July 2004

Gary “ResourceShelf” Price sent over a GovExec.com Article on John Poindexter and Total Information Awareness.

Poindexter introduced TIA to the Defense Department in October 2001, after the Sept. 11 attacks appeared to show that the world’s smartest intelligence services were incapable of connecting dots in a line of intelligence pointing to the assaults. Poindexter believes TIA might have put those dots together.

Before TIA’s first birthday, Poindexter’s work had spawned a national controversy. Amidst a new global war on terror backed by enhanced government powers to monitor Americans granted by the 2001 USA Patriot Act, Poindexter’s quest for total information awareness assumed an Orwellian cast.

mdoneil writes “A convicted sex offender was arrested after librarians became suspicious because he was hanging around the children’s section of the St. Petersburg, Florida Public Library
He was on probation for a previous conviction involving lewd conduct with a minor, was arrested on violation of probation charges as he was prohibited from travel except between his home and job.
Police sources contacted say Wrenn exposed himself inside the library. Police are continung the investigation and attempting to locate any additional victims. Local television station Baynews9 has more on the story.

Way to go St. Petersubrg Public library librarians and staff!”

http://search-engines-web.com/ writes “

http://www.newsday.com/business/local/newyork/ny-b zwimx273907929jul27,0,802678.story?coll=ny-nybusin ess-headlines

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A service under development will be able to blanket an entire city, with signals traveling five miles or more at least 50 percent faster than WiFi, the most commonly used wireless Internet service.

WiMAX, or worldwide interoperability for microwave access, should be available next year for transmission to stationary receivers on buildings, and early versions are already available.

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http://www.tomshardware.com/hardnews/20040728_0324 46.html

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/in dex.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040728005475& newsLang=en“

http://search-engines-web.com/ writes “

http://www.apple.com/airportexpress/

Enjoy your iTunes music library in virtually any room of your house. Share a single broadband Internet connection and USB printer without inconvenient and obtrusive cables. Create an instant wireless network on the go. Extend the range of your current wireless network. How many devices do you need to do all this? Just one

Sue Jones writes “How do you know you work in a group of librarians?
I opened our department’s refrigerator this morning and saw a paper towel laid out at eye level with many small tomatoes on it. On the corner of the paper towel, a postit says “See Also: free cucumbers on shelf.””

IFLA hasn’t updated the IFLANET Library Humour page in a year, but it’s still a good place for some classic libary jokes. The Laughing Librarian is also still at it after all these years.

A patron asked the librarian why Tales of Robin Hood had been withdrawn from the collection. The librarian replied, “Too much Saxon violence.”

Anonymous Patron writes “The NYTimes Reports the best-selling book in America is a bookseller’s dream – it involves no author royalties, has minimal advertising or promotion costs and is in such demand that in some places there are not enough copies to go around. In short, it is a potential fountain of profits for its publisher and bookstores.
W. W. Norton & Company, the publisher of the authorized edition of the report, said on Monday that an estimated 350,000 copies had been sold at retailers across the country, and that all the 600,000 copies in the book’s first printing had been distributed to wholesalers and retailers. With a list price of $10, the 9/11 Commission Report probably generates revenues of about $5 a copy for Norton, according to executives at rival publishers.”

Jess Dukes writes “If you were at the Book Expo America last month in Chicago, hopefully you’ll remember us, because Contemporary Press will never forget you!

Over the course of the weekend, we talked to what felt like a million industry types, but we have to say, we had the best time at our table when the librarians came by.

Apparently, we turned a few heads with our black, 1� buttons that said simply, “F*ck Literature.� Hour after hour, day after day, librarians came by our table to pick up our free, opinionated schwag, and have a good laugh with us.

Eventually, we confirmed that librarians were seeking out the buttons! And we thought no one would notice us, stuck back there in the small press section, with the hideous blue curtains, next to the bathrooms…

In short, we learned many things while in Chicago, but most surprising of all, we learned that Librarians rock! We never knew. We stand corrected.

Thanks for your support, and don’t forget to check out our new release, G.O.P. D.O.A.

See you next year in NYC!

Signed, on behalf of all of us at CP,

Jess Dukes
Managing Editor, Contemporary Press
www.contemporarypress.com”

Anonymous Patron writes “Strange One From NZ where Police believe they have busted an organised syndicate of thieves which is alleged to have stolen rare and valuable books from Christchurch City Libraries.
It is believed as many as 30 false ID’s were used to borrow the books from the libraries. Library stamps and barcodes were removed from the books and they were then onsold to second-hand dealers.”

Great Falls Public Library Director Jim Heckel never has been one to look a gift horse in the mouth. So don’t expect to hear him complain about the 458 free music CDs the library received recently. The gift is part of a $142 million settlement with the music industry in a federal class action lawsuit brought by 38 states over price fixing.

While librarians across the country are generally pleased about the largesse, many are complaining about the workload to catalog and process the discs. Some are disappointed in the selection too and contend the companies cleared out their warehouses and weren’t meeting the spirit of the settlement. Read More.

That guy notes the Clinton Library is opening in a few months. Arkansas News Bureau has a “view from within,” along with a list of opening week events. The four days of events leading up to the library’s opening will include the reception of a lifetime for the Arkansas Arts Center, which will host all the living presidents and first ladies for an art exhibit the likes of which they likely haven’t seen since their White House days.

They also say he is sending 125,000 invitations to the November 18th opening of his library.