readers, and the traditonal publishing industry. The book as we know it may become obsolete, and the library has a giant wild child on its hands.
To understand the current status of E-publishing, it is helpful to know its history.
Wikipedia is a good place to find information about new technology and digital era terminology. Other resources may be gleaned by searching the list of citation sources provided with Wikapedia articles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_publishing
The invention of the Gutenberg Press revolutionized publishing and opened up access to information for the masses in approximately 1440. It was not until 1971 that an alternative to the bound book is offered, when the U.S. Declaration of Independence is digitized by Michael S. Hart, his goal being to digitize and offer the world's 10,000 most influential books and documents for free.
Hart's brainchild, the first digital library, is aptly named 'Project Gutenberg,' evolving into a vast volunteer effort to promote the creation and distribution of E-books at little or no cost.
Earlier use of E-book communication was envisioned for, used by, and limited to small interest groups in order to share technical information without the delay of traditional publishing.
The bulk of Project Gutenbergs' vast collection of free E-books are written before 1900, their age placing them in the public domain.
U.S. Libraries first began providing free scholarly, technical and professional e-books to the public in 1998, through their web sites and associated services, although downloads were not offered. By 2003, libraries began offering free downloadable popular fiction and non-fiction E-books to the public, launching an E-book lending model for public libraries.
The scope of the E-book has evolved to include a much broader user base than originally conceived, but it is the required readers needed to access E-books that have fueled turf wars, splintering the potential universality of E-books with proprietarial features disallowing transfer of E-books from one reader to another.
Amazon, Apple, Sony, Barnes and Noble and other giants have released the Kindle, the iPad, the PRS-500, and the Nook, respectively, each snagging a share of the E-book market. The E-book demand increases as E-readers become more efficient and affordable.
While it is unknown if and when the E-book will be replaced by future technology, the E-book is currently outselling hardbound books, major bookstores are closing, and the traditonal publishing industry is turned on its ear.
Next are pros and cons of electronic publishing...
http://reviews.cnet.com/how-to-self-publish-an-e-book
To understand the current status of E-publishing, it is helpful to know its history.
Wikipedia is a good place to find information about new technology and digital era terminology. Other resources may be gleaned by searching the list of citation sources provided with Wikapedia articles.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_publishing
The invention of the Gutenberg Press revolutionized publishing and opened up access to information for the masses in approximately 1440. It was not until 1971 that an alternative to the bound book is offered, when the U.S. Declaration of Independence is digitized by Michael S. Hart, his goal being to digitize and offer the world's 10,000 most influential books and documents for free.
Hart's brainchild, the first digital library, is aptly named 'Project Gutenberg,' evolving into a vast volunteer effort to promote the creation and distribution of E-books at little or no cost.
Earlier use of E-book communication was envisioned for, used by, and limited to small interest groups in order to share technical information without the delay of traditional publishing.
The bulk of Project Gutenbergs' vast collection of free E-books are written before 1900, their age placing them in the public domain.
U.S. Libraries first began providing free scholarly, technical and professional e-books to the public in 1998, through their web sites and associated services, although downloads were not offered. By 2003, libraries began offering free downloadable popular fiction and non-fiction E-books to the public, launching an E-book lending model for public libraries.
The scope of the E-book has evolved to include a much broader user base than originally conceived, but it is the required readers needed to access E-books that have fueled turf wars, splintering the potential universality of E-books with proprietarial features disallowing transfer of E-books from one reader to another.
Amazon, Apple, Sony, Barnes and Noble and other giants have released the Kindle, the iPad, the PRS-500, and the Nook, respectively, each snagging a share of the E-book market. The E-book demand increases as E-readers become more efficient and affordable.
While it is unknown if and when the E-book will be replaced by future technology, the E-book is currently outselling hardbound books, major bookstores are closing, and the traditonal publishing industry is turned on its ear.
Next are pros and cons of electronic publishing...
http://reviews.cnet.com/how-to-self-publish-an-e-book
Sunday, June 26, 2011
KD Rouse: Thoughts on the Library
Despite my reservations about the potential to ruin a personal haven by working there, (See One Legged Larry & Leery of the Library. KD Rouse. Exploration of Internet Publishing and Promotion Blog. June 17th., 4:42 pm post) I have just successfully completed my first year of Library School at University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
While I have not actually worked in a library, the library has not lost its luster under scrutiny. My admiration and devotion for the library grows as I learn of its heart, brains and guts. It is a place of dreams, and unapologetic triumph, endless destinations, and social reform, manned by a diverse array of unassuming, but fierce defenders of free speech, social equality, and intellectual freedom.
