February 2001

There\’s a story
here, about school libraries in California that have been forced into the hall,
the auditorium, and other odd places.
They say due to booming enrollment and state-mandated class-size reduction,
there is just no room for the library any more. They go so far as to say
\”The traditional school library is obsolete in Simi Valley\”!
The article says \”Library-media center facilities at every one of the
district\’s 20 elementary campuses fail to meet the state recommendation of
2,250 square feet for every 650 students.\”
This is in Simi Valley, CA.

Is this common else where? It\’s the first I\’ve heard of it.

Could it be that Gutenberg was not the first to market with the printing press?


Paul Needham and Blaise Aguera y Arcas (library folks at Princeton University) think he may not have been the first.


It seems like more of a technicality to me, but Read The Full Story from National Geographic and decide for yourself.

Here\’s Some Good News from Infotoday.com. Kim Howells, the U.K. Minister of State for Competition and Consumer Affairs, has delayed the merger, and referred the matter to the Competition Commission. They say the Commission will report by the end of May.

Howells said that the proposed acquisition raises competition concerns that “relate to the market power which the merged company would have in the market for scientific, technical, and medical (STM) journals, and which could have an adverse effect on competition in that market.”

Charles Davis writes \”From \”The Times\” 6 February 2001

library spokesman said: \’We are bringing in external security consultants this week to advise and look at security measures.\’ He added: \’This
couldn’t happen at the St Pancras Reading Room because of the type of security we’ve got there.\’ \”

Lee Hadden Writes:
\”Word lovers may be interested in a new trend to eliminate English words
creeping into the German language usage through globalization. Politicians
and other \”Kultur Fuhrers\” are beginning a populist move to create an
\”Academy for the Cultivation and Protection of the German Language,\” similar
in concept to the French Academy, which will search for German language word
substitutes for foreign words being used in German.

The English press, as usual, is having a lot of fun with this. One
English tabloid ran the story under the headlines
\”Germans Haff Vays of
Banning English\”

Read more about it in the Washington Post

Though I\’m not as bad as This Guy I can never seem
to return my books on time. My Library has a
special hit man looking for me. But I can\’t seem to find
the New SI.
Hopefully I be moving
soon, so they\’ll never catch me.


Maybe I can move like the Stromsburg library?
If only I had several hundred friends!.

But that would probably turn into a big fracas and someone would get fired.

TechLearning.com
has a nice Story search engines,
from the educators view.


It includes an overall strengths and
weaknesses section that covers all the bases.


If this kind of thing interests you, be sure to check out
Traffick.com as
well.

This is a nifty site I just ran across. From Now On The
Educational Technology Journal, has a Story
on how the net is changing education, and how
not to get sucked into the hype.

\”Before committing huge sums to new
enterprises, schools need to consider the likelihood of
winning a major return on the investment.
Those leading schools must protect them from
powerpointlessness, edutainment and
infotainment.\”,

For everyone interested in Information Archictecture I
ran across IA
Slash. A cool site that runs the Slashcode
and has news stories devoted to the world of
information architecture.

Bob Cox sent along the next 2.

The Guide
for the Literary Traveler is a nifty site who\’s goal is
to explore the world of your literary imagination.

And last but not least is Making of
America is a digital library of primary sources in
American social history from the antebellum period
through reconstruction. The collection currently
contains approximately 8,500 books and 50,000
journal
articles with 19th century imprints.

Now parents of kids that use the librar (up to age 18) can choose a special library-card bar code that prohibits the user from checking out any video. The old policy allowed card-holders from 12 to 18 to check out R-rated videos without restriction.

Read The Full Story over at Philly.com.

\”It really invited parents to become partners in their children\’s use of the library,\” Seiter said. \”It really is a parent\’s right to make those decisions.\”