Librarians Unite
Oct. 25th, 2007 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annundrielHave just spent the day in Wenatchee at the all staff day for the library employees in this region's system. It was a good experience. I got to meet people and hear some interesting stories.
However, the class meant to teach substitutes about online resources and tutor.com was less than educational. For me, anyway. I realized about five minutes in that I was the youngest person in the room and that the things being taught were research practices that I've been using since high school. Things I've been doing pretty regularly for the last, oh, eight years. (And, wow, that kind of sounds like a long time.) So I didn't necessarily learn anything new, but it was good to spend some time clicking around the various databases.
After lunch there were two guest authors to speak to us. The first was Earl Emerson. I've never read any of his books, but now I think I'm going to have to look into him. He's a local Washington author (lives in North Bend) and his books are set in the area. They're either mystery or suspense. We got to hear all about how the publishing business rode mysteries into the ground a few years ago. He'd come up with an idea and explain it and the conversation would always end with the other person (agent, editor, publisher) asking, "But it's a mystery, right?" ("There's this guy in Boston who has a weird family and is working through some personal issues blah blah blah." "But it's a mystery, right?") Only now the trend is, "But it's suspense, right?"
Apparently one of his characters is a firefighter. Which works, because he is, too. He told several stories involving that and they were all pretty intense. I've been looking for different things (by which I mean different from my usual) to read, and it might be fun to read something where I recognize the locations.
Anyway, he thanked us for recommending his books since bookstores aren't run by people who love reading any more. And we thanked him because without writers we wouldn't have jobs. It was a win-win kind of situation.
The second author was Helen Thayer, who was there to talk about her walk across the Gobi Desert. It was amazing. I don't know how she and her husband did it, especially when they ended up practically without water for seven days. Many pictures. Again, I think I'm going to have to look up this book because it could be a fascinating read. Next year she and her husband are walking across Tibet. She's in her late 70s and he'll be 81. Crazy people.
It was a good day. I'm glad I've decided to stick with this for awhile.
However, the class meant to teach substitutes about online resources and tutor.com was less than educational. For me, anyway. I realized about five minutes in that I was the youngest person in the room and that the things being taught were research practices that I've been using since high school. Things I've been doing pretty regularly for the last, oh, eight years. (And, wow, that kind of sounds like a long time.) So I didn't necessarily learn anything new, but it was good to spend some time clicking around the various databases.
After lunch there were two guest authors to speak to us. The first was Earl Emerson. I've never read any of his books, but now I think I'm going to have to look into him. He's a local Washington author (lives in North Bend) and his books are set in the area. They're either mystery or suspense. We got to hear all about how the publishing business rode mysteries into the ground a few years ago. He'd come up with an idea and explain it and the conversation would always end with the other person (agent, editor, publisher) asking, "But it's a mystery, right?" ("There's this guy in Boston who has a weird family and is working through some personal issues blah blah blah." "But it's a mystery, right?") Only now the trend is, "But it's suspense, right?"
Apparently one of his characters is a firefighter. Which works, because he is, too. He told several stories involving that and they were all pretty intense. I've been looking for different things (by which I mean different from my usual) to read, and it might be fun to read something where I recognize the locations.
Anyway, he thanked us for recommending his books since bookstores aren't run by people who love reading any more. And we thanked him because without writers we wouldn't have jobs. It was a win-win kind of situation.
The second author was Helen Thayer, who was there to talk about her walk across the Gobi Desert. It was amazing. I don't know how she and her husband did it, especially when they ended up practically without water for seven days. Many pictures. Again, I think I'm going to have to look up this book because it could be a fascinating read. Next year she and her husband are walking across Tibet. She's in her late 70s and he'll be 81. Crazy people.
It was a good day. I'm glad I've decided to stick with this for awhile.
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Date: 2007-10-26 03:10 am (UTC)♥!
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Date: 2007-10-26 06:51 am (UTC)♥ ♥