How many books I read at once

George at Bookninja points to a post asking "how many books do you read at once?"(from the Los Angeles Times). I don't read it them all at once, but I do read more than one book at the same time, so to speak. Now this debate is an old one. Some people say you should just concentrate on one thing at a time. Others say you should read as your mood moves you. I fall more into the latter camp. The author of the LA Times article reads a lot because that is her job; she is a reviewer. I am not. I read for professional reasons, and I read for personal reasons. Let's look at the personal stuff. For this, I have a bit of an informal "rule," or maybe labeling it as a "routine" is more like it since it is not strict. Anyhow, at any given time I am reading the following for pleasure: a piece of nonfiction, a piece of fiction, and a graphic novel or manga. The graphic novel or manga can be fiction or it can be nonfiction, such a memoir (for example, Alison Bechdel's Fun Home). I added the graphic novel or manga option recently as I have been reading more in that area.

Now, the variant for the routine is when I am borrowing books, usually from the library (mostly via ILL (Interlibrary Loan for my non-librarian readers, and I will let readers ponder that one). When I am borrowing, I can go up to four to six books at a time if I am borrowing one from each of my categories. The reason is that anything I borrow usually has a deadline to be returned. A lot of ILL books often do not allow a renewal. It means I have to pick these books and start on them right away to get them back by the deadline. So, I can't let them sit. As a result, anything from my own shelves I was reading at the time is put aside briefly while I get through borrowed items. After all, if I bought it, it is not going anywhere, so it can wait. What often happens is that I find a book that sounds interesting which I want to read. However, it is not the type of book I want to keep, which means it is a book I want to read once and move on. So, I put in the ILL request. Since the delivery time can vary, I often put in more than one request. Sometimes they get staggered, and sometimes they all arrive at the same time. When that happens, I get more books added to the reading pile. My record may be up to 8 at a time when I got four requested graphic novels come in at about the same time. On the positive side, I often read graphic novels and manga faster, so I was able to get everything back in on time.

Oh, by the way, if I get to pick up an LIS book, that often is one over the nonfiction quota. So, I could be reading two nonfiction items, although LIS books count as professional reading for me like LIS articles do. We barely collect LIS books at my workplace, so these are often ILL requests for me, thus they add to the reading pile.

Anyhow, that is the somewhat complex answer to how many books I am reading at any one time. Usually, it is three, but it can go up depending on my mood or if I borrowed something. At the end of the day, it's what works for me in terms of reading. I am willing to bet that a lot of librarians like me probably read more than one item at a time. For me, it is a matter of mood. Sometimes I feel like reading something in nonfiction, like history, and sometimes I need some escapism via fiction. The other factor can be length. If one book is very lengthy, the others may be short things. So there you have it in a big nutshell: how many books am I reading at the same time.

And for the curious, here is what I am reading as of this writing:

• Don Miguel Ruiz, The Mastery of Love.
  
• Marc Gascoigne and Christian Dunn, eds., Let the Galaxy Burn (short fiction collection, Warhammer 40,000 series). Since this is short fiction, I can easily pick it up or put it aside if something else more pressing comes along. I am not a fast reader, and this book is 0ver 700 pages long. So it is taking me a while, but it is a good entertaining ride so far.
  
• Bill Willingham, Robin: Days of Fire and Madness. This is my current graphic novel selection. I will probably get it done in a day or two once I get to it.
  
• Roméo Dallaire, Shake Hands with the Devil. This is my current library book, which I borrowed via ILL. I have been wanting to read this one for a while, and I finally got around to requesting it.

By the way, I am registered in GoodReads, and I have their widget on this blog's right side column. That way, readers here can hop over and see what I am reading or what I have recently read. How about others out there? Do you read more than one book at once? Or is it just one at a time?

You should listen to the non-techies too

Michael Stephens presented a small but interesting post today by Mick Jacobsen on "Love thy luddite" that makes some simple and good points. It resonated with me because one of the problems I have with the whole L2 phenomena is that they often do not listen and that they tend to push way too hard to get people to use whatever the toy du jour happens to be. This point was particularly interesting to me:

"Don’t push too hard (if you can avoid it). Sometimes all it takes is talking to them at the right time. Understand their schedule. Some people are ready to play at the start of the day, some after lunch, some while eating lunch, etc."

Very often it is a simple as it is just not the right time for some people to try X or Y. If you push too hard, not only will they be turned off, they may as well be turned off from other things because of that one experience. The schedule thing was interesting. I tend to be fairly productive in the morning and then a bit more right after lunch (since I tend to take short lunches anyways). For personal things like my own blogging, evening at home tends to work too. It just depends on what it is I am doing or need to get done.

