December 2008

Students camp out in library this week

“Last semester I basically lived in the library for a week with a group of my friends,” said Jennifer Rosen, a SUNY Binghamton sophomore majoring in history and economics. “I ended up sleeping in the library on an air mattress that a bunch of people I was studying with had. We ate all our meals there and I practically didn’t go back to my room for like a week.”

“In one of the corner study rooms near where I was staying, there was someone with a coffee machine, a toaster and a whole table of food; they seriously lived in the library,”

December 17, 2008 by Librarians Libraries

The Future of the Internet III

A Pew survey of internet leaders, activists and analysts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, artificial and virtual reality become more embedded in everyday life, and the architecture of the internet itself improves.

They disagree about whether this will lead to more social tolerance, more forgiving human relations, or better home lives.

December 17, 2008 by Internet

Quotes of the Year Past

Fred R. Shapiro, a Yale Law School librarian and editor of the Yale Book of Quotations has compiled a list of memorable quotes for 2008, mostly having come from the world of politics.

To wit:

5. “The fundamentals of America’s economy are strong.” — McCain

4. “It’s not based on any particular data point, we just wanted to choose a really large number.” U.S. Treasury Department spokeswoman, explaining how the $700 billion number was chosen for the initial bailout

3. “We have sort of become a nation of whiners.” Sen. Phil Gramm

2. “All of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.” Gov. Sarah Palin, responding to a request by CBS anchor Katie Couric to name the newspapers or magazines she reads

December 17, 2008 by Legal Issues Libraries School Libraries

China defends censoring websites that break rules

China defended Tuesday the blocking of websites it said violated Chinese law and urged Internet companies to respect its legal system.

“The Chinese government conducts necessary management over the Internet. It is the same with other nations,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told journalists.

“You cannot deny, some websites actually contain content that violates China’s laws.”

December 17, 2008 by Google Internet Legal Issues

BookFinder.com Unveils the Top 10 Out-of-Print Books in America

Any correlation between This List and the list of books that are stolen from your library?

Three of the ten books in BookFinder.com’s 2008 list of the most sought after out-of-print books in America will go back into print in 2009 (“Once a Runner: A Novel,” “A Lion Called Christian,” and “Comanche Heart”). Two more titles, “The Lion’s Paw” and “Football Scouting Methods,” would have been included in the top 10 if they had not been pushed into print this fall.

December 17, 2008 by Books Libraries

Tennessee Supreme Court’s shuttering of its three state law libraries

State Supreme Court to close 3 libraries: Some high-level belt-tightening will result in the Tennessee Supreme Court’s shuttering of its three state law libraries, including its Middle Division library in Nashville, effective Dec. 21.

The high court’s ruling is effective Dec. 31. and is part of the judicial system’s budget-cutting process. Besides the Nashville library location closure, the court is also closing its libraries in Knoxville and Jackson.

The three law libraries combined house about 125,000 volumes and material on CD ROM. The Nashville location also has a computer lab.

December 16, 2008 by Legal Issues Libraries

What [Other] Blogs Should We Read In 2009?

2009 is almost here and we could use some help finishing up out 10 Blogs To Read in 2009 list. This year we’ll have 2 lists, one for librarian/library blogs, and one for everything else. We started voting Last Month, but the list is not even close to being finished.

What blogs do you read every day?
What blogs help you learn?
What blogs keep you informed?
What blogs make you laugh?
Who’s the best writer out there?

It might help to think of it this way: ‘I read many others, but these are the blogs that read even when time is short’

I’m looking for input from as many people as possible so the final list doesn’t miss anyone new.

Before your nominate, take a look at past winners, they aren’t eligible for 2009:

10 Blogs To Read in 2006
http://www.lisnews.org/node/17775

10 Blogs To Read In 2007
http://www.lisnews.org/node/20341

The LISNews 10 Blogs To Read In 2008
https://lisnews.org/node/28830

10 Non-Librarian Blogs To Read in 2008
https://lisnews.org/node/29120

You can leave a comment below, hit the contact form, or send an email to [email protected].

December 16, 2008 by Libraries

Penn Libraries Receive Gotham Book Mart Collection

Penn Libraries Receive Gotham Book Mart Collection: When the Gotham Book Mart closed its doors last year, the disposition of its precious contents was in question. But thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the Gotham Book Mart Collection has a new home at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. A landmark cultural institution in New York City, the Gotham Book Mart was the epitome of all that is engaging and inspiring about an independent bookstore. It was an oasis where poets, writers, and lovers of literature could gather for readings, discuss and discover authors and their works, and while away hours poring over the store’s eclectic and often unique inventory.

December 16, 2008 by Books Libraries

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