July 2000

Pushing Hypertext in New Directions

The NY Times has a neat Review of 2 interesting web sites, The Jew\’s Daughter and aspergillum gently. These are 2 new sites that really do some neat stuff using plugins and HTML. They provide a new way of reading and following the text you read. It\’s quite interesting and worth checking out. This might be a new direction for online reading, it\’s fun and easy to follow.

The NY Times has a neat Review of 2 interesting web sites, The Jew\’s Daughter and aspergillum gently. These are 2 new sites that really do some neat stuff using plugins and HTML. They provide a new way of reading and following the text you read. It\’s quite interesting and worth checking out. This might be a new direction for online reading, it\’s fun and easy to follow.From the NYTImes\”Because it takes the paradigm of the page, you can see that it\’s not a page,\” Morrissey said in a phone interview from his home in Providence, R.I. \”I wanted a fluidity that I haven\’t seen in hypertext.\”

He gets it, but the technique also demonstrates how authors are forced to decide which words will be the ones that are published on the printed page — and just how complex and arbitrary the writing process can be. Or, as one of Morrissey\’s unnamed characters asserts in the story, \”Words are always only real-time creation.\”


The ever-shifting text is only one of the reasons Morrissey calls \”The Jew\’s Daughter\” a work in progress. He is also consulting with an artificial-intelligence expert to develop a second version of the story that will, he said, write itself.

A Question of Balance

At last summer\’s ALA conference, then President-elect (now President) Nancy Kranich gave a talk on the importance of seeking out the alternative press as essential in developing a balanced collection, a value expressed well in the Library Bill of Rights. That talk was published in the review journal Counterpoise and later electronically in Library Juice. It\’s called A Question of Balance: the Role of Libraries in Providing Alternatives to the Mainstream Media.

At last summer\’s ALA conference, then President-elect (now President) Nancy Kranich gave a talk on the importance of seeking out the alternative press as essential in developing a balanced collection, a value expressed well in the Library Bill of Rights. That talk was published in the review journal Counterpoise and later electronically in Library Juice. It\’s called A Question of Balance: the Role of Libraries in Providing Alternatives to the Mainstream Media.\”Often absent from the review media, standard bibliographic tools, and
conference exhibits are the alternative, small and/or independent
publishers. While none of these labels is satisfactory, the term
\”alternative\” is most apt because these publishers counterbalance the
corporate media. Too often, however, they are outside the mainstream of
traditional distribution channels and the peripheral vision of libraries.
Some are even unaware of the potential of selling to libraries. Others are
confused how to do so. This is unfortunate. Alternative publishers are on
the cutting edge of important literature and issues. They make an important
cultural and literary contribution. And, they are an essential part of the
community of publishers with whom librarians must interact.\”


\”Little money, influence or prestige backs alternative publishers. They are
small, and their authors and editors are rarely known. Often, Library of
Congress cataloging is minimal or non-existent for their publications.
Booksellers omit them from approval plans, making it difficult for libraries
to acquire their titles efficiently. Librarians have to work hard to seek
out their titles. Nevertheless, we have a duty to guide users to the full
range of relevant facts and opinions; therefore, we must pursue these
publishers, who can provide us with more obscure fiction and literature as
well as vital information about our communities and diversity.\”


\”Unfortunately, alternative publishers do not always see librarians as their
alternative. They simply do not look to us as outlets for their resources.
They do not understand how to work with us. They do not see us as natural
allies. With media wealth so concentrated, so solidified, and so integrated
into the corporate-government elite, what role can libraries play to ensure
the public a more democratic flow of ideas and offer alternatives to the
narrow, corporate-media view of the world? How can we create real access to
information and participation for all sectors of our communities? How can
we counteract the market censorship that is shifting formerly reputable
publishers\’ lists from serious titles to hype?\”

Sanford Berman Radio Interview

Daniel Tsang, winner of the 2000 Eubanks Award, interviewed Sanford Berman on his KUCI (San Diego) radio show recently. He calls Mr. Berman \”librarian extraordinaire, and advocate of democratizing and making libraries more socially responsible.\” \”Hear about \’bibliocide\’ and \’internal censorship\’. Are libraries turning into corporate entities with no soul?\”


Read the press release for the show and listen to it in Real Audio format.