To me, the library is the most successful institution in its marriage to the ideals ensured to us by the U.S. constitution. It is fluid, responding, rising, changing as information builds and morphs to new systems of delivery, driven by technology.
The American Library Association, (ALA) the primary professional association for librarians, embraces a clear mission steeped with workable idealism, proving its dedication and success in implementing social reform and invoking and enforcing our constitutional rights by its history. The ALA provides cohesiveness to the group charged with guarding open and easy access information for all, in an environment of dizzying change.
The ALA has a proud history and matter-of-fact presence, while it keeps a vigilant eye on the future.
When I walk into a library, I leave the frenzied world behind. I am welcome, no matter who I am or what I look like. It is warm when I am cold, cool when I am hot.
I smell equality, freedom, and the scent of books, and I can wander whereever I will and pick books like posies in any bouquet that strikes my fancy.
My library card is used and worn, but the thrill of being allowed to take books home with me never fades.
I leave with anticipation, happy with the heaviness of my bag.
I devour them behind closed doors, selfish and demanding, using them, then returning them without remorse when I am done.
While I have not actually worked in a library, the library has not lost its luster under scrutiny. My admiration and devotion for the library grows as I learn of its heart, brains and guts. It is a place of dreams, and unapologetic triumph, endless destinations, and social reform, manned by a diverse array of unassuming, but fierce defenders of free speech, social equality, and intellectual freedom.
To me, the library is the most successful institution in its marriage to the ideals ensured to us by the U.S. constitution. It is fluid, responding, rising, changing as information builds and morphs to new systems of delivery, driven by technology.
The American Library Association, (ALA) the primary professional association for librarians, embraces a clear mission steeped with workable idealism, proving its dedication and success in implementing social reform and invoking and enforcing our constitutional rights by its history. The ALA provides cohesiveness to the group charged with guarding open and easy access information for all, in an environment of dizzying change.
The ALA has a proud history and matter-of-fact presence, while it keeps a vigilant eye on the future.
When I walk into a library, I leave the frenzied world behind. I am welcome, no matter who I am or what I look like. It is warm when I am cold, cool when I am hot.
I smell equality, freedom, and the scent of books, and I can wander whereever I will and pick books like posies in any bouquet that strikes my fancy.
My library card is used and worn, but the thrill of being allowed to take books home with me never fades.
I leave with anticipation, happy with the heaviness of my bag.
I devour them behind closed doors, selfish and demanding, using them, then returning them without remorse when I am done.
KD Rouse: Tortoise and Future Librarian
I am halfway through the coursework required to obtain a Master's degree in Library and Information Studies at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In my current project, I am studying internet publishing and promotion opportunities, and hope to gain a more solid understanding of the impact of electronic publishing to the library, the traditional publishing industry, to authors and readers.
Besides my curiosity as a future librarian, I am fueled in my search by my desire to be a published author.
I have written for 30 years, in and around the sidelines of my primary life of being a mother, and my secondary lives, as college-student, performing singer-songwriter, and waitress extraordinaire. My collection of work is testimony to the tortoise, plodding but steadfast.
Even when definitions of 'here to there' are elusive and ever-changing, destinations will be reached if you continue on and on, step by step. You may be entirely surprised at where your baby steps have led you as you continually redefine where you are and where you want to be, but if you plod onward, moving around obstacles, like the tortoise, you will get many somewheres.
The tortoise's pace makes him laughable to spectators, but he has time to scope the road ahead, avoiding useless or dangerous tangents. His shell protects him from predators and naysayers, and on and on the tortoise goes.
My vast collection of mostly secret writing also provides an illustration of how to cope and create whilst beset by the bi-polar ups and downs and roundy-rounds. Stay busy, busy, busy, through the ups and downs, and for the roundy-rounds, nudge your circles to elipses, and touch down on all the same destinations over and over again.
Elipses lead to spirals, moving, not stagnant, and roundy-rounds can be momentum instead of a blockade if you visit and revisit your favorite spots over and over again.
While medication to help manage the bi-polar is usually crucial to being alive, I also believe that being bi-polar is a case of different wiring, and if you take that wiring in mind, it is possible to be productive.
In myself, I have noticed the way I order tasks is unusual. In cleaning my house, I might wander from room to room starting dozens of jobs towards that end.
