May 2000

Project Abstract: The publishing industry is at the doorstep of the biggest change since the invention of the printing press – the advent of the electronic book. Though the shift to a non-print environment has been occurring steadily, advances in electronic reading devices promise to accelerate this trend. Electronic readers now feature paper-thin screens that can be turned like pages and can hold several volumes. Print size is adjustable to suit the reader and books can be downloaded directly from the web at a cost lower than the print version. Though libraries represent a major portion of the customer base of publishers, no efforts have been made to establish products and pricing mechanisms to meet the unique needs of libraries.

Check it out at rrlc.org

Project Abstract: The publishing industry is at the doorstep of the biggest change since the invention of the printing press – the advent of the electronic book. Though the shift to a non-print environment has been occurring steadily, advances in electronic reading devices promise to accelerate this trend. Electronic readers now feature paper-thin screens that can be turned like pages and can hold several volumes. Print size is adjustable to suit the reader and books can be downloaded directly from the web at a cost lower than the print version. Though libraries represent a major portion of the customer base of publishers, no efforts have been made to establish products and pricing mechanisms to meet the unique needs of libraries.

Check it out at rrlc.org
Project Goals:

To explore potential partnership and licensing issues with vendors engaged in publishing or distributing electronic books in order to learn about the products and to discuss plans for serving libraries and their patrons

To develop expertise among library directors in the Rochester region regarding electronic books and their future applications in libraries

To test state-of-the-art electronic book hardware and software for practicality in a library setting

To influence the products and marketing strategies (including pricing) of publishers of electronic books to reflect the needs of libraries

Target Population: The target population for this project includes the librarians at member libraries of the three cooperating agencies: Rochester Regional Library Council; Monroe 2 BOCES School Library System; and the Monroe County Public Library.

Project Director: Susan Gibbons –
[email protected]
(716) 387-9854 (mornings) (716) 428-8064 (afternoons)

A story from the Guardian in the UK, Outlines an interesting new plan to enlist the public in the battle against mold and worms.

\”The library wants members of the public to commemorate a person\’s birth year or celebrate a birth, wedding anniversary or retirement by adopting a tome. \”

A story from the Guardian in the UK, Outlines an interesting new plan to enlist the public in the battle against mold and worms.

\”The library wants members of the public to commemorate a person\’s birth year or celebrate a birth, wedding anniversary or retirement by adopting a tome. \”The expertise of Helen Shenton, director of conservation, and her team of 70 is internationally recognised, and they are frequently consulted on delicate book restorations. But they cannot afford to apply their skills fast enough to save many books in their own care.

\”The job is expanding constantly beyond our means,\” Ms Shenton said. \”The forecast death of the paper book with the coming of information technology was completely wrong. There have never been so many books being printed.\”

In the 1990s, in the scramble to get the library out of the British Museum and into the St Pancras building, all other budgets were slashed.

Internet News has this article on Microsoft and their latest e-book activities.


\”So much for dog-eared pages and watermarks. Microsoft Corp. Tuesday teamed with Simon & Schuster and Barnes & Noble.com to test the offering of electronic books on pocket PCs.\”

Internet News has this article on Microsoft and their latest e-book activities.


\”So much for dog-eared pages and watermarks. Microsoft Corp. Tuesday teamed with Simon & Schuster and Barnes & Noble.com to test the offering of electronic books on pocket PCs.\”

\”In its latest play in e-books since opening an electronic book superstore with Barnes & Noble.com (NASDAQ:BNBN) last January, Microsoft has arranged for 15 Star Trek titles, based on the television series, to be downloaded from Barnes & Noble.com for users of the Microsoft Reader application on the pocket PC.

Johnson also said that getting consumers to purchase pocket PCs and to use e-books is a tough value proposition right now, but one that will gather speed in the next five to 10 years.\”

Brian writes

\”On May 22, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a law requiring cable TV operators either to completely scramble channels like Playboy and Spice or to transmit those channels only during late-night hours. Justice Kennedy\’s majority opinion in U.S. v. Playboy Entertainment Group (http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/98-1682.html) is a must-read for librarians, as it includes a beautiful affirmation of free speech and individual responsibility….

Brian writes

\”On May 22, the U.S. Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a law requiring cable TV operators either to completely scramble channels like Playboy and Spice or to transmit those channels only during late-night hours. Justice Kennedy\’s majority opinion in U.S. v. Playboy Entertainment Group (http://laws.findlaw.com/us/000/98-1682.html) is a must-read for librarians, as it includes a beautiful affirmation of free speech and individual responsibility….

When the Government restricts speech, the Government bears the burden of proving the constitutionality of its actions. … When the Government seeks to restrict speech based on its content, the usual presumption of constitutionality afforded congressional enactments is reversed. \”Content-based regulations are presumptively invalid,\” and the Government bears the burden to rebut that presumption.

This is for good reason. \”[T]he line between speech unconditionally guaranteed and speech which may legitimately be regulated, suppressed, or punished is finely drawn.\” Error in marking that line exacts an extraordinary cost. It is through speech that our convictions and beliefs are influenced, expressed, and tested. It is through speech that we bring those beliefs to bear on Government and on society. It is through speech that our personalities are formed and expressed. The citizen is entitled to seek out or reject certain ideas or influences without Government interference or control.