More on Napster

Slashdot has a nice round up, that talks about all the alternatives and ideas. After reading the the Preliminary Injunction Brief (pdf file) it looks like Napster is in big trouble. Technically Napster was not shutdown, they are just not allowed to do anything that is even close to illegal (no major label music, no links to the music, etc…). Which is basically like saying, no one who will ever speed or run a stop sign is allowed to drive. It doesn\’t outlaw cars, but no one is driving.

On a realated note, check out DOCSTER a form of instant document delivery, that builds in copyright and organization for libraries.
Read on for more stories from around the web.

Slashdot has a nice round up, that talks about all the alternatives and ideas. After reading the the Preliminary Injunction Brief (pdf file) it looks like Napster is in big trouble. Technically Napster was not shutdown, they are just not allowed to do anything that is even close to illegal (no major label music, no links to the music, etc…). Which is basically like saying, no one who will ever speed or run a stop sign is allowed to drive. It doesn\’t outlaw cars, but no one is driving.

On a realated note, check out DOCSTER a form of instant document delivery, that builds in copyright and organization for libraries.
Read on for more stories from around the web.Stories from ZDNet

Wired

CNET

CNN

Librarians Books are Overdue

A school librarian has 37 overdue books from a local library totaling over $500 dollars. She should know better!! Read the article from the State

\”What is bad is she is a librarian,\” library system executive director Dan MacNeill said as he explained the situation to the board.\”

A school librarian has 37 overdue books from a local library totaling over $500 dollars. She should know better!! Read the article from the State

\”What is bad is she is a librarian,\” library system executive director Dan MacNeill said as he explained the situation to the board.\”


\”Library leaders would not name the woman or her school because of library-patron confidentiality regulations. The books are valued at $544.78.\”

\”Board members agreed Tuesday to send a letter to the principal of the school where she works.\”

\”We want to get the books back,\” MacNeill said. \”Other people might want to use them. .The person was written to twice and called five different times.\”

\”MacNeill said the library system also sent a registered letter several times to the woman but that she refused to sign to receive the letter. The woman\’s library privileges have been revoked.\”

\”The books were checked out from the Cayce-West Columbia branch and were due back in July 1999.\”

\”Users at that branch could be from anywhere within or outside the county. Out-of-county residents pay an annual $25 fee to use the library system.\”

\”Except when special summer-reading restrictions apply, the library permits patrons to check out as many as 25 juvenile books, plus 25 easy-reader children\’s books, at any one visit.\”

\”This is a highly unusual situation,\” MacNeill said. \”We get folks that don\’t return books, but this is very rare.\”

Library Security Guards are not Goons

The library accused of hiring militia type security to protect library workers has reported that the allegations are untrue. The follow-up article is from the Canton Reporter

\”We are totally unarmed,” said Ed Bean, a spokesman for Troy, Mich.-based Huffmaster Companies. “We don’t even carry nightsticks. In the public sector, you don’t want any offensive weapons whatsoever.”

The library accused of hiring militia type security to protect library workers has reported that the allegations are untrue. The follow-up article is from the Canton Reporter

\”We are totally unarmed,” said Ed Bean, a spokesman for Troy, Mich.-based Huffmaster Companies. “We don’t even carry nightsticks. In the public sector, you don’t want any offensive weapons whatsoever.”



\”Bean was responding to comments made Wednesday by Anne Mueller, lead negotiator for the Service Employees International Union Local 925 in Cleveland. She said the guards will be carrying weapons “to intimidate us.”

\”On Thursday, she added: “The plan by Huffmaster is to get in people’s faces and intimidate them.” Mueller said her information came from a source who attended a management meeting on Wednesday, but she would not name that person.\”

\”Daniel Sciury, president of the Greater Stark County AFL-CIO Council, echoed Mueller’s comments Thursday. He also called the library workers “intelligent, sensitive people” who will “do peaceful picketing; mostly informational picketing.”

“We’re a big bunch of goons and there are plenty of people in Ohio who would tell you that,” Bean said sarcastically. “… We won’t even spit on (picketers).”

\”The library hired the firm to provide security at the Main Library on Market Avenue N and nine satellite locations. The library is paying the company guards $17.75 an hour; additional company employees may work inside the branches to keep the system operating, said Marge Baker, assistant library director.\”

Baker said the district has not decided whether to hire Huffmaster employees to work inside the library.\”

Working on the Content in Contentville

A follow up on This Story on the site Contentville from Tuesday. Wired is now Reporting Contentville has now agreed all independent articles are to be processed through the Publications Rights Clearing House, that should keep your dissertation safe, or atleast make you a couple bucks.

