LISNews Librarian And Information Science News

Book:Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences (Inside Technology)

What do a seventeenth-century mortality table (whose causes of death include "fainted in a bath," "frighted," and "itch"); the identification of South Africans during apartheid as European, Asian, colored, or black; and the separation of machine- from hand-washables have in common?

All are examples of classification -- the scaffolding of information infrastructures. In Sorting Things Out, Geoffrey Bowker and Susan Leigh Star explore the role of categories and standards in shaping the modern world. In a clear and lively style, they investigate a variety of classification systems, including the International Classification of Diseases, the Nursing Interventions Classification, race classification under apartheid in South Africa, and the classification of viruses and of tuberculosis.

Why book owners mark their literary territory with personalized art.

“This book belongs to me.” For over five centuries, that has been the message conveyed by every bookplate, whether printed and hand-tinted for Hildebrand Brandenburg in 1480 or mass-produced for Barnes & Noble or Amazon. (Yes, they sell bookplates.) Think of a bookplate as a wedding ring binding the reader to the book, and vice versa. The symbolism isn’t so far apart: ownership, possession, desire.

Full article in the Yale Alumni Magazine

Slide shows of bookplates from Yale's collection

The author of a recent book chronicling tales from Nebraska’s Sand Hills will print no more copies under a plagiarism and copyright infringement settlement.

Craig Savoye of St. Louis agreed last month to pull back “Nebraska Stories: Tales of Cowboys, Ranchers and Assorted Characters.’’ All 1,500 printed copies of the book have sold, Savoye said Wednesday.The author of a recent book chronicling tales from Nebraska’s Sand Hills will print no more copies under a plagiarism and copyright infringement settlement.

Full story here.

Slumming With Charles Dickens: New York Library Relives His American Tours
snippet: "The staging of Dickens In America led to the discovery of two heretofore unknown personal letters written by Dickens to John Bigelow in the 1860's."

NY Times OP-Ed by Thomas Cahill on something else to celebrate every March 17th;

"Why should we celebrate the Irish? No doubt, several reasons could be proffered. But for me one answer stands out. Long, long ago the Irish pulled off a remarkable feat: They saved the books of the Western world and left them as gifts for all humanity."

Entertaining video prepared by the UK branch of Dorling Kindersley Books. Originally meant solely for a DK sales conference, the video was such a hit internally that it is now being shared externally. ...

What makes a bad book bad?
American academics have been grappling with this question and rounding up some unusual suspects
"Unfortunately, some of my colleagues judge everything by how close it comes to Joyce's Ulysses, which they reread annually," he reveals. "A friend of mine was at an academic conference session about Ulysses. Someone on the panel referred to an episode where a character in the
novel had coffee at a restaurant. The rest of the panel turned on him, and one of them hissed, 'It was cocoa!' Now do you see why this ridiculous list came about?"

Why read the 'Great Books' when you can laugh at them?
"All the Great Books" comes from a series of snarky parodies created by the Reduced Shakespeare Company; other targets include the Bard of Avon himself, the Bible, the history of America and Hollywood. Theatre Conspiracy produced "The Complete Word of God (Abridged)" and “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” in previous seasons with the same cast.

It's not 'just a book', it's "enriched". From the AP:

David Baldacci's next thriller, "Deliver Us from Evil," comes out April 20 as a hardcover, an e-book, and in an "enriched" electronic version which will include passages deleted from the final text, research photos, an audio interview and video footage of Baldacci at work.

"I have a pretty cool office, if I do say so myself," the author told The Associated Press during a telephone interview Monday from his office just outside Washington, D.C., where he sets many of his books.

"For a long time it seemed all people were talking about was pricing and the timing of the e-book. And I want to bring it back to the books themselves, to the content, because that's what should matter. I want people to have a great experience and give them a behind-the-scenes look at what I do, the way you would have it on a DVD."

The "enriched" Baldacci release will cost $15.99, according to Maja Thomas, senior vice president for Hachette Book Group's digital and audio publishing. The regular e-book will start at $14.99, then come down to $12.99 once it becomes a top seller, old hat for a Baldacci novel.

If you happen to be in the WNY or Southern Ontario area (like me!) don't miss the 2010 Buffalo Small Press Book Fair Saturday March 27th. The Buffalo Small Press Book Fair is a regional one day event that brings booksellers, authors, bookmakers, zinesters, small presses, artists, poets, and other cultural workers (and enthusiasts) together in a venue where they can share ideas, showcase their art, and peddle their wares. There's a Kickstarter fundraising page to help defray the costs.

The event is being held in the Karpeles Manuscript Library. The Karpeles Library is the world's largest private holding of important original manuscripts & documents. The archives include Literature, Science, Religion, History and Art. Among the treasures are .... "The original draft of the Bill of Rights of the United States", The original manuscript of " The Wedding March", Einstein's description of his " Theory of Relativity", The " Thanksgiving Proclamation" signed by George Washington, Roget's " Thesaurus", Webster's " Dictionary" and over one million more.