LISNews: Librarian News

Craig Ferguson chats with author Laura Lippman about her new book "I'd Know You Anywhere"

At her website Lippman has an essay contest where you write about your local library. Winning essay gets a visit from Lippman to their library.

Hat tip to Early Word for this story.

David Pogue in the NYT

Virgin Mobile’s MiFi is nearly like the ones offered by Sprint and Verizon but with three exceptions: an unlimited data plan, no contract and a $40-a-month

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/technology/personaltech/02pogue.html?ref=technology

Article in NYT about interview with Roger Ebert. Discussed in the article is his book: The Pot and How to Use It: The Mystery and Romance of the Rice Cooker

Excerpt: THE first several minutes at a restaurant with Roger Ebert are awkward.

It’s not that you can’t find a million things to discuss. Mr. Ebert, 68, has reviewed movies for more than four decades. He’s driven around with Robert Mitchum while the actor got stoned and lost on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. He once owned a 1957 Studebaker and still owns a Pulitzer Prize.

The thing is, he doesn’t eat and he doesn’t talk. Or rather, he can’t eat and he can’t talk. He hasn’t for four years, ever since cancer took his lower jaw, and three attempts to rebuild his face and his voice failed.

Full article

A book's title, "Shut Up, I'm Talking," draws lots of attention. The title, not the book.

Full article in the NYT
http://nyti.ms/cZkCQ2

Link to book on Amazon: Shut Up, I'm Talking: And Other Diplomacy Lessons I Learned in the Israeli Government--A Memoir

You can watch it on your computer or television. Now you can watch it on your iPhone too.

Netflix announced Thursday the release of a free Netflix application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that allows streaming of movies over Wi-Fi or a 3G cellphone connection.

The app, which had been expected since April, helps with Netflix’s attempt to become ubiquitous with its streaming offerings.

Full story here.

Everyone Plays at the Library: Creating Great Gaming Experiences for All Ages

If you are interested in the why, what, and how of library gaming, Everyone Plays at the Library is the place to start. Scott Nicholson educator, librarian, game designer, host of the Board Games with Scott video series, and founder of the Library Game Lab of Syracuse shows how gaming programs can be successfully implemented in school, academic, and public libraries, covering all types of games for all age groups.

You ll learn how to determine user needs, achieve library goals, gain stakeholder approval, reach out to users, build an affordable collection of great games, assess program effectiveness, bring all ages together, and create the type of memorable experience that gets users talking and keeps them coming back for more.

In this day and age, much communication is done by e-mail, text messages, Twitter and other forms of digital communication. William Powers, author of "Hamlet's BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age," explains how disconnecting from our screens may help us reconnect with our lives.

See video: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/july-dec10/hamlets_08-16.html

Songwriters don't want their sheet music shared online. But are the laws against it out of date?

Full story on NPR

See this piece in the NYT of the unintended consequences of people trying to help with the digital divide. The piece shows a dump in Ghana where computers are torn apart and burned to get out precious metals. There are rules in place to keep dumping of e-waste out of 3rd world countries. The problem in this case is that the computers got into the country as a donation to try to reduce the digital divide.

Trying to solve problems can be a very difficult thing because there are often unintended consequences.

See: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/04/magazine/20100815-dump.html

At a cost of nearly one billion dollars, Netflix on Tuesday said it would add films from Paramount Pictures, Lions Gate and MGM to its online subscription service.

It was a coup — albeit a costly one — for Netflix, which knows its needs to lock up the digital rights to films as customers stop receiving DVDs by mail and start receiving streams via the Internet. The deal will commence Sept. 1.

Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer for Netflix, said he is essentially taking the “huge pile of money” that Netflix pays in postage for DVDs by mail — about $600 million this year — “and starting to pay it to the studios and networks.”

Full article:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/netflix-to-stream-films-from-paramount-lion...

