LISNews: Librarian News

The NYTimes Says the Florida ballots are still there, nearly six million punch cards and their chads, stowed in boxes, stacked on pallets, wrapped in plastic.

The state has kept them for two years, as federal law requires. Now that the time is up, a pressing question for state officials here is: What do we do with these things?

"This is the most controversial presidential election in modern history — an election that was viewed by the world for 36 days and ultimately decided by the Supreme Court," said Julian Pleasants, a history professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville. "It's an important series of events that should be saved for future generations."

Thanks to Jen Young for this one.

Jen Young noticed A Neat One from The NYTimes on Columbia University's 9/11 Oral History Narrative and Memory Project.
What began as an effort to record history while it was fresh became more than that. It turned into an extended journey into the nature of memory itself, and a testament to the enduring power of the oldest, simplest human communication form: one voice in a room, telling a tale of how it all came down.

"I was less a historian than a participant," said Temma Kaplan, a professor of history at Rutgers University who did 18 interviews. "I wanted to be comforted, and confronted, not quite a voyeur but to be part of what was going on."

I feel like Jack Webb! (or possibly Ed O\'Neill.) Reader Charles Davis sent in three different stories about individuals apprehended in thefts of rare materials. In brief:

• Michael John Williams of Baltimore, Maryland had stolen Revolutionary War documents. Police tracked him down through the antiques dealer he had sold them to.
• John Charles Gilkey of San Jose, California had used a stolen credit card to purchase a first-edition copy of The Grapes of Wrath. He was apprehended when he tried to pick up the package.
• Neil Winstanley of London, England had stolen or damaged several priceless books while working in the Middle Temple law library. He was sentenced to nine months in prison.

Click below for more of the stories and links to the full content. -- Read More

Jen Young points to a A NYTimes Story on a collection of literary and cultural treasures at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, part of the University of Texas.
Scholars know the Ransom Center as one of the world\'s pre-eminent research libraries, but until now the public has caught only fleeting glimpses into its rich chambers. That will change in April when the center opens its first galleries.