Knitters, Unite!

After the first of the year, our weekly knitting circle will switch to Thursday evenings. There is no January 3 meeting, so the new schedule will begin on the 10th at 6:00 p.m. in the library's front parlor.

Knitters of every level, from total beginners to lifelong yarnaholics, are welcome. Join the circle when you can, and don't feel bad if you cannot make it every week.

There are several experienced knitters in the circle, so if you are a beginner just bring your yarn, needles, and a simple pattern if you have one (we have several) and come at 6:00 on Thursday evenings, beginning January 10, 2008. And if you can't make it at 6, come when you can. It's over about 7:45.

kc

North Adams Public Library's blog is back!

Yup. We've decided to give it another try.

So ... have you signed up for our library electronic newsletter yet? Library 411. You can do so right from the library's webpage: www.naplibrary.com. It has been coming out monthly, although now and then we may send out a special edition.

Please let us know what kinds of materials and programs you would like to see at the library. This winter we will have a series of workshops on ancestry.com, one of the major genealogy research sites. If there are other trainings you would like us to offer, just reply here or drop us a line at naplibrary at verizon dot net.

See you 'round the net!

kc

Library 411 is alive!

Yes, the first edition of the North Adams Public Library's eZine was distributed August 30. We're learning as we go. Anyhoo, if you'd like to subscribe, just send an email message to news411-subscribe@naplibrary.com -

kc

We're switching!

Much as we enjoy your feedback and ideas, we've decided to switch from a blog to an online library newsletter (eZine) as a way to communicate with you. We hope you will continue to send us your thoughts and ideas (naplibrary@verizon.net). If you feel the blog should continue, just let me know and we'll reconsider...

The subscription link for the eZine will appear on the library website's front page within a few days (www.naplibrary.com). This will be your vehicle for getting the inside scoop on what is happening at the library in more depth than we can put on the website, as well as book reviews, tech info, etc.

Meanwhile, thanks for sharing with us. See you at the library!

kc

eZine

The library wants to start an eZine. It will be a free subscription newsletter, distributed once or twice a month, that will inform folk about what is going on at the library -- not just programs and events, but anecdotes, staff picks of favorite books, movies, or music in the collection, and information about how to use some of our services, like ebooks and downloadable videos. We want to reach out to the online community, but do not want to spam everyone who has supplied their email address as part of their library record.

The problem is that I don't know the process of creating an eZine. I gather I need some kind of subscription program -- okay, I've found that. I gather lines should be no longer than 65 characters -- okay, we can do that. But what are the mechanics beyond that? Anyone willing to help me out here?

Thanks.
kc

Genealogy Season at NAPL

At this time of year we begin to get travelers from all over the country stopping in to use our resources to research their family histories. They are delighted when they find we have vital records from the beginning of Adams up through the earliest part of the 20th century for both Adams and North Adams, as well as city directories, annual reports, the North Adams Transcript from 1844 to the present, the Hoosac Valley News for its full run, and numerous indexes and other genealogical materials.

We're just setting up a computer in the Local History area dedicated to local history and family research, which will provide access to databases from the New England Historical and Genealogical Society (New England Ancestry), the Mormons / Latter Day Saints (FamilySearch), Ellis Island, Garden City and, beginning July 1, Ancestry.

If you are from the Northern Berkshires of Massachusetts, or have roots in this area, we would love to add a copy of your research to our collection, so that others may build on your work. Just bring it up to the Reference / Special Collections Department on the second floor of the library.

Last January we offered a series of classes on how to do your family research at various repositories in the Northern and Central Berkshires. We have an excellent relationship with other repositories in the county. Staff also will help individuals pursue their research. If you're interested, we'll be glad to offer more learning opportunities for seeking your ancestors. It's the second fastest growing hobby in the country!

kc

Ideas?

We don't have a whole lot of special programs scheduled at the library for the next couple of months, so would like suggestions from you. Yes, we have our regular StoryTimes, Knitting Circle, Book Discussion, computer classes and Writers' Corner, and on June 19 John Root will be here to inform us about edible wild plants, but we'd like to do more.

What would you like to see offered?

Can you identify this?

Our Special Collections Department is processing thousands of negatives it received from the North Adams Transcript. Many of those negatives have minimal, if any, identification, so from time to time we will post an image here and ask you to help identify the people, place or timeframe. Please help us out!

Here's the first. The envelope was labelled "Churches", and it appears that there is a nun in the center of the photo. Perhaps someone can identify at least one of these people, or even the room. The photo probably was taken sometime in the 1930s - 1950s(?)

R.I.P.?

I hadn't realized how many authors are writing novels posthumously these days. The Reflective Librarian, Stephen Leary, lists V. C. Andrews, Robert Ludlum and others, points out the growing gap between deceased authors and "their works," and ponders the validity and boundaries of this practice. Is Kurt Vonnegut next? Is the public aware, or just some of us librarians and book dealers? Is the a good thing for the reading public, or something designed to mislead us and increase sales? I fear it is the latter.

