August 2007

Paula sent over a link to Barbara Quint’s Conversation With Anurag Acharya: “Yet announcements about changes in the constantly evolving service seem to occur rarely and with little ballyhoo. For example, did you know that Google Scholar has launched its own digitization project, separate from the high-profile Google Book Search mass digitization? Or what about the new Key Author feature? Or the expansion into non-English languages and non-U.S./Western European content? A conversation with Anurag Acharya, the designer and missionary behind Google Scholar, helped us catch up on the latest developments.”

The Netherlands: The public library and the zoo had some unusual visitors early Monday. Both were robbed.

Police said two thieves hit the ticket counter at the Artis Zoo shortly after it opened and stole an undisclosed amount of cash.

Earlier, around 2 a.m. (0100GMT), three masked and armed men overpowered the guards at a newly opened 13-story building housing the library’s main branch and other offices. Police declined to say what was taken.

In turn-of-the-century New York, no one was more powerful than the wealthy financier J. Pierpont Morgan. A major fixture in the cultural world, late in life he began developing a library to house his growing collection of books. Few had ever been inside the marble building with its lapis lazuli columns, located around the corner from Madison Avenue on East 36th Street. By 1905, Morgan was looking for a librarian to manage his priceless collection. Enter Belle da Costa Greene

Stats from the Society of College, National and University Libraries in the UK reveal that university library visits have declined by 22% in the last decade, with an average annual fall of 3%. This has been attributed largely to an increase in the use of online resources. It’s interesting to note, however, that library book loans have risen 10% over that same time period. More info at the BBC story here.

Independent bookstores aren’t quite so rare as ivorybilled woodpeckers “yet”; but people go on expeditions to spot the survivors.

“Bookstore tourism” is the term.

Philly.com checks out the Second Life creation called the Literature Factory. What’s a Literature Factory? “Well, now, that’s a silly question, it’s simply a factory that makes literature,” went the waggish message, posted by Factory creator Andy Fundinger. He described his project as a kind of automated “writer” that compiles letters into words, words into sentences, and sentences into a book-length work.

Two boards enthusiastically approved plans for the construction of a new library and community centre for the Palo Alto Public Library.

The new Mitchell Park library will encompass 36,000 square feet while the community centre provides another 15,000 square feet of space.

More from the San Jose Mercury News.

Article on the independent Brattle Bookshop in Boston, first opened in 1949 by George Gloss and still run by his son Ken.

Ken says, “”Some day, the Brattle Book Shop will be history — neither of Gloss’s daughters is interested in running it — but no time soon.” Like a most true booksellers Gloss says he will retire the day after he dies.

Ken Gloss also says that “within the next five to seven years, 75 percent of used bookstores will be gone…”it’s the real estate and the Internet. What you pay me for is to gather the books together. The Internet does that incredibly efficiently.”

Columnist Michael Lieberman adds, ” The Internet cannot replace the intangibles. It can offer the books but it can’t offer the vibe.”

Joe Hodnicki writes “AltLaw.org is a joint project of Columbia Law School’s Program on Law and Technology, and the Silicon Flatirons Program at the University of Colorado Law School. Details at At The Law Professors Blog“

Good News: Irene B. Lloren, president of Primetrade Asia, organizer of the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF), the only internationally recognized book fair in the country, shares how well the trade grew over the last 28 years they have been mounting MIBF.

“When we started the book fair, we just had a few publishers in a small venue. Today, there are over 300 publishers and retailers participating. This attests to the growth and dynamism of the industry,” Lloren says.