Authors Who Use SKYPE to Speak with Book Clubs

A California school teacher librarian alerted me to a post on kid's author Kate Messner's Live Journal. Messner is building a list of authors who offer 20 minutes of their time using free Internet-based phone/video service SKYPE to chat with book clubs. At this time, there are about 40 authors on her list. What an easy way for authors to reach out to book clubs!

By the way, after looking over the list, I started clicking on each of the authors' weblinks. What a wild variety of ways authors are making their books accessible -- video clips, podcasts, reviews, games, book club questions, and much more.

WEEK 7: Who's Doing What With Wikis (#16 Thing)

Discovery exercise #16. Introduction to wikis and how libraries can use the. Webjunction article by Meredith Farkas describes library uses of wiki:

• Subject guides
• Catalog annotations
• Community wiki
• Librarian wiki

Library wikis I like:

• Book Lovers' Wiki, where people can write reviews of books they've read. It has a "featured review" and a Summer Reading Club.
• Library Best Practices is a wiki called Library Successes.
• idea of an event wiki, like for ALA.

One of these day's I'll create or contribute to a wiki, but for now I'm happy with my blog. If I still taught a course, I might want students to contribute to a wiki. So far, my favorite use is for book reviews or abstracts on a topic -- such as library advocacy. I might create a Mother-Daughter Book Club wiki, even thought our daughters are no longer in elementary school and are headed to college! Time flies.