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Usborne releases free PDFs of its classic 1980s computer programming books

Jindo Fox writes, “A few years ago, Cory linked to some wonderful pictures in Usborne’s 1983 classic Introduction to Machine Code for Beginners. Usborne has made PDF copies available of their whole line, with the only restriction that you link to their page, not to copy and redistribute the files themselves. Very cool. I have fond memories of wasting my childhood typing these listings into the mainframe terminal at my local university, and later on my Timex Sinclair 1000, which I somehow knew was the American version of the ZX-81 that was featured in these pages.”

Usborne’s done it to promote some great-looking new books on learning to program: Lift-the-Flap Computers and Coding is a board-book for small children, covering “principles of coding, from simple commands to algorithms, are explained with a treasure hunt game and puzzles, and there are examples of simple programs in the coding language Scratch.”

Coding for Beginners - Using Scratch is “an introduction to coding for complete beginners,” with “step-by-step instructions showing children how to use code to create games and animations.”

Included in the retro collection are:

* Programming Tricks and Skills [1984, PDF]

* Machine Code for Beginners [1983, PDF]

* Introduction to Computer Programming [1982, PDF]

* Practical Things to Do With a Microcomputer [1983, PDF]

Hi Tumblr,

I’m an autistic & mentally ill librarian and I’m often thinking of ways (& people often ask me) how to make libraries more accessible to autistic people.  I have some ideas, such as

providing reading material/a reading list FOR autistic people instead of about us

offering display space for autistic users to promote their special interests or for any other reason

working on a more sensory-comfortable space (though this is difficult because buildings are largely out of our control)

So I promised I’d blog about it sometime at my website [link].  I have already written about accessibility for UKLibChat [link] but would like to write something specifically about autism.  I could do this from my perspective of course, but I can’t speak for everyone.  If you have something you would like to suggest please do.

TL;DR: #actuallyautistic Tumblr, let me know

what stops you going to the library

what your dream library would be like

•Designated quiet spaces. Yes, everyone knows that libraries are supposed to be quiet, but that’s not usually the case. I know at my public library, it’s kid friendly and most of the space closest to the front desk (and computers) were for the juvenile and YA books. This meant that it got really loud up there at times, especially before and after whatever events our children program developer had that day. (It also didn’t help that our library was directly across from a school and parents usually let their children come there after school and behave like little terrors). So a way to to get a for-sure quiet space is to make sure a corner or two of the library has very strict volume rules! It was hard for my public library to do that because it was only one floor and not huge. At my college however, the entire second floor is a strict silence zone, and being loud up there gets you written up for a social code violation.

•More comfortable furniture. At my public library, there really weren’t any comfortable reading chairs. Yeah, there were chairs, but they were really firm. Sure, some people like that, but not everyone. So something to do for this is get a variety of types of chairs and use those? Best place to have them would probably be that designated quiet space because that’s the ideal reading place. I know my college has two little areas, one on each floor, that has a nice couch and two squishy or soft chairs.

•Clearly labeled rows that not only include the call number of the books, but the interests/subjects/topics. Not everyone knows the Dewey decimal number for their special interest. And I highly doubt anyone really bothers to remember the transition from the Dewey Decimal System to the Congress collegial system that private and university libraries use. Maybe you’re not looking for a specific book on a special interest, but you want to just look at all the books for it—good luck knowing what books are in the row labeled “640.7—644.9” off the top of your head. And especially good luck knowing where to find your favorite history or engineering books are at in a university library where “PA3001 .P35 2014” is a thing.

•A print out of how to use the card catalog next to every computer. I know one of the most common reasons I’m approached at the library, both the public and college, is because people don’t know how to use the card catalog system. I can imagine how taxing it can be trying to find a book and can’t, and you don’t know how to use the computer’s card catalog, and asking the front desk looks like a terrifying idea. And then you’re stuck and getting overwhelmed because you can’t find what you’re wanting. So having a clearly worded with visuals and examples poster next to the computers would help a lot. (though word of advice, most of the circulation desk people have a script when talking to patrons, and eye contact isn’t really a thing because the library worker is looking at their screen when trying to help you with the techie stuff)

•A self-checkout station. SPEAKING OF THE CIRCULATION DESK. I know something that stressed me out the first time I went to my library (I was 16 when I actually went to one) was that I had to speak to strangers at the front desk in order to check out my books. However, my public library had this self-checkout station where you could check out your books by yourself (and get the receipt with the due dates). This was an incredibly useful system because it eliminated the must-have of talking to people. Sadly, I haven’t seen anything like this at my college library (or the public library that my college’s town has), so I don’t know if this is becoming more popular or not.

