my mind on books

It’s a little off topic, but I really enjoyed this video by Dr. Michael Wesch, which was recently presented at the Library of Congress (and a book does make a cameo appearance):

One wonderful moment is when a student holds a mirror up to her webcam, saying “this is what I’m talking to.”

See also Wesch’s Digital Ethnography blog for further discussion of concepts such as “aesthetic arrest” and “context collapse.”

In case anyone would like to contact me without leaving a public comment on the website, there is now a contact form over in the sidebar, just under the “About” page. I’d love to hear from you, if you have any suggestions or just want to say hi.

Naturalistic Decision Making and Macrocognition ed. by Jan Maarten Schraagen et al (Aldershot, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008) forthcoming

Perspectives on Cognitive Task Analysis: Historical Origins and Modern Communities of Practice by Robert R Hoffman; Laura G Militello (New York: Psychology Press, 2008) forthcoming

Social Cognition and Developmental Psychopathology ed. by Carla Sharp; Peter Fonagy; Ian M Goodyer (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) forthcoming

Social Life and Social Knowledge: Toward a Process Account of Development (Jean Piaget Symposium Series) ed. by Ulrich Müller et al (New York: L. Erlbaum Associates, 2008) (“Search Inside” available at Amazon)

Supersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension (Philosophy of the Mind) by Andy Clark (Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2008) forthcoming

Teaching Visual Literacy: Using Comic Books, Graphic Novels, Anime, Cartoons, and More to Develop Comprehension and Thinking Skills ed. by Nancy Frey; Douglas Fisher; (Thousand Oaks, CA : Corwin Press, 2008)

The Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition ed. by Philip Robbins; Murat Aydede (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008)
forthcoming

The Kingdom of Infinite Space: An Encounter with Your Head by Raymond Tallis (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008) forthcoming

The Native Mind and the Cultural Construction of Nature (Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology) by Scott Atran; Douglas L Medin (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2008) (“Search Inside” available at Amazon)

Visual Tools for Transforming Information Into Knowledge by David Hyerle (Thousand Oaks, CA : Corwin Press, 2008) forthcoming

Welcome to Your Brain: Why You Lose Your Car Keys but Never Forget How to Drive and Other Puzzles of Everyday Life by Sandra Aamodt; Sam Wang (New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2008) (“Search Inside” available from Amazon)

Your Brain: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald; Peter Meyers (Sebastopol, Calif. ; [Farnham] : O’Reilly, 2008)

I’m inserting a personal note here to say that my full-time position has just ended; I’d been working for a nonprofit where the library and my position were both phased out as the result of a reorganization. Right now I’m in that limbo stage between the job ending and unemployment insurance starting, but I’m sure it’ll work out. For “My Mind on Books” readers this change should mean more frequent posting, site enhancements if I can learn how to do them (such as adding a contact form), plus I’ll be able to get more reading and reviewing done. (Or maybe I’ll make it through Dark Shadows: Collection 26 at Netflix!)

I’ll be looking for new opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area or via telecommuting. (Here’s my LinkedIn profile.)

Just a note if you’re trying to click on any book information. Since I have book links to Amazon, they are currently unavailable. Here’s a story from Mashable. Also https://www.amazon.com is working.

I just checked at 2 pm Pacific Time (US) and they are back up.