The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Last week I started and a few hours later finished reading The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.  I thought it was an absolutely wonderful book with a very creative concept.  The idea of a novel in words and pictures is definitely something different, but is a format that works very well for this story.  It helps move the story along faster and although it is a lengthy book the combination of illustrated sections and text sections would definitely be attractive to reluctant readers.
For me the integration of director Georges Meilies and his film A Trip to the Moon was really interesting and allowed me to geek out a bit.  As an undergrad I took a class on film theory and the first film that we watched and critiqued was A Trip to the Moon.  We discussed how many of the first film makers were magicians trying out a new medium, since special effects on film was just like magic, and I was thrilled to see this little fact integrated into the book.
Overall I really enjoyed The Invention of Hugo Cabret and highly recommend it.  On a side note I am very excited to read Selznick's new book Wonderstruck as I have heard only great things about it!

Week #1 Readings

This week's first reading "Library 2.0, information and digital literacies in the light of the contradictory nature of Web 2.0" by Tibor Koltay was a bit of a torture to get through.  It honestly took me several tries just to read through the first half of the article never mind the whole shebang.  I found Koltay's writing style a turn off and tedious to read.  In terms of the content of the article, I found his discussion of the amateur versus professional content interesting, but I didn't necessarily agree with his viewpoints and seemingly opposition to amateur Internet creations.  I agree that yes most of what is on social networking sites is amateur content, but then again the majority of what you find on the Internet is amateur content.  I also agree that librarians should be wary of some amateur content and if they choose to share it with their patrons they should fully investigate all the content involved, however I feel this should also be done with professional content as well in order to make sure it is going to its intended audience and that it also is of quality.
The second reading "Blogging and Uses of Blogs in Libraries" by Anil Kumar Dhiman and Hemant Sharma was a much easier and more interesting read.  It clearly defined what a blog is and how and what it can be used for.  The article also discussed in detail how libraries can successfully use blogs to their benefit and how the blog can go beyond just conveying library news and can even assist in reference services.  The article also lists two blog specific search engines which I did not even know existed, but are interesting and would definitely prove helpful for those searching specifically for blogs.
Overall I found the contrast of the messages of the two articles to be on either ends of spectrum.  Basically the first article puts down amateur content whereas the second encourages it and especially encourages librarians to create it themselves. In the end without amateur content this blog would not exist! 

Big Brother is Watching...

In light of Tuesday's discussion I thought this article was quite appropriate.
http://news.yahoo.com/keep-google-finding-everything-191900454.html
I'm sure I am just one of the millions who received an email this week to their gmail account concerning Google's new and updated privacy policy.  They are consolidating over 60 Google privacy policies into one effective March 1st.  This policy is supposed to be shorter and easier for the user to read and make the overall Google experience better.  Basically making it easier for Google to follow everything we are doing on the internet, on our phones, our tablets, and every other Google creation.  Although I am not going to stop using Google because of this, I find that it is a radical move and may cause some uproar from users a la the many confusing changes Facebook is constantly making to what it supposedly calls a privacy policy.  Something like this keeps in perspective that if you want privacy, don't use the internet!

Hello World!
So this is that obligatory first post I must make.  So as to not seem too lame I leave you with this...

                                                 from Hey girl. I like the library too.