Puppetry Workshop

Back in February I had the opportunity to go to the puppetry workshop presented by Circus Minimus. Shari and Chris, who make up Circus Minimus showed us examples of various types of puppets including glove puppets, stick puppets, sock puppets, shadow puppets and open-mouth puppets. We discussed the strengths and limitations of all these and got to practice with our own open-mouth puppets.

They also demonstrated how, with only hands as puppets and a lot of imagination, a concept such as "spring" can be conveyed. As groups we practiced creating city streets, a seashore and a farm using only our hands and imaginations.

After that, we all got a chance to work with a stick puppet. We did some exercises to "bring the puppet to life" like finding the ground and posture for the puppet, finding its focus or gaze, giving it breath, showing gestures, giving it action and finding its voice.

The second half of the class was devoted to story boarding. Chris and Shari used Little Bo Peep as the basis of the story. They created images for the beginning, middle and end. Then we discussed various ways the characters could have gotten from one point to the next. These became other images that told the story. Again in groups, we story boarded our own fairytales, showing how the characters worked through plot points. This part of the workshop really demonstrated how important it is be creative and to have a well planned out story for the puppets to really come alive.

--Katrina

TAX TIME INVESTMENT REFRESHER

At this time of year, people often need information on stock and other investment prices on a certain day for their tax returns. This is just a refresher on some sources that we don't use very often, but when you need them, you really need them.

Bigcharts and Yahoo! Finance. These free Internet sources have historical stock prices, but you won't find anything if the company has changed its name, merged with another company, or dissolved.
Daily Stock Price Record. This print reference source has daily stock prices going back to 1962 (New York Stock Exchange), 1967 (American Stock Exchange), and 1968 (NASDAQ). If you don't know the exchange it was traded on, you have to check all three. The NASDAQ book also has mutual funds in the front part, industrial stocks (what we call just "stocks") are in the back. The DSPR is located in the front of Nicholson by the park.
Capital Changes Reports. Sometimes patrons will ask for information on "stock splits". This resource lists these and any other history that effects a company's stock, such as mergers, name changes, and dissolution. It goes as far back as the beginning of the company's existence. This history can be helpful background information when you're having trouble finding a stock price. Capital Changes Reports is located on the Financials shelf in Nicholson. For fun, check out the extremely long entries on Enron and Worldcom.
Directory of Obsolete Securities. What if you are having a lot of trouble finding a stock price and you think the company might no longer exist? You can't prove a negative, right? Well, with this resource, sometimes you can. We recently had someone ask for a stock price for a company a month after the company has ceased to exist. You don't need this book often, but when you do, it's a lifesaver. It's kept in the Phone Room.
Investment Statistics Locator. What if you are asked for a more unusual type of financial statistic, such as bonds, silver, pork bellies futures, or foreign currency? Well, this handy book tells you where to to go for all these and more. Each entry has abbreviations that indicate where to look and if the information is daily, weekly, monthly, or annually. The abbreviations are explained in the front of the book. The Investment Statistics Locator is shelved in call number order in Nicholson.


--Andrea

PS. If stocks are worthless as securities, they still can be worth something to collectors if they are interesting or beautiful. This is called scripophily.

IT PLAYGROUP, MAR. 3, 2008

IT PLAYGROUP, MAR. 3, 2008

For this IT Playgroup, John L., Melissa and Pioneer Press technology reporter Julio Ojeda-Zapata discussed their experiences with the Kindle e-book reader. Ojeda-Zapata also brought in a Macbook Air and John discussed the free screencast software Jing.

The Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader that uses the Mobipocket format and e-paper. E-paper is easier on the eyes than a computer screen, but it is not back-lit. You can buy a night light for an extra charge. The Kindle costs $400, but that includes free cell-phone style Internet access that works anywhere and with no monthly fee. As a web browser, it is clunky. The controls are clunky too, especially compared to an iPod, and it is easy to hit the "back" button by accident while reading. The Kindle is not compatible with older e-book formats, but many publishers are offering e-books in the Kindle format. It is easy to use the software on your computer to buy books, or to buy them online using the device, and you can save your whole e-book library on the computer while only having some items on the Kindle. You could save money by downloading free public domain e-books from sites like Project Gutenberg, but buying on Amazon is so easy that consumers may prefer it, as they do with iTunes. The Kindle also can be used for e-audiobooks. Whether libraries can loan out Kindles is currently unclear.

The MacBook Air is a notebook with a normal-size screen and keyboard, but very, very thin. It can fit into an interoffice mailing envelope. Because of the lightness, it is slower than other notebooks and there is very little hard drive space and no CD/DVD burner. The owner is expected to have external storage of some sort. It seems like it would be best for a second computer for people who travel a lot, or for students with limited space and access to networked storage. If the MacBook Air or similar notebooks take off, web-based applications may become more popular.

Jing is free software for creating screencasts. It captures video and sound of what you are doing on a computer screen. You can also draw on the screencast for for emphasis. This would be great for making instructional videos that staff could watch when and where they wanted. Previous screencast software was quite pricey. Jing will upload screenshots at screencast.com (there is a monthly fee for hosting), or you can host them on your own Internet server for free.

--Andrea

March is Voting Month for MN Book Awards' Readers' Choice Award!

SPPL library staff and all Minnesotans have the opportunity to vote for the Readers' Choice Award, sponsored by the Pioneer Press. Vote anytime during the month of March. In addition to voting, you can hear the finalists read from their work at 9 MELSA events from March 13th through April 11th. Details are at melsa.org and in the "Chat It Up!" Rake insert. Central will host the Poetry finalists on March 30th at 2 PM in the Magazine Room. All the winners will be announced at the Book Awards Gala emceed by Cathy Wurzer on the evening of April 12th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Saint Paul. Consider celebrating Minnesota authors at this event! Gala details including ticket information are available at thefriends.org.

The Minnesota Book Awards is a Capital City project of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, with the Mayor's Office of the City of Saint Paul and the Saint Paul Public Library.

--Barb S.