July 2015

Librarian Did It Because “Everyone Was Doing It”

College Librarian in China Admits He Replaced Art With Fakes from ABC News.

A former chief librarian at a Chinese university admitted in court Tuesday to stealing more than 140 paintings by grandmasters in a gallery under his watch and replacing them with fakes he painted himself.

For two years up until 2006, Xiao Yuan substituted famous works including landscapes and calligraphies in a gallery within the library of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts.

He told the court in his defense that the practice appeared to be rampant and the handling of such paintings was not secure. He said he noticed fakes already hanging in the gallery on his first day on the job. Later, after he replaced some of the remaining masters with his own fakes, he was surprised when he noticed his fake paintings were being substituted with even more fakes.

July 21, 2015 by Librarians Libraries

Defunct Magazines: How “Desert” Captured the Southwest

Nicole’s staff pick from earlier today reminded me: I’ve been meaning to draw attention to the riches of archive.org’s Magazine Rack, a clearinghouse for defunct, forgotten, and abstruse periodicals from decades past. Anyone interested in media and design will find something diverting here. They’ve amassed a stupefyingly diverse collection, including such celebrated titles as OMNI (once the best sci-fi magazine around) and more … specialized fare, like The National Locksmith, Railway Modeller, and, of course, Sponsor, the magazine for radio and TV advertising buyers. All of these have been carefully digitized, and they’re free.

From Defunct Magazines: How “Desert” Captured the Southwest

July 19, 2015 by Uncategorized

Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries receives $10M gift

The main Hesburgh Library is in the midst of a major renovation. The gift will be used in part to fund renovation of the future home for the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship in that building, as well as to establish an endowment to support digital library services and research projects related to the center, the university announced Friday.

From Notre Dame’s Hesburgh Libraries receives $10M gift – South Bend Tribune: Local

July 18, 2015 by Libraries

LGBT Titles Will Stay on Library Shelves

From KERA News:

Hood County (TX) Commissioners said today that two LGBT-themed library books for kids will stay on the shelves.

Dozens of residents concerned about the books spoke before the commissioners earlier today in Granbury. Some want to remove the books from the shelves of the public library. Others want LGBT books for kids moved to another part of the library.

Last month, the county’s library advisory board voted to keep the books with one minor change. County attorney Lori Kaspar said the library director moved one of the books, “This Day in June,” from the kids section to the parenting shelves. The other book, “My Princess Boy,” remains in the children’s section.

July 14, 2015 by Librarians Libraries

School Libraries Are Under Attack

Yet, until now, federal education policy and legislation have neglected to support the role of school librarians. That needs to change. We need a national agenda and our elected officials to take a stand and ensure equity of library services and certified school librarians to teach the next generation to find and apply information to solve problems, think critically, and develop innovations.

From School Libraries Are Under Attack | The New Republic

July 14, 2015 by Libraries School Libraries

Paying for Internet content

Three stories about paying for Internet content on the radio program “On the Media”
The pieces are better than their titles suggest. I think you will find something of note in each piece.

Putting Tips in the Internet’s Guitar Case
http://www.onthemedia.org/story/putting-tips-internets-guitar-case/

Blocking Ad Blocker’s
http://www.onthemedia.org/story/blocking-ad-blockers/

This Quack Don’t Track
http://www.onthemedia.org/story/quack-dont-track/

I would give all three of these a listen even if the title does not entice you. There is nuance to each piece that I think librarians will find interesting.

July 12, 2015 by Internet Libraries

The NYT Looks at Watchman

From the New York Times, a review of the novel everyone has been waiting for, Go Set a Watchman. And you’re not going to like the once upstanding character Atticus Finch:

In “Mockingbird,” Atticus was a role model for his children, Scout and Jem — their North Star, their hero, the most potent moral force in their lives. In “Watchman,” he becomes the source of grievous pain and disillusionment for the 26-year-old Scout (or Jean Louise, as she’s now known).

While written in the third person, “Watchman” reflects a grown-up Scout’s point of view: The novel is the story of how she returned home to Maycomb, Ala., for a visit — from New York City, where she has been living — and tried to grapple with her dismaying realization that Atticus and her longtime boyfriend Henry Clinton both have abhorrent views on race and segregation.

July 10, 2015 by Uncategorized

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