April 2008

Good News For Harry Fans: Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone is being offered as a ‘set text’ by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA), the UK’s largest exam board, which is responsible for nearly half of the country’s exams. But horrified education experts fear Harry will rob the A-level of credibility.

Greg’s been thinking and reading about online identity, reputation management and personal branding. His interest is NOT in marketing libraries. He says there are plenty of other people worrying about that. He’s talking about marketing librarians and hopes to find ways to demonstrate the importance of that distinction to others in our profession.

I suspect few of you would disagree that librarians are, for the most part, poor self-promoters and marketers. I plan on doing my part to change that and the first step is paying attention to the people who know what they’re talking about.

Baby Got Book: Inspired by a shirt on ShelfTalker, Cheryl Klein wrote new lyrics for classic Sir Mix-A-Lot…

I like big books and I can not lie
You other brothers can’t deny
That when a girl walks in with an big fat book
And glasses on her face
You’re all thrilled, wanna talk to her quick
Cause you notice she’s reading Dickens
Deep in the tote she’s carrying
I’m hooked and I can’t stop staring

The UK’s National Archives has welcomed a report that backs a variant of Adobe’s portable document format standard as a reliable way of preserving documents for future use.

However, the organisation has warned that other file formats will need to still be monitored and considered, as the PDF/Archive (PDF/A) standard can only be one part of a long-term archiving policy.

A Tokyo high school librarian has been arrested for making threats via the Internet to blow up a building owned by Buddhist-lay organization Soka Gakkai, police said.

Miyuki Kamikawauchi, 43, a librarian at a Tokyo metropolitan high school, is accused of forcible obstruction of business. He admitted to the allegations during questioning.

“Soka Gakkai members kept on trying to get me to vote for their favored election candidates,” he was quoted as telling investigators. “I wanted to get back at them.”

Lynne writes: “Greetings to all librarians. I am Lynne Martin Erickson. I have been the fiscal agent for The Hollywood Librarian documentary film since 2004. I post this in the hope that librarians will respond immediately and repost widely.

As many of you know, this wonderful film is the result of the tireless efforts of one person: Ann Seidl. She single-handedly raised $200,000 to make and distribute this movie, worked on it for over 8 years and she is still working to get it seen by as many members of our public as possible. She is traveling throughout the US and the world to promote the film. Thanks to the librarian network, the film is being seen in dozens of locations by hundreds and even thousands of people.

While Ann has devoted her full-time work to this cause, she has been paid very little. She insists she is not in it for the money. I can guarantee that is the case. She wouldn’t say this to you, but I can assure you that Ann is broke.

During the Banned Book Week release, when tickets sold for $8, we took in about $10,000, but less than $400 was profit. These days, she is asking for a small fee to screen the film but that money is to fund the editing and authoring process for the DVD which she wants to make available this fall. But she must have some financial support to go on working on the film. We can’t let her stop working on the film to take other employment when she is so close to finishing.

If you are a fan of The Hollywood Librarian or of Ann, I am asking you to send her your financial encouragement.

Lynne writes: “Greetings to all librarians. I am Lynne Martin Erickson. I have been the fiscal agent for The Hollywood Librarian documentary film since 2004. I post this in the hope that librarians will respond immediately and repost widely.

As many of you know, this wonderful film is the result of the tireless efforts of one person: Ann Seidl. She single-handedly raised $200,000 to make and distribute this movie, worked on it for over 8 years and she is still working to get it seen by as many members of our public as possible. She is traveling throughout the US and the world to promote the film. Thanks to the librarian network, the film is being seen in dozens of locations by hundreds and even thousands of people.

While Ann has devoted her full-time work to this cause, she has been paid very little. She insists she is not in it for the money. I can guarantee that is the case. She wouldn’t say this to you, but I can assure you that Ann is broke.

During the Banned Book Week release, when tickets sold for $8, we took in about $10,000, but less than $400 was profit. These days, she is asking for a small fee to screen the film but that money is to fund the editing and authoring process for the DVD which she wants to make available this fall. But she must have some financial support to go on working on the film. We can’t let her stop working on the film to take other employment when she is so close to finishing.

