The Register has a great story, Copying is Theft – and other legal myths by SecurityFocus columnist Mark D. Rasch.
It’s a great look at both sides of the war over P2P downloading. He looks at the issue against the backdrop of U.S. copyright law, which provides some protection to the “author” of an original work that is fixed in any tangible medium of expression. But there seems to be a great deal of confusion about the scope of protection under this law.
July 2003
The Bookmobile Sputters to the Curb
Robin from over at InMyBook spotted a sad NYTimes Story on bookmobile programs, while staging a comeback in some American cities, are sputtering in the struggling cities and towns of upstate New York.
Syracuse discontinued its bookmobile service in the late 1990\’s after financial cutbacks, and Buffalo\’s is currently under evaluation. \”There\’s nothing to say we\’re not going to have units, but we are studying them,\” said Sharon Holley, an administrator in Buffalo.
Librarians, Librarians Everywhere
First there was, The Rarin
Librarian.
Now, we have, The New Breed
Librarian, The Intolerant
Librarian, The Hip Librarian, The Rogue
Librarian, The
Lipstick Librarian, The
U*N*A*B*A*S*H*E*D Librarian, The
Library Geek, The librarian without
walls, The Library
Juice, Library
Stuff, The Barbarian Librarian, Belly
Dancing Librarian,
The Eclectic Librarian, The Laughing Librarian, Blue Librarian that seems to collect erotic stories, a Blonde Librarian, last and far from least, The Best
Damn Librarians and 364 Others. It was only 2 Years Ago there were 316. Yes, Librarians Rule!
Library thwarts Patriot Act snooping
“Librarians across the country have raised their voices in objection to the USA Patriot Act – and those in Boulder may have found an end-run around the law.”
“The law allows federal investigators to gain access to records from businesses, including libraries, while conducting investigations.”
“If a federal agent asks a Boulder librarian for a list of all the books checked out by John Q. Public in the last month, the answer will be “Records? What records?” (from The Denver Post)
Passaic NJ Looks to Outsource Operations to LSSI
The final Passaic library decision has been put off, but there\’s been an interesting series of stories running at NorthJersey.com on how the
Library looks at going private The city\’s library system is understaffed, under-funded and the downtown branch is open a maximum of five hours a day. The cash-strapped city isn\’t jacking up its funding level, so officials have offered another option: privatization.
Letters to the editor Against,
Neglected libraries get needed friends,
Letters to the editor For,
No need to privatize Passaic\’s Library, an editorial
and another, more
Letters to the editor and finally,
one more.
Thanks to Leticia for collecting all the stories.
Volumes of support for Iraq appeal
Gary Deane spotted a short blurb From sundayherald.com on the Books For Baghdad program.
They say Thousands of books have been donated by individuals and organisations in response to the devastation of university and public libraries in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq as a result of the war and subsequent looting.
The aim is to deliver 100,000 books. So far more than 15,000 books, with a value of about £300,000, have been collected. Support has included massive donations from publishers including Taylor & Francis Books Ltd, HarperCollins, Edinburgh University Press and Canongate publishers.
Library in crisis has its hand out
Rich writes “On The Daily Kos web site Monday July 28, 2003
Begging for books Commentary about the poor
funding for libraries. Links a NY Daily News
article on the NYPL funding crisis “Library in crisis has its hand out:
donation box appeal as city cuts hit hard” “
Electronic Genie
NM writes “Here is a story that neatly summarizes the challenges archivists face as they grapple with the digital revolution.
In 1986, the British Broadcasting Corporation created the Domesday Book Mark II, an electronic version of the original record of English lands that was written at the instigation of William the Conqueror in 1086. The BBC’s version contained 25,000 maps, 50,000 pictures, 60 minutes of video and millions of words. It cost 2.5 million pounds to create.
Only 17 years after its creation, the Domesday Book Mark II can’t be read. The BBC computers used for the project no longer work and the disks on which it was stored are not readable by other computer systems. But the 917-year-old original is still available to researchers in London’s Public Records Office.
Welcome to the archivist’s digital dilemma. For as much as some local archivists and librarians admit they must embrace the e-revolution, they are not comfortable with it in its present state. “
Skin – TV show about porno
Steve Fesenmaier writes “Sandy Berman, myself, and other library activists have been trying to fight the country club puritanism of American libraries. Now Jerry Bruckheimer comes along with a TV series about the porno world – twice as big in dollars as Hollywood. I hope all library board members and their directors watch the series – Americans are known worldwide as childish Puritans. It’s time we get over it!
See the NYTimes story,
Updates To The Wireless Librarian
Bill Drew writes “I have just added over twenty libraries to the Wireless Librarian website
list of libraries with WLANs.
I still do not have any listed for Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, or
Oklahoma.
“
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