But it also depends on the tool or social software site. For instance, Twitter is something I personally do not get. Well, I see the appeal for some people. But in my case, if I want to mini-blog, I can do that, to an extent on Facebook. In fact, I have been doing just that when I post links I find of interest that I am sharing with others since I usually add a small comment to the link. The comments I make are short, probably about the length that Twitter allows. So, if it is just for something like that, I don't see the use of opening yet another account on yet another online service. I can barely keep up with the ones I have as it is on some days. What makes you think I want to add another one, with another password to remember, so on, just to try it out? I like experimenting as much as the next guy, but sometimes having to sign up for yet another thing of dubious usefulness (to me) may not be worth. Give me some time later on, I may reconsider it. Push me, and I will tell you to (insert four letter word here) off.

Sometimes it may be something else. Library Thing is another example. In my case, my issue is simple: if I want to record more than what the basic free account allows, I have to pay. For me, that is a big deal since I do not like using a credit card online. You know, that whole phishing/identity theft thing going around for one. But two, for just keeping track of my personal reading and doing a little of social sharing of that reading, Good Reads works for me, and it is free. I already have over 300 books tracked there. And while Library Thing is not pricey per se, the fact I have to pay for something online that I can get free, for what I do, just does not seem worth the effort. And notice that as I talk about what I do, I do emphasize the concept of "what I do" or for what I need it. What I am saying is that some things work for me and others do not. If they work for you, more power to you, but please don't get all pushy about it and try to convert me. That just puts you in the same bracket as religious fundamentalists who want to convert everyone and hold the view of "I am right; I have the truth, and you do not," and I hate those people with a passion. If you are a promoter of 2.0 technologies, do you really want to be in the same category as fundamentalist bullies? My guess is probably not.

So please, I would appreciate it if certain people chill a bit. I am not a luddite by any means; I am blogging, aren't I? And if you look on the right side column of my blogs, you find the links to my other online tools. But I can certainly see the point of some non-techie people that they may just not be ready or that they do not find a particular tool useful. Maybe like me, they just prefer a different tool, or they prefer not to use something at all. That is not a bad thing.

And yes, I also agree you probably should not label those people as "luddites."

Booknote: Questioning Library Neutrality

This is one I have been meaning to read for a while: Questioning Library Neutrality edited by Alison Lewis. It is a collection of essays from Progressive Librarian that raise the question about the idea of library neutrality. Are we really neutral as librarians? Is it in our interest and in the interest of society that we keep the illusion of neutrality as librarians? Should we not, as members of society, be engaged in that society and thus have positions as well? In my personal situation, this is the question I often struggle with: do I simply let someone get bad information because I am neutral, or do I try to educate them towards better information? I am thinking of Kevin Trudeau's various books on miracle cures and so on, which have been pretty much discredited (not to mention having been banned from the airwaves by the FTC). but people who don't know better keep seeking them out in public libraries. The neutral librarian would simply buy the book and offer it without question. The engaged librarian would probably try to educate the patron and offer alternatives, and I lean towards the educational mission. That takes work by the way; for the neutral librarian, they can just sit there, so to speak, which I do not find acceptable. That's the kind of question, and others in this book, that I often ponder in my professional practice.

I did make some notes in my personal journal as I was reading this book. Except for Doherty's essay, which I had read before, all the works here were new to me. Let me jot down some of the things that caught my attention or made me think.

From the introduction:

"But creationism and Holocaust denial have been discredited by the vast majority of the scientists and historians, respectively. They don't hold equal weight in the marketplace of ideas, and they are not deserving of an equal share of limited library resources" (2).

One would think that is apparent, but I know certain librarians would rather not think about things like that in order to preserve the idea they are neutral and that all viewpoints are equal and deserve equal space. I will admit that I often fell for the giving everyone their space, but let's be honest, some ideas are not worthy of being given space or expression. And this is specially so in a library with limited resources as it is.

And here is something else I tend to struggle with. While the Rosenzweig essay lays out some very good history of politics and librarianship, it still does not quite answer, for me at least, the common issue or objection of too much politics in certain sections of the ALA. Because as important as certain international issues are, and I do find some things reprehensible and needing someone to stop them, we do have a ton of problems closer to home that the so-called professional organization for librarians is simply not addressing on behalf of librarians. I can't worry about Darfur or Rwanda when I have to worry about deprofessionalization, poor funding our our libraries not to mention the poor pay librarians and library workers get, and a host of other issues closer to home. The Rwanda thing comes to mind because I am about to start Dallaire's book. As librarians, we can't be neutral, but I think that at times we need to be a bit more selective on the battles we pick. It is something I personally struggle with, but I should point out that I did drop my ALA membership years ago; the organization was just too far away for me, fairly irrelevant to what I need, and to be honest, a bit too much on the elitist for me.

