Bob Cox alerted us to This Alternet Story on \”Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex\” says the media is responding to what can only be called the usual suspects — a posse of moral conservatives and practitioners of discredited therapy who\’ve been wreaking havoc lately on scientific research and academic freedom.
The story is written by Debbie Nathan, who was on was on the committee the University of Minnesota Press asked to review \”Harmful to Minors\” suitability for publication.
She says:
\”As someone who has written about sex abuse panics and who has spent the last few years raising a teenaged son and daughter, I was struck by how smart the book is. \”
April 2002
Library has Nixon family feuding
The Globe & Mail and The LA Times both have stories on the struggle for control of the late President\’s old stuff.
His grieving daughters and their husbands are fighting over whether the Nixon library would be tightly controlled by the family or by hired hands. Both stories have some good detail and fun titles on the big fight.
The Right Way to Read
Lee Hadden sent over This Newsweek Story on new research that shows preschoolers benefit from instruction in words and sounds. The story says researchers now say the old approach (using preschool as play time) ignores mounting evidence that many preschoolers need explicit instruction in the basics of literacy—the stuff most of us started to learn in first grade, how words fall on a page and the specific sounds and letters that make up words.
Early-literacy advocates say detailed instruction is especially important for the kids in the poorest neighborhoods who have the least exposure to books and sophisticated use of language.
98/99 ARL preservation statistics available online
The 1998-1999 preservation statistics for 114 Association of Research Libraries member libraries are now available for free online. Stats for previous years are available as well, of course.
NISO considering development of serial subscription standard
This seems to have escaped mention here when when it was announced on 4/8:
The National Information Standards Organization has been asked to undertake the development of a national standard to facilitate the exchange of serials subscription information . . .
Information aggregators, publishers, third party service providers, and libraries engage in a number of recurring business-to-business transactions requiring the exchange of serial subscription information. At this time there is no standard to facilitate this information exchange. This survey will explore the needs for serials subscription information exchange, the formats now being used and views on the need for and usefulness of a national standard for serials subscription information exchange . . .
Here\’s the entire press release.
Copies of Lindisfarne Gospels set for northern England
Charles Davis writes \”from
Ananova.com
High quality replicas of the Lindisfarne Gospels are to given
to the north of England next year.
The German-made copies worth £10,000 each will be
presented to both Durham Cathedral and the Heritage
Centre at Lindisfarne.
The original gospels were painstakingly created by
Eadfrith, the Bishop of Lindisfarne from 688 to 721 and are
housed at the British Library in London.
The decision to donate the copies follows lengthy
negotiations between library staff, the Bishop of Durham
and the Northumbrian Association.
The Durham copy will be unveiled at a special service in the
cathedral next summer.
\”
Small software firm challenges digital copyright Law
Jen writes \”
A tiny DVD software tools company is ducking the Hollywood giants and challenging U.S. copyright laws. 321 Studios fears the studios want to squash it for selling software that lets you make lesser-quality copies of DVD movies. So it has asked a San Francisco court to declare that its DVD Copy Plus program does not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The 1998 DMCA, reviled by proponents of fair use and free digital speech, deems it illegal to provide information or tools that circumvent copy control technology. Full Story
\”
LC faces new investigation into allegations of misconduct
Lee Hadden Writes: \”There is an Article in \”The Hill\” about possible wrong-doings at the
Library of Congress concerning contractors and other affairs.
\”Library faces new investigation into allegations of misconduct.\” By
Michael S. Gerber
\”Library of Congress officials, who have spent several years defending
themselves against accusations of discriminatory hiring practices, now face
a new investigation into allegations of misappropriating funds and
violating federal standards in the library\’s contracting process.\”
\”Rep. Albert Wynn (D-Md.), whose constituents include several thousand
federal employees, some of whom work at the library, requested that the
General Accounting Office (GAO) audit several alleged irregularities in
library management and practices.\”
Discovered 17th-century book proclaims: ‘Women wiser than men’
Another Bob Cox story, this one from CNN says A historian in northern England says he has found a 370-year-old book proclaiming that women are better than men, a volume he calls an early voice for women\’s empowerment.
The book, called \”Woman\’s Worth,\” carries the subtitle \”A treatise proveinge by sundrie reasons that woemen do excell men.\”
Serial killer books to stay on shelves
Bob Cox sent in a couple of follow ups on the killer book debate down in FL. Book backlash turns new page and Serial killer books to stay on shelves.
Review committees at two Hillsborough County high schools decided Friday that books on serial killers should remain on school shelves, despite a parent\’s objection to their violent content.
Recent Comments