April 5th Video Game Tournament @ the Library a Big Success!

April 5th Video Game Tournament

The video game tournament on April 5th proved to be a great success. Around 50 teens competed in either the Dance Dance Revolution or the Guitar Hero III tournament in what turned out to be an all-around fun day. In addition to the competitors, dozens more friends & family members saw the rather mind-boggling skills displayed by the players in each game. The championship rounds for each game had the crowd cheering as loudly as the fans do at Fenway Park -- I'm not exaggerating. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating -- a little.

I was personally impressed by the skills of all the players in these games. Much of my amazement stems from just how inept I was a playing each of these games. I still think of myself as somewhat active & coordinated (even at the "ancient" age of "in my mid-thirties"), but next to the teens' abilities at these games, my ability at each game was the equivalent of trying to start a fire with two wet stones, while the teens had blazing bonfires going. I'm not totally sold on all video games being of value, but I really believe that being good at Dance Dance Revolution & Guitar Hero III (and many other video games) does speak volumes towards a person's organizational skills, coordination, and concentration levels.

The success of the tournament encourages the library & me to plan more such events for the fall. I would like to host a tournament for Madden NFL. Madden NFL is, after all, arguably the most successful gaming franchise of all-time. A Madden tournament would probably take place of the course of several days, given the length of individual Madden games. Of minor note, I am also terrible at this game. The last time I played I threw 4 interceptions with Tom Brady as my quarterback.

Another idea we're working on is getting adults, especially senior citizens, involved in gaming. I've read about the success of games like Wii bowling (you can too at http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1127/p01s05-ussc.html) in engaging older generations in what often is viewed as a younger generation pastime. The idea of getting seniors into libraries for a gaming night strikes us as something we'd love to be a part of.

The slate is truly open for the future of gaming at Bangor Public Library. We would like to hear your thoughts on gaming at the library & any suggestions you might have for a future gaming tournament.

You may send any ideas or comments by responding to this blog post. Or, you can directly email me (Patrick Layne) at playne@bpl.lib.me.us or give me a call at 947-8336 x127.

Pictured below: Dance Dance Revolution competitor Alex in action on April 5th.

Look What's New on the Web Page

The Bangor Public Library web site has gotten a new look so when you have a chance check it out http://www.bpl.lib.me.us We haven't changed the content so you'll still be able to find things where they were. However, Jan has created a really fabulous banner and new buttons. She also put the IM Reference widget on the home page and we've already started getting more questions. So if you are in hurry and need to get in touch with us send an instant message right from our home page. Also check out the teen page its completely new and looks very nice in purple.
Jim Riordan jriordan@bpl.lib.me.us

Oddest Book Title Prize Announced

Yes its that time of year again. TheBookseller.com has announced the winner of its annual Oddest Book Title Prize. Some of you may remember last years winner The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification which the Bangor Public Library owns: 779.092.M7603s. So drum roll please!

The Winners For the 2008 Oddest Book Title Prize Are:

First Place: If You Want Closure in Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs

Second Place: I Was Tortured By the Pygmy Love Queen

Third Place: Cheese Problems Solved

I had personally hoped How to Write a How to Write Book (fourth place) would have done better ... oh well. If you want to see the whole announcement it is here or to see the shortlist of this years contenders click here.

Jim Riordan jriordan@bpl.lib.me.us

Social Networking for the Bibliophile

I keep seeing this article showing up on several library listservs and blogs so I thought I'd pass it on. It's NPR piece from March 20 on reader oriented social networking. These are web sites that let you track the books you read, share titles with others, and find out what they are reading. I didn't particularly like the opening line "Bookish people may not be known for their social skills..." yeah speak for your self Ms. Woodroof. Other than that though its pretty good. The transcript also includes links to sites like LibraryThing, GoodReads, and BookJetty.

I don't know about the others but I have used LibraryThing as an online to-read-list. I'm always seeing books I want to read (working in a library ... who would have thought) but don't have time to. Then when I do have time I can't remember any of them. So I created a list on LibraryThing that I can go back to when I'm in need of a book. I'm only using it in its most limited capacity its also great for finding books others are reading and what titles are currently hot. Read the article give them a try and let us know what you think.

Jim Riordan jriordan@bpl.lib.me.us

April 5th: Game Tournament @ Bangor Public Library!

Calling All Gamers!

Do you love videogames? Do you like competing against your friends & peers? Do you think your gaming skills are good enough to beat out others for prizes & fame?