Now here is something I can relate to:

"Both in my training and in my work I have often felt ambivalent about librarianship and been at odds with the 'library establishment'" (Iverson essay, 25).

I wish it was so easy, or seemingly easy, to understand my own ambivalence about a profession I love, one where "the establishment" seems more concerned about perpetuating itself, about certain images, than about really educating and serving.

"If we accept that information is connected to knowledge and knowledge to power, we must examine the connections between power and information in our postmodern society. What are the implications for increased access to information by the dominant segment of society? Librarians are trained in the expert manipulation of information by mastering the technology connected to the production, dissemination, and retrieval of information. However, what are the implications for society in not questioning what kinds of information are accessible and what kinds are not, and who has easy access?" (Iverson, 29).

Maybe part of the answer to my earlier question is here. My training and experience tell me to question and to show others how to do it. I am surrounded by significant restraints and many who prefer to accept the status quo--some for convenience, others out of laziness, and a few out of evil to keep their their elite positions.

Something I found curious, or interesting at least, is how a lot seems to stay the same. Joyce's essay on the social responsibilities debates of the 60s and 70s could have been written today with everything (or almost everything) practically intact: from tales of the ALA's lack of flexibility and out of touch old guard to some younger librarians calling for boycotting the ALA and encouraging others not to renew. In a way, it's like nothing has really changed, and it certainly does not encourage me to renew my membership any time soon.

Ann Sparnese discussing Michael Baldwin's argument from his October 2002 Library Journal essay was something I wanted to note too:

"He argues that in order to be institutions of democracy, libraries must promote democracy and an informed citizenry as its main, most important mission. And I would hope that the public would value this inherent purpose and demand it of their public libraries-- not just providing folks the latest novels" (80).

Two things. One, replace the "latest novels" with "video games" or whatever the latest craze may be, and that statement remains as relevant as ever. And two, in my humble estimation, we should be demanding the same out of our academic libraries.

Overall, for a thoughtful and reflective librarian, this is a book that will make you ask a lot of questions and take a look at your own professional practice. The book also provides a pretty good history of the profession in the last 50 years or so. And for some, this may be the book that shakes them out of their complacency. This is definitely one I highly recommend.

Booknote: A Perfect Red

I just finished reading Amy Butler Greenfield's book A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Color of Desire. This book had been on my "to be read" (TBR) list for a while. I added it to the list when I was in Houston, but it was one of those things I never quite had the time. Not that I have that much time now, but when I opened my ILLiad account here, I decided to start ordering some of those books on the TBR list. Yes, there are a good number of books on the TBR list that my library does not carry, but thanks to InterLibrary Loan I can order them from other places. Anyhow, let's go on and talk about the book.

For those who like microhistories, this will be a good book. In a nutshell, this is a history of red color dyes. Most of the book deals with cochineal, a little insect which is used to get the dye. We go from the Renaissance and the conquest of the Americas to the modern day where synthetic dyes emerge, relegating cochineal as a dye to almost extinction. It is a story that involves spies, colonial adventure and enterprise, and learning about how dyes are made. This is the kind of topic that we often take for granted; we know we can buy clothes in colors or get food coloring, but how often do we think about where those colors come from? Then there is all the symbolism behind the color red.

The prose is a bit slow. Unlike other microhistories, this is more of a straight historical narrative, but there are some interesting moments, usually involving the spies trying to learn the secrets of the dyes from the nations owning them. What I mean is this is not a book like, for example, Kyle Jarrard's Cognac: the Seductive Saga of the World's Most Coveted Spirit. Jarrard has a much more personal style in the prose, which draws the reader in. Here is my blog post on Jarrard's book if anyone is interested. I am not saying the difference is a bad thing, just that the books have a different style. I also found interesting the little details about the cochineal, and how over time many different people speculated about its nature: was it an insect? was it a plant? was it something else entirely?

Overall, I think readers of the microhistory genre will enjoy this, but I also think any history reader in general will find it interesting as well. For me, having read and studied the history of Latin America and its relation to Spain, this book provided a different perspective. I mean, for example, I did not know that after silver, cochineal was actually the second biggest and most valuable product shipped from the Americas to Spain during the colonial time. No one ever mentioned this to me in classes I took, nor did I see it in other history books. So this book fills a significant gap in the history, which makes it a valuable one to read.