“Marley Dias is an 11-year-old Philadelphia native who, as an avid reader, noticed that there was a certain type of character prevalent in books and was tired of reading about certain topics.Marley expressed to her mother the issues she had with books.“I told her I was sick of reading about white boys and dogs,” Dias told Philly Voice. “ ‘What are you going to do about it?’ [my mom] asked. And I told her I was going to start a book drive, and a specific book drive, where black girls are the main characters in the book and not background characters or minor characters.”

Send books or a donation to: 

#1000BlackGirlBooks, 59 Main Street, Ste 323, West Orange, NJ 07052

Sick Woman Theory, Johanna Hedva (h/t @niaking and @foureyedsoul)

Please go read this whole thing, it is so good and important.

February is  LGBT History Month here in the UK and I’m starting to put together some ideas:

[Image: A drawing of a smiling gingerbread person with the brain labelled ‘gender identity’, the heart labelled ‘attraction’, the crotch area labelled ‘sex’ and the whole body labelled ‘expression’]

I thought about recreating the ‘genderbread person’ by It’s Pronounced Metrosexual on the main board and surrounding it with information on various sexualities and gender identities.

[Image: a crowd of people carrying a banner reading ‘Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride 98 / Scrap Section 28]

About #lismentalhealth

Hi!  I should probably do a standalone post stating what this blog is all about.

The idea for LIS (Library and Information Studies) Mental Health week came from Cecily and Kelly, who designated 18-22 January 2016 as the first #lismentalhealth week.   The aim was to encourage LIS workers and students to talk about their mental health as it relates to LIS.

Some people asked if there was a platform for anonymous blogging so I (@libraryjamie on Tumblr & Twitter) thought I’d make one here.

Feel free to submit blog posts anonymously or otherwise, or links to blog posts or anything else you’ve posted elsewhere.

I won’t post anything that discloses the mental health status of other people, or anything that’s racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist or otherwise harmful to marginalised communities.   Anything else is very welcome & encouraged, especially from People of Colo(u)r, LGBT+ people, people disabled for reasons other than mental health, and other people from  communities that have a harder time getting heard.

As promised, I’m trying to write something every day for LIS Mental Health Week. I have been *completely overwhelmed* by the degree of thoughtful, caring, personal stories that folks have been sharing, as well as the very practical guides to things like Employee Assistance Programs. Props to everyone who is participating, as well as folks lurking who don’t want to talk about MH on the internet.

The rad folks on the Zine Librarians listserv put together a list of excellent zines about mental health. Definitely check out the full list, but I wanted to highlight a couple MH zines that have meant a lot to me.

Functionally Ill: Adventures With Mental Health by Laura-Marie is a zine documenting Laura-Marie’s experiences with mental health and illness. The first issue, “Becoming Bipolar” is a very thorough, clear explanation of what mania feels like for Laura-Marie, what the voices sound like, and what it was like to get treatment, including an evaluation and intake at a mental health clinic, plus a loooot of paperwork. I love this zine (and the rest of this series) because it gives me a window into one person’s experience with a condition that is usually discussed in murky, myth-y ways. Buy it from Laura-Marie.

Filling the Void: Interviews about quitting drinking and using edited by Caty and Cindy Crabb is, as it says, a collection of interviews. I’d seen this zine around, but I actually bought it because I met a dude at a party who told me that reading this zine helped him deal with his own drinking. Given that a lot of punx and alternative people have ambivalent feelings about AA, this zine provides another window into discussing substance use/abuse and sobriety. Lately at library conferences, I’ve been thinking about how much of the fun after hours stuff happens at bars, and what that might mean for people in recovery. Buy it from Doris Distro.