When a student first encounters our free speech jurisprudence, he or she might think it is influenced by the philosophy that one idea is as good as any other, and that in art and literature objective standards of style, taste, decorum, beauty, and esthetics are deemed by the Constitution to be inappropriate, indeed unattainable. Quite the opposite is true. The Constitution no more enforces a relativistic philosophy or moral nihilism than it does any other point of view. The Constitution exists precisely so that opinions and judgments, including esthetic and moral judgments about art and literature, can be formed, tested, and expressed. What the Constitution says is that these judgments are for the individual to make, not for the Government to decree, even with the mandate or approval of a majority. Technology expands the capacity to choose; and it denies the potential of this revolution if we assume the Government is best positioned to make these choices for us.

It is rare that a regulation restricting speech because of its content will ever be permissible. Indeed, were we to give the Government the benefit of the doubt when it attempted to restrict speech, we would risk leaving regulations in place that sought
to shape our unique personalities or to silence dissenting ideas. When First Amendment compliance is the point to be proved, the risk of non-persuasion -– operative in all trials -– must rest with the Government, not with the citizen.

(References deleted.) \”

Jo Ann Oliphant writes

\”Thanks to over a $3 million dollar gift from the Joe Barnhart Foundation, Beeville is set to be the new home for Bee County’s state-of-the-art library in late 2000. The new library will be housed in the historic two-story Praeger Building, one of the city’s vacant downtown landmarks. Construction began in March and is scheduled to be completed in August. The Library serves the County’s 27,000 population of which 70% are Hispanic.

Jo Ann Oliphant writes

\”Thanks to over a $3 million dollar gift from the Joe Barnhart Foundation, Beeville is set to be the new home for Bee County’s state-of-the-art library in late 2000. The new library will be housed in the historic two-story Praeger Building, one of the city’s vacant downtown landmarks. Construction began in March and is scheduled to be completed in August. The Library serves the County’s 27,000 population of which 70% are Hispanic.
In 1999, David M. Henington, a Houston-based library consultant, was hired by the Joe Barnhart Foundation to assist with the development project. The historic structure will be a combination of its current turn-of-the-century architecture with modern design and technology elements. The plan entitled, “Connecting the Past with Future: a plan to move the Bee County Public Library into the new millennium”, was designed by Henington, John Focke of Ray Bailey Architects, Inc., and Dr. Pete Smith of the University of Texas at Arlington.

Because Henington was reluctant to give up space inside the building for an additional staircase (required by the fire code) and elevator (mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act), an 840-square-foot glass addition containing both will be built on the Praeger’s east side. “Since this is a building recognized by the Texas Historical Commission, it was imperative to retain the dignity of the building,” he said. “The glass addition does not compete with the building’s façade and it was acceptable to the historical commission.”

The library will contain children’s area, young adult area, popular reading area, and a multipurpose meeting room (to be named for Mrs. James R. Doughterty, benefactor of the current facility) on the first floor and reference area, adult area, genealogy/local history area, and legal research room on the second floor. Approximately 40 computers will be available for public use. All computers will be connected to the Internet and to the Library’s automation system.

The Library’s multipurpose room will be used for storytimes, morning coffee and news gatherings, and training. The training will include videoconferencing, web-based tutorials, and hands on computer classes. There will be 24 laptops available for the training classes and for in house circulation.

The Library has chosen epixtech’s Horizon for its automation system. Three school districts in Bee County and one school district in Live Oak County have joined the Joe Barnhart Bee County Library with this automation project.

In addition to the hefty sum the Foundation is initially contributing, and the building, which is owned by the foundation, philanthropic organization also has committed to supporting the library with an endowment of $100,000 a year – forever. “The primary thing Joe Barnhart wanted was a library for Beeville,” Maggie Price, foundation trustee, said. “He was an avid reader who stayed up until 4 a.m. reading almost every night. He wanted everyone to enjoy reading as much as he did, and he always wanted Beeville to have a good library in the building.”

\”

The Startribune has a short update on the continuing trouble in Minneapolis.

Five more librarians filed discrimination complaints against the Minneapolis Public Library System Monday, even though their attorney admitted conditions at the downtown Central Library have improved since a policy was drafted limiting access to pornography on the Internet.

The latest complaints filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were drafted shortly after seven other librarians filed complaints earlier this month, charging the library with being a \”hostile, offensive, palpably unlawful working environment.\”

The Startribune has a short update on the continuing trouble in Minneapolis.

Five more librarians filed discrimination complaints against the Minneapolis Public Library System Monday, even though their attorney admitted conditions at the downtown Central Library have improved since a policy was drafted limiting access to pornography on the Internet.

The latest complaints filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were drafted shortly after seven other librarians filed complaints earlier this month, charging the library with being a \”hostile, offensive, palpably unlawful working environment.\”

Downtown library staff has said its working atmosphere has improved since the library implemented time limits and sign-up rules for Internet use, but \”many believe the situation is still very serious,\” said Bob Halagan, the Minnetonka-based attorney representing the librarians.

The library will sponsor a community forum, \”Internet Access at Public Libraries,\” today from noon to 1 p.m. in the Heritage Hall Auditorium.

Panelists will include David Walsh of the National on Media and the Family; Laura Waterman Wittstock of Migizi Communications; Kim Edson of the Minnesota Library Association, and Internet strategist R. T. Rybak.

— Paul Levy

Slashdot.org has an article from Jon Katz on Universal Access.

\”Universal Access is that rarest of social phenomena, the win-win issue. Except for moral guardians clucking about pornography and violent video games, who could really oppose it?: It can advance technology while it helps eliminate potentially bitter social divisions, upgrades literacy, education and research, liberates information, enhances democracy, strengthens community. Some companies even believes if strengthens family ties. It would make the Net a universal business, educational and social tool, rather than a network for the affluent, educated and technologically-inclined it is now. \”