If I only circled once, my tasks would be unfinished and my house would still be dirty.
If I circle my house, round and round, touching down on the same destinations, or tasks, and furthering each one as I wander, eventually my house is clean, maybe in the same time as it takes for a more straightforward, ordered approach.
A writer may have many stories started that will be finished by touching down and revisiting, writing, and revising, over and over again.
Visit your chosen tasks, your friends, your goals, in your spiraling wanderings, touching down on the same destinations, with the deliberation of the tortoise, and you will cross many finish lines.
Besides my curiosity as a future librarian, I am fueled in my search by my desire to be a published author.
I have written for 30 years, in and around the sidelines of my primary life of being a mother, and my secondary lives, as college-student, performing singer-songwriter, and waitress extraordinaire. My collection of work is testimony to the tortoise, plodding but steadfast.
Even when definitions of 'here to there' are elusive and ever-changing, destinations will be reached if you continue on and on, step by step. You may be entirely surprised at where your baby steps have led you as you continually redefine where you are and where you want to be, but if you plod onward, moving around obstacles, like the tortoise, you will get many somewheres.
The tortoise's pace makes him laughable to spectators, but he has time to scope the road ahead, avoiding useless or dangerous tangents. His shell protects him from predators and naysayers, and on and on the tortoise goes.
My vast collection of mostly secret writing also provides an illustration of how to cope and create whilst beset by the bi-polar ups and downs and roundy-rounds. Stay busy, busy, busy, through the ups and downs, and for the roundy-rounds, nudge your circles to elipses, and touch down on all the same destinations over and over again.
Elipses lead to spirals, moving, not stagnant, and roundy-rounds can be momentum instead of a blockade if you visit and revisit your favorite spots over and over again.
While medication to help manage the bi-polar is usually crucial to being alive, I also believe that being bi-polar is a case of different wiring, and if you take that wiring in mind, it is possible to be productive.
In myself, I have noticed the way I order tasks is unusual. In cleaning my house, I might wander from room to room starting dozens of jobs towards that end.
If I only circled once, my tasks would be unfinished and my house would still be dirty.
If I circle my house, round and round, touching down on the same destinations, or tasks, and furthering each one as I wander, eventually my house is clean, maybe in the same time as it takes for a more straightforward, ordered approach.
A writer may have many stories started that will be finished by touching down and revisiting, writing, and revising, over and over again.
Visit your chosen tasks, your friends, your goals, in your spiraling wanderings, touching down on the same destinations, with the deliberation of the tortoise, and you will cross many finish lines.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
KD Rouse, Future Librarian..Published Author?
KD Rouse--Inventory 2011
 |
| I have stories in files, books in bags, home-made books, self-published books, loose manuscripts, books with soundtracks, hundreds of CD's and tapes, in addition to countless digitized files on the computer. |
I am exploring multi-media publishing and promotion via the internet through UNC-Greensboro where I am studying for a Master's degree in Library and Information Studies.
Because I have been writing for years and never been published, I have many choices of my own work to try to publish. As I am curious about the current state of traditional publishing, I would like to provide contrast to my study by interviewing a working book agent to find out what he/she can provide that publishing opportunities on the web cannot.
Are book agents and large publishing companies becoming unnecessary? Once one chooses publishing arenas, what promotion tools are available to the author on the net? Is internet promotion enough or does an effective marketing campaign include a variety of methods? At my project's end, I would like to have comprehensive knowledge of publishing and promotion via the internet and a clearer understanding of the state of traditional publishing.
I would also like to understand how the explosion of electronic publishing is impacting the library and its future, including the American Library Associations' (ALA) position and response regarding issues related to electronic publishing, and what my local library offers in the way of e-books and e-book readers. Are we transitioning to a paperless society or are we merely incorporating electronic publishing to our traditional system of publishing, printing, and housing books?
I would also like to understand how the explosion of electronic publishing is impacting the library and its future, including the American Library Associations' (ALA) position and response regarding issues related to electronic publishing, and what my local library offers in the way of e-books and e-book readers. Are we transitioning to a paperless society or are we merely incorporating electronic publishing to our traditional system of publishing, printing, and housing books?
If I choose to use any of the sites in my search to publish my own finished works, it will be a bonus.
The American Library Association
Saturday, June 18, 2011
KD Rouse/Internet Publishing Exploration Preparation...continued
To review: I am a graduate student of Library and Information Science at University of North Carolina entering my second year. I am preparing to lauch an exploration of internet publishing and promotion opportunities using my collection of original works as potential items to publish. My professor mentor is Dr. Julia Hersberger, LIS UNC-G.
