…and here’s the ‘official’ BEA Librarians blog. Why does BEA love librarians? Hmmm, probably because there are fewer and fewer bookstores around :(. [birdie’s request: please support your local bookstores and partner with them whenever possible].
This month’s entry includes YA, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction and Fiction favorites and asks librarians…what do YOU like? Check it out.
Are There Too Many Books?
In fact, among the various forms of information and entertainment, books are distinctive because there are so many of them. Every movie, television program, news organization, and the top tiers of websites combined represent a relatively small number compared to the books being published. Books do fall into categories, such as fiction, nonfiction, and textbooks, and subcategories like politics, economics, history, romance, science-fiction and so on; yet, most books have to be considered separate entities with their own strategy for reaching an audience.
War of words: Are private libraries best?
A bitterly-contested proposal to stem an emerging trend toward privatization of public libraries in California is undergoing myriad changes as it awaits action in the state Senate.
It’s good to see people getting upset by important issues…
President Obama: Why don’t you read more women?
“Now the fact that the president of the United States apparently doesn’t read women writers is not the greatest crisis facing the arts, much less the nation — but it’s upsetting nevertheless. As I suspect Obama would agree, matters of prejudice are never entirely minor, even when their manifestations may seem relatively benign.”
The Daily Beast isn’t upset (WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE) but they do have a nice little quote: “If the president of the United States manages time for fiction, why can’t we?”
Review essay published in American Archivist
In 1763 James Boswell, a young Scot of twenty-two, met Samuel Johnson, then fifty-three and the most famous literary figure in London. From then until Johnson’s death in 1784, Boswell was a frequent companion of the great man and, as he proved in his biography published in 1791, Johnson’s documenter as well. After reading a couple of sentences of such description of this relationship, one could easily dismiss this as a minor literary event. Yet, Boswell’s Life of Johnson was a pioneering biography, and, astonishingly, the book has stayed in print and been read by generations over the past two centuries. James Boswell’s scholarship, methodology, and his own papers constitute an interesting story for archivists and other records professionals. Adam Sisman’s study provides insights into how journals were conceived and created, glimpses into earlier perceptions of archives, the connection of archives to individual reputation, and a miscellany of other aspects of the formation of documents that demonstrate why archivists need to read outside their own professional literature.
In the film versions of “Pride and Prejudice” the music jumps and swells at all the right moments, heightening the tension and romance of that classic Jane Austen novel.
Will it do the same in the e-book edition?
Booktrack, a start-up in New York, is planning to release e-books with soundtracks that play throughout the books, an experimental technology that its founders hope will change the way many novels are read.
Self-published author John Locke has just signed a deal with a major publisher. In June this year, the American writer of contemporary crime became the first author to sell a million copies on Kindle.
While the publisher, Simon & Schuster, will handle sales and distribution for Locke’s books, they won’t cash in on his digital sales.
Locke – who sold his digital books via Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform – is responsible for the popular Donovan Creed novels.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/310683#ixzz1VuB6qw5U
Commentary by Mike Shatzkin on this story: John Locke and S&S show us another kind of deal we can expect to see again
For a stranger, the main library at the University of Illinois at Chicago can be hard to find. The directions I got from a pair of clerks at the credit union in the student center have proven unreliable. I now find myself adrift among ash trees and drab geometric buildings.
Finally, I call for help. Firouzeh Logan, a reference librarian here, soon appears and guides me where I need to go. Several unmarked pathways and an escalator ride later, I am in a private room on the second floor of the library, surrounded by librarians eager to answer my questions.
Most students never make it this far.
Did you feel it? Any books fall off the shelves?
A 5.9-Magnitude (corrected to 5.8) earthquake struck the Eastern US shortly before 2:00 pm EST, centered in Virginia, but it was felt from the Carolinas to Toronto. Lots of libraries and other buildings were evacuated (some on Wall Street in NYC); here’s a story from Spartanburg County, SC:
Spartanburg County Emergency Management Coordinator Doug Bryson was attending a state emergency managers’ meeting in Columbia discussing Hurricane Irene when the room began shaking. “It was a weird feeling,” Bryson said. “The floor and chairs were all shaking. Apparently, it’s affected the whole East Coast.” Bryson said he began getting calls about the quake but had not heard of any damage so far in Spartanburg County. The quake shook the shelves at the Spartanburg County Headquarters Library, which was briefly evacuated.
