Bundy High Library

It has taken me a long time but I have finally finished this book. Why so long? Was it not that good? Quite the contrary but it is a busy time of year in school(s) so this just sat there taunting me. Now I know why all of our copies keep moving off the shelves! It was originally published in 2007, though I suppose it was caught up in the Twilight fever, like so many other paranormal romance stories. It deserves better because even though it has vampires in it, and one of the minor characters is a werewolf, that is about it, in terms of similarities.

I read somewhere that people were referring to the genre as “urban fantasy” which is fairly apt. The story is set in New York and contains as many fantasy figures and conventions as you can imagine. Pixies, demons, minor gods, portals to other places, witches, magical items. But without the Dungeons and Dragons style of bare-chested hero which is normally associated with fantasy. The human characters go to poetry readings, hang out at emo/goth clubs, live in apartments and drive beaten-up vans. This makes it refreshing.

Clary is the central character and she is caught up in events which involve her but she is not too sure how and why until … everything is explained to her and the world is never the same again. There are impossibly handsome demon killers, providing the romance angle, truly evil forces trying to subvert the causes of good and helpful characters who provide guidance at various times. Typical fantasy stock but well-handled and interesting.

This is the first in a trilogy and I cannot wait to read the rest! If I can find them. I know they weren’t on our shelves this morning so…

One last thing. The books these are closest to are possibly Terry Brooks’ Armageddon’s Children series, with their battles against demons set in an Earth not too far away from ours. These are also very good and easy to read; urban fantasy is an apt description of these books. Brooks links his world to the earlier Shanarra series and the elves which are the central focus. We have this series also but they do not have the romance angle that City of Bones introduces. It is not as heavy as the Bella-Edward thing but would certainly account for the appeal to some students.

Filed under: Book Reviews, Fantasy, YA | Tagged: fantasy, supernatural, urban fantasy, vampires | 1 Comment »

One of our avid Year 8 readers told me about this the other day so I dutifully bought and read it over the weekend. The things we do!

It continues the story which ended on the VERY LAST PAGE CLIFFHANGER of Six Ancient Stones featuring Jack West and concerns the discovery of the Pillars which will STOP THE DARK SUN from returning and DESTROYING ALL EARTH!

Why am I writing in capitals? The book makes you read and write like that, truly. Like all Reilly’s books, it is action-packed and short on reflection and big on explosions. Like the Dan Brown novels, there is a mix of conspiracy theory, research into ancient mystery and conjecture about what happened to famous people from the past. Did they do this? Leave that there? Who were the race of beings who constructed the Machine which will stop the Dark Sun? Will our heroes make it to the next chapter without being trapped/blown up/maimed…The action moves quickly from one set piece to the next, barely leaving time for emotional release. Even when there are breaks in the narrative of some weeks or months, Reilly covers these with a couple of paragraphs, saying that the characters are researching and then gives us a lecture on their findings. This is great if you are not interested in knowing what their thoughts are or how they feel about anything. If all you want is to be catapulted into the next firefight, it works well.

Each chapter and part usually has a map and/or diagram so you can see how intricate the mess is likely to be for Jack West and his mates. At the same time, you can admire the author’s skill in devising these scenarios. If you thought Indiana Jones or National Treasure were tricky, you are in for a surprise.

Boys will love this book. It has explosions, military details about guns and planes and weapons and other things that blow up, kill or maim, little in the way of romance, treasure and chases. I enjoyed it but as with reading all of his books, I found myself rushing through them and then not really being able to remember much of it at all. It is like eating a meal of pure sugar. Tasty while it lasts but not very nutritious.

Filed under: Action-Thriller, Book Reviews, reading | Tagged: action, Book Reviews | 2 Comments »

It has been some time since I have posted on this site. Why? Blame my new iPod Touch which has meant that I am now watching vodcasts instead of reading (sometimes) and checking out apps for use in school. You can read about this here, on another site I have set up to discuss ICTs. Blame also the time of year with Awards Night, Senior Yearbooks and so on.

