James LaRue - myliblog

I arrived today in this lovely region. Tomorrow I give a talk to area trustees. The day after that, to trustees and directors closer to Altoona. I was met by Cambria County Library Director Lyn Meek, Mary Lou Repsher, and Linda Young. In addition to taking me to a fine dinner leavened by fine conversation, they also took me to the high, wooded hills above the river valley. Two pictures: First, the "incline" - a device to haul up a cage large enough for two cars along steep rails. Think an enormous cable. Then, the amazing view of the town from atop the selfsame hill. Below, the Stoneycreek River.

[Click on the image to expand.] The above is from a series of surveys, conducted by JVA Consulting, LLC, at the end of 2011, and during the first part of 2012. JVA questioned more than 3959 community and staff members (the results are still being tallied) about a host of library issues. The key takeaway from the above slide was this: "Borrowing patterns vary greatly by subgroup. However, purchasing and obtaining books elsewhere remains equal among groups." Note: in this case, "non-user" means "uses once a month or less." "Non-supporter" means "would be unlikely to vote for a library funding increase." Does using the library mean that you buy more books? In Douglas County, apparently not. Regular readers are no more likely to buy books than non-library users. On the other hand, they are no less likely. Using the library doesn't steal anybody's sales. The library probably does have an effect on which books they buy, tho...

The Occupy Movement interests me. It gives me hope. So yesterday I wrote some lyrics, and sometime this week, I hope to work out the banjo chords. But here are the words: You don't own the building but you pay the rent you're the 99 not the 1 percent You don't drive the limo though you paid for the road you don't get to keep the crop that you sowed A respected worker at the local plant your daddy never felt like an ant He made good things took home a good wage he contributed in a different age Now it's your job to make the rich richer if that makes you poorer well don't be a bitcher So occupy the park my friend occupy the street occupy downtown my friend post on Facebook and re-tweet Let them see your face my friend the face they would deny Remind them that you share this world and when they ask you why Tell them that you're on to them Tell them that you're wise Tell them that you're not so blind Tell them you ...

I do a lot of walking around. And sometimes, I find living spirits, then snap a photo of them with my cell phone. For instance, while walking in a park in Littleton, I found this wood serpent, the Park Ness Monster, rising from a fallen branch: Walking home one day, I found this in a front yard in Castle Rock, a wood lion, Simba of the Rockies: Pretty cool, huh?

Of course, the Tao that can be named is not the true Tao. But as I often say I am a born-again Taoist (none of that alchemy and immortality stuff), I thought I should jot down my current thinking about what I mean. For me, Taoism is less a religion than a philosophy. Taoism is the cultivation of an attitude. That attitude has at least three facets: * peace - a mind that knows how to be quiet. * potency - the ability to dip into a well of endless possibilities. * appreciation. By focusing the attention -- zooming in to the particular, zooming out to the general field - we can find both balance and beauty.

If you think, “I breathe,” the “I” is extra. There is no you to say “I.” What we call “I” is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale or when we exhale. —Shun Ryu Suzuki I used to think the brain was the most important organ in the body, until I realized who was telling me that. —Emo Phillips Recently, I read a profoundly insightful science fiction story by Daryl Gregory, "Second Person, Present Tense." Wonderful writing. I recommend it. I won't try to summarize the tale, except to say that it tackles a profound insight into consciousness. Forget id, ego, and superego. Replace them with the Parliament, the Page, and the Queen. The Parliament refers to the idea that your consciousness is not one voice. It is a committee. It is made up of several different physiological or biological systems, all vying for action. At some point, they achieve consensus. This is the moment in which, for instance, fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) reveals that th...

So I've been thinking about e-books, and the rise of self-publishing. The short version is this: libraries of all types need to have systems enabling them to "publish" and manage content directly. As I've oft-stated, there were 2.7 million self-published titles (mostly electronic) in 2010, about 9 times the output of commercial publishing in the same year. This trend will continue. So now let's say that your library does have such an infrastructure for the management of digital content -- as my library does. I anticipate that there will be at least four kinds of content coming our way: * crap. It takes real effort to become a fine writer. A lot of what will be written won't be very good. But that's always been true. It disappears into the ages -- or at least, it has until now. (Do we need to weed e-books? Or will we finally have the ability to preserve every title forever?) * OK stuff. There will be many works that do a reasonably good job of tellin...