January 2000

Song Yongyi Update | China Frees Scholar Who Worke

Step Schmitt writes \”The NYTimes story on the freed librarian is here.

\”A United States-based scholar detained in China for more than five months on vague charges of \”providing confidential materials to foreigners\” was released today. \”

Step Schmitt writes \”The NYTimes story on the freed librarian is here.

\”A United States-based scholar detained in China for more than five months on vague charges of \”providing confidential materials to foreigners\” was released today. \”
\”
The scholar, Song Yongyi, a research librarian at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., was detained in August while collecting documents concerning the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution. Such materials are widely available in markets and curio shops.

He was formally charged last month with \”the purchase and illegal provision of intelligence to foreigners,\” a move that alarmed academics overseas, who saw a threat to research activities in China, and American politicians as well. Together, the two groups waged a vigorous campaign to gain the release of Mr. Song, a Chinese citizen who had been scheduled to become an American citizen weeks after he was detained.

At 9 p.m. on Friday, Mr. Song, still in a Beijing police office, used his brother\’s cellular telephone to call his wife in Pennsylvania to say that he was being freed.

\”I was so excited, but it was so strange I couldn\’t believe it,\” said his wife, Helen Yao. She said she had been given no reason for the release of Mr. Song, who was expected to arrive in the United States today.\”

[Clipped]
\”

Good News for Disabled Individuals and Information

Bill Stark writes \”28,000,000 Americans have a hearing loss, and this sensory loss means that much informational and entertainment media is not accessible to them.
The Captioned Media Program (CMP) at www.cfv.org is a free-loan open-captioned media program for these persons, their families, and the information professionals who serve them. Sponsored by the U. S. Department of Education, CMP has over 4,000 items available for loan to qualified users. \”

Ebook resources

CNET has a great beginners guide to ebooks HERE

But don\’t say goodbye to your hardcovers just yet. No one knows if the majority will
take to digitized reading. Changing paradigms–especially for something as basic as reading–takes time,
and the quirks of these early-generation products won\’t help. Even under the best circumstances, it will be
years before you see e-books on every street corner.

Long Domain Names: How Long Is Too Long?

Internetnews
is
Reporting that you can now register a domain name up to 67 characters long.

With the most recent count of Web sites reported to be a whopping 9 million and growing, the demand for domain names is exploding as well. To supply more choices to those looking to label their Web sites, a number of domain name registrars have enabled users to register names as long as 67 characters.

netLibrary Donating 150,000 eBooks to 100 top PL

LJDigital has a Press Release from NetLibrary

To further the use of electronic books in libraries, e-book publisher netLibrary has
announced it is donating 150,000 digital volumes to 100 public libraries across the country
during the coming months. The \”netLibrary eBook Intorduction Program\” will provide free
24-hour access to the titles for six months, at which time the participating libraries will
have the option to purchase as many of the volumes as they desire.

LJDigital has a Press Release from NetLibrary

To further the use of electronic books in libraries, e-book publisher netLibrary has
announced it is donating 150,000 digital volumes to 100 public libraries across the country
during the coming months. The \”netLibrary eBook Intorduction Program\” will provide free
24-hour access to the titles for six months, at which time the participating libraries will
have the option to purchase as many of the volumes as they desire.To participate in the program, libraries must agree to purchase and integrate MARC records
for the 1500 titles into their OPACs, take a training session, and display point-of-use
materials in their library locations.

Copyright Decision Threatens Freedom to Link

Could hyperlinks become illegal?
The NYTimes has a story on a ruling that may cause all linking to be considered illegal.

In a ruling that could undermine the freedom to create links on the Web, a federal judge in Utah has temporarily barred two critics of the Mormon Church from posting on their Web site the Internet addresses of other sites featuring pirated copies of a Mormon text.

Could hyperlinks become illegal?
The NYTimes has a story on a ruling that may cause all linking to be considered illegal.

In a ruling that could undermine the freedom to create links on the Web, a federal judge in Utah has temporarily barred two critics of the Mormon Church from posting on their Web site the Internet addresses of other sites featuring pirated copies of a Mormon text. In issuing a preliminary injunction on Monday, Judge Tena Campbell of the United States District Court in Salt Lake City said it was likely that the critics, Sandra and Jerald Tanner, had engaged in contributory copyright infringement
when they posted the addresses of three Web sites that they knew, or should have known,contained the copies

Libraries and their ashes

Oneworld has An Amazing
piece on books, and libraries, and everything that interests us.

Our mistake, perhaps, has been to look upon a library as an all-encompassing and neutral space. Any library is, by definition, the result of a choice, necessarily limited in its scope. The earliest Mesopotamian libraries we know of, leading back to the third millennium BC, were born under these conditions.

Oneworld has An Amazing
piece on books, and libraries, and everything that interests us.

Our mistake, perhaps, has been to look upon a library as an all-encompassing and neutral space. Any library is, by definition, the result of a choice, necessarily limited in its scope. The earliest Mesopotamian libraries we know of, leading back to the third millennium BC, were born under these conditions.Like that long-ago school library, every library
contains texts that escape the librarians\’ vigilance
and are secretly subversive, because
subversiveness, much like proverbial beauty, lies in
the eye of the beholder.

Library use rises sharply

InsideDenver Has a very encouraging

Story Here on how library use is way UP.

From 1991 to 1998 — a period when big chain bookstores and the Internet blossomed into potential threats to America\’s libraries — state circulation of libray books and other items grew dramatically.

InsideDenver Has a very encouraging

Story Here on how library use is way UP.

From 1991 to 1998 — a period when big chain bookstores and the Internet blossomed into potential threats to America\’s libraries — state circulation of libray books and other items grew dramatically.\”People still come in with reference questions
and for recreational reading,\” said Rochelle
Logan, associate director of the state Library
Research Service. \”And when kids come home
and say they\’re doing a report on the Greek
gods, you\’ve got to run to the library.

\”You can\’t replace that. The library is still a part
of the community.\”

The Information Age: More to Come

Intellectualcapital.com has a great Opinion piece on Vannevar Bushs\”As We May Think\”

Bush\’s essay is astonishing for two reasons. First, his vision of personally
created, associated links of knowledge was prescient. He could see, even
then, the explosion of necessary information beyond a level any human could
manage, and he could imagine the evolution of technology into forms that
would make possible an easily accessible, easily searchable desk-based
library of personal and public knowledge.

Intellectualcapital.com has a great Opinion piece on Vannevar Bushs\”As We May Think\”

Bush\’s essay is astonishing for two reasons. First, his vision of personally
created, associated links of knowledge was prescient. He could see, even
then, the explosion of necessary information beyond a level any human could
manage, and he could imagine the evolution of technology into forms that
would make possible an easily accessible, easily searchable desk-based
library of personal and public knowledge.Second, it is impossible to read the essay without giggling furiously over the
details of how he imagined the technology would develop. All a person\’s
collected knowledge would be stored in tiny form — small enough for the
Encyclopedia Britannica to fit a matchbox-size space inside a desk with
built-in viewing screens and something that sounds much like today\’s
scanners. He called this device the \”Memex.\”