May 2009

PA man admits selling faux “signed” books online: A Reading man admits he forged the signatures of Truman Capote, Tom Clancy and other famous authors and sold them for inflated prices on eBay.

School district criticized for reassigning librarians: The decision by the Bellevue School District to reassign all secondary librarians to classroom positions for the 09/10 school year has been criticized by some in the educational community.

Mike Eisenberg, dean emeritus and professor at the Information School of the University of Washington, said the move goes against the needs of the 21st century.

“This is the information age, and to compete in a tough, global economy, our children need to be experts in information seeking, use, evaluation, and synthesis,”

From Brave New World:

“Who said that the technology and digital revolution was only for the young? When Ivy Bean heard that a 97-year-old French woman was the oldest member of Facebook she decided to join. She soon attracted 5,000 friends and has 17,775 people waiting to be her friend. Unless you know someone older, Ivy from Bradford is now the oldest Facebook member at 103 years old and has now joined Twitter and already has 9500 followers!”

Since Brave New World ran the story, Ivy’s gained some readers: I’m @IvyBean104‘s 14,510th follower on Twitter. Her accounts will be great ones to show when teaching adults about Twitter and Facebook.

Some sample tweets from Ivy:

“hello all spending the morning reading wont be able to use lap top much today other residents are using it be in touch later

i am so happy i have got all these followers its really good

had a very nice lunch going to watch a film this afternoon i think we are watching the sound of music

me and my friend mabel are going to have a game of connect 4

Deal or no deal in 4hrs

@adam_lambert good luck”

Silence no longer reigns in today’s libraries, but every so often, patrons need a place for peace and yes, quiet.

Around the country, more and more public libraries provide designated quiet rooms to take the edge off their transformation into chaotic hubs, which was done in part to draw more visitors and keep pace with the demands of frenetic, technology-driven lives.

While adding toddler playtime and teen dances, library officials discovered that many patrons still longed for a traditional, less hectic atmosphere.

Says Rhoda Goldberg, director of the Harris County (TX) public library system, “”People wanted a place for quiet study. It takes them out of the hustle and bustle in buildings that are very busy. We’re going to be putting in quiet rooms as much as possible.”

Inside the Clear Lake quiet room, the loudest noises are whispers and the faint rustling of turning pages. Even the overstuffed upholstered armchairs encourage patrons to sink into stillness. Story from the AP.

I was hoping this one had a photo with it, but sorry…you’ll have to use your imagination. It’s another one of those “I’ll do thus and such if you kids read X number of books” stories.

Report from Jackson, MS : Children’s librarian Melissa Strauss laughed, “I’m here because I want to make good on a promise at the beginning of the school year.” The promise: she would become a human popcorn ball. Before she got into the plastic pool filled with popcorn, the principal poured sticky syrup all over Strauss. Then it was time to jump in and roll around.

Why is this happening? This librarian challenged her students to read 10 million words from library books. “They read 10.5 million.”

The pure joy of this mess thrilled the students. “I love the way she dived into the pool.” “A little like something I want to do to somebody.” ” I think it was funny.” ” I love it.”

Strauss apparently picks a new ‘treat’ for the kids each year, and thus far, they haven’t let her down.

A media specialist and several high school students are suing two school districts in Tennessee for unconstitutionally blocking access to online information about gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) issues.

Librarian Karyn Stort-Brinks, students Keila Franks and Emily Logan, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee against the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools and Knox County Schools. Franks and Logan attend Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville. Knox News reports.

Two new books offer very different partisan takes on digital copyright issues but fail to come to terms with the counterarguments.

Full piece in the New York Times.

Article looks at the books:

Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music

Digital Barbarism: A Writer’s Manifesto

In the Independent State of Samoa, not to be confused with the Territory of American Samoa where the First Amendment comes into play, the country’s lead censor has banned the screening of Angels & Demons in the capital Apia. The censor’s reason for doing so, according to Radio New Zealand International, is that the film is critical of the church so to prevent discrimination against the church by others the ban is put into play. This is in contrast to the Associated Press reporting that L’Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Vatican city-state, had deemed the film “harmless”.

In other news from the Samoan archipelago, Radio New Zealand International reports that television reality series Survivor will be filming in the Independent State of Samoa next month. For contestants wanting to escape to a US jurisdiction, ferry service is available on Wednesdays.

As they’ve said in broadcasting for years, “Due to circumstances beyond our control,” Hyperlinked History will be delayed until next Thursday. Nothing bad, but among those “circumstances” is the fact that my ISP is having issues and I’ve not had Internet connectivity at my house for just under 14 hours now.

So I leave you with another timeless (aka ancient) broadcasting phrase: “Tune in next week” to find out how ancient tombs for divine kings links through time and history to another cultish fascination… with a soft drink.

Legal Informatics Blog has a Summary of WolframAlpha & Legal Research

For the summary click the link above.

Be prepared to read the phrase “seems unable to” several times.