LISNews: Librarian News

ZDNet Says the Concise
Oxford Dictionary has decided to include the shorthand
language in its revised edition published on Thursday.
Examples that have found a place in the dictionary
include BBLR (be back later) and
HAND (have a nice day). They are joined by
emoticons--representations of facial
expressions such as :) and :(.

CNN has This Story on sales of religious books being up more than 4 percent.
They say it\'s not just Christian-oriented books that are selling so well, but any religious books tend to be doing well.
Does anyone keep circulation numbers on this type of book, are they up as well?

\"The more suspicious people are of their local church, then the more apt they are to just assemble their own books, to assemble their own spiritual life,\"

Asahi has a Story on the record number of small book shops closing in Japan.

They say about1,300 bookstores closed last year and 6,400 have disappeared since 1995. Most big stores are not in much better shape, this is a result of a bubble in the book retailing business.

Bookstores also face tough competition from discount stores selling remaindered or almost-new books, from online bookstores, public libraries and ``manga cafes,\'\' where customers can browse among current manga comic.

I think we have now run this same story from the US, Ireland, England, and now Japan.

From The Times (UK), Elizabeth Judge writes...

\"WOMEN characters in children’s storybooks fit 1940s stereotypes, being meek, gentle, ineffectual, rarely employed, and wholly dependent on their men, an American study has concluded.
The only feisty women with roles that extend beyond baking cakes or washing clothes are evil, usually witches, the researchers say.

One of the worst offenders was the Harry Potter series, in which two of the most admired female characters exhibit nurturing, humble, emotional traits. “Mrs Weasley and Harry’s mother are known for their feminine traits, where family and children come first,” said Claire Etaugh, from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, who led the research. “Only one of Harry’s friends, Hermione, is tomboyish, clever and smart and able to get the boys out of scrapes.” [more...]