March 2006

This One From Forbes is short on any decent details, but quotes Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang as saying ‘We have to think of a way in which the internet phenomenon can continue to grow and reach more users and at the same time comply with local laws.’
Yahoo came under fire last year for supplying information to the Chinese government which led to the arrest of Chinese journalist Shi Tao.

Shi was sentenced to 10 years in prison for passing on a government censorship order through his Yahoo email account.

San Diego Union Tribune columnist Richard Louv Takes A Look At presidential libraries.

“As a sixth-grader in Kansas City, I visited the Truman Library on a school field trip; the memory is vivid and unlikely to be duplicated today, now that the Leave No Child Behind movement has killed so many field trips.”

Durst writes: “An article in today’s Chronicle of Higher Ed (sub. required) describes a collaborative effort between researchers at Syracuse U. and U. of Washington that will use different computer technologies to evaluate websites for the usefulness of their content.

“Credibility Commons will investigate the creation of a search engine that could bring back sites that librarians typically send their patrons to. The project is funded by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation.”

S T U F F Reports Teacher unions say more funding is needed to employ trained librarians and to help improve the quality of school libraries.

Under-staffing, untrained staff and poor use of information technology were identified as problems in an Education Review Office report on “student learning in the information landscape”.

The review surveyed more than 300 schools on how they supported learning through traditional information sources, such as libraries, and through technology.

A wave of religious books is coming to bookstores to cash in on “The Da Vinci Code” movie in May, including a book saying Jesus survived crucifixion and an evangelical novel with a modern-day Mary Magdalene heroine.

Americans are finally able to buy Dan Brown’s best seller in paperback on Tuesday, three years after it was first published, and with “Da Vinci Code” fever as strong as ever, it’s never been so profitable to write about Christianity.

More From Reuters

The Guardian is running an article today about a list from the British Library which includes materials that have been stolen:

“A Manchester City football programme from 1905, a Led Zeppelin CD and 17 Rolling Stones albums, including Hot Rocks and Beggars Banquet, are among 28 items confirmed as stolen from the collection in the last five years.”

The author of a book about the exile of people with leprosy (also known as Hansen’s Disease) to the Hawaiian island of Molokai says he was blind-sided by its negative reaction.

“The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai,” by John Tayman of New York has been praised by critics but has drawn the ire of many former patients.

Among the complaints is that the cover photo is not even Hawaii, but the Amalfi Coast of Italy. Others complain of errors and exaggerations in the telling of their stories. UPI reports, and more from the New York Times.

At the King Middle School in Portland Maine, they keep the most popular book close by at the front desk so it doesn’t ‘walk’. It is “You Hear Me? Poems and Writing by Teenage Boys”. This article from Maine Today may give you a few great ideas to get those reluctant readers reading, courtesy of school librarian Kelley McDaniel.

Search Engines Web writes “”I am very careful. Every blogger in Iran who writes in his/her name must be careful. I know the red lines and I never go beyond them,” said Parastoo Dokouhaki, 25, who runs one of Iran’s most popular blogs. “And these days, the red lines are getting tighter

AP Repport and Another with “A Look at Postings Found on Iranian Blogs””

kmccook writes “There is no greater honor than the recognition of your peers reports the March 30,2006 issue of New York Teacher. Last month Joan Cassidy, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) headquarters librarian, was so distinguished, selected as the 2006 recipient of the John Sessions Memorial Award. The honor is presented by the Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association. “Joan Cassidy has done a fabulous job of librarianship in creating the Albert Shanker ‘Where We Stand’ database,” said Dan Golodner, award committee chairman. The late Shanker was the legendary New York City teachers union president and newspaper editor, and later the president of the American Federation of Teachers.”