\”It doesn\’t surprise me that writers are upset,\” magazine publisher Steven Brill said in a phone interview. \”If my articles were up there and I didn\’t know it, I\’d be really pissed off, too.\”

A follow up on This Story on the site Contentville from Tuesday. Wired is now Reporting Contentville has now agreed all independent articles are to be processed through the Publications Rights Clearing House, that should keep your dissertation safe, or atleast make you a couple bucks.

\”It doesn\’t surprise me that writers are upset,\” magazine publisher Steven Brill said in a phone interview. \”If my articles were up there and I didn\’t know it, I\’d be really pissed off, too.\”

More from wired
:Contentville.com sells books, magazine subscriptions, and collected news articles from over 1,800 magazines, journals, and newspapers including The New York Times.

The issue surfaced on Jim Romenesko\’s news site earlier this week and within 24 hours was being debated everywhere from Steve Outing\’s Content-Exchange to the Magwrite listserve.

Jim Leonhirth, a professor at the University of North Florida, read about the rights controversy on the Online-Writers listserve. After typing his name into Contentville\’s search engine, he was surprised to find his dissertation, Mass Communication as Participation for sale.

Leonhirth said he has an agreement with syndicator Bell and Howell, under which he is paid royalties. He said he was unaware the company had the right to distribute his material online and will inquire about royalties due him.

Excuse me, Do You Deliver?

So I pick up a reference call the other day, and this gentleman on his cell phone asks me if I can help him out. I reply that I would give it a shot, depending on what he wants. He says that he wants surprise this girl. I ask why he would need a reference librarian’s help with that…

So I pick up a reference call the other day, and this gentleman on his cell phone asks me if I can help him out. I reply that I would give it a shot, depending on what he wants. He says that he wants surprise this girl. I ask why he would need a reference librarian’s help with that… “I want to surprise her with some lunch, but I do not know any places that deliver in her area.”

“What type of food does she like?” I ask, using my reference interview skills.

“You pick”, he says.

“How about some Chinese food?” I reply, thinking that this would be the most likely possibility.

“Sounds good.”

I look in the phone book for a few places and supply him with a few numbers.

“Thanks man, and what is your name?” he asks

“Steven Cohen, why do you want to know that, in case the food stinks? I can’t be responsible for that you know, “ I say

“No, just in case these places don’t deliver, I can call you back. Thanks for your help.”

“No problem,” I reply, and hang up the phone.

If you have any funny reference encounters, please send them in, and we will put them in the Friday funnies column.

Friday Updates

Well folks, it\’s that time of the week. Friday updates include helping hands, cutting hours, toxic fumes, censorship of donations, 24-7 access, no more book sales, Internet rules, childrens books, decrease in circulation, the Quote of the Week, and much, much more!!

Well folks, it\’s that time of the week. Friday updates include helping hands, cutting hours, toxic fumes, censorship of donations, 24-7 access, no more book sales, Internet rules, childrens books, decrease in circulation, the Quote of the Week, and much, much more!! From Spokane.net

Helping hands at CdA library

\”Russ Patterson\’s hands fill the Coeur d\’Alene Public Library with
words. As the library\’s new interpreter for the deaf, Patterson is a
direct link between the deaf and knowledge.


From the Times Free Press

Cleveland Library Board Decides To Cut Hours

\”Faced with a book budget they said won\’t even replace books that
will wear out during the new fiscal year, the Cleveland Library Board
voted Tuesday to close on Wednesday evenings and Sundays.\”


From Excite.com

New U. Minnesota library copes with toxic fumes

\”Concerned about levels of hydrogen sulfide in an Elmer Andersen
Library mechanical room, University of Minnesota Facilities Management
has sealed off the room, installed fans and is continuously monitoring
gas levels.


From the World Net Daily

Library censors Planned Parenthood exposé

\”A Toledo, Ohio, family is looking for answers after officials at
the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library rejected their book donation
for being \”too political.\”


From the Sun Times

Libraries offer 24-hour access

\”The libraries in Chicago and Schaumburg are offering a pilot
program through their Web sites at www.chipublib.org
and www.stdl.org
that allows their patrons to check out books, read them on their home
computers and even print out a limited number of pages.


