February 2012

Old City libraries in Hyderabad cry for attention
Housed in dilapidated buildings with infrequent supply of electricity, shortage of staff and facing space crunch due to increasing number of old books, the government libraries in the Old City are crying for urgent attention.

Hyderabad district has about 90 libraries of which 40 are located in the Old City, reflecting that once this part of the twin cities had a vibrant reading culture. Today, the condition of these libraries is a deterrent for visitors.

Bad movie/worse book, Part I: Why ‘The Help’ is hopeless
Editor’s note: In the run-up to this Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, we will be writing about three nominees for Best Picture that are not only unworthy of such distinction, but are all adaptations of even worse books. Hence the title of the feature. Enjoy.

To be fair, the film version of “The Help” was working from deeply flawed source material. The book, by Kathryn Stockett, was weak in both word and deed — rife with clichés, melodrama and a soupcon of racial uplift through the lens of a white woman.

Obama Administration Sides with Consumers in Online Privacy Debate
Among the key points, as outlined in the report’s executive summary:

1.Individual Control: Consumers have a right to exercise control over what personal data companies collect from them and how they use it.
2.Transparency: Consumers have a right to easily understandable and accessible information about privacy and security practices.
3.Respect for Context: Consumers have a right to expect that companies will collect, use and disclose personal data in ways that are consistent with the context in which consumers provide the data.
4.Security: Consumers have a right to secure and responsible handling of personal data.
5.Access and Accuracy: Consumers have a right to access and correct personal data in usable formats, in a manner that is appropriate to the sensitivity of the data and the risk of adverse consequences to consumers if the data is inaccurate.
6.Focused Collection: Consumers have a right to reasonable limits on the personal data that companies collect and retain.
7.Accountability: Consumers have a right to have personal data handled by companies with appropriate measures in place to assure they adhere to the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.

From the radio program – “On the Media”
Late last month, a Cambridge Mathematician wrote a blog post that launched a massive boycott of the largest publisher of academic journals in the world. The boycott, now more than 6,000 academics strong, has ignited a discussion over the cost of, and access to, information published by academics. Rick Karr reports on rising discontent with the current academic publishing model.

Download MP3

Transcript

Front page for story

Because libraries are, at most 5% of a general trade publisher’s business and far less of the ebook business, and because the market is changing so rapidly and because every retailer except Amazon can be said to be struggling to carve out a sustainable position in the global ebook marketplace, there are many legitimate reasons for the biggest publishers to take a wait-and-see attitude about libraries and ebooks. The fear is of a “shopping and consuming” experience at the libraries which is comparable to what the retailers can offer. That potential is largely mitigated now because most of the big books don’t go to them. But, if they did, publishers fear the market could shift away from retail.

That fear is not just about a “lost sale”. It is also about a “lost channel” of sales, or a pipe to the consumer that runs entirely through Amazon.

Full article:Libraries and publishers don’t have symmetrical interest in a conversation

Author Discovers Bots Competing To Sell His Book
What was happening was that a bot had found the book and priced it at some ridiculous level – $45 at last count. Bueno was bemused, at best, and realized that bots had found the book and were essentially running a price war amongst themselves in order to offer the same print-on-demand book Bueno was offering at a massively inflated price. They were, in short, going to buy the $14 book and resell it for forty dollars more.

“My reaction to this algorithmic whipsawing has settled down to a kind of helpless bemusement. I mean, the plot of my bookis about how understanding computers is the first step to taking control of your life in the 21st century. Now I don’t know what to believe.”

Architect Turns a NYC Phone Booth into a Mini Library
Typically, a phone booth is a last resort. Your cell phone dies, or it’s in your other bag, and you’re forced to muster up quarters and the one phone number you actually have memorized to place a call, lest you’re stuck sorting through a dogeared phone book. Either way, placing this type of phone call requires courage and patience, for stepping inside of the typically graffitied, claustrophobic receptacles and crossing your fingers for a dial tone has become an act of antiquated bravery in today’s mobile-driven world.

Jim Henry is going to be featured in People magazine. More details about Mr. Henry and his book at EarlyWord – 98-year-old Debut Author Featured in PEOPLE

Old-School Prisoner Wants Books, Not Westlaw
Since 1989 a prisoner has been serving time in an Ohio state prison for rape, kidnapping, felonious assault and aggravated assault convictions. Frustrated that the prison library replaced law books with computer access to Westlaw, her has sued the prison, requesting $80,000 in compensatory damages and up to $200,000 in punitive damages for the violation of his constitutional right to a law library.

Maurice Sendak’s Long History of Scaring Kids
The librarian’s comment reveals the paradox of Maurice Sendak books: So often, children and adults disagree about them. She’s on the defensive, her persnickety “we should not like” suggesting some standard of tact or dignity has been broached; meanwhile, the “sensitive” child is not terrified but enthralled, poring over the work with awe and wonder. It’s not the child who feels threatened, but the adult.