Borders Employees Vent Frustrations in ‘Ode to a Bookstore Death’
As Borders closed forever this weekend, one patron snapped a photograph of a bitter bookseller’s manifesto an unidentified store: “Things We Never Told You: Ode to a Bookstore Death.”
The massive list collected years worth of pent-up sarcasm and frustration, spawning thousands of angry (and bemused) reactions from bookstore patrons.
Public Library eBooks for Kindle Now Available, Check Your Library
Amazon and OverDrive have quietly started rolling out Kindle ebook lending from public libraries, albeit in Beta. Even though there hasn’t been any official announcement yet, some public libraries have already started lending ebooks for the Kindle. (e.g. Seattle)
She noticed the vine growing outside the Oak Ridge Branch of the Morehouse Parish Library this summer but never really gave it much thought. Just the same, Carolyn Files watered what she felt was a watermelon vine throughout the drought of this summer.
Files noticed a tiny watermelon growing amidst the flowers late last week. Arriving at work Monday morning, she was pleasantly surprised to see it was flourishing. Files said she and an employee of the village of Mer Rouge monitored the vine’s progress during the summer, never expecting it to produce fruit.
Bush library fundraising has surpassed $300M goal
George W. Bush has already surpassed his goal of raising more than $300 million to support his presidential library. A Bush spokesman said the foundation will not name the financial backers though it plans to name some later. The largest single contribution in the past year was $25 million.
Flood-Damaged Libraries Emerge As Response Hubs
“In many towns, I’m getting reports of folks coming to the library just to make connections. They need someone to talk with. They’re meeting their neighbors. They’re sharing stories. They’re using the internet to connect with the larger world. But I think it’s that human connection that I hear about so much in these libraries.”
Netflix and Libraries: You Are What “Your Users” Think You Are, Not What You Think You Are
“Academic libraries also like to think of themselves as teaching partners. Sadly, library users – both faculty and students alike – tend to have a very different perception on that matter. Many library users also think of libraries as a warehouse of books while most libraries do not think their mission is simply purchasing and keeping books in a library building. Librarians constantly make efforts to change these prevalent but incorrect perceptions of users. But in order to address them more successfully, we need to think from users’ point of view, not libarians’ point of view.”
[Thanks Sir Shuping!]
Setting Boundaries for Internet Privacy
For 18 months, the European Commission has been considering how to put into practice a 2009 law that regulates software cookies, the unique digital markers that Web sites place on visiting computers to identify consumers and deliver ads tailored to individual interests.
This year, a consensus appeared to be building in Brussels for letting the online advertising industry regulate its use of cookies.
Copyright confusion dogs European digitisation push
The cultural life of Europe will suffer unless more effort is made to clarify what libraries can do with so-called orphan works, says a study.
The British Library looked into ways to speed up the digitisation of books, journals and other printed materials held by Europe’s libraries.
It considered 10 works from every decade between 1870 and 2010.
About 43% of the sample were orphan works suggesting a large part of Europe’s media may never go online.
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