Library Life: Holds Slips

When you request an item at a library, staff pull it off the shelf, check it in, and file it in a special location for pick-up. But, as masters of categorizing and putting items in order, you might be wondering just exactly how we file them. This brings up a few important issues in the library world:

• Ease of finding information - how easy is it for me to find your requested items when you come to collect them?
• Confidentiality - how can I protect your privacy so that other people don't know what you are taking out?
• Self-sufficiency - is there a method simple enough to allow the public to find their own items off the shelf, or must this always be done by staff?

In order to solve this dilemma, libraries have different methods for storing and sorting them, however they all follow similar principles.

Some libraries use slips of paper with a person's full name, sorting by their surname, and store them behind a counter for privacy. This is often done for smaller or more private libraries, as it requires a lot of space in a staff-only area.

Many, dare I say most, use specially coded "holds pick-up slips" that can be seen by the public. These involve some combination of a person's name as well as a number to help distinguish between similar names. So, a holds pick-up slip could have the first 3 or 4 letters of a person's last name, their first name, and perhaps, the last 4 numbers of their phone number. 

Most libraries I have been to, have it actually even more secretive than that, however. Most commonly, I have seen The first 3 or 4 letters of the last name, first initial, and a short sequence of numbers. The numbers usually correspond to either a barcode or a phone number, depending on the size of the library. This allows for privacy, as well as for people to be able to find their own items.

For example, mine would be something like ROGS1234

You might wonder, how private this really is though. Let me show you!

TMST: Blogging Challenges

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by the lovely Rainy Day Ramblings, and currently assisted by a team of bloggers, Roberta @ Offbeat YA, Karen @ For What It's Worth, Berls @ Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen @ That's What I'm Talking About, and Linda @ Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell.

Blogging for the past year or so has been very difficult for me, and I'm working my way slowly back to it. But there have been other moments where I've wondered about the best way to continue. My biggest challenges have been:

Finding my reviewing style difficult to manage

Reading/watching things with no intent to review

So, what have I done to try and circumvent these?

I'm working on changing my reviewing style. I find it hard to accomplish, and it's kind of dry, and not very fun. Sure, it's trying to avoid too much bias...but, if you didn't want my opinion, why are you reading the blog, right? I can still provide some unbiased content, but it's much easier to just be myself and less structured!

I think that reviewing things in smaller chunks, and with the change to my reviewing style, this will sort itself out. But yes, I think about how I have to pay attention to something because it is something I will need to review later, and then lose interest in watching it. But, if I have a shorter, and less structured review, I think this will solve that. We'll see!

I have a lot to work on, and it's a bit of an uphill battle, but I think it will all be for the better in the long run.

All About Series

Book series are so popular, that many libraries and bookstores have sections devoted specifically to them, yet, not all series are created equal. Just because you like one type of series, doesn't mean you are guaranteed to like another style of them. There are three types of series I'm going to talk a bit about today:

Ordered Series

Unordered/Standalone Series

Companion Novels

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TTT: How About "Sea" You Never?

Thankfully for me, I'm pretty picky about what I read. And by that, I mean, I don't tend to pick up things that I am unlikely to enjoy or at least find okay. It's very rare that I actually hate a book. That brings me to the subject of this week's fun topic from That Artsy Reader Girl's Top Ten Tuesday, which is:

April 6: Books I’d Gladly Throw Into the Ocean (submitted by Beauty & Her Books)

So, that being said, even on this list there are only a handful that I actually hate. Here's what I came up with this week!

1) The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
No, I didn't have to read this for school, I read it voluntarily and still hate it with a passion. Top five most hated books I have read, and I legitimately couldn't find a single redeeming quality in it when I read it. I have heard some people say that it depends at what life stage you read it...but I don't think I ever hit the right one that would have let me appreciate this book.

2) Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
I'm sorry, but when you take out the woman's tampon for her to then have sex...I am so out. No, I have not made it the whole way through this one, but I've read enough of it to want to purge it from my memory.

3) The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Perhaps one day I will try this book again, but I highly suspect that I will move on instead to other things that at least inspire some feelings other than extreme boredom and irritation. So frustrating, since some of her poems highly impacted me.

4) Losing Joe's Place by Gordon Korman
Perhaps I hate this book (and I do), or perhaps I just hate that it was read out loud to our class in eighth grade by a teacher I despised when I had a university reading level. Your call on that one ;)

5) The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Do I hate this book? Yes and no. I love the idea of it so much, but I seriously despise Atwood's writing. And not just from this book - I have read some of her essays as well.

Binging T.V. Shows - Yay or Nay?

