Showing posts with label Events. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Events. Show all posts

Monday, 9 November 2015

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's Library Podcasts: A Review On comicpoplibrary.com

Hello everyone! Remembrance Day, along with the promise of a few snowflakes, is approaching us Canadians. November is definitely a good time to check out plenty of books and other materials about World War I and World War II. 

I remember back in high school, our classes had to present a play based on the famous war poem "In Flanders Fields". It was actually quite fun to do at the time, and we tried our best to impact the audience, given the solemn nature of the topic. Anyway, I hope you Canadians take the time to wear your poppies (even if you can't get them to stay on your coat, as is always the case) and remember the sacrifices our soldiers made.

Regarding today's topic, I was browsing along the corners of the Internet trying to find podcasts centered around libraries. 

Although a lot of podcasts for libraries happen to revolve around either library instruction or library policies (which is always great information to take in for library staff), I was specifically looking for ones that provided a focus on reviewing materials. 

Because gosh darn it, I sometimes like my podcasts to not contain dry topics.

To my delight, I found the perfect marriage between the library world and the review world. Who exactly is this podcast superhero, you may ask?

comicpoplibrary.com, of course!

comicpoplibrary.com specializes in critiquing comic books, graphic novels, anime, manga, television shows, and even music. It all gloriously culminates into one big "geek" utopia. 

As I listened to their podcasts, it all melted my little nerdy heart. Kapow and boom, indeed.

Reading into their purpose, comicpoplibrary.com's content is reviewed by librarians and teenagers, with their podcast lengths usually hitting the 30 minute mark. I think what I like most about their podcasts is the amount of enthusiasm the hosts bring. You can tell they really like what they do and they have a good flow to their segments.

With their podcasts, I feel the comicpoplibrary.com team has done a great job in gaining the attention of patrons looking to find the next great comic book or television show. 

By keeping the content concise and entertaining, patrons will have a harder time feeling alienated on the subject matter. 

I also think that comicpoplibrary.com's podcasts are excellent resources for school or public libraries looking to purchase materials, as the team goes into great detail about each item they review. 

For example, in Ep 4 ComicPop Heroes Take on "Wraith", the hosts analyze the artwork contained within the item. Such attention to detail can be quite helpful to those building library collections. 

In short, I think podcast-lovers and library staff should give these podcasts a shot. In any case, they provide a good starting point for libraries looking to expand their comic book and graphic novel collections. 

You can find all their episodes on their website, or you can tune in to some episodes on Itunes like I did:

http://comicpoplibrary.com/category/podcasts/

It just goes to show that heroes and heroines are all around us, from soldiers to reviewers. Now it's time for me to fly away at supersonic speeds! 
  

Thursday, 1 October 2015

My Sincerest Apologies To You, Twitter: Why More and More Libraries Are Using Twitter

To the most-beloved Twitter,

Oh, how I hated you in the past. I created an account on you not too long ago, hoping that I could keep track on my friends' lives. I desperately wanted to like you, as you seemed so attractive and clean in appearance. I also wanted to learn how to use hashtags properly, and not in a mocking way. 

But alas dear Twitter, it was just not meant to be. I was simply too verbose and long-winded for you; I couldn't become comfortable using 140-character limits. My friends thought so too. They ditched their accounts two weeks after creating them. And so, with nothing else to look forward to, I abandoned you. My once lively account was now (and sadly still is) in a comatose state. 

Well, I'm here to tell you that I'm sorry I misunderstood you. It went over my head that you are a librarian's dream come true.

You are more than just some silly website to pass time with. 

You were (and still are) a very useful tool to look up various types of information, even if it's just a quote from a D-list celebrity. 

You single-handedly put microblogging on the map. 

You have helped libraries around the world get in touch with patrons more easily and effectively. You have helped to create more pro-library communities.

Libraries are surprisingly popular on you, sweet Twitter; the New York Public Library has around 605,000 followers. Of course, libraries don't need to get that many followers to be successful. 

Smart library staff aren't just using you and other forms of microblogging to share info about recommended books, updated policies, etc. They also use accounts to relate to patrons and help them explore the big, beautiful world around them.

The Winnipeg Public Library, for example, released a tweet yesterday stating about James Dean's death, and linked relevant info on how he impacted our culture. I think that's a clever way to re-introduce classic actors and other important figures to unfamiliar users.

Libraries can also use Twitter and microblogging to inform the public about community events. Everything ranging from free concerts to knitting classes is posted on many library Twitter accounts. Twitter is also an effective tool to create discussions with, engaging with patrons to think critically and voice their opinions more easily. 

It's amazing how many interesting things a library can pack into you, my little Twitter.

I'll admit, it may take me a while to boot up my account again. But at least I now have a better understanding of you. Where I once despised you, I have now grown to at least admire you from afar.

Sincerely,

Erin.

P.S- I found some accounts that I really like a lot. I hope that they may never falter on you:

1. Vancouver Public Libraryhttps://twitter.com/VPL
2. Winnipeg Public Libraryhttps://twitter.com/wpglibrary?ref_src=twsrc%5egoogle%7ctwcamp%5eserp%7ctwgr%5eauthor
3. Scottish Poetry Libraryhttps://twitter.com/ByLeavesWeLive