The Bangor Public Library is happy to announce its first ever game tournament for teens & their families on April 5th in the Lecture Hall, beginning at 10AM.

You will get a chance to pit your skills against all challengers in two of the more popular – and fun – games around, Dance Dance Revolution Supernova & Guitar Hero III.

Top winner in each event will get a gift certificate for $50. Second place receives a $30 gift card & third will win a $20 card. All participants will be entered in a drawing for the $100 grand prize.

We hope this tournament will stir up some great performances by our gamers & be a lot of fun for everyone who attends this unique event.

To guarantee your spot in the tournament, we ask that you pre-register for the event or events in which you’d like to compete. You may pre-register by going to www.bplgametournament.blogspot.com, by email Patrick at playne@bpl.lib.me.us, or signing up at the Library.

Teen gamers are the intended audience for this tournament. We will, however, give teens a chance to compete against a parent. Keep in mind, though, that only teens are eligible for any prizes. The Library will have other tournaments in the future designed for pre-teens & adults.

We look forward to seeing all you gamers on April 5th!

Gale Reference Center Gold

Many of you are probably aware of the databases available on Minerva, a statewide virtual library. However, the Bangor Public Library has a couple databases that are only available to Bangor Public Library card holders. These are Gale Reference Center Gold and The Biography Resource Center. They can be reached by going to http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/bang45018 If you are accessing the database from home you'll need the password. I'm not allowed to divulge it on line (it would make Gale unhappy) but we can give it out in person or over the phone (947-8336 and ask for reference).

So what do these databases do? Well Gale Reference Center Gold is "a general interest database that integrates a variety of source - newspapers, reference books, magazines, and trade publications." For example if you do a search for "economic stimulus package" you will get 556 results from periodicals like Journal of Commerce and New Orleans City Buisness. You can limit your search to full text articles and to academic journals. You can also search for a specific journal by clicking "publication search" at the top of the page.

Biography Resource Center provides full text articles from various biographical reference sources including Marquis Who's Who. Don't know who you are looking for? Well on the left side of the page is a list of browseable subjects like American Presidents and Notable Women. If you typed in say Harriet Beecher Stowe you will get biographical sketches on Stowe from Encyclopedia of World Biography, Contemporary Authors and Dictionary of American Biography. All the entries have a similar format: a short biographical sketch, list of further reading, how to cite the information in a paper, and (if available) a picture of the person.

Below are some screen shots of the databases. As always if you need any help let us know.

Jim Riordan (jriordan@bpl.lib.me.us)

The Wonderful World of Free Software

I am a big fan of the open source movement. For those not already familiar with this it is basically the idea of giving free access to computer software and the source code behind it for constructing new applications. For a more complete definition check out The Open Source Initiative. My reasons for supporting it go beyond getting free software though. As a librarian I support any movement that works to narrow the technology gap in our society. I have also found in many cases open source software is more innovative and adaptable than the commercial equivalent (like firefox).

I was quite happy therefore when I saw the following article in the online version of PC Magazine, "The Best Free Software." It is a review of free software available to the public along with the basic system requirements. There are some things that you have probably already used or heard of like Adobe Reader and Firefox Web Browser. There are a lot of other things as well like OpenOffice.org which is similar to and compatible with Microsoft Office. I use this one on my computer at home and love it. The article also includes web based resources like Google Reader and Zoho which are worth checking out. There were also a bunch I hadn't heard of before and am looking forward to trying. Make sure to read the comments on the article to since they have some other suggestions that weren't included. We'd also love to hear your comments or experiences using any of this software.

Jim Riordan jriordan@bpl.lib.me.us

Famous Mainers At the Maine State Library

I was reading the Waterboro Public Library's h20boro lib blog (http://www.waterborolibrary.org/blog.htm) and they had a post about a new database from the The Maine State Library. It is called Famous Mainers and Famous People With Maine Connections. On the main page there is an alphabetical list of individuals with some Maine connection, their dates and a category they fit into. For example James Blaine is listed as a Political Figure who lived from 1830 to 1893. If you click on the name of the individual, you will get a brief list of their achievements and some useful books and web sites about them (take a look at the image to the right). The books are ones found in the Maine State Library but if we don't have copies of them here at BPL we can get them for you. There is also a search field on the right side of the page. Its a great place to start if you have to come up with a famous Mainer for a paper. Many thanks to the Waterboro Public Library for noticing this and blogging it.

