Author: bbaile14

Assistant Professor / Digital Projects Librarian for Johnson County Community College

Hope in Unlikely Places

The perception of the Middle East does not always include a hopeful outlook towards peace. Even less likely, one could assume, is the widow of an assassinated leader in the Middle East to believe that peace is near and attainable.  Yet, My Hope for Peace, written by Jehan Sadat, widow of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, does just that.  In it, she discusses what she believes is necessary to reach that goal, tries to diminish stereotypes about the roles women can play, and comes out of a terrible tragedy incredibly optimistic. Whether or not lofty, nor whether or not her plans are ever carried out, this memoir contains several points of inspiration, if not for just simply existing.

Let’s Talk Health

If you talk to a number of librarians, they’ll tell you some of the most dreaded questions for many of us involve things such as “Does this look infected?”, “I have a cold/flu/Strep/stomach virus/black lung, is it contagious?”, or similar medical-themed inquiries.  I beg of you: ask a doctor, not a librarian. Or at least ask it over the phone.

But! for when need be, a handy-dandy reference guide such as Answering Consumer Health Questions : The Medical Library Association Guide for Reference Librarians is a relief.  But you know, it isn’t just a librarian’s perusal tool.  Much like questions related to law, librarians aren’t always in the proper position to dish out medical advice, so library users may benefit from a flip-through or two of a guide like this.  Michele Spatz guides her audience through resources, procedures, and limitations of what can be done by librarians.  Remember: just because librarian’s have all the answers doesn’t mean they won’t use common sense in dolling out the wisdom.

When Financial News is Confusing, Our Library Responds

So, with all of the talk about Bernie Madoff, financial bailouts, and other scary things that got our economy into a nasty mess, a lot of people have been left saying “…wait, now what?” For example, you probably know that something that led us to this point was the use of hedge funds.  Or the creation of hedge funds.  You may not know what they did, but you know they exist.

Well, we’ve finally had a lot of books roll in recently to help straighten this business out.  150 Best Recession Proof Jobs helps examine options and careers worth pursuing during this time of layoffs, and books like Hedgefunds: an Analytic Perspective,  Hedge Hunters, and Demon of our Own Design : Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation take a look at the ins and outs associated with this risky business and our failing market.

Congratulations, Cindy Clark!

cindy_employee_of_the_mellinneumDoes she look surprised?  Yes she does.  But she shouldn’t be, because Cindy Clark has earned the EXCEL Award for JCCC Employee of the Year. That’s right: of every staff member on campus classified as Maintenance/Service or Office/Technical, full or part time, the library’s very own Cindy Clark has been named supreme champion.  So congratulations!

The For Dummies Series May Have An Issue…

There’ve been some funny “For Dummies” titles to have come out.  Washington DC for Dummies. Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies (I love D&D, by the way…).  The most cringe worthy book like this was actually a different series: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Enhancing Self-Esteem.  Ouch.

But we just got in Veterans Benefits for Dummies.  I can hear people saying “OH NO THEY DIDN’T!” from here.  Of course, it is just a matter of the series’s naming convention, and the series is pretty beneficial in general.  Part of my job is programming and I’m proud to have PHP & MySQL for Dummies on my personal bookshelf.  Handy stuff!  And frankly, what could be more confusing than government paper work?  If anything, I think having a guide like this is quite the beneficial resource for our veterans (students and staff) to make sure they’re getting every last benefit available to them for serving this country.

Book of the Day Looks at American Arguments

Let’s talk about Howard Fineman.  Fineman’s a political correspondent frequently on MSNBC, writer for Newsweek and is probably best defined by an increasingly bad dye job:

hpost_fineman

Yeah, I know!  But the truth is, he’s a smart guy.  His book, Thirteen American Arguments: Enduring Debates that Define and Inspire Our Country is really neat.

Instead of taking on specific incidents in America’s past, he looks at general topics that keep coming up over the course of this nation’s life.  So instead of taking on slavery, abortion, and other issues separately, one argument he presents is “Who is a person?”  If this book has any shortcomings, it is certainly its focus on current events, which some argue will date the book.  The theory behind it, however, is that future generations could look back at it, and say, “Yes, those questions applying to old issues are relevant to current issues now.”  So, regardless of how it will hold up through time, it is worth reading now.

Today’s Item: Jamaica’s First Movie

thtc1

Yes!

I repeat: Yes!

We’ve got some updates coming to our DVD department, including some of the best movies about music ever made.  My personal favorite also happens to be one of the first Jamaican flicks created, The Harder They Come. If you liked The Departed, The Godfather, Scarface, or any story that follows a rags to riches to corruption theme, then this will be of interest.

The lead character is played by Jimmy Cliff, one of the most influential men in reggae not named Marley, and the soundtrack is hot stuff.  It also highlights some issues within Jamaica’s economic structure during the 70s, with your rich neighborhoods and tourist attractions next to the poor shantytowns struggling with crime and violence.  It is a good look into the frequently ignored parts of the country, and the parts which the tourist commercials conveniently don’t mention.

But hey, while the movie may not be a feel-good picture, the soundtrack will lift you right back up!

Book of the Day Gets.. Month-ish

So, starting in February, and into this last week, I’ve been traveling, presenting, and not necessarily hitting this up proper.  So we’re going to hit up some highlights from today’s 250 item update to the New Item RSS feed.  Yeah… that’s a lot.

So first, we’ve got this Artists of the 20th Century series of DVDs, which covers everything from Warhol to Dali to Francis Bacon.  Yeah: Bacon. These DVDs take a look at one particular person, their life, their work, but also function as slideshows of their work.  Even if they aren’t the best made series on the planet, it is a lot easier than fishing around the Internet or traveling to where they’re kept to see them in person.

Next is a book called Wikipedia Revolution, which examines how the most comprehensive encyclopedia in the world is maintained by common folk and self regulated.  I’ll be the first to admit that I approach Wikipedia information with a skeptical eye, but I’ll also admit that I start a lot of research there to better form the searches I’m about to do in article databases, or to check referenced articles to see if they’re usable.  It is really a revolutionary product of the Internet, truly unique in its vision and scope, and this book does a great job researching some of the impact it has had.

AHHH !!  Dental implants!  You know, I was perusing the list of items, and a lot of them seem to be focused on terrorism.  This right here is real terror.  In Asbjorn Jokstad’s Osseointegration and Dental Implants you can learn all about putting scary things in your mouth.  As someone who had a dentist put in fillings, braces, permanent retainers, and then take out the fillings to replace them with prettier ones, I can attest to this: I live in fear of that chair.  My sympathy to those enduring dental implants, and my salute to those of you brave enough to enter the dental profession.  I do not hold against you what you must do to keep these teeth shining.

… but seriously… GAHH…

Books of Today: GAME Support (Unleashed!)

Today, we’ve started to process two series of books: Game Programming Gems and AI Game Programming Wisdom. Both series have come recommended by the folks in our GAME curriculum, so if you possess any interest or are taking the classes, you’ll have these handy reference materials available for your perusal. They’re full of tips, tricks, interviews, how-tos and information about the different specializations within the game development industry.

If you’re not familiar with our Library Reserves, they’re the books on the first floor that you probably think are all dictionaries and encyclopedias.  FALSE! Well, not all of them, anyway.  They are materials that can’t be taken out of the library (sadface) because they’re either too valuable or (like these) are books designed to be glanced at in short intervals and not always worth reading cover to cover for your need at that moment.