I want to find out what opportunities there are for publishing and promotion on the internet. I want to know if different genres of writing should be placed in subject-specific sites or is using one main site to publish is better. I want to know about e-books and how to promote should I choose to publish through one of these sites.
I am also curious about the current publishing industry. Is it crumbling? I would like to interview a book agent and hear his or her opinion on the future of the book agent and publishing empires. Because I feel that I am a publish-able author, I would like her to explain what she can do that I can't do for myself through the tools available to anyone on the net. Are book agents and publisher middle-men that can be bypassed by an author?
My experience with internet publishing thus far: I have self published two books through Cafe Press and Lulu. I was able to hold my own book in my hand for about $7.00. I never promoted and never sold any except to myself. The first book, in 2005, contains the first nine stories of 'The Saga of Gypsy Nurse.' It merely says 'Printed by Cafe Press,' which indicates to me that I can do with it what I want.
The other book, which I self-published in 2009, 'Hip and Broke: A Songwriter's Journey' is a bit more complicated. It is published by Lulu, who provided me an ISBN# and a bar code for free. That implies rights to Lulu which I need to understand better. Am I free to publish that same work with any other site. If not, how can I promote my existing book that has thus far been isolated in cyber-space?
My previous posts have helped me prepare for an exploration of my options in internet publishing and promotion because:
1) Reviewing the steps preceding my upcoming 'first step' in the exploration of internet publishing has allowed my Inner Librarian to organise, catagorize, and make sense of my journey thus far.
2) For a successful journey, the traveler is purposeful, knowing where they go and why, taking only what they need with them.
This is important to me, as my biggest wish is to be a successful author who occassionally plays shows in mid-size venues and huge outdoor festivals and I think I can do it.
I have been the tortoise watching the hares run by and by and by.
But...."The time has come, the Walrus said...."
Lewis Carroll
This Future Librarian's Not To Miss List
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll. 1872.
The Tortoise and the Hare, one of Aesop's Fables.
I want to find out what opportunities there are for publishing and promotion on the internet. I want to know if different genres of writing should be placed in subject-specific sites or is using one main site to publish is better. I want to know about e-books and how to promote should I choose to publish through one of these sites.
I am also curious about the current publishing industry. Is it crumbling? I would like to interview a book agent and hear his or her opinion on the future of the book agent and publishing empires. Because I feel that I am a publish-able author, I would like her to explain what she can do that I can't do for myself through the tools available to anyone on the net. Are book agents and publisher middle-men that can be bypassed by an author?
My experience with internet publishing thus far: I have self published two books through Cafe Press and Lulu. I was able to hold my own book in my hand for about $7.00. I never promoted and never sold any except to myself. The first book, in 2005, contains the first nine stories of 'The Saga of Gypsy Nurse.' It merely says 'Printed by Cafe Press,' which indicates to me that I can do with it what I want.
The other book, which I self-published in 2009, 'Hip and Broke: A Songwriter's Journey' is a bit more complicated. It is published by Lulu, who provided me an ISBN# and a bar code for free. That implies rights to Lulu which I need to understand better. Am I free to publish that same work with any other site. If not, how can I promote my existing book that has thus far been isolated in cyber-space?
My previous posts have helped me prepare for an exploration of my options in internet publishing and promotion because:
1) Reviewing the steps preceding my upcoming 'first step' in the exploration of internet publishing has allowed my Inner Librarian to organise, catagorize, and make sense of my journey thus far.
2) For a successful journey, the traveler is purposeful, knowing where they go and why, taking only what they need with them.
This is important to me, as my biggest wish is to be a successful author who occassionally plays shows in mid-size venues and huge outdoor festivals and I think I can do it.
I have been the tortoise watching the hares run by and by and by.
But...."The time has come, the Walrus said...."
Lewis Carroll
This Future Librarian's Not To Miss List
Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll. 1872.
The Tortoise and the Hare, one of Aesop's Fables.
One-Legged Larry & Leery of the Library
One-legged Larry loved Leons. He sat at the end of the bar night after night drinking beer after beer, Miller Lites, loving and living the life. So what if he borrowed $40,000. or so for the privelage? He went to the North Carolina School of the Arts for screenwriting, and Hollywood was going to snap up his jewels as soon as he could get over his writer's block.
