November 2008

The Death of Discourse

This book explores one of the most disturbing intellectual dilemmas of our time—that our beloved First Amendment is being exploited in the name of the dumbing of America. It is the first book to examine the popular culture of the First Amendment, specifically with reference to television, advertising, and pornography. Comparing the culture of popular discourse with traditional First Amendment ideals, the authors expose the vast gap between our speech practices and our speech principles. Is the tyranny of the trivialization of discourse a problem? In a dialogue-like way, the authors invite their readers to judge.

More information on the book is available at the publisher’s website.

November 21, 2008 by Bibliofuture Uncategorized

Wrongful Arrest Payout for Librarian in Email Scam

There are all kinds of weird people out there, including some who would like a spanking with a copy of Finnegan’s Wake. Check out this story from the New York Daily News:

“The city has agreed to a $25,000 payout for an ex-librarian at the Riverdale Country School in the Bronx who was busted last year for sending bizarre e-mails to his boss. The city agreed to settle Billy Hallowell’s wrongful arrest lawsuit rather than go to trial. Hallowell was detained for 30 hours in April last year after cops were told Hallowell had sent a lewd e-mail to his former boss.

“We could do it in the library,” the e-mail said. “I could spank you with a vintage copy of Finigan’s (sic) wake.”

But Hallowell never sent the e-mail. The mixup occurred when librarian Robin Berson responded to an e-mail from Hallowell, who informed her he was quitting, asking him to return a library key. Berson sent the reply to an e-mail address that was nearly identical to Hallowell’s. The person who inadvertently received the e-mail sent it back with the bizarre note.

Harassment charges were dropped by the Bronx district attorney.
Hallowell, a freelance journalist, hopes the mixup will spur the NYPD to train their officers in the basics of e-mail and the Internet. “I’m happy that they took responsibility and admitted their mistakes,” Hallowell said.

I guess that naughty rep is destined to follow librarians to the grave.

For Books, Is Obama New Oprah?

When President-elect Barack Obama appeared on “60 Minutes” on CBS on Sunday in his first interview since winning the election, he mentioned having read “a new book out about F .D. R.’s first 100 days” without specifically naming a title or author.

That tantalizing reference set off a scramble for the claim to First Reader rights all day Monday before a spokesman for Mr. Obama disclosed what the president-elect had actually read.

The publishers and authors of at least three such books that could fit Mr. Obama’s description each spent much of Monday wondering whether they had just gotten a plug from the soon-to-be leader of the free world.

Full story in the New York Times

November 21, 2008 by Bibliofuture Books

France Dominates Europe’s Digital Library

Story in the New York Times:

France has never been shy about promoting its culture, so few were surprised when it took a close interest in a new digital library intended to showcase Europe’s history, literature, arts and science.

But when the new site, called Europeana, begins life on Thursday, more than half of its two million items will come from just one of the 27 countries in the European Union: France.

So comprehensive is France’s cultural dominance over this cyberspace outpost that other countries are having their own history written for them — in French, of course.

“I find the figures extraordinary,” said Viviane Reding, the European commissioner responsible for the project. “France has half the content — the collapse of the Berlin Wall is illustrated with a French TV documentary.”

Full story here.

November 20, 2008 by Bibliofuture Librarians Libraries

PC Magazine, a Flagship for Ziff Davis, Will Cease Printing a Paper Version

Ziff Davis Media announced Wednesday that it was ending print publication of its 27-year-old flagship, PC Magazine, and would take the title online only.

It is the latest of several magazine publishers to drop a print edition, as advertising plummets and the cost of printing a paper version rises.

“The viability for us to continue to publish in print just isn’t there anymore,” Jason Young, chief executive of Ziff Davis, said in an interview.

While most magazines make their money mainly from print advertising, PC Magazine derives most of its profit from its Web site. More than 80 percent of the profit and about 70 percent of the revenue come from the digital business, Mr. Young said, and all of the writers and editors have been counted as part of the digital budget for two years.

Full story here.

November 20, 2008 by Bibliofuture Internet

Pimp My Bookcart 2008: Pimp my Bookcart

It’s Over: “This year’s Pimp my Bookcart contest had nearly a hundred submissions from all around the world. They came from schools, libraries, a book store, and a jail. There were carts made by kids, teenagers, and adults. They were higher-quality than ever, which made judging extremely difficult. We’re not exaggerating when we say that our shortlist was in the dozens. We finally hunkered down in an undisclosed location in Indianapolis and argued well into the night. In the end we followed our hearts.”

November 20, 2008 by Blake Books Libraries School Libraries

Las Vegas School Librarians May Face Axe

Las Vegas area CBS affiliate KLAS reports that the association of school librarians in the Clark County School District was present in recent meetings. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported yesterday that the district is holding meetings to gauge parent views on what should be cut due to financial shortfalls. The librarians went to gauge the risk to their jobs as local television reports have noted that parents are strongly considering already terminating art and music education in schools.

The district has posted a chart with cuts under consideration. It is noted there that cutting out middle school and high school librarians would save the district USD$9,510,215. The argument present in favor of cutting such librarians is that teachers or support staff could maintain libraries.

Clark County School District’s boundaries are coterminous with the boundaries of Clark County in Nevada. The district serves Nevada’s population center. According to the US Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics, as of the 2005-2006 school year the district had 314 schools and served over two hundred and ten thousand students.

November 20, 2008 by StephenK Librarians Libraries Music School Libraries

Twilight Fever Roaring Through the US

As Harry Potter and his friends ride off into the literary sunset, a young girl and a vampire in love have set off a new round of parties and eagerly anticipated books and movies.

“Twilight,” a movie based on the novel by Stephenie Myers, opens Friday in local theaters. The tale of teenage girl Bella and Edward, the handsome vampire who loves her, has found a wide audience beyond the young adult category. Local libraries have long waiting lists of readers who want to borrow the four book series.

“We had three copies of each of them, and I just bought a fourth copy because the waiting list was so long,” said Director Connie Shumate of the Princeton (WV) Public Library. “I don’t think even Harry Potter matched this. Harry Potter was basically young adult reading, but this is everybody. This is all age groups.”

November 20, 2008 by birdie Harry Potter Internet Libraries

Piece of Web 2.0 faces security update

Ryan Naraine notes at ZDNet’s Zero Day blog that Adobe is pushing out security updates for AIR, the Adobe Internet Runtime. AIR technology undergirds programs such as Twhirl, Spaz, and more that might be involved in alternative library outreach online.

November 19, 2008 by StephenK Internet Libraries

V. S. Naipaul, a Man Who Has Earned a Knighthood, a Nobel and Enemies Galore

New book about novelist V. S. Naipaul : THE WORLD IS WHAT IT IS,
The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul, By Patrick French,
Illustrated. 554 pages. Alfred A. Knopf. $30.

According to the review in the New York Times, it’s a handsome volume, jacketed in silver and black, with a disarming cover photograph of Mr. Naipaul stooping, with a gap-toothed grin, to tie a loose shoelace. Reviewer Dwight Garner says author French is “a relative rarity among biographers, a real writer, and at his best he sounds like a combination of that wily bohemian Geoff Dyer and that wittily matter-of-factual cyborg Michael Kinsley. Even the cameos in Mr. French’s biography are crazily vivid. Here is his hole-in-one description of the editor Francis Wyndham: “Popular, gentle, solitary and eccentric, Wyndham lived with his mother, wore heavy glasses and high-waisted trousers, gave off random murmurs and squeaks and moved with an amphibian gate.”

November 19, 2008 by birdie Uncategorized