On Morning Edition today there were these two stories:

A Dark View Of Dostoevsky On The Moscow Subway
The Dostoevskaya station, meant to honor the author of Crime and Punishment, has some Russian psychologists concerned that murals of violent scenes will play with riders' minds. (One advantage of the story on the web versus the radio is that you can see some of the images they are talking about)

Stephanie Plum: Trenton's Scrappy Bounty Hunter
When the Garden State's seediest crooks skip bail, it's up to lingerie buyer turned bounty hunter Stephanie Plum to track 'em down. Novelist Janet Evanovich sets her best-selling satirical thrillers in Trenton, N.J., a city Evanovich remembers from her youth.

Documentary: Between the Folds

Filmmaker Vanessa Gould takes you on a provocative odyssey into the mesmerizing world of modern origami, where artists and scientists use the ancient art form to craft works of delicate beauty and to model cutting-edge mathematical theories. Pushing the envelope of origami to include caricatured portraits and elaborate abstract designs, these experts examine how paper folding can reveal the profound connection between art, science and philosophy.

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Just saw this on Netflix "Watch it Instantly." If you are a Netflix subscriber I recommend you check it out.
Link to documentary on Netflix: http://bit.ly/9lM4gK

PBS website for documentary: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/between-the-folds/

DVD on Amazon: Independent Lens: Between the Folds

I know this sounds like an off the wall topic but it is truly fascinating.

In an exchange of letters, the Wikimedia Foundation, parent of the online encyclopedia, defended its use of the seal in its article about the agency.

Full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/us/03fbi.html?ref=technology

The result is a renaissance in search, resulting in more sophisticated tools for consumers who want richer answers to complex questions than the standard litany of blue links.

The competition is a remarkable and surprising twist: Microsoft, knocked around for so long as a bumbling laggard, has given the innovative upstart Google a kick in the pants. As the search engines introduce feature after competing feature, some analysts say they have set off an arms race, with the companies poised to spend whatever it takes to win the second phase of Web search.

Full article in the NYT Technology section

Interview with Jeff Bezos on the Charlie Rose show. When you follow this link there is not a clear start button. If you click on Bezos the video will start.

Bezon discusses the new Kindle. Rose ask Bezos about the iPad being a Kindle killer.

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11138

To our recollection, this actually hasn’t happened in quite some time. To be exact, in 2008, when it was the original Kindle. And, even then, Amazon managed to make sure they told customers when the Kindle would be coming back around, or shipping to their doorsteps. Not this time. All Amazon says right now is that the Kindle is temporarily out of stock, and that purchasers will get an email when the eReader gets an estimated delivery date.

So, what does all this mean?
http://www.slashgear.com/amazon-kindle-sold-out-no-estimated-date-of-availability-2795584/

The Kindle, the iPad and e-books are all part of a revolution that's shaking up the publishing business. The big question is how to ensure the book industry can remain profitable?

There's at least one publisher, however, that doesn't care about profits. For the past two years, the Concord Free Press, has been publishing books and giving them away for free.

Full story
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128775487

The Booktalker's Bible: How to Talk About the Books You Love to Any Audience

The author is Reader's Services Coordinator, King County Library System, Seattle, Washington.

Whether you're preparing for your first booktalk or you're a seasoned booktalking pro, this lively and light-hearted guide provides all the information you need to create a smashing booktalking program-from finding your audience and choosing the books to performing the booktalk and evaluating the program. Filled with insightful, humorous, and inspiring stories from some of today's best booktalkers, this practical guide includes hundreds of sample booktalks, reproducible forms, and booktalk booklists for a wide variety of audiences.

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child

Donalyn Miller says she has yet to meet a child she couldn't turn into a reader. No matter how far behind Miller's students might be when they reach her 6th grade classroom, they end up reading an average of 40 to 50 books a year. Miller's unconventional approach dispenses with drills and worksheets that make reading a chore. Instead, she helps students navigate the world of literature and gives them time to read books they pick out themselves. Her love of books and teaching is both infectious and inspiring. The book includes a dynamite list of recommended "kid lit" that helps parents and teachers find the books that students really like to read.

In the American Memory project is this scan of a Library Bill of Rights

Letter of Introduction

We believe this Noble Assertion of Principles should be in every library. Please accept this copy with Best Wishes for Christmas and a Peaceful New Year

Library Bill of Rights