His bald head shone in the bar light as he shook his head slowly back and forth and told his tales ceaselessly as we scurried elegantly in and out, fetching fine wine and Dom for our Filet-Mignon-garganzola-dripping, calamrari-eating patrons. We smile and bob and banter with one-legged Larry while we play mental chess and make it look like a dance. We help one-legged Larry to the taxi night after night, clap him on the back, laughing dilagently at his inanities.
Larry loved us. We were the nicest, most beautiful people in the world, so wonderful he wanted to cross the bar and be one of us.
We tried to dissuade him. Larry didn't see the hustle in our bustle. He didn't play chess, mental or otherwise.
It was a disaster that shattered all Larry's illusions of Leons. Behind the scenes he is hurried, and scurried, bossed, scolded, and cussed to keep up as he sweats and crumbles, dragging his fake leg behind him. He was "one of us" for maybe an hour.
One-Legged Larry made me leery of working in the library. It is risky working in your favorite place. The curtain may fall away and your haven be lost. (We never saw Larry again.)
His bald head shone in the bar light as he shook his head slowly back and forth and told his tales ceaselessly as we scurried elegantly in and out, fetching fine wine and Dom for our Filet-Mignon-garganzola-dripping, calamrari-eating patrons. We smile and bob and banter with one-legged Larry while we play mental chess and make it look like a dance. We help one-legged Larry to the taxi night after night, clap him on the back, laughing dilagently at his inanities.
Larry loved us. We were the nicest, most beautiful people in the world, so wonderful he wanted to cross the bar and be one of us.
We tried to dissuade him. Larry didn't see the hustle in our bustle. He didn't play chess, mental or otherwise.
It was a disaster that shattered all Larry's illusions of Leons. Behind the scenes he is hurried, and scurried, bossed, scolded, and cussed to keep up as he sweats and crumbles, dragging his fake leg behind him. He was "one of us" for maybe an hour.
One-Legged Larry made me leery of working in the library. It is risky working in your favorite place. The curtain may fall away and your haven be lost. (We never saw Larry again.)
Maya Angelou Is Another Inspiration. Gracious & Regal. (I used to wait on her at the Downtown Underground Bistro)
Each of us has the right and the responsibility to assess the roads which lie ahead, and those over which we have traveled, and if the future road looms ominous or unpromising, and the roads back uninviting, then we need to gather our resolve and, carrying only the necessary baggage, step off that road into another direction. If the new choice is also unpalatable, without embarrassment, we must be ready to change that one as well.
– Maya Angelou
Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now
This allowed me not to feel like a fool when I made the abrupt changes so characteristic of my life. I call these changes 'The About-Face,' an occurance that no one seems to understand but me. Why would a very educated college graduate wait tables and scrub floors after graduation instead of teach? Why would a mother of three sign over the house to the abusive husband and get an apartment for herself and three children, 2, 6 and 8? Why suddenly move and break all ties, over and over again. I have reasons for each game of About-Face, and Maya made it easier.
Here is a link to Maya Angelou's website.
http://mayaangelou.com/
Love, love, love.
– Maya Angelou
Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now
This allowed me not to feel like a fool when I made the abrupt changes so characteristic of my life. I call these changes 'The About-Face,' an occurance that no one seems to understand but me. Why would a very educated college graduate wait tables and scrub floors after graduation instead of teach? Why would a mother of three sign over the house to the abusive husband and get an apartment for herself and three children, 2, 6 and 8? Why suddenly move and break all ties, over and over again. I have reasons for each game of About-Face, and Maya made it easier.
Here is a link to Maya Angelou's website.
http://mayaangelou.com/
Love, love, love.
Inspiration from Martha Graham & Max Ehrmann
I come from a long line of published authors.
I thought my Fairy Godmother had forgotten to give me gifts to be one of them, but I wrote in secret the things I could never say.
It used to be I would scold myself if I thought something three times and didn't write it down. I trained myself to write when I first thought of them, because a) you think you will remember but you don't
b) Thinking the same thing over and over requires head space. It drives me mad when my thoughts go round and round like clothes in a dryer. Writing makes it stop, and c) requires a quote from Martha Graham, one that when I read when I worked at Mindy's Music Store, opting to clean the grand piano and dust the bannisters instead of teach songwriting. I wrote songs, but they just come to me. I didn't know what or how to begin to teach it, plus it felt wrong to pressure my musical passion with dissemination. I lost my religion that way.
