The Democrat And Chronicle is Reporting that a Philadelphia man got 1-to-3-years in state prison for cracking into the Monroe County Library System\’s Web site.
We coverd this back in Decemeber as well. At the time it didn\’t sound like a very serious offense, but that story has gone 404.
August 2002
CNIB plans books overhaul Conversion
Gary D. Price, MLIS sent along Word From Canada on a $33-million program to digitize the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) library, book production and distribution processes likely will be copied by other libraries for the blind around the world.
Blind or visually impaired people can access books and other textual material in four ways: through Braille, recorded \”talking books,\” computer-generated synthetic voice and (for those with low vision) enlarged text.
By creating a database of electronic texts, the CNIB is now able to use the same digital file to create material in various formats.
Librarians scout new complaint process
Gary Price passed along This Story from New Orleans, where the Superintendent removed \”To Kill a Mockingbird\” and movie from school libraries two years ago because some parents thought it contained \”some objectionable words.\”
It\’s interesting because they go into detail on how they are creating a new policy.
Energy Department Seeks to Close PubScience
Chronicle.com is Reporting The U.S. Energy Department wants to shut down a Web site it operates that lets scientists search journals for citations and abstracts in the physical sciences. The department says the site, called PubScience, duplicates commercial services.
Let\’s hope they don\’t mess with ERIC as well.
Playing Dirty in the War on Plagiarism
Vincent Moore Says Plagiarism is running rampant on American college campuses, and proposes that we start posting bad papers. These papers would be ostensibly about the subject, but incapable of earning a passing grade.
Check Out AmphetaDesk Syndicated News Aggregator
Steven M. Cohen [You may know him from such sites as, Library Stuff, PLA, and LISNews] has written a Nice Review of AmphetaDesk Syndicated News Aggregator.
If you\’re not sure what this thing is all about, you might want to read his previous column, RSS For Non-Techie Librarians. It\’s a good way to stay current.
R.R. Bowker Announces Introduction of Standard for Sheet Music
This Announcement From Bowker introduces the International Standard Music Number (ISMN) system, a uniform global standard for identifying all printed music publications available worldwide.
They say it\’s already used around the world, and will do for Music Publishing hhat \”ISBN\” did for book publishing.
Licence agreements for books
Aaron sent over This Infoworld story on The \’introduction\’ of licence agreements for books (…will they self destruct if given to another reader? The print fades?)
\”…we\’ve already lost some of the basic rights we used to enjoy under traditional interpretations of copyright law. Loaning a book to a friend is not yet one of them, but who knows how much longer we\’ll be able to say that. Today we might still reasonably expect that any sane judge would just laugh if someone tried to get him or her to enforce a license such as Omnicare\’s limited-use license agreement.\”
Library accused of using clerks as librarians
2 SomeOnes passed along A Story From FL that says a library is being accused of using clerks as librarians. The library director responds that \”the system has fewer nonmanagerial librarians than it did three years ago because patrons\’ needs are changing, particularly with growing emphasis on technology. \”It doesn\’t take a librarian to show someone how to use the Internet. What matters is service — whoever provides it,\” said Hodel, who became director in January. \”The world is changing. The library must change.\”
See Also another story.
Internet usage by K-12 students
Paul Coleman writes \”A Pew Research Center report released yesterday, \”The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet-savvy Students and Their Schools,\” deals vividly with the Internet-as-library metaphor. A highlighted quote from a junior-high girl: \”[The Internet] made looking for these poems a whole lot easier than having to go up to some strange librarian who was enjoying her Diet Coke and would do just about anything to get these people out of the library to go on her break. The Internet is like having a virtual librarian minus the bad attitude and breath.\” See Pewinternet.org \”
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