More reports from Patchogue NY, the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg VA, and the Nation’s Capital, where the Library of Congress was evacuated.
This is part four in my many part series on IT Security In Libraries. In Part Three I covered passwords. In part 2 we talked privacy. In Part One I tried to lay the foundation for security.
Today’s post is a big bunch of tips (in convenient list form) on how to keep yourself safe while surfing the web. A bundle of easy practical tips you can take anywhere to make your computers safer. This is a pretty long list that can be boiled down to three important bullet points:
On your computer:
Keep that OS patched and updated. Related: Don’t use Windows XP
Disable hidden filename extensions
Make sure ALL those programs are updated. Especially don’t miss anything made by Adobe (e.g. Flash & Acrobat)
Never install things you’re not sure are safe. Especially don’t trust anything from Torrents or P2P sites. Avoid downloading programs from unknown sources
If you’re not using something, just remove it. Every program installed on your computer opens a potential new hole.
Make sure your firewall is turned on
Make sure file sharing is turned off
Use a reputable virus & malware protection software program, keep it up to date and run it often
Make sure that the Macro Virus Protection feature is enabled in all Microsoft applications
Never trust any links, attachments, short links, or anything else from anywhere or anyone unless you are SURE what’s inside
Have a recovery plan – Is your stuff backed up?
If it’s a laptop, use something like Prey Project
Advanced: Consider changing up your hosts file and/or using something like OPEN DNS.
Your Wi-Fi At Home:
Make sure you set a good password and use WPA or WPA2
Be sure to change the default Administrator Passwords (and Usernames)
Change the Default SSID and also disable SSID Broadcast
Turn off DHCP and set a fixed IP address range instead
Use MAC Address Filtering
When you’re not using it, just turn it off
Be sure to keep the firmware upgraded
Change your passwords every so often
Your Email:
Never open email attachments unless you know for sure what that file contains
Never click a link unless you know for sure where it leads is safe
Check your mail filters and forwards for things you didn’t add
Use good passwords
Sign out when you’re done
Use two factor authentication when possible (e.g. Google Authenticator for Gmail)
Be sure to use https when on public Wi-Fi
Consider using 2 separate email accounts to keep important things separate from everyday stuff
Watch out for short links, it’s hard to know where they’ll lead you
Your Browser:
Keep your browsers updated to the latest secure releases
Keep ALL Plugins updated to the latest secure releases, especially anything from Adobe
Don’t install things from sources you don’t trust
Block cookies, flash, and JavaScript (use with caution, will cause you trouble)
Use a password manager to store all your many passwords
Watch out for short links
A Few Recommended Plugins:
Your Social Media Stuff
Double check your apps. Make sure you know which applications have access to your profiles
Use two factor authentication when possible
Read the Facebook’s Guides in the Safety Center
Monitor and adjust your privacy & security settings
Use good passwords
Get more selective about sending and accepting friend requests. Don’t friend everyone.
Show “limited friends” a cut-down version of your profile
Facebook, Twitter and Gmail all offer help if you do in fact lose your accounts.
What about if you’re traveling?
Don’t do online banking or other financial transactions while away from home
Do not set your phone to automatically join any unlocked hotspot
Consider public computers in hotels and elsewhere dangerous
If you leave a laptop or other device in your hotel room, lock them up
Don’t post travel photos and writings on social network sites until you get home
What do you do AFTER you learned you’ve been hacked?
Change Your Passwords
Take that computer/server offline
Take as much time as you can to figure out what happened
Was it a password? Old program that had a hole in it?
If you can’t figure it out, you should probably format everything. Chances are good you can’t just patch things and keep on going. You may miss a backdoor or another open door, and the bad guys will still be around. Hopefully you had all the important stuff backed up and can start over from scratch.
Firesheep
Last but not least… make sure you’re familiar with something called Firesheep. I touched on this already in my post on privacy. It’s important for you to know just how easy it is for anyone to login as you on common sites you might be using every day. This is the number one reason you should never use an unsecured Wi-Fi connection when you’re out at someplace like Starbucks or Panera Bread, or anywhere else someone might be listening in. Firesheep makes it trivial for anyone to take over your online social life. It’s a simple little extension for Firefox that allows someone to grab your login to just about any website you’re using on your computer. See Also: Faceniff for Android mobile phones
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