To get back to the quote that allowed me to create unabashedly, where as before I thought: Who would even care? Wasn't there a frivolity and presumption about writing or performing on stage as if anything I could do or say would make one whit of difference? But Martha set me free.
"There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost."
— Martha Graham
For more inspirational and quotable quotes by Martha Graham, here is one site to get you started:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martha_graham.html
I was 12 when I stumbled upon Desiderata, the prose poem written by American writer Max Ehrmann (1872-1945) in 1927. Here is an excerpt:
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
Max Ehrmann
You can find Desiderata in its entirety at this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderata
It will calm your soul, and no matter how many times you read it, it still speaks to you.
I thought my Fairy Godmother had forgotten to give me gifts to be one of them, but I wrote in secret the things I could never say.
It used to be I would scold myself if I thought something three times and didn't write it down. I trained myself to write when I first thought of them, because a) you think you will remember but you don't
b) Thinking the same thing over and over requires head space. It drives me mad when my thoughts go round and round like clothes in a dryer. Writing makes it stop, and c) requires a quote from Martha Graham, one that when I read when I worked at Mindy's Music Store, opting to clean the grand piano and dust the bannisters instead of teach songwriting. I wrote songs, but they just come to me. I didn't know what or how to begin to teach it, plus it felt wrong to pressure my musical passion with dissemination. I lost my religion that way.
To get back to the quote that allowed me to create unabashedly, where as before I thought: Who would even care? Wasn't there a frivolity and presumption about writing or performing on stage as if anything I could do or say would make one whit of difference? But Martha set me free.
"There is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost."
— Martha Graham
For more inspirational and quotable quotes by Martha Graham, here is one site to get you started:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martha_graham.html
I was 12 when I stumbled upon Desiderata, the prose poem written by American writer Max Ehrmann (1872-1945) in 1927. Here is an excerpt:
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
Max Ehrmann
You can find Desiderata in its entirety at this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiderata
It will calm your soul, and no matter how many times you read it, it still speaks to you.
My Journey Almost Begins
Like I said before, I am in Library School at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The preceeding posts are written to provide context as to who I am and why I am embarking on a quest to study internet publishing.
I have one more task before my exploration begins.
I need to take inventory and decide what I consider ready to publish.
I have one more task before my exploration begins.
I need to take inventory and decide what I consider ready to publish.
Source and Context/Pre-Exploration of Internet Publishing
As a former student of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, and now as a graduate student in Library and Information Studies, I value knowledge of both the source and context of the written word. St. John's used the original source in lieu of textbooks with interpretations of the source material, and in Library School at UNC-G, we constantly evaluate sources and context for a variety of reasons.
Information must be organized for efficient retrieval because documents and information, like possessions, are useless if they cannot be found.
Information must be searchable through a variety of keywords, including author, title, or subject.
While librarians are avidly against book banning, we also have a responsibility to supply the most pertinent, accurate, reliable sources to library patrons. We don't want a Google-like approach, supplying jillions of matches to a search.
We seek, not the most, but the best sources for those who seek information.
This is primarily done with information gathering. We identify who wrote the work, or "who to blame," as my cataloging professor Dr. Shiflett would say. We identify any other works the author, authors, or corporate bodies have created, and whether they have any pseudonyms. We note where and when a work is created, what sort of document it is, whether the document is deemed credible by professional peers in the field, how many times it is used as a citation in other works and so on.
Gathering and grouping information creates an invisible net of cross-referencing with the goal of accurate, specific information retrieval, the net tightening until we've caught the butterfly and pinned it to the wall.
Information must be organized for efficient retrieval because documents and information, like possessions, are useless if they cannot be found.
Information must be searchable through a variety of keywords, including author, title, or subject.
While librarians are avidly against book banning, we also have a responsibility to supply the most pertinent, accurate, reliable sources to library patrons. We don't want a Google-like approach, supplying jillions of matches to a search.
We seek, not the most, but the best sources for those who seek information.
This is primarily done with information gathering. We identify who wrote the work, or "who to blame," as my cataloging professor Dr. Shiflett would say. We identify any other works the author, authors, or corporate bodies have created, and whether they have any pseudonyms. We note where and when a work is created, what sort of document it is, whether the document is deemed credible by professional peers in the field, how many times it is used as a citation in other works and so on.
Gathering and grouping information creates an invisible net of cross-referencing with the goal of accurate, specific information retrieval, the net tightening until we've caught the butterfly and pinned it to the wall.
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