November 2003

Fang-Face writes “There’s an article at the American Library Association web site about a nine year-old patron encountering sexually graphic images on a computer in the children’s section. The staff seems to have responded poorly. It was reported that a staff member had assured the boy’s grandmother the image in question had been removed, but the boy found it again within hours. Raising the spectre that maybe kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for.“

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday (registration req’d) that the Oak Park Public Library temporarily turned off its public computers after being informed that a kid pulled up porn pics that someone saved.

Former President William Jefferson Clinton has shared with the world, his list of favorite books. Smoothie that his is, you can find his wife’s book, Living History. Monica’s Story by Monica Lewinsky is shockingly absent.

Anonymous Patron writes “The Southern California Linux Expo will be held this Saturday at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, CA. Speakers include: John Terpstra, Chris Dibona, Andrew Morton, William Irwin, Chris Montogmery (OGG VORBIS and Xiph.org). For more informatoin see our website where you can pre-register for the conference. Those interested in a free Exhibit Hall pass can get one by using the promo code “free” when ordering. Those seeking a discount can use the code “NEWPS” We look forward to seeing you all there. Stay for the post-conference free screening of Revolution OS. SCALE non-profit grass roots event organized by the SCLUG, UCLA LUG, and USC LUG.”

News Out Of VA on John Callaghan, who was so disgusted with the cover picture on The Advocate in the library last week that he ripped it off and took it home with him.

Now Williamsburg Regional Library officials say they’re deciding whether to alert law-enforcement officials, revoke Callaghan’s library privileges or take other disciplinary action against him.

“I’m old-fashioned and have grandchildren, and this magazine was eye-level,” he said. He said he was offended not only that the magazine was available to young people but also that his tax dollars were spent to put it there.

Library Director John Moorman said he would consult the library board and decide how to handle the situation. He said the library had “a wide variety of options, and I really don’t want to discuss them at this time.”

Anonymous Patron sent in an article from Reason Magazine that gives a concise and balanced overview of libraries’ reactions to CIPA, including quotes from Jessamyn West and library administrators in San Jose and Illinois. An excerpt:

The San Jose Public Libraries receive about $20,000 each year from the E-rate program, a federal effort to finance public access to the Internet. Next year, though, they might not get any. San Jose is one of several library systems around the country that say they will refuse Washington’s subsidies rather than accept the strings attached to them — specifically, the requirements of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), which Congress passed in 1999 and the Supreme Court upheld in June

Walt writes “Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large 3:14 (December 2003),
the Stuff and Nonsense issue, is now
available for downloading. This is the last text issue of the year, but an index will come out in
the next couple of weeks. Expanded contents provided to satisfy a LISNews comment. If you hate it, let me know.” More details on this impressive issue are inside…

Walt writes “Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large 3:14 (December 2003),
the Stuff and Nonsense issue, is now
available for downloading. This is the last text issue of the year, but an index will come out in
the next couple of weeks. Expanded contents provided to satisfy a LISNews comment. If you hate it, let me know.” More details on this impressive issue are inside…This 20-page issue (PDF as always) includes the following:

* Bibs & Blather (The Stuff and Nonsense issue and the lack of a reader
survey)
* Perspective: In Your Jets I’m going to Carolina (Comments on North
Carolina Library Association and the Charleston Conference)

* The Good Stuff (Nine items, including a 42-page expert report on the
care and handling of CDs and DVDs)

* A Library Stuff Perspective: Hysterical Librarians, Attorneys General
and Section 215

* Feedback: Your Insights (Including thoughts on publishers and
preservation, a variety of clarifications, and a cluster of items on
federated searching)

* Trends & Quick Takes (Six items, including the Segway saga, the
blogging iceberg, stupid lawsuits and Amazonia)

* The Library Stuff (13 items covering too many topics to summarize)

Checkerberry writes about the continuing saga in Ohio. “Here’s the scoop:
One Senator in Ohio has decided CIPA doesn’t go far enough in it’s quest to undermine the Freedoms of the American people. Read my rant and check out the the text of this idiotic bill, S.B. No 144.

Checkerberry writes about the continuing saga in Ohio. “Here’s the scoop:
One Senator in Ohio has decided CIPA doesn’t go far enough in it’s quest to undermine the Freedoms of the American people. Read my rant and check out the the text of this idiotic bill, S.B. No 144.Author’s note: Ironically, the text of the bill itself will probably not be safe for minors to read in Ohio, as it contains some graphic definitions. The bill’s purpose is to expand the criminal offense of “disseminating matter harmful to juveniles”, however the bill may well be covered under its own definition. Also, the bill does provide “to allow a public library or its personnel to disable the filtering device or software to enable a person to have full access to a computer for specified proper purposes”.

Those of you reading this at an idle moment at the reference desk, pull the 2004 World Almanac and Book of Facts off the shelf. Starting on page 16 (of the paperback edition) is a page-and-a-half article by Maurice J. Freedman entitled “Libraries and Today’s World”. I don’t know what you do to get published in between “Antarctica: Exploring Earth’s Last Frontier” and “Finding the Right College” in the Almanac’s Special Features section, but it seems pretty cool to me.

April writes “According to this article at the Daily Yomiuri (JP), Japanese authors blame libraries for shrinking book sales. They say that many people will not buy a new book because the library has it. Their suggestions for how to fix the problem are sure to be controversial – either making the libraries pay authors a fee, or waiting some time after a book’s publication before making it available at libraries.”