But a few lessons with different classes yesterday have been enough to inspire me once again. The Year 11s have begun investigating various social issues for their final spoken tasks and this gave me an opportunity to promote some very underused resources. Firstly, our magazines. I think I am the only person who reads some of the journals, such as Time. While this is great for me, it concerns me that it sits there each week waiting for use. I showed it and some other titles to the Year 11s and how to access their contents via the OPAC so hopefully they will see a bit more use. Too often, I think students get a research topic and think that research = internet = Google.

So I showed them Studysearch which I would rather they sued instead of the straight Google that many go to first. Once I explained how it trims away all of the excess from some Google searches, they seemed keen so I can only hope…

The othe site I showed them was Echo Online, which allows them access to issues from the past year with discussions for and against certain topics. It is a great resource for this assessment item. Once again, enough kids were excited and using it for me to feel justified that spending the money is worthwhile. Time will tell.

Filed under: Library, Research | Tagged: Research, websites | No Comments »

A recent browse through the SLAV Bright Ideas site got me thinking once more about library home pages. They should be more than just a page of policies and opening hours, though these things have their place, too. If we are serious about organising information and helping people to find their way through a variety of information sources, then our internet prescence needs to reflect that.

One way of doing this is using a service like Netvibes.

What is it?

It is essentially a portal page. I have been using iGoogle for many years now (well, it feels that way, though in the way of the internet it is really not that long ago!) and it allows me to have a customised home page for my browsers. I get my inbox directly in front of me, stories from Macworld, ABC News and so on, as well as RSS feeds from a variety of sources. All on the one page. It is a development of Web 2.0 that allows the user some control over their internet experience. Netvibes is very similar. According to them, they

pioneered the personalized homepage as alternative to traditional web portals. Netvibes lets individuals assemble their favorite widgets, websites, blogs, email accounts, social networks, search engines, instant messengers, photos, videos, podcasts, and everything else they enjoy on the web – all in one place.

(http://about.netvibes.com/)

Who was first is probably debatable but I remember trying them in the past and thinking that, since I had my iGoogle set up, why bother with another? Things have changed, though; they have added some new features and I noticed that some schools were using a Netvibes page as their Library home page.

I have made a small start here. It is not much and will no doubt change.

How does it work?

Firstly, you need to sign up. This is free and allows you to save your customised pages.

What can you do with it?

I have added tabs across the top to direct users towards different aspects, such as reading or News or conducting research.

Is it good, then?

Yes and no. Yes, it can pull a pile of “areas” together into a nice page and let you tailor a home page to suit your own needs, rather than have someone else do this for you. But at school, bandwidth and various filter blocks make it not as useful as it is at home. In that case, I may as well stick with my iGoogle page until I get a workaround.

Filed under: ICT Links, Library | Tagged: internet, Library, netvibes, web 2.0 | No Comments »

We have a collection of teacher reference which is housed in the library itself, like most, I suspect. There are also small satellite collections out in the faculty areas and I am not too concerned about them (yet!). What worries me is the useful titles we have on hand which are not looked at as they are in an inaccessible spot.

The obvious solution, then, is to move them to a place where all can get at them. But where? Out in the main library, intershelved with everything else? This is my preferred (and the easiest) option. If they went to the staff common room, they would possibly disappear, not from staff but from visitors and who knows. It is a high traffic area but is frequently used by a range of people. We would also have no way of knowing what was being used, either, as they would be borrowed on an honour basis.

I am open to suggestions…

Filed under: Library | Tagged: teacher reference | No Comments »

In the next few days, I will be making some changes to this site. Mainly, I am going to alter the theme so that the RSS link is not at the bottom of the page but closer to the top so visitors can subscribe easier. Whether they do or not remains to be seen!

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3307/3587781847_2fe2cd9dc2.jpg)

Filed under: blogging | No Comments »

Where have they been? On holidays, along with many of our students and staff! The first few days back are always busy as piles of mags and novels, mainly, come back home. It is a great time to talk to the kids and staff about what they read and what they enjoyed.

One staff member stands out…She spent the last holiday reading Michael Connelly’s The Poet and loved it. This time around, I gave her The Narrows, the sequel. She knocked it over in the first day or so and was then left with nothing! Next time, she will get more, she says! Great, eh? (A little while ago she confessed to me that she was not much of a reader at all, see, but she would try The Poet just to please me!)

From little things…

Filed under: reading | Tagged: reading | No Comments »