Thank you, Stephen, for raising this question. I think it is Deception for Dollars, and the public has the right to know.

Snow - 1; Gardens - 0

It's hard to tell when you look out the window today, but the Berkshires' gardening season is nearly here. Now, I love gardens as much as anyone, but just don't have the time (or make the priority) to do all the work needed to produce great flowers and vegetables, or keep my shrubs pruned and lawn trimmed. How about you? Do you have some tips and tricks to share?

For those of us who want to have nice gardens without as much work, the library has invited gardening book author and editor Liz Stell to share her experience with us next Tuesday, April 10 at 6:30. Liz has fabulous gardens at her Lanesborough home, and I've always wondered how she manages to produce such great results while being a very busy editor and musician. I'm going to be there to find out, and hope you will too.

And keep your tips and tricks coming!

k

Copyright???

As librarians we are always interested in copyright law and its place in today's world. Recently another copyright issue has been in the news involving YouTube and the Viacom network. I know many people feel it is okay to make a copy of any materials out there as long as it's for their personnal use but if materials are copyrighted doesn't the owner have the right to the profits from their work?

How do you feel? Should copying movies or music off the web always be okay or are there times when it should be illegal? Do you think that if materials are allowed to be copied it will eventually limit the number of items being produced because the profits will not be there? Is this all moot because we can not control it anyway?

RM

More Web 2.0 -- or was that 1.0...?

I'm not into cubbyholing everything, but sometimes it does help us understand things. Ah, labels, labels. I tend to see things more as a continuum, so how about helping me out a little here:

Amy said, ". . . what I think Web 2.0 means is a new way to connect with people and build community and share ideas and actually start to put the web infrastructure to good use."

This sounds really good to me. And then I think about newsgroups, listservs, and IM, which have been around for "internet eons." And wonder if they are not a part of Web 2.0 . . . or Web 1.0 -- and then my head starts to spin, and I get a little dizzy, and major confusion sets in.

So, why do we need a new name ("2.0") for something that some of us perceive as a evolution, or progression? It's not that I mind, but . . . why?

Unmoderated

Yes, folks, we are now an unmoderated blog. However, we will delete posts if they are flames or use inappropriate language -- we represent a public library, after all. But we do want to hear your opinions and ideas. Come join the conversation!
k

Library 2.0? Web 2.0!

What do you know about Web 2.0? I think it is running parallel to, or perhaps a little ahead of, what is being called Library 2.0 (at least by Karen Schneider, but to learn about that you should check her blog). It has something to do with wikis, and blogs and other forms of "social networking" - which I take to mean online interactivity with other humans. [Side thought: Does that then make email and IM a part of web 2.0, instead of web 1.0? and what about web 1.01 - web 1.99?]

Sounds like the place we are all heading, like it or not.

So I signed up for this "webinar" -- also a new term to me -- to learn about using web 2.0 tools in our library. I do it from the library, using a computer and either a headset/microphone or a telephone line (no, I won't be tying up the line and keeping you from reaching our fabulous staff). I'm kind of excited about it. Maybe it will be similar to the online seminars my brother participates in, where the instructor somehow passes control of everyone's computers from one particpant to another, so all can view the same thing. Gee -- isn't that just a wee bit scary!

Meanwhile, beside blogs, what are you doing with Web 2.0?

k

Electronic Books?

What do you think about electronic books? In case you don't know, they are books that you can read on a computer, or download to your eBook reader (gee -- *another* electronic toy to buy!).

I like audio books on tape and CD. We are now able to provide these for download to a CD, MP3 player or other device (except iPod, for some reason), and we have lots of them available at the library. Those are fine. But personally, I can't imagine reading a novel electronically -- even using one of those cute little eBook readers that are close to the size of a book. They're harder on the eyes, use electricity (I tend toward sustainable living), and just don't feel the same.

On the other hand, I have used NetLibrary books online for reference purposes. That is handy when I'm looking for a specific piece of information from a specific source if I can't find full text of that source through normal search engines or Gale Databases, and I'm not at the library.

When I'm helping a library patron look for a book, I seldom recommend the eBooks. When I do point them out, the response generally is "no, thanks." Yet we are told they are growing in popularity, and more and more are being entered into our catalog. In a few cases we can't even find a hard copy of some recently-published non-fiction books any more -- all copies in the system are electronic!

Maybe I'm just getting old and becoming a Luddite.

If you want to see what I mean, check them out. They are being provided by our library consortium (C/WMARS). You can find them through our website at <www.naplibrary.com> by clicking the "eLibrary Catalog" in the right hand menu or just looking for them through our online catalog link in the left menu. The consortium subscribes to at least two vendors for eBooks.

Yikes!

k

YaYa Sisterhood is March's selection

The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells is the choice for the library's next Page Turners Book Discussion, which will be held March 26. Have you read the book? What do you think? If not, we'll have copies in regular print, large print, and on tape and CD here at the library. Post here and/or come on down on the 26th at 2 and share your views!