LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

Sean McGown: I've been noticing something recently and I'm seeing it more and more. IT learning resources are moving more and more towards video screencasting and less and less towards the continuation of written material. Now, I'm not predicting the demise of books just yet, but I've noticed that people are asking for video resources more often.

Can wet books, papers be salvaged? The Minnesota State Historical Society offers advice on restoring valuables. Papers, and especially books, that have been exposed to flood water are fragile, very likely to mold, and difficult to dry successfully. They may be a health hazard, so wear waterproof gloves.

Private detectives hunt for late library books: Norfolk County Council (That's in England) admitted it had spent £82,358 in the past three years using private detectives.

Much of the money was used to hunt debtors and the council confessed it had used detectives to look online for people who owed them cash but had moved away.

Bad News For plans to make all children’s books carry age guidance were in tatters last night as JK Rowling came out in opposition to the move.

The support of the Edinburgh-based Harry Potter creator was welcomed by authors determined to sabotage moves to introduce age-banding on all children’s titles by the autumn.

The Dream Stowaway is no question one of the best bedtime books I ever read my child! From start to finish my child was at the edge of her bed waiting for the next verse to begin. The Dream Stowaway is 42 pages but reads like a 13 page book. It stars one of the cutest and most original characters I've seen in children's literature. A small boy that travels from house to house placing children to sleep..(and Santa Clause thought he had it bad). Much like the jolly red man, The Dream Stowaway will give your children something to look forward to not just for one night, but every night. My child is already placing toys next to her bed for The Dream Stowaway to take.

Here is the website for the book www.cjpumpkinsworld.com

Please carry this book for other parents to read. It really does put children to sleep!

Maya King
Teacher/ Parent

National Public Radio has expanded the book coverage on its website, adding weekly book reviews, and has hired six new book reviewers—including a graphic novel reviewer—and added more features to an already existing lineup of author podcasts, critics' lists and other book-focused content. Among the new slate of reviewers joining NPR.org are Jessa Crispin, founder of the literary blog Bookslut.com; John Freeman, book critic and a former president of the National Book Critics Circle; and Laurel Maury, freelance comics and graphic novel reviewer and a longtime contributor to PW Comics Week.

“We’re building up our book coverage because book content really works for our audience,” NPR senior supervising producer Joe Matazzoni explained.

Full story at Publisher's Weekly

Want to raise awareness about AIDS? Wear a red ribbon. Poverty? Pin on a gold ribbon. With seemingly endless causes and colors, has the ribbon lost its meaning? Alex Cohen talks to Sarah E. H. Moore about her new book Ribbon Culture, which looks at the meaning — both conscious and unconscious — of ribbon wearing.

Listen to full story on NPR.

Ask an adult what makes a children's book appealing, and she might talk about the colorful artwork, the clever storytelling or the lessons imparted.

Ask a child what makes a children's book appealing, and she might say, "It is weird and happy!"

Obviously, children and adults have different ideas about what makes a good children's book.

It's happened to all of us. We read a novel that blows us away, and a few years later its title appears on posters underneath the face of Harrison Ford or Natalie Portman. But at some inevitable point in that darkened theater, the movie takes a turn we didn't expect. Our eyebrows go up, our lips turn down, and the disappointment begins. Maybe the wrong director or writer can curse an otherwise excellent project — or maybe some things were just never meant to be filmed. Here are 10 books that io9.com thinks should never have been committed to celluloid.

June is when many gay and lesbian Americans celebrate their sexuality. In recognition of Gay Pride Month, Loriene Roy, President of the American Library Association tells listeners about books that highlight the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender experience. Read &/or Listen at NPR.