February 2000

The future of the book

Someone sent in This Story from the desertnews, it takes a good
look at ebooks.

Nancy Tessman is director of the Salt
Lake City Library, the institution that has become the Utah
focal point of the recent Library of Congress project, the
Center for the Book.

\”There\’s room for it all,\” she says. \”At the library,
we\’re not seeing anything but the traditional book format.
There is absolutely no sign of a lack of devotion to the
book itself. People want access to technological
information, but it is an option. The more access people
have, whether on the Web or on television, the more they
turn to traditional forces. Our book circulation is up

Someone sent in This Story from the desertnews, it takes a good
look at ebooks.

Nancy Tessman is director of the Salt
Lake City Library, the institution that has become the Utah
focal point of the recent Library of Congress project, the
Center for the Book.

\”There\’s room for it all,\” she says. \”At the library,
we\’re not seeing anything but the traditional book format.
There is absolutely no sign of a lack of devotion to the
book itself. People want access to technological
information, but it is an option. The more access people
have, whether on the Web or on television, the more they
turn to traditional forces. Our book circulation is up Kent Walgren, owner of Scalawag Books, a store that sells
used and rare books, says the reason the book will last \”has
more do with ease and warmth of a book as compared to a neon
screen. The technology is changing the way people relate to
books and having a profound effect on the way people buy
them. We list 4,000 books on the Internet, which accounts
for one-third of our sales. It used to be 5 percent.\”

Walgren is sad that buyers of old books will soon
not even be able to browse the quaint old book shops. \”Not
because they\’re not around, but because the stock will all
be in warehouses. People in used and rare books usually do
it out of love for books. It results in a meager living, but
I like the people I meet, and I like being around ideas and
books. I like meeting people who are like-minded.\”
In Walgren\’s opinion, the Internet is a necessity
today for used and rare b

February 24, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

Data Preservation in the Digital Age

David Fiander writes \”The folks over at slashdot are getting all excited about a a story about a new paper out of UMich that talks about the problems of data preservation in the digital age. As if it\’s a new problem, and not just a seriously exacerbated one \”

From Slashdot\”Recently there was an Ask Slashdot about the the problem of preserving digital material. The basic idea was that we are creating a massive wealth of digital information, but have no clear plan for preserving it. What happens to all of those poems I write when I try to access them for my grandkids? What about the pictures of my kids I took with that digital camera? Can I still get to them in time to embarrass them in the future?

February 24, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

Librarians set to book out as talks stall

Librarians in Toronto, Canada, are set to strike.

Talks to avert a strike that would close the city\’s 98 libraries at midnight tonight are on the verge of collapse, a union official said yesterday.

The city\’s 2,500 librarians will walk if a deal isn\’t reached by the strike deadline.
\”We haven\’t had the major issues dealt with at this point,\” said Toronto Civic Employees\’ Union Local 416 president Brian Cochrane.

Librarians in Toronto, Canada, are set to strike.

Talks to avert a strike that would close the city\’s 98 libraries at midnight tonight are on the verge of collapse, a union official said yesterday.

The city\’s 2,500 librarians will walk if a deal isn\’t reached by the strike deadline.
\”We haven\’t had the major issues dealt with at this point,\” said Toronto Civic Employees\’ Union Local 416 president Brian Cochrane.

Those issues include job security, hours of work, harmonization of wages, equitable treatment for part-timers and shift premiums.

\”There\’s a $6,500 difference between the highest and lowest paid librarians in Toronto,\” Cochrane said.

The average librarian makes between $35,000-$42,000 annually.

Librarian Josephine Bryant said she remains confident a settlement can be reached.

\”We are continuing to bargain toward a settlement and are confident that this goal can be reached,\” she said in a statement.

In the event of a strike all services including bookmobile and home reader services will be suspended.

No fines would be charged on library materials due while a strike is in effect.

Talks are continuing.

February 24, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

new limit for R-rated films is age 12

A story from Philadelphia shows kids
where to get R-Rated movies.


UPDATEA Report on the lack of protests.

Most favor
the Philadelphia system\’s decision to open access for
children as young as 12, down from 14.


Last year, the Free Library of Philadelphia got into a flap
over its policy of letting children as young as 14 borrow
R-rated movies.


Yesterday, library president Elliot L. Shelkrot acknowledged
that the policy had been changed. Now borrowers as young as
12 have access to all material, including videos.


\”The change in age is in response to the public,\” Shelkrot
said.

Only in four systems surveyed, including Detroit and San
Diego, were borrowers required to be 18 or older to take

A story from Philadelphia shows kids
where to get R-Rated movies.


UPDATEA Report on the lack of protests.

Most favor
the Philadelphia system\’s decision to open access for
children as young as 12, down from 14.


Last year, the Free Library of Philadelphia got into a flap
over its policy of letting children as young as 14 borrow
R-rated movies.


Yesterday, library president Elliot L. Shelkrot acknowledged
that the policy had been changed. Now borrowers as young as
12 have access to all material, including videos.


\”The change in age is in response to the public,\” Shelkrot
said.

