June 2009

It’s summer, and time for…duct tape?

Duct tape, the go-to tool of fixer-uppers everywhere. Created in the 1940s to keep moisture out of ammunition cases, duct tape has spawned an almost cult-like following. From television to fashion to art, duct tape has leapt out of the tool box and into international pop culture.

The PennLive article continues: The Hummelstown (PA) Community Library will sponsor “Got Duct Tape?” at 6 p.m. July 28 for students ages 12 to 18. Participants can use duct tape to make such items as wallets, purses, belts and flip flops. Duct-tape belts? Ouch. “Duct tape comes in so many different colors and designs. There’s neon and even camouflage,” said Ellen Miller, youth services librarian.

“There are Web sites that only talk about the joy of duct tape. Some of the projects are pretty bizarre. We won’t be passing those along.”

What? Not sharing information? What are these websites of which they speak? Is this one? And does your library use duct tape in crafts? Tell us more…

Signatures are piling up on petitions to stop the Seminole County Public Library system from being turned over to a private company.

At the start of June the Seminole County government asked for estimates on what it would cost for a private company to run the system — taking employees and customers of the publicly funded library off guard.

Read the full story.

The University of Wisconsin System School Library Education Consortium has been awarded almost $1 million to help school librarians become better versed in technology and social media such as Twitter.

The United States Institute of Museum and Library Services Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program will award $989,495 that will be used to train 50 new school library specialists for Wisconsin’s rural and high-need urban public schools. This was the only grant awarded in Wisconsin. More from Bizjournals/Milwaukee.

I wonder if Laura tweets?

The best in sci fi, fantasy, and horror were honored last night at the 35th annual Saturn Awards in Los Angeles. THE LIBRARIAN 3: CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE (with actor Noah Wyle, the character of librarian/archivist) brought home the honors in the field of TV.

Here’s a photo of him doing the typically challenging work of a librarian:

More from IF Magazine.

Not the Watchtower….but Concord Free Press, and yes, I guess they are getting a bit of free publicity from their endeavor. Check it out.

Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired magazine, copied portions of his forthcoming book, “Free: The Future of a Radical Price” from Wikipedia, without attribution. The passages were discovered by a reviewer for the Virginia Quarterly Review, who was reading an advance galley of the book, which is being published by Hyperion Books early next month.

Full article here.

Libraries across the country are encouraged to take part in United We Serve, a national campaign launched by President Obama to get more Americans involved in community volunteerism this summer.

Full story at School Library Journal.

The LISNews Netcast Network received an e-mail earlier today from the office of Deborah Newcomb, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives for the 99th district. Newcomb is a former Ashtabula County Commissioner and former member of Conneaut City Council.

Emily C. Barker, a Legislative Aide in Newcomb’s office, wrote that Newcomb sent a memorandum to the members of the conference committee considering the current cuts asking that they reconsider the proposal of fellow Democrat Governor Ted Strickland. Barker noted that Newcomb believes that the proposed cut would prevent libraries in Ashtabula County from providing the same level of service enjoyed by residents now.

Raw audio being worked with to produce LISTen #78 is available via Archives.org under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States license for libraries wishing to use such prior to the normal episode airing. A variety of formats are available there. A simple player is available here:

Reed Elsevier officials have admitted that it was a mistake for the STM publisher’s marketing division to offer $25 (£15) Amazon gift cards to anyone who would give a new textbook five stars in a review posted on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

More here.

Following the successful completion of the MyCopy pilot project, the specialist publishing group Springer Science+Business Media has, with immediate effect, extended this eBook service to all academic libraries in the USA and Canada that have purchased Springer eBook Collections. All registered library patrons will be able to order a soft cover copy of a Springer eBook for their personal use by clicking on a button on the Springer platform.

Full piece here.