 In the past several years, with the popularity of streaming services such as Netflix, and the release of epic series like Game of Thrones, blasting through an entire season (or more) of a show in a short amount of time has become a normal phenomenon for many. Yet, where do you draw the line? When is too much?  That's what I'm going to talk about today.

Now, although I don't necessarily think binging a show is the healthiest thing on the planet (neither is necessarily reading for 12 hours straight either ;) ), I absolutely do it as well, and think that it's a great treat from time to time. And yet, I also experience some serious downfalls with it:

1) Physical symptoms - exhaustion, neck and shoulder strain, stiffness

2) Lack of recollection for details - I kind of remember what happened in the show, but what was that person's name? 

3) Less satisfaction - overall, the show isn't as good as if I had waited and watched it in stages

4) Stronger sense of loss - when it's over, if it's a short series, there is this strong sense of "nothingness" after. A longer duration between episodes gives you time to adjust to it not being there every moment, and you don't instantly go "yeah, but what do I do now?"

So, keeping those things in mind, is it really worth binging a show? Sometimes.

I think it's fun for short shows, or to binge an entire season and then watch things slowly for following seasons. I also love doing this when rewatching a season before the next one comes out as a refresher, but I definitely advise (at least for myself) against making it a habit.

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Do you like to binge watch shows? What are some of the positives to doing it for you? Do you find there to be any drawbacks?

TMST: Social Media

This week's Tell Me Something Tuesday feature is about social media! TMST is a series hosted by the lovely Rainy Day Ramblings, and currently assisted by a team including my lovely friend Roberta @ Offbeat YA

March 9th: Social media: love them or hate them?

Both. Very much both for me. In some ways, I find it a lovely way to connect and show love to people you don't often get to talk to. For example, I love it for being able to interact with friends from university who have moved away. When one of my old buddies got accepted for their doctorate, I was able to celebrate with them - many, many miles away.

And yet, there is that pressure of what to portray. When things are tough, do you tell people, or keep silent? Is this the time to post photos of food instead? It's a hard balance to find, and then you still have to consider privacy. Do you only have your close friends on there? Co-workers? How to decline a "follow" or "friend request" to someone you see often, but don't want to share as much with?

From a blogging perspective, I enjoy it, but can find there to be more pressure with it than with the personal accounts now that I am older. If I don't post, will people still want to read my blog? If I talk about something other than blog content, is that okay? (I've learned that it is!) I do find it difficult to keep my content engaging though.

Long story short, I suppose, is that although I do enjoy it, I would be alright getting rid of it. I more like looking at other people's content rather than posting my own! I'm trying to pick up my engagement with it, as it is nice to connect (especially lately), but it's something that will take time, and I'm not in a rush.

What do you think?

Mini-Reviews: Their Finest, Isn't It Romantic?, Penelope

theguardian.com

Their Finest

I think I need to rewatch this one going forwards. It has all of the makings of a film I would really enjoy, but I just didn't find it absorbing. It was good, to be sure, but I found it quite slow, and found myself zoning out a bit and not truly engaged. I love Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, and Bill Nighy, and the plot is right up my alley, but it felt like something was missing for me. For now, I'm going to put this down to the fact that I was tired and the week I watched it was all over the place. If you've seen it, let me know what you thought! Oh, it's also based on a book, "Their Finest Hour and a Half" by Lissa Evans. I haven't read it though, so I don't know if the film is an accurate representation.

variety.com

Isn't It Romantic?

Okay, now colour me surprised by this one. Although I like romantic comedies to some extent (unless they are too goofy), I have shied away from many that have come out in the past several years unless they were the teen ones like To All the Boys I've Loved Before, and that sort of thing. However, I was in the mood for something light, and that wasn't going to be a long commitment, so, since the premise was interesting, I decided to give this one a go. And I actually quite enjoyed it! Quirky and humourous, but not overdone, I found this one to be a lovely time passer. Although it won't be an annual classic or anything for me, I would definitely watch it again, and would recommend it for sure if you are a fan of the genre. It's just different enough that you don't feel like you are watching a carbon copy of other films, pokes fun at them just the right amount, but still delivers in the way you want your romantic comedies to deliver.

nytimes.com

Penelope

This movie was exactly what I needed. I thought for a long time that it was going to be overdone and a total farce, but it wasn't. Definitely that cute and motivational modern-day fairytale we all need right now. Quite an interesting cast on this one, but it works. Not a lot to say here, but if you need something fun, light, and sweet (but less cheesy than a Hallmark movie - not to knock those, I watch them too from time to time!), then I think this is a great way to pass an afternoon.