Only in four systems surveyed, including Detroit and San
Diego, were borrowers required to be 18 or older to take The library did its own survey of major systems that serve
populations over a million. Out of 21, including
Philadelphia, 15 allowed children who qualified for an adult
library card to have access to their entire collections.

In some cities, including Chicago and Phoenix, there was no
age limit. In Dallas, children under 14 were required to
have a parental signature to get a card, but then had open
access.

At the New York Public Library, the staff found the same
rules as are in effect now in Philadelph

February 24, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

Minneapolis library out of answers

I\’m posting this one because it is so full of great quotes.
It\’s from Techserver.com

The pictures of child molestation, bestiality and other hardcore pornography were as shocking as they were graphic. But just as shocking was the place they were found – on computers at the downtown Minneapolis Public Library.

\”You\’d think a library would be a safe place, but I won\’t bring my daughter back there.\”

They have heard of related acts of sex and violence that have occurred in the library. They have heard that anyone walking through the library can see pornography on computers.

Some librarians wonder if their rights are being violated. Forty-seven of the approximately 140 downtown library employees signed a public letter of protest saying they feel \”harassed and intimidated by working in a public environment\” where they might \”be exposed to degrading or pornographic pictures.\”

Click on read more for a few more…

I\’m posting this one because it is so full of great quotes.
It\’s from Techserver.com

The pictures of child molestation, bestiality and other hardcore pornography were as shocking as they were graphic. But just as shocking was the place they were found – on computers at the downtown Minneapolis Public Library.

\”You\’d think a library would be a safe place, but I won\’t bring my daughter back there.\”

They have heard of related acts of sex and violence that have occurred in the library. They have heard that anyone walking through the library can see pornography on computers.

Some librarians wonder if their rights are being violated. Forty-seven of the approximately 140 downtown library employees signed a public letter of protest saying they feel \”harassed and intimidated by working in a public environment\” where they might \”be exposed to degrading or pornographic pictures.\”

Click on read more for a few more…\”We don\’t set the morality for the country,\” Lawson said. \”We can\’t control the Internet. We are trying to minimize the objectionable material that people don\’t want to see. But unless we can prove that someone has come in and deliberately tried to offend someone, we may not have cause to tell them to stop. Those people have a right to privacy, too.\”

Virginia Pear, a librarian for 12 years, said: \”My issue is not with the right to view pornography, although we keep seeing things that express a violence toward women. But when a man doing patent research sends me a note saying the gentleman next to him is distracting him because he\’s watching bestiality, I draw the line.\”

\”We\’re not trying to analyze why people look at pornography at the library,\” librarian Mary Kay Harris said. \”The issue is having the staff get sucked into controlling what\’s going on. It\’s draining.\”

\”The purpose of having the Internet at the library is not to view obscene materials,\” said Rod Krueger, a member of the Minneapolis Library Board. \”It\’s for education. We\’re learning that we have a very difficult situation on our hands.\”

February 23, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

Old computers threat to records

The BBC has a story on how computers will start to decompose with important records.


Vital archaeological records could be
lost forever because the computers
they are stored on become quickly
obsolete.

The physical site is nearly always
completely destroyed during a dig,
but archaeologists claim the
knowledge they glean from the
ground is then available for posterity.
\”The irony is that archaeological
information held in magnetic format
is decaying faster than it ever did in
the ground,\” warns William Kilbride of
the Archaeology Data Service (ADS)
at the University of York.

The BBC has a story on how computers will start to decompose with important records.


Vital archaeological records could be
lost forever because the computers
they are stored on become quickly
obsolete.

The physical site is nearly always
completely destroyed during a dig,
but archaeologists claim the
knowledge they glean from the
ground is then available for posterity.
\”The irony is that archaeological
information held in magnetic format
is decaying faster than it ever did in
the ground,\” warns William Kilbride of
the Archaeology Data Service (ADS)
at the University of York. nother problem they encountered
was obsolete formats. In computer
terms,1991 is ancient history. Some
of the word processor and database
programmes used then are no longer
available.

\”The formats of
computer files
change rapidly. A
file created in
state-of-the-art
software one year
becomes obsolete
the next, as the
software is
updated. Old disks
are useless when
the hardware is no longer available to
read them,\” said archaeologist Keith
Westcott.

February 23, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

Public peeved about S.F. library

A story on the new library in San Francisco, CA.


A city-commissioned report calling for $28 million in fixes to the 3-year-old Main Library received its first public airing.


The $240,000 report was commissioned to find solutions to a shortage of library shelf space and to complaints that books were difficult to find. But several of the nearly 60 people who attended Thursday night\’s meeting were disabled and worried the direction of the study would exclude them from the library\’s services.

\”Get a little sense,\” said the 54-year-old San Francisco resident as he addressed the commissioners and the team of library experts that worked on the study. \”I can\’t believe the commission paid to have this survey done.\”

A story on the new library in San Francisco, CA.


A city-commissioned report calling for $28 million in fixes to the 3-year-old Main Library received its first public airing.


The $240,000 report was commissioned to find solutions to a shortage of library shelf space and to complaints that books were difficult to find. But several of the nearly 60 people who attended Thursday night\’s meeting were disabled and worried the direction of the study would exclude them from the library\’s services.

