LISNews: Librarian News

The decline of books for the visually impaired is no small loss. Piece by Oliver Sacks.

Even without best sellers on the scale of last year’s Steve Jobs biography, owners of independent bookstores say sales are good, and that Kobo e-readers have been a boon.

Full article

Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, has apologized for what it called “a coincidence of the worst kind” after the dictionary’s Web site named “bloodbath” as its word of the day on Tuesday, after last week’s deadly shootings in Newtown, Conn.

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See a very detailed library book cake.

Comic showing the 22 steps needed to check out an audio book at the library.

Rizal Library's Facebook status (Screen Shot At Flickr) on 20 Dec 2012, which says, "If the world does end tomorrow, I want all of you to know that I love you. If it doesn't, kindly return all overdue books on January 7, 2013""

In the first of two parts about the new realities of publishing and public libraries, Forbes contributor David Vinjamuri discusses whether the right battle is being fought:

"The solution to the current pricing problem lies in understanding that the argument publishers and libraries are having is the wrong argument. It is based on the paradigm of the printed book and as such presents a series of intractable challenges for both publishers and libraries. By changing the model for pricing an eBook, both parties could find a clear and equitable resolution to the current impasse."

They used to call it the "vanity press," and the phrase itself spoke volumes. Self-published authors were considered not good enough to get a real publishing contract. They had to pay to see their book in print. But with the advent of e-books, self-publishing has exploded, and a handful of writers have had huge best-sellers.

TV blogger Alan Sepinwall's self-published book, The Revolution Was Televised, came out just before Thanksgiving. Within two weeks he had a review in The New York Times — a positive review — by the widely read and often critical Michiko Kakutani, who also named it one her favorite books of the year. This is what book publicists and their writers dream of, and Sepinwall didn't even see it coming.

Full piece on NPR

WPRI reports: One year after donating $10,000 to Central Falls' Adams Memorial Library in Rhode Island, Alec Baldwin sent another $5,000 check to the library in response to its year-end fundraising appeal.

“I am overwhelmed with gratitude,” said library board president Bruce Kaplan. “A year ago, Alec’s donation helped us keep the doors open. This year he's helping us expand hours of operation and community programming.”

Funding for the Adams Memorial Library was cut in the wake of Central Falls' bankruptcy. It was forced to close its doors for several months in 2011, until a group of volunteers raised enough money to reopen the library.

"People have been coming in tears. Yeah. I mean one of our programming people, who does programming for children here at the library, her son was shot," Library Director Janet Woycik said Saturday afternoon, as she stood on the second floor of the Cyrenius H. Booth Library on Main Street.

"It's just unbelievable... My neighbor's grand daughter was shot," Woycik said before falling into tears.

Full article

Post discussing the philosophy underpinning Facebook, Twitter., etc, and what web users have lost by adopting it.

The Web We Lost

Earlier this month, a new version of Jeffrey Beall's List of Predatory Publishers 2013 was posted at scholarlyoa.com. Since then, faked quotes have been posted to multiple blogs, claiming that Jeffrey Beall has been trying to extort money from publishers. This is an apparent smear campaign to discredit the efforts to name predatory publishers. The criteria for listing these publishers is also posted at scholarlyoa.com.

There are no related links this week as there is no miscellany. The President's weekly address dated December 15th is replayed. A brief message relative to the situation in Connecticut is presented along with readings from Psalms and Ecclesiastes. Lighter fare will air in seven days.

Download here (MP3) (Ogg Vorbis), or subscribe to the podcast (MP3) to have episodes delivered to your media player. We suggest subscribing by way of a service like gpodder.net. Stephen's Silly Summation of Christmas Wishes can be found here via Amazon, as always.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/.

It's that time again... let's look back at this year's top library headlines.

10. Bird Flu Study is Published

After researchers found a way to spread H5N1 to humans, an interesting test ensued of the bounds of free speech versus public health. Citing concerns over bioterrorism, a government panel wanted to ban publication of the scientific findings. The paper was printed, in full, in the journal Science.

9. Remember Those Boycotts?

Multiple generations of librarians have lamented over costly journal prices. Aside from the continued drive for
public access to funded research, libraries and now finally scholars are boycotting Elsevier and the American Chemical Society. Here's hoping the Open Access movement against profiteering publishers keeps growing.

Quote of the Year

"The economics of publishing print no longer worked and that's why we're going to go all digital" - Newsweek editor Tina Brown. How does your employer intend to survive?

8. Begun, the E-Book Wars Have -- Read More

University of California removed the book from their logo. It was all downhill from there.

Two stories:

UC Logo Fail: How The Updated Design Fails To Represent University Of California

New Logo At University Of California Causes Uproar

Oprah Winfrey says her Book Club grew out of a desire to talk to authors after finishing their books. While the original version of the club ended when Winfrey's television show went off the air in 2011, it has now been rebooted online and on the new Oprah Winfrey Network as Book Club 2.0.

Full piece on NPR

When a talented young visual artist walked into the public library where I work in Takoma Park, Maryland, I found out he didn't have a web page yet. Easily remedied using Google Sites. The local newspaper, The Gazette, picked up the story in a nice profile article yesterday. Libraries bring hope into the world. (Phil Shapiro, Library Assistant, Takoma Park Maryland Library)

Apparently over 40 phone calls or so to your local public library that are harassing in nature may lead to charges being filed against you, according to WOIO news in Cleveland. Further details are available from The Akron Beacon-Journal.

The fight to keep libraries open has dominated the headlines but the UK has quietly lost more than 200 branches over the past year, according to a detailed national survey.

The rate of library closures has increased, reveals the annual report from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy: 146 branches closed between 2010 and 2011, with the number stepping up to 201 this year. The UK now has 4,265 libraries, compared with 4,612 two years ago, and the number of closures is likely to grow. Campaigners in Newcastle are currently fighting plans to close 10 out of the city's 18 libraries, with Billy Elliot playwright Lee Hall calling on the council to protect the city's heritage last month.

Wired's This Day in Tech Blog remembers Paul Otlet and his dream of organizing the world's information. Sound familiar?

"Some historians see in Otlet’s work a prototype of the World Wide Web and the hyperlink. Although unsuccessful, it was one of the first known attempts to provide a framework for connecting all recorded culture by creating flexible links that could rapidly lead researchers from one document to another — and perhaps make audible the previously unheard echoes between them."