If you are a fan of The Hollywood Librarian or of Ann, I am asking you to send her your financial encouragement.

Go here now http://www.hollywoodlibrarian.com/involved.html and click on the Paypal link.”

Gary Price sent over a Link To The Resourceshelf about SPARC and Science Commons who have released “Open Doors and Open Minds: What faculty authors can do to ensure open access to their work through their institution.” The new white paper assists institutions in adopting policies that ensure the widest practical exposure for scholarly works produced, such as that adopted by the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences in February.

Scott Douglas appeared on Think, The Dallas NPR Station. His new book, Quiet Please, is all about his life working in the public library. “This is hardly a job for the faint of heart…” Those of you who don’t want to go through the hassle of iTunes or don’t have iTunes, here’s a direct link to the 50 minute NPR interview…

PBS documentary some patrons may request:

At first, the 10-hour documentary “Carrier” feels something like a crazy-long Navy commercial.

The camaraderie of the sailors, the giant metal flying toys, aimless teens finding direction at sea, the nicknames and cool tattoos – it all looks like one giant come-on. I wanted to write an eye-rolling review about how PBS has gone into the recruitment business with this miniseries, which premieres tomorrow at 9 p.m. on Channel 2. Vibrant with panoramic shots of the shining sea, “Carrier” starts out like a high-def paean to American military adventure.

But the longer you watch “Carrier,” the deeper it goes. What begins as a gung-ho portrait of six months aboard the USS Nimitz develops into a more faceted take on sexism, racism, the strains of hierarchy, homophobia, and the psychic costs of living in an isolated subculture – what one sailor likens to a prison. The miniseries isn’t an expose or a political statement, but it is a bottom-to-top warts-and-all profile of a crowded, high-stakes world comprised mostly of 18- and 19-year-olds. The filmmakers deliver a fine balance of both elated big-gun worship and humiliated bathroom cleaning, melting-pot team-making and the cliquishness of ethnic groups.

Full article here.

PBS documentary some patrons may request:

At first, the 10-hour documentary “Carrier” feels something like a crazy-long Navy commercial.

The camaraderie of the sailors, the giant metal flying toys, aimless teens finding direction at sea, the nicknames and cool tattoos – it all looks like one giant come-on. I wanted to write an eye-rolling review about how PBS has gone into the recruitment business with this miniseries, which premieres tomorrow at 9 p.m. on Channel 2. Vibrant with panoramic shots of the shining sea, “Carrier” starts out like a high-def paean to American military adventure.

But the longer you watch “Carrier,” the deeper it goes. What begins as a gung-ho portrait of six months aboard the USS Nimitz develops into a more faceted take on sexism, racism, the strains of hierarchy, homophobia, and the psychic costs of living in an isolated subculture – what one sailor likens to a prison. The miniseries isn’t an expose or a political statement, but it is a bottom-to-top warts-and-all profile of a crowded, high-stakes world comprised mostly of 18- and 19-year-olds. The filmmakers deliver a fine balance of both elated big-gun worship and humiliated bathroom cleaning, melting-pot team-making and the cliquishness of ethnic groups.

Full article here.

Here is the link to the PBS website about the series. There are ten episodes and you can watch them on the website as they come out on PBS.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon has joined booksellers and librarians in the state to challenge a state law restricting the sale or provision of sexually explicit material to children, saying it could affect constitutionally protected material.

The ACLU says the law approved by the 2007 Legislature is vague and could result in parents being charged for providing educational books to their children – or even an older child who gives material to a younger sibling.

As an example, the ACLU cited the 1975 novel “Forever” by Judy Blume, a frequent target of censors because it deals with teenage sexuality. “A 17-year-old girl who lends her 13-year-old sister a copy of the book and tells her to ‘read the good parts’ could be arrested and prosecuted,” said Dave Fidanque, ACLU executive director for Oregon.

“For booksellers, the new law is vague and difficult to apply,” Michael Powell, owner of Powell’s Books, said in a news release. “It says a 13-year-old can legally buy these books, but it’s a crime to sell them to a 12-year-old. How do I ‘card’ a 12-year old?”

The law was passed by the 2007 Legislature and signed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski. Story from kcby CBS as well as oregonlive.