November 2004

Preview from the San Jose Mercury News (registration required):
• “The Librarian: Quest for the Spear” (8 p.m. Sunday, TNT) clearly is meant to be a send-up of the adventure film genre. But it’s not nearly clever enough or produced with enough camp to avoid coming off as a second-rate “Romancing the Stone” or a third-rate (maybe even fourth-rate) version of an Indiana Jones film.

Still, this tale of a nerd who finds himself responsible for the protection of the world’s legendary artifacts has one thing going for it: the chemistry and charm of its star, Noah Wyle, who plays librarian Flynn Carsen.

Cabot writes “Millions of copies sold, a blockbuster movie in the works. Only one question remains: how can they get you to buy The Da Vinci Code twice? The Toronto Star reports on one the great successes in publishing history and the remarkable strategy that continues to drive it forward.”

Anonymous Patron writes “News From The UK where City Library bosses have banned people from using internet chatrooms following concerns about child safety.

The temporary block comes as police investigate the misuse of one computer at the Central Library in Smithford Way, Coventry city centre.”

Here’s a link-rich piece from Wired about where to find US government information that’s not readily found.

Search-engines-web.com writes “A Mercury News article reports on a research teams new theory of how bestseller books are made:

Other books inch their way to the top over many months, helped by cascades of tiny “endogenous shocks” such as a friend’s recommendation. A prime example is “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” which made the bestseller list two years after publication without a major ad campaign. How? It caught on in book-discussion clubs and spurred women to form their own “Ya-Ya Sisterhood” groups.

Search-engines-web.com writes “A Mercury News article reports on a research teams new theory of how bestseller books are made:

Other books inch their way to the top over many months, helped by cascades of tiny “endogenous shocks” such as a friend’s recommendation. A prime example is “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” which made the bestseller list two years after publication without a major ad campaign. How? It caught on in book-discussion clubs and spurred women to form their own “Ya-Ya Sisterhood” groups.

Such books descend the rankings more slowly than those propelled by exogenous shocks. Much more than a one-time radio announcement or newspaper review, “when people talk to each other, it sticks to the network much more,” Gilbert said.”

Read the research paper abstract.

Read the full paper.

twistedlibrarian writes “Books, books and more books: The life of a librarian is a bibliophile’s dream.

Read more at The Weekly Vista “

Search-engines-web.com/ writes “

KLFY Eyewitness News Reports:

Boudreaux’s suit says she was denied due process. She seeks the money for physical pain, suffering and loss of function; mental pain, anguish and suffering; medical expenses; loss of earnings; general damages, plus an unspecified amount in legal fees.”

Bob writes “Sadly, there seems to be a dearth of good library games/timewasters for desk duty break time other than solitaire
but until they perfect MARC record racing this is fun:
http://www.popcap.com/gamepopup.php?theGame=bookwo rm“

The Curmudgeony Librarian writes “A recent join study has revealed that there are growing concerns about privacy and information security among consumer this holiday season. According to reports, 58 percent of respondents say, “they may reduce their online shopping during the holiday season this year because of identity theft and other privacy concerns.” This figure is up from 49 percent of respondents who expressed this view in 2003. Among their principle concerns were identity or credit card theft, fear of spyware being downloaded after purchase and spam concerns. The study was sponsored by TNS a marketing information company, and TRUSTe, an online privacy organization. This is the second annual survey of online holiday buying trends.”

When Barbara Cartland died four years ago, she left behind 160 unpublished novels. Her son is proofreading them, then offering them for sale, one a month, via barbaracartland.com for £6 a book, or £72 for 13. All the arrangements were made between Dame Barbara and her heirs before she died. [Guardian Unlimited]