Grad School Blog 2

So I am about a week away from spring break, meaning halfway through the semester, and good news…I am still alive! This month was spent mostly attempting and finally succeeding (hopefully) the AACR and ISBD beginning forms of cataloging. I pretty much have a stead song in my head that sounds like this, “period space dash-dash space”. The picture included in this post is a picture of my best friend! I am glad that I am this far in now and things are starting to make sense. THIS is the AACR website and THIS is wikipedias description on what AACR cataloging it.

The new adventure set before me is MARC. After learning MARC I should be able to successfully catalog my own personal library and resources at my house, which, of course, will later be applied when I enter the rest of the library-cataloging-society. I also cannot wait to learn how to use MARC Magician!

I have been lucky to be in a class where everyone is in the same boat as me. When I started ISBD and AACR I thought, “Man! Maybe library science is out of my league!” I had NO idea how much science went into everything, but once other classmates started expressing their concern and problems through the chat room I felt a little better. I felt even better when KeB (our instructor) was speedy to answer our concerns and even had a group chat to help us out. I wasn’t sure if I could handle all of this online after seeing how confusing this science can be, but with the right professors I feel I will be able to become a fantastic librarian!

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E-readers

Ok all. Last week my Graduation/Christmas gift finally arrived. It was the brand-new Nook by Barnes and Noble. I had been waiting impatiently since it was released! I had been wanting a kindle, but when the Nook was released with the color touch screen, extra memory, and replaceable battery; well I decided to go with that one instead.
Anyway, as I opened the box (which I must say, should have been my first warning that the nook was not what it could've been), my excitement started growing. Thinking of all the possibilities just made me giddy; all my textbooks, all my fun books, any magazine or newspaper, all on this tiny device!
The first day I was too busy with school to be able to really use it. When I finally sat down to use it, I was sad. It was SO slow. I mean, push the button-go do something else slow. I tried to get over it, but what is the use of "reading" on this when I can't really "read"? So, I looked into articles online. Business Week showed the differences. This one compared each, where each won, but in my opinion the Kindle actually still killed. And CNET reported it's review as well, and confirmed my suspicions. The best thing the Nook had going for it was the right to "lend" (but I do no know anyone else who has a nook) and the touchscreen (which is entirely too complicated). On top of all that, there is a small chance the Nook might be better than the Kindle in the long run, just after several software updates (which could take who knows how long?). So I decided since I only had 14 days to return, that I was returning it. It wasn't worth it to wait EVEN longer for it to only MAYBE finally work. B & N must have known people would be disappointed because they made you pay 10% to re-stock it and no refund on the books you bought, great. So I got the Kindle that day. It was in my hands 2 days later! Thanks Amazon for giving me 30 days to decide if I want to keep it with no charge to re-stock it. So far, I LOVE the kindle much more than the Nook. I can even use the WHOLE internet! Woo!

So my question is this..Is a librarian supposed to be a fan of the e-readers? I mean, Nashville Public Library lends out some books through e-books, which is awesome! But, could the e-reader ever really replace books? I love books and children's books. My only problem is traveling and reading in bed with them. I often get uncomfortable, so that was a big reason in wanting the e-reader. Anyway, I am for the e-readers and still do not feel books will be replaced, just maybe not as many. No way could children's books be replaced though because there is no color for pictures on the tiny screen!

That's how I see it,
Lizzy