July 2001

The Dusty Bookshelf

Sometimes ya find the Darndest things trolling around
your friends Sites.
Rory has put
together something he calls The Dusty
Bookshelf
. It\’s a collection of ancient library
oriented articles from Library Journal and other places.
Most are from the very early 1900\’s and late 1800\’s and
cover some very interesting topics.
The Telegraph in The Library, The Library as a Social
Centre, and Remarks on the Art of Using a Library, are
just a few. His introduction:

\”To know where we\’re going (or decide where
we\’re going) it helps to take a look at the past. What has
changed and what has stayed the same? What is really
new and what is really old? What works? I compiled
this collection of fourteen out-of-copyright articles about
libraries and librarianship for LISSweb, the website for
the SJSU SLIS Student Organization (LISS). I think the
articles can help in the process of reflection on
librarianship, and are entertaining and thought
provoking as well.
\”

Passing time till Harry

HoustonChronicle.com has a Funny Little List of ways to make time disappear while you\’re waiting for the Nov. 16 release of the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\’s Stone.


\”Write an operations manual for the Nimbus 2000 and save Harry from the broomstick police! A British White Witches high priest in Sussex, England, told Reuters our boy wizard is riding his Nimbus backward in the trailer for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\’s Stone.\”

Public access computer used to send nude photos to teen

This one isn\’t exactly the type of story I normally post, but it has some interesting details.


A 20-year-old man sat at a public access Internet computer above the West Side branch of the Grand Rapids Public Library and e-mailed nude photos of himself to a 14-year-old Cedar Springs girl.


On May 9, Mullin used a Media Center computer to create a \”Fans of John Mullin\” Yahoo Club site. The free home page contains an archive of photos and a profile of Mullin that lists his occupation as \”giving women foot massages for free.\”

Thanks to the great and powerful Bob Cox for this one.

Court denies request to dismiss Internet filter lawsuits

I think I may have posted this before, but James Nimmo passed along This Findlaw story on the lawsuits challenging the Children\’s Internet Protection Act that makes federal funding for library technology contingent upon Internet filtering will move forward to trial.


The Justice Department asked to have the lawsuits thrown out, but a two-paragraph order issued Thursday rejected the government\’s argument that the challengers had no valid First Amendment claim.

E-Book Security Spotlighted at BookTech West

The Dmitri Sklyarov debacle has made e-book copyright issues a focus of this year\’s BookTech West Expo:


\”For those who are convinced that e-books can never be properly encrypted and that publishers are about to deliver their intellectual property to a horde of maleficent pirates, the Adobe case proves that anything can be hacked,\” said Richard Nash, director of acquisitions for eBookagent.net. . . Copyright will be among the major topics of discussion at this book and technology publishing conference, which runs through Wednesday and is expected to draw more than 1,400 book-publishing professionals.
(More from Wired.)

National Book Festival Announced for September

Someone from the Associated Press writes…

\”The first National Book Festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress, will be held Sept. 8, first lady Laura Bush said Monday. The event, whose hosts will include Mrs. Bush and Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, will be modeled after similar events she sponsored as first lady in Texas. \’I believe that every American should have the sense of adventure and satisfaction that comes from reading a good book — and, I might add, a good newspaper article,\’ she said.\” more… from NewsFlash.
Here\’s still more from CNN.

Questia to Let College buy Online Library Service in Bulk

For The Houston Chronicle, Tom Fowler writes…

\”Questia Media continues to adjust its marketing strategy this summer with a plan to offer universities the ability to buy subscriptions for its online library and research service in bulk. The bulk purchase is something of a departure for Questia, which in the past was emphatic that it would only sell its $19.95 per month service to individuals. According to Michael Bell, VP of Academic Affairs at Elmhurst College \”Keeping the library staff involved in the use of Questia is important since the service had a tendency to raise the hackles of librarians initially. Questia has been seen by some as a replacement for the library, but it can\’t do that. For us it serves as an answer to a very tough challenge of trying to meet a variety of needs with a limited budget.\” more…

Bush Should Make Libraries Big Part of Reading Reform

It\’s not uncommon knowledge that the reading skills of U.S. school kids lags behind. The tendency is usually to point the finger at a failing educational system, lazy parents, or alien life form, but President Bush says he\’s not going to do any of those. The President has proposed a $5 billion national literacy campaign to boost the reading level of kids to their appropriate grade level. more… from The Orlando Sentinel.