From the Washington Post

Book Sales Could Be Shelved

\”Storing 100,000 books takes at least 3,000 square feet of dry
storage space. That\’s about 3,000 square feet more than the Loudoun
Library Foundation can come up with right now.


From the Borderland News

Internet rules for libraries reviewed

\”After a two-year delay, the El Paso Public Library System has
connected most of its 56 computers to the World Wide Web, and today
City Council will consider guidelines against patrons visiting
sexually explicit Internet sites\”


From the Dallas News

Children\’s bookshelves are virtual fantasy islands

\”This column has been declared an Official \”No Harry Potter\” Zone.
Mind you, I\’ve got nothing against the 4-foot-tall wizard, even as
today marks his most awesome feat of magic. He – or rather, the
publishers who complained of his dominance of book sales – actually
got The New York Times to start a kids\’ best-seller list. Now we
parents have another index to goad us into fretting over our
offspring\’s literacy skills.


From the Las Vegas Review Journal

Local library checks out book decline

\”Too few Southern Nevadans are checking out the books bought with
their tax dollars, a trend library officials hope to reverse. Dan
Walters, chief of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, said
a poor selection on library shelves is one of the main reasons local
readers are not checking out as many books as residents of cities
such as Baltimore and Seattle.


The Des Moines Register Reported on a big day of moving for the Urbandale Public Library. They moved 100,000 books and other items, at a cost of $20,000. \”The process is \”like putting a puzzle back together,\” says Sara Pearson, the library director.\”

The Union Tribune Reported That officials in CA are considering filtering the computeres in public libraries. \”Our goal is to filter out the pornography that comes so quickly on the Internet,\” said Supervisor Bill Horn. Horn proposes installing the filtering software only on county library computers used by children. To allay concerns about First Amendment rights, the software would not be added to computers used primarily by adults, said Horn

LIBRARY VISITORS CHECK OUT CYBERSPACE

The Chicago Tribunehas a Story On how popular the computers are in the CPL. Probably not any suprise to someone who has been in a library in the past few years. They\’ve also started reference by email\”\”If we expect our libraries to remain anchors in our communities, an extension of our classrooms and homes, we must use all the tools available to us to make them and the books in them easily accessible to people,\” Daley said.


Net-Loving Brits Hate Net News

It\’s not really a follow up on the newspaper story from this week, but Wiredhas a Story on how much people in the UK love the web, but just refuse to get news from web sites.\”that while 15 million British adults have access to the Internet, more than eight in 10 people would rather catch up on current events the old fashioned way. A massive 83 percent of the 1,000 people polled said they will never switch to the Internet as their first choice of news service \”


E Book ROund Up

Wired has a nice story collection of stories on the latest in the world of E-Books. They go over the Miracles series, Steven King, and Contentville.


Burglars ransack British Library

Times of India has a sorry story about some trouble at the British Library in Lucknow. They didn\’t steal any books or anything large, but got away with a bunch of money.\”That was probably because they did not had a “convenient passage\’\’ to escape. The police said they must have slide down the drain pipes and obviously could not carry the electronic gadgetry at the same time\”

Quote of the Week
From the newsgroup soc.libraries.talk…

\”When a senior citizen tells you that he pays your salary, tell him that you pay for his Medicare\”

‘Harry Potter’ sales remain strong

CNN.com has a story about the record breaking sales online. There was an Article on how well the Harry Potter books are still selling.


\”The U.S. and British publishers of \”Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,\” the fourth book in the series by British author J.K. Rowling, have already gone back to the presses for additional print runs.\” 

CNN.com has a story about the record breaking sales online. There was an Article on how well the Harry Potter books are still selling.


\”The U.S. and British publishers of \”Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,\” the fourth book in the series by British author J.K. Rowling, have already gone back to the presses for additional print runs.\” 

\”Similarly, the book\’s U.S. publisher, New York-based Scholastic Inc., has ordered an additional 3 million copies, after having distributed all of its 3.8 million initial print run.

\”We have never sold this many books in such a short period of time before,\” said Becky Whidden, manager of The Children\’s Book Shop in Brookline, Massachusetts. \”With most books, we sell only five a week in hardcover.\”