January 2014

In a follow up to an earlier story, the Conan Doyle estate may appeal the ruling against it’s copyright claim according to this Publishers Weekly story.

“Is Sherlock Holmes truly a free man? Not so fast say attorneys for the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

In a December 23 decision, an Illinois federal court held that Holmes and other characters and story elements in more than 50 Sherlock Holmes stories are in the public domain. But attorneys for the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle this week insisted that the complete characters of Holmes and Watson won’t be freed until the final 10 stories published after 1922 enter the public domain, in 2022.”

Jelly is a new app that lets you share pictures of objects you cannot identify. People you know are then asked to identify the objects for you. Is this an inefficient, narcissism-enabling way of obtaining information, or yet another revolutionary killer app? At what point should your library get on board?

http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2014/01/07/10-most-and-least-stressful-jobs-2014/
Least stressful jobs:

1. Audiologist
Stress Score: 3.35

2. Hair Stylist
Stress Score: 5.41

3. Jeweler
Stress Score: 7.26
…

Links over at BoingBoing and Mefi. Many collections such as the Maurice Lamontagne Institute Library in Mont-Joli, Québec ended up in dumpsters while others such as Winnipeg’s historic Freshwater Institute library were scavenged by citizens, scientists and local environmental consultants. Others were burned or went to landfills, say scientists.

Book Collections and Inheritance: The Quandary
http://www.teleread.com/books/book-collections-and-inheritance-the-quandary/

BiblioTech bookless library in San Antonio proves very popular
http://www.teleread.com/ebooks/bibliotech-bookless-library-in-san-antonio-proves-very-popular/

Shebooks: do we need a place for strictly female readers?
http://www.teleread.com/publishing/shebooks-do-we-need-a-place-for-strictly-female-readers/

ruswu44

Online Privacy: We Are The Authors Of Our Own Demise…
Lost in the furor over government spying on its citizens is an inconvenient truth: personal data is the new currency of the 21st century, and until we rein in our desire to spend it we can’t really stop others’ desires to spy on it.

Texas library offers glimpse of bookless future
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/04/san-antonio-bookless-public-library/4310655/

Even the librarians imitate Apple’s dress code, wearing matching shirts and that standard-bearer of geek-chic, the hoodie. But this $2.3 million library might be most notable for what it does not have — any actual books.

That makes Bexar County’s BiblioTech the nation’s only bookless public library, a distinction that has attracted scores of digital bookworms, plus emissaries from as far away as Hong Kong who want to learn about the idea and possibly take it home.

Two authors, Mohsin Hamid and Anna Holmes, weigh in on the pros and cons of e-reading, from the Sunday New York Times.

Via Publishers Weekly.

While many are quick to point to technology and a shifting digital age as the end of books and libraries, more than ever, public libraries are becoming a vital hub of civic engagement for communities as societies grapple with a number of social challenges and public policy solutions.

That was the essence of remarks by Ken Brecher, president of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, during a convening of USC’s Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy’s “Conversations on Philanthropy” series at the California Club.
– See more at: http://news.usc.edu/#!/article/58045/could-this-be-the-golden-age-of-public-libraries/