November 2003

The Rarin’ Librarian pointed to Who loves you like the library? a rather nice one from The Writer Magazine that includes a suprising quote from Patricia “have a very serious issue with librarians” Schroeder, president, American Association of Publishers:

“We need [libraries] more than ever. The Internet is full of ‘stuff’ but … ‘stuff’ doesn’t give you a competitive edge; high-quality, reliable information does.”

The article says If you’re a writer who suspects that Google and other Web search engines have made libraries passé, either you haven’t used a first-rate library lately or you’ve been swayed by articles calling libraries a waste of time next to Web speed and currency.

See also:10 cool library manuevers for writers.

Patrick T. Reardon Says Patrick O’Brian would have hated “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.” He says It’s a wonderful film, But, as he knows from interviewing him, O’Brian was a prickly coot, and, when it came to his writing, his characters and just about anything, he was quick to take offense. With no control over the movie, O’Brian would have been aghast at the liberties the filmmakers took, such as the way they cherry-picked scenes from the long run of novels to give the movie a near-constant flow of action. That continuous action, too, went against the general tenor of his novels, which focused much more on the everyday routines and challenges of shipboard life than on events such as storms and battles.

But how would he have felt about his URL?

Another good look at the movie/book connection at smh.com.au.

australianit Reports The Ukrainian parliament passed the first reading of a bill banning internet publication of anything that promotes terrorism, the overthrow of the state or damages an individual’s reputation.

The vote on the government-proposed legislation came as the firm which until recently managed Ukraine’s internet domain vowed to overturn a government move to strip it of its functions and transfer them to the former KGB security services.

The bill also outlaws the dissemination of information that “could harm the honour or business reputation of individuals.”

The Beeb Reports Worldwide sales of the five Harry Potter books have reached the 250 million mark.
Author JK Rowling’s agent, Christopher Little, confirmed the figure on Monday – and revealed Rowling had begun work on the sixth Potter adventure.

The series has been sold in more than 200 countries and translated into 60 languages from Hindi to Ancient Greek.

The fifth book, The Order of the Phoenix, sold 1.78 million copies on its first day in the UK alone.

Mr Little issued a statement via Potter publisher Bloomsbury saying the series had “entered the history books yet again” with a “record-breaking, unprecedented number of worldwide sales” of 250 million.

Teachers and publishers acknowledge that the Potter books have been instrumental in turning more children on to reading.

thedenverchannel.com Reports “The Cat Who Killed Lilian Jackson Braun: A Parody” and “Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture,” will remain on the shelves of libraries run by the Weld Library District.

But members of the board still are considering an objection to a book that has explicit depictions of sexual development during puberty.
Second Story Here.

The architectural conversation piece that has connected Harvard University’s Widener and Houghton libraries for over 60 years will be torn down in spring 2004.

The covered bridge was constructed in 1942, in compliance with a 1912 stipulation by Widener Library’s benefactor that no “additions or alterations” could be made to the facade of the building. Thus, in order to connect Widener to Houghton, the bridge had to be constructed through a preexisting window in the stacks.

Aside from feeling the loss of a sentimental landmark, librarians say they will miss the protection the bridge provided against the Cambridge winter as they passed between the buildings.

Read more about the Widener-Houghton bridge and its history at The Harvard Crimson Online.

Makers of RFID (or radio frequency identification) tags, along with the retailers and suppliers who plan to use them, are saying the technology they spent millions of dollars developing is too weak to threaten consumer privacy. Metals, plastics and liquids, they say, all block radio signals before they reach RFID reader devices.

Please, let’s not tell the patrons.

Read the full article from Wired

Here’s a literary (by Hollywood standards) twist on the usual blockbuster movie tie-in:

Ramping up to the Dec. 17 release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, New Line Cinema invites students at selected middle and high schools in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, DC to enter an essay contest on the theme of Gandalf’s statement, “All you have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given to you.”

A grand-prize winner from each city will receive a package of movie-related gear and a private screening, and New Line will award each city a $10,000 grant toward the purchase of books for public school libraries.

SciFi Wire has the details.

Have you stopped by overduemedia.com, home of Unshelved, lately? If not, you’re really missing out. In addition to the Strip Archive they now have a Mailing List (Daily or Weekly) and an upside down Blog.

“Unshelved, the world’s only daily comic strip set in a public library! Writer Gene Ambaum (the made-up name of a real-life librarian) and co-writer and artist Bill Barnes have been publishing since February 16, 2002. Some of the stories are made up, some of them are based on real life, and some are absolutely true stories sent to us from our readers. And the stranger the story, the more likely it is to be true.“

itbusiness.ca Reports The Canadian National Institute for the Blind Wednesday took the wraps off an online library that its president said would allow him to read a daily newspaper for the first time in 30 years.

CNIB officials
demonstrated the library, which will be offered through its Web site, at the offices of Microsoft Canada, which has been a partner in developing the library since it was announced last year. Build on an infrastructure called the Integrated Digital Library System (IDLS), the digital library will handle production, acquisition, client records, circulation, digital rights management, secure and permanent storage, and delivery to the client.