The Modesto Bee has a nice Little Story on Dr. Seuss. Theodor Seuss Geisel has become quite a marketing machine, with merchandise everywhere. They call it \”Seuss-ification of the pop culture marketplace\”.
\”His books always supported the underdog and honored the role of the individual\’s imagination. And I think that goes a long way to explaining the power of his work and the connection readers feel toward it.\”
The NY Times has an interesting Story on eBooks. The author says the publishing industry is not being entirely rational about eBooks. No one knows if eBooks will ever take off, and the publishers are taking a big chance.
\”After decades of bruising battles among agents, publishers and booksellers over the stagnant revenue from slow-growing book sales, no one wants to see their rivals get a jump on them.\”/I>
Here\’s the opening lines from This Story over on Wired
\”The Internet\’s gain in stature as an information resource has been the reference librarian\’s loss.
After all, the library isn\’t the first place most people think of when they need a digital gateway to information.\”
Now ask yourself, whose fault is that?
Whose fault is it that people even need to ask this question-
\”With all these commercial online reference services, will librarians become obsolete?\”
The ALA estimates only 3 percent of communities are without library services, Grayson, Kentucky is one of them. This is a farming community where half the working-age people are either functionally illiterate or have minimal reading skills, and yet they wouldn\’t pay an extra $30 a year to open a library. CNN has the Full Story
\”It was pretty unbelievable,\” said Mindy Woods, a mother of two who collected 2,200 signatures supporting the measure. \”Their attitude was, \’We\’ve made up our minds. Don\’t confuse us with the facts.\’ \”
The British Library has put the The Gutenberg Bible online digital facsimile. If you\’ve never seen the real thing, check this virtual copy out. They say there are only 48 left and The British Library has two complete copies. They discovered 3 interesting things while producing The digital images.
1.It was first envisaged that rubrics should be printed in red. This was soon abandoned, perhaps to save time.
2.It was decided to increase the number of lines per page, presumably to save paper.
3.It was decided to increase the print-run, but as some sheets had already been printed in the number first envisaged, these pages had to be printed again. This is the best explanation for why a number of the pages exist in two different versions.
The SLA WCC has a bunch of \”Snappy Librarian Comebacks\” that are quite good!
InDUHvidual: \”What do we need a library for now that everything\’s free on the Web?\”
Snappy Librarian: \”Would you like to bet your career on that? I\’m betting mine that you\’re wrong!\”
InDUHvidual: \”Everything\’s free on the web.\”
Snappy Librarian: \”Yeah, but so is garbage. I’m not going to quit buying my food at the supermarket and just pick through the neighbour\’s compost heap. Every once in while you find something of value at the side of the road – but it’s not a tenet to live or run our company by.\”
New Zealand taxpayers were mighty upset when they found out that tourists are able to check their e-mail at the national library for free. Computer User has the full story.
\”New Zealand Member of Parliament (MP) Winston Peters lashed out at Wellington\’s National Library of New Zealand, painting its provision of free Internet access as an invitation for unrestricted surfing of porn sites and a free Net cafe for foreigners to check e-mail at taxpayers\’ expense.\”
New Zealand taxpayers were mighty upset when they found out that tourists are able to check their e-mail at the national library for free. Computer User has the full story.
\”New Zealand Member of Parliament (MP) Winston Peters lashed out at Wellington\’s National Library of New Zealand, painting its provision of free Internet access as an invitation for unrestricted surfing of porn sites and a free Net cafe for foreigners to check e-mail at taxpayers\’ expense.\”
\”Travellers can\’t believe their luck when they are given the word from the street network that the National Library facilities are there for the taking, no charges are levied and no restrictions are applied, in very comfortable surroundings,\” said Peters.\”
\”He says there is no effective security or supervision of the Net-connected computers in the National Library public reading room and that the library should \”clean up its act and ensure the services they provide are not able to continue to be abused in this manner.\”
\”Responding to Peters\’ attack, the National Library rejected the claims saying that the vast majority of users are online for reference and research purposes.\”
\”The Library provides free Internet access in the reference area for the purposes of reference and research only. The Internet access is supervised by reference staff. This is standard practice in libraries around the world,\” said Alison Elliott, director of collection services at the Library.\”
\”She said that abuse was minimal and not tolerated, with users warned and then ejected from the premises if they continue to access \”inappropriate\” sites.\”
\”Elliott added that the National Library had made an academic decision not to install Net filtering products on its public Internet access terminals.\”
While we fight, fight, and fight for Internet 1st Ammendment rights, another issue has popped up in public libraries all around the country…children checking out R-Rated movies. In this story from the Spokesman Review, a man brought the issue to the library board, and lossed. Whose responsibility is it? The parents or the library.
\”Last week, the library\’s five-member board denied resident Pat Kilpatrick\’s request to ban kids\’ access to R-rated movies.
Kilpatrick said the decision \”undermines the integrity\” of Post Falls.
\”My concern has been that the community is trying to maintain standards,\” Kilpatrick said, who\’s also asking local churches for help in changing the library policy.\”
While we fight, fight, and fight for Internet 1st Ammendment rights, another issue has popped up in public libraries all around the country…children checking out R-Rated movies. In this story from the Spokesman Review, a man brought the issue to the library board, and lossed. Whose responsibility is it? The parents or the library.
\”Last week, the library\’s five-member board denied resident Pat Kilpatrick\’s request to ban kids\’ access to R-rated movies.
Kilpatrick said the decision \”undermines the integrity\” of Post Falls.
\”My concern has been that the community is trying to maintain standards,\” Kilpatrick said, who\’s also asking local churches for help in changing the library policy.\”
\”In essence, the taxpayers are paying for these movies,\” Kilpatrick said. \”It\’s nuts.\”
\”The library board\’s attempts at a compromise last week didn\’t satisfy Kilpatrick. Tonight, he hopes to address City Council members at their meeting. Although he is not on the council agenda, Kilpatrick has rallied others to go to the meeting and speak when citizen\’s comments are allowed.\”
\”Though the City Council members can\’t override any of the library board\’s decisions, the city gives the library money and the council appoints library board members.\”
\”The library board isn\’t helping the community because it\’s forgoing standards that video stores and movie theaters adhere to, according to the Motion Picture Association\’s policies, Kilpatrick said. Restrictions for R-rated movies say that anyone under 17 must have an accompanying parent or guardian. Restricted movies at the library should be just that — restricted to adults, Kilpatrick said.\”
\”Resident Dee Lawless said all R-rated movies should be banned from the library entirely. Lawless is a member of Immaculate Conception Church, which included in its Sunday bulletin a notice about tonight\’s meeting and asked for the congregation\’s help in voicing concerns at City Hall.\”
While I anxiously await issue #5 of The Intolerant Librarian you can check out issues 1-4. With headlines like these, you know it\’s good!
\”ALA Expects controversy over new JK Rowling Book: Harry Potter and the Magical Dancing Penis \”
\”Bookmobile 2000 Kills Commies, Spreads Literacy.\”
\”Stupid Librarian almost ruins Frat Party.
And My Favorite:
\”\”Intolerant Librarian\” now listed on Infoseek, Thus Assuring It Will Never be Found.\”
Here\’s an interesting one from interactionarchitect.com on how \”skeptical Internet users\” are using the internet. Skeptical Internet Users are those who are motivated by the Internet\’s promise of offering value, not by how cool it is. They don\’t use search engines, that is too much work, they just check out a few web sites regularly. They are unforgicing and ready to never visit your site again! Sounds like they need to visit a library and ask for some help!
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