LISNews: Librarian News

From The Wikiman Blog, a "Library Christmas Carol", a seasonal look at changes in libraryland. The story has the classic characters of Scrooge and Marley, but is updated to include online subscriptions, social media, the Ghosts of Libraries Past and other Library 2.0 stuff.

There is no privacy online. NOT FOR WORK OR THE SQUEAMISH/or OLD FUDDY-DUDDIES.

A vigilant LISNews reader told me about the Duke grad and her powerpoint sex project.

Karen Owen's PowerPoint list is more famous now than she ever could have imagined. Owen, a Duke graduate of 2010, has become an internet sensation after a mock-thesis titled, "An education beyond the classroom: excelling in the realm of horizontal academics," went viral around the internet and propelled her into the mainstream media spotlight.

Since creating the now widely-seen list -- a project rating her sexual conquests during her time at Duke -- Owen has been thrust to the forefront of discussions about sex on college campuses and amongst American youth, including stories on prominent outlets such as CBSNews.com and on NBC's The Today Show, as well as garnering huge attention in the blogosphere.

And from Jezebel, the 42-page presentation (slides 9, 10 about sex in the library). And now the publishers have come to call.

When Elizabeth Goodyear died late last month, at 103, a handful of friends, all more than two generations younger, sat vigil. They toasted her over dark chocolate, the elixir Ms. Goodyear had savored daily since she was 3 years old, and Champagne, a more recent favorite.

Two years ago, a front-page article in The New York Times featured Ms. Goodyear, a lifelong lover of books, and the small group of people who would stop by her apartment, in Murray Hill, to read to her after she lost her sight. Those readers became a family to Ms. Goodyear, who had outlived her relatives and loved ones.

It all began about seven years ago, after Alison West, a yoga instructor who lives in Ms. Goodyear’s building, posted a sign seeking readers in yoga studios downtown and sent an e-mail that was forwarded again and again.

“Liz has no family at all, and all her old friends have died, but she remains eternally positive and cheerful and loves to have people come by to read to her or talk about life, politics, travel — or anything else,” the message read. “She also loves good chocolate!”

Young women in their 20s, many of them Ms. West’s students, started to visit. Read more in the NYTimes blogs.

This week's episode brings a look at the zeitgeist on LISNews as well as highlights of some of the strange news you might be able to use from the week that was. There were plenty of stammering tongue-twisters this week.

Related links:
Voice of Russia broadcasting in New York City
InstaPundit on Seth Godin ditching print publishing
MediaBistro on Seth Godin ditching print publishing
Andy Woodworth on social media-based library advocacy
El Reg on the "twitter rolling" attack
El Reg on the Twitter WTF worm
El Reg on Ireland versus Google StreetView
Ars Technica on transatlantic cabling
Deutsche Welle on a project to revitalize spoken-word radio and listening skill in general
Reuters on mobile data usage
Bobbi Newman on why mobile phones are not the key to the digital divide -- Part One
Bobbi Newman on why mobile phones are not the key to the digital divide -- Part Two
Representative Waxman's Bill on Net Neutrality Died, Ars Technica Tells Us
LibreOffice Announcement
Ars Technica on LibreOffice
El Reg on LibreOffice
Shortwave Central on BBC World Service expanding access in the USA
Nick Gillespie at Hit & Run presenting a libertarian view on the Santa Clarita privitization matter
Library Journal's round-up on privitization in California