LISNews: Librarian News

mdoneil writes "Print out this free pass for museums. Valid Saturday September 30th. The Smithsonian is encouraging other museums to let you in for free that day. Great for penny pinching librarian types!"

Infomancy writes "Though LISNews covered the opening of the Microsoft/Philadelphia School of the Future, a critical part of the story was missed. The School of the Future, you see, lacks a library. In fact, Microsoft's vision statement for the School of the Future takes quite a few cheap shots at libraries.

The Internet has expanded access to information, removing both teacher and student dependencies on a limited amount of information sources. Education is no longer bound by the limits of the teacher, textbook, or the books in the school library...Moreover, the Internet offers students in low-income and remote locations far more information than any single traditional library.[Microsoft]

Apparently Microsoft doesn't realize that libraries can use the Internet as well or that the "single traditional library" in a low-income or remote location may be the only possible way for residents to connect to the Internet (or connect with broadband speeds).

Coming after the recent use of libraries as a metaphor to describe the "disaster" of education by Dr. Roger Schank, this again showcases the need for librarians to move into mainstream media and redefine the perception of libraries."

An Anonymous Patron writes "In an article titled 'The Frappuccino Generation' the authors note:

Starbucks also provides a place for teens to be together that's not school, home, work or the library. Professor Bryant Simon, a historian who is the director of the American studies program at Temple University, has talked to dozens of teens and tweens for a book he's writing about Starbucks. He believes that kids discovered the chain because there are so few public spaces to go in America.
http://salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/08/27/coffee/pri nt.html"

Molly K writes "In response to it's inclusion in the new edition of Websters & a nod from the OED, Google has sent out legal letters to various media organizations, warning them against using its name as a verb, reports The Independent. Google is becoming concerned about trademark violation. There's also a nice discussion on trademark vs. copyright on Slashdot's thread about this topic."