Jim Riordan jriordan@bpl.lib.me.us

Car Repair Online

I just saw an article in the latest edition of Searcher Magazine (the "magazine for database professionals" yes I know I'm a geek :) evaluating automobile repair websites.

Here's the Citation:
McDermott, Irene E. "Baby You Can Drive My Car (If You Can Get It Started) Auto Repair on the Web" Searcher 16(2) February 2008 pgs 8-12.

This is a topic near if not dear to my heart. A few months ago I bought a used car after going over a year without one so I'm getting back into the habit of spending money on it. The article is pretty comprehensive including repair manuals, web sites to help evaluate whether repair costs have exceeded the a car's value, web sites to help you read the On Board Diagnostic Codes, auto repair in Spanish, and even the Car Talk Guys web site.

The article is available online, however, because of copy right restrictions and firewalls I can't link directly to the article. I can tell you how to get there though. You'll either need to have a Maine library card or be using a computer in a Maine library. First go to Marvel "Maine's Virtual Library." Click on Academic Search Premier (first link in the list). If you are doing this at home you will need to enter your library card number at this point. Now type in the title of the article and it should pull it right up. Or you could just ask your friendly neighborhood reference librarian to print it for you.

Although I can't link you directly to the article I can link you to a list of the automotive websites in the article.

If you have a favorite automotive website not listed in the article please share it. And as always let us know what you think.

Jim Riordan, jriordan@bpl.lib.me.us

Cyberbullying

What is Cyberbullying?

A growing concern as more & more of our communications occur online is cyberbullying. Teens & younger children are particularly suspectible to this type of online intimidation.

Cyberbullying is, according to the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, "sending or posting harmful or cruel text or images using the Internet or other digital communication devices." Cyber bullying may occur directly, such as when a hateful message is sent to a target, or indirectly, as when a message, website, or photograph is sent to others and results in later bullying behavior toward the target (source: http://www.unicel.com/standup/adults_intro.html).

As the excellent Unicel site on the subject suggests, "when it comes to broadcasting negative information, the cyber world has become the new bathroom wall." Cyberbullying is occurring across many of our newer technologies: instant messaging services, camera phones, chat rooms, e-mail, Web logs, social networking sites and cell phone text messaging.

The nameless, faceless nature of much of digital communication seems to be empowering folks to say hurtful things or transmit threatening images to others that they would never think to say in a face-to-face situation. Many people are, like the guy in the Brad Paisley song are "so much cooler online." The dark reality is, though, that many people are also decidedly "so much crueler online."

While the damage caused by cyberbullying usually ends at hurt feelings, the consequences can become much more dire, as a recent case in Missouri attests. This case may be an extreme example, but it is an eye-opener as to the bearing the threats or abuse can have on young people lives.

While some states (Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Washington) have laws specifically addressing cyberstalking, many states are struggling with ways to place the same legal penalties verbal threats & physical threats carry to cyber threats. What Can I Do to Protect Myself or My Child?

The National Crime Prevention Council suggests the following guidelines:

*Refuse to pass along cyberbullying messages

*Tell friends to stop cyberbullying

*Block communication with cyberbullies

*Report cyberbullying to a trusted adult

*Blocking communication with the cyberbully

*Deleting messages without reading them

*Talking to a friend about the bullying

*Reporting the problem to an Internet service provider or website moderator

You can also help prevent cyberbullying by

*Speaking with other students, as well as teachers and school administrators, to develop rules against cyberbullying

*Raising awareness of the cyberbullying problem in your community by holding an assembly and creating fliers to give to younger kids or parents

*Sharing NCPC’s anti-cyberbullying message with friends

The most critical of the NCPC's recommendations are below:

*Never post or share your personal information online (this includes your full name, address, telephone number, school name, parents’ names, credit card number, or social security number) or your friends’ personal information.

*Never share your Internet passwords with anyone, except your parents.

*Never meet anyone face-to-face whom you only know online.

*Talk to your parents about what you do online.

Web Resources for Cyberbullying

For more information & tips, go to http://www.ncpc.org/newsroom/current-campaigns/cyberbullying.

Or, checkout the information provided on the Unicel site at http://www.unicel.com/standup/index.html. The Get Involved section is particularly worth checking out.

A series of short information videos about Internet safety produced by the South Carolina Association for Educational Technology for what it calls the "cyber generation" can be found at http://www.scaet.org/csafety/video/wbsc_video.htm.

One last recommended site is http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/.

If you have questions or suggestions, respond to this blog or email me at playne@bpl.lib.me.us.