September 2006

Not really a library story, but you’ve got to admit, this true story would make a good novella or one-act play.

According to the AP, “Paul Vance, the man who co-wrote the song “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” had the unsettling experience this week of reading his own obituary, the result of an impostor who went through life claiming to be the author of the 1960s smash hit.” The imposter even fooled his widow, who was shocked to find out that her husband had been lying to her about his authorship for over 30 years.

kmccook writes “The NYTimes reports: The Poetry Foundation has named Jack Prelutsky its first children’s poet laureate, in the hopes that the appointment will raise awareness of the genre and encourage more poets to write for children. Mr. Prelutsky, 66, is the author of more than 35 books, including “Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant, and Other Poems” (Greenwillow). Collectively his books and anthologies have sold more than a million copies.”

Anon E. Mouse writes “A Press Release and An Article in the Baltimore Sun on The Howard County Library’s move to Groovix. “Howard County Library is committed to using open-source software whenever and wherever possible. We like the flexibility open source offers us to alter code so that software can meet our needs. We also try to find software that is shareware or free — so that we don’t invest funds into software licenses.”
They’re lucky in that Howard County Library has a Library Technology Services department, staffed with five full-time professionals, one part-time Web wizard and a manager.”

Anon E. Mouse writes “Reuters.com: The 17th century punishment for sex crimes was public humiliation and 1930s Britons pretended to be drunk so they could get away with sex on the beach.

The survey shows many British men had homosexual experiences, many were frequent visitors to prostitutes and many British wives were active in the pursuit of sex outside marriage.”

Anon E. Mouse writes “Losing Informatics is an article from the UB student magazine Generation. The ax fell on UB’s Informatics program without much warning, and the University has moved on. That much is clear.

But questions remain among former students and faculty of the school. UB personnel haven’t openly spoken about why they chose to “reorganize” the Informatics majors and close the school, or, why they did so without warning. Why did the School of Informatics close? And what does this mean for UB students and UB as a whole?”

mdoneil writes “Print out this free pass for museums.

Valid Saturday September 30th. The Smithsonian is encouraging other museums to let you in for free that day. Great for penny pinching librarian types!”

The Koret International Jewish Book Awards wants you. That is, they want you, and other readers like yourself, to participate in the voting process.

Vote for your favorite work of Jewish fiction from the past decade and you will be entered to win one of eight Amazon Shopping Spree Gift Cards ranging in value from $25-$250. The author of the winning volume will be honored at the Koret International Jewish Book Award prize ceremony on November 15, 2006 in San Francisco hosted by actor Theodore Bikel. The deadline for voting is October 16.

Nominees are: Ravelstein – Saul Bellow,
Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer,
In the Image – Dara Horn,
The Puttermesser Papers – Cynthia Ozick,
The Plot Against America – Philip Roth, and
The Wedding Jester – Steve Stern.

As David Smith wrote in a recent article in The Observer, “The first question AN Wilson is likely to face at literary festivals for a while will be: ‘How did you fall for it?'”
That’s because Wilson is the recent victim of a hoax letter. A hoax letter that he published in his biography of poet Sir John Betjeman. A hoax letter sent to him by a fellow Betjeman biographer that spells out the following in code: “AN Wilson is a shit.“

The British Library wants copyright law to be updated to curb DRM excesses The British Library has called for a “serious updating” of current copyright law to “unambiguously” include digital content, and take technological advances into account.

In a manifesto launched on Monday at the Labour Party Conference in Manchester, the Library warned that traditional copyright law needs to be extended to fully recognise digital content.

“Unless there is a serious updating of copyright law to recognise the changing technological environment, the law becomes an ass,” Lynne Brindley, chief executive of the British Library, told ZDNet UK.

The Detroit Pistons are turning a tired Lansing school library into an attention-grabbing learning arena.

Lewton Elementary School will become the first school outside Metro Detroit to receive a specially designed “Live, Learn and Play Center” from the NBA franchise during a grand opening Tuesday.

But the room’s transformation – with team colors, new technology and a basketball court corner – already has enticed little fans to reconsider reading.
More.