Other books with similar appeal (that I have read and can recall quickly now):

Tom Standage, The Victorian Internet, The Turk, and A History of the World in Six Glasses (Note on this one here).
Maureen Ogle, Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer. My blog post on this one here.

March is National Women's History Month: Some links

One of my tasks as Outreach Librarian is to put up various displays and exhibits throughout the year. I have already put up some things for National Women's History Month, which is celebrated in March, and I am still gathering items for a book list and to complete a display. Below are some links to various resources of interest. I may use some of them for my library, but I am putting them here so I can keep track of them. Also, if anyone out there finds them useful, feel free to use and pass them around. This post is a work in progress, and I may add more links as I find them.

And by the way, as of this writing, Obama has not signed any presidential proclamation for the month. Hey, you are running behind dude.


The links:

• National Women's History Project. A nonprofit organization with mission "to recognize and celebrate the diverse and historic accomplishments of women by providing information and educational materials and programs."
• Feature on Women's History from Infoplease.com. They have all sorts of timelines, trivia, biographies, and some quizzes to test your knowledge.
• Gale, the reference books publisher, has a small section on Women's History. They do put out a nice calendar for the month that can be printed out.
  
• The History Channel has a site for Women's History Month too.
  
• The Library of Congress has a Women's History site as well.
• The Feminist Majority Foundation has Women's History Month section on their website. It will feature a daily trivia question during the month of March.
• The Department of Defense has a website for the month as well. Not as up-to-date, but they do have historical items of interest.
• And here is the site from the Smithsonian.
• The FREE (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence) website has a site for Women's History. Good resource for teachers.
• Julie Foudy, ESPN's Soccer Analyst and Olympian, discusses women in soccer and sports (video clip).
  
• Site of the National Women's History Museum. Right now, they are looking for a permanent site in D.C. You can visit the site, see virtual exhibits, and learn about their campaign to have a presence in the nation's capital.
  
• The 2009 U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Figures Release for Women's History Month.
• The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is featuring a virtual exhibit on Julia Child, where you can explore her kitchen, which she donated to the Smithsonian.

Update Note (3/4/09):

Some Organizations with resources:

• The ACLU has a section for Women's History Month. I remembered to go check them out when I found the nice Timeline of Major Supreme Court decisions on Women's Rights, which I got last year and used on a display; apparently, they have it as an interactive feature now as well. They also have a Women's Rights Project and other useful resources on this and other topics.
• In 1909, Alice Ramsey became the first woman to drive across the United States from New York to California. Now a group is preparing to do the drive once more in 2009. Learn about it at their site, Alice's Drive.
• And the United Nations has a feature on International Women's Day, which is on March 8.
• You can also learn more about women's rights around the world from Amnesty International USA (page on Violence Against Women) and Human Rights Watch (page on Women's Rights). In other words, be informed about the issues and keep up the fight for women's rights.
  
• And since I am including various organizations, I would be remiss if I did not link to the National Organization for Women (NOW).
  

Various virtual exhibits on Women's History:

• The American Antiquarian Society has a small virtual exhibition on "A Woman's Work is Never Done."
• From Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, a virtual exhibit on "Intimate Circles: Women in the Arts."
• The University of Nottingham has a virtual exhibit on "War, Women & Survival."
• The American Foundation for the Blind has a virtual exhibit on Anne Sullivan Macy, Helen Keller's teacher.
• Purdue University Libraries' Archives and Special Collections, my alma mater, has an online collection of Amelia Earhart papers and materials.
• The Getty Museum has an online exhibit on Maria Sybilla Merian and her daughters, German artists and naturalists.
• Case Western University's Dittrick Medical History Center has an online exhibit on "Women Graduates of the Cleveland Medical College, 1852-1856." Did you know that in the 18th century women were banned from medical schools because they were considered too frail for it?
• And you can learn about Women in Science at the Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole).
• Smith College's Sophia Smith Collection has a "Voices of Feminism Oral History Project." You can view some of the transcripts online. From the site, "documents the persistence and diversity of organizing for women in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century. Narrators include labor, peace, and anti-racism activists; artists and writers; lesbian rights advocates; grassroots anti-violence and anti-poverty organizers; and women of color reproductive justice leaders. Interviews average 5-6 hours and cover childhood, personal life, and political work."
  
• The University of Michigan's William L. Clements Library has a virtual exhibit on "Women's Education Evolves, 1790-1890." From the site, "This exhibit presents digitized selections of key primary source materials, such as letters from students and women teachers, diaries of missionary teachers, various schoolbooks, sermons, and catalogs."

Update note (3/7/09):

• The International Women's Day is on March 8. Here is a website for the observance (a hat tip to the Information Literacy Weblog).