\”Get a little sense,\” said the 54-year-old San Francisco resident as he addressed the commissioners and the team of library experts that worked on the study. \”I can\’t believe the commission paid to have this survey done.\”

Others who voiced their concerns throughout the nearly four-hour meeting shared similar complaints.

The $240,000 evaluation, completed three years after the much anticipated $137 million library opened, was conducted by Ripley Architects of San Francisco which involved several library experts in the research.

Commissioners on Thursday asked questions and got feedback from the survey\’s team including Susan King, the director of the Los Angeles Public Library, and Florence Mason, a former librarian and professor who specializes in facility and management counseling.

Cynthia Ripley, the director of the study, indicated that the report\’s suggested fixes were meant as a guide to give the commission a better idea of the library\’s problem areas.

February 23, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

The end of News Groups?

News.com is running a story on how MSN is dropping support for newsgroups. We are removing newsgroups from MSN servers because we now have a better communication vehicle provided by MSN Web Communities–including chat, message boards, email and Web pages,\” the representative wrote in an email. While newsgroups will no longer be supported on MSN.com, they will still be available at the company\’s corporate Web site, Microsoft.com.

News.com seems to think this is the begining of the end for newsgroups. What does the LIS community think of this?
Most librarians are subscribed to a number of different lists, and use them as a primary source for news and information. Certainly this is not the begining of the end, or is it?

News.com is running a story on how MSN is dropping support for newsgroups. We are removing newsgroups from MSN servers because we now have a better communication vehicle provided by MSN Web Communities–including chat, message boards, email and Web pages,\” the representative wrote in an email. While newsgroups will no longer be supported on MSN.com, they will still be available at the company\’s corporate Web site, Microsoft.com.

News.com seems to think this is the begining of the end for newsgroups. What does the LIS community think of this?
Most librarians are subscribed to a number of different lists, and use them as a primary source for news and information. Certainly this is not the begining of the end, or is it?Analysts said they weren\’t surprised by the move, noting that Usenet newsgroups haven\’t caught on with large numbers of new users because there are simpler alternatives.

The Web has dulled Usenet\’s luster, according to Dan O\’Brien, an analyst at Forrester Research. New Internet users coming aboard are now exposed increasingly to Web sites that offer message boards, chat and email as their means for communication and community. Accessing Usenet requires setting one\’s browser to read postings, something consumers may not want to do.

\”Previously, many may have joined news groups, but now they can go to a number of travel sites and sports sites and find a thread that has lots of comments that they can jump into,\” O\’Brien said in a previous interview. \”There\’s no need to take the next step and join a newsgroup.\”

February 23, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

Voters reject filters for library computers

Bob Cox sent in this St
ory

Voters on Tuesday rejected a measure that would have
required the city to stop funding the Herrick District
Library unless it installs Internet filters on its
computers.

In unofficial results, voters in Holland rejected the
measure, 4,379 to 3,626.
Thousands cast their ballots on an ordinance that has
divided the conservative west Michigan com

February 23, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

limiting access to Harry Potter books

Harry sure does get in alot of trouble. Full story Here from mlive.com

Zeeland\’s Board of Education stood behind a decision Monday that limits access in the district to the Harry Potter book series.

Superintendent Gary Feenstra issued a memo to staff in November that prohibits Zeeland teachers from reading the books aloud in class.

Checkout of the first three books of the series, written by Scottish author J.K. Rowling, is restricted to fifth- through eighth-graders who show written permission from their parents. Feenstra\’s order also says the district will buy no more installments in the series.
\”You can\’t pretend there is no such thing as right and wrong,\” Van Rhee said.


Lisa VanDerKolk said that even though the books are a work of fiction, the witchcraft and wizardry could still give children ideas. \”This stuff is real, and kids can get mixed up in it,\” she said.

Harry sure does get in alot of trouble. Full story Here from mlive.com

Zeeland\’s Board of Education stood behind a decision Monday that limits access in the district to the Harry Potter book series.

Superintendent Gary Feenstra issued a memo to staff in November that prohibits Zeeland teachers from reading the books aloud in class.

Checkout of the first three books of the series, written by Scottish author J.K. Rowling, is restricted to fifth- through eighth-graders who show written permission from their parents. Feenstra\’s order also says the district will buy no more installments in the series.
\”You can\’t pretend there is no such thing as right and wrong,\” Van Rhee said.


Lisa VanDerKolk said that even though the books are a work of fiction, the witchcraft and wizardry could still give children ideas. \”This stuff is real, and kids can get mixed up in it,\” she said.

Just more than half of those who spoke were against Feenstra\’s decision either because they thought the books were good for students to read or they disagreed with the process in which the decision was made.

Because the board refused to address the policy in a formal agenda item, the decision by Feenstra will stand.

Joni Van Rhee said one of her daughters had difficulty sleeping due to nightmares during the period the book was being read aloud in her class. Van Rhee then had her daughter excused from class during the reading period.

\”You can\’t pretend there is no such thing as right and wrong,\” Van Rhee said.

February 23, 2000 by Uncategorized 0

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