August 2015

The Library Digital Privacy Pledge of 2015

The Pledge for Libraries:
1. We will make every effort to ensure that web services and information resources under direct control of our library will use HTTPS within six months. [ dated______ ]
2. Starting in 2016, our library will assure that any new or renewed contracts for web services or information resources will require support for HTTPS by the end of 2016.

From The Library Digital Privacy Pledge of 2015 – Google Docs

Rousting the Book Pirates From Google

Google Play has been criticized as a sort of vast and unruly garden compared with Apple’s impeccably mowed lawns. In Forbes recently, Erik Kain called Google Play “an ugly, poorly organized store filled with myriad knockoffs, dubious ‘games’ and other apps.” That sounds a bit harsh to the Haggler, a Google Play regular who has had mostly positive experiences.

From Rousting the Book Pirates From Google – The New York Times

Even University Libraries Aren’t Keeping Hard Copy Books

In the face of these changes, academic librarians have no choice but to take action. Their challenge, though, is that there are simply too many print books and not enough on-campus space to store them.

The most obvious solution to too many books is “weeding,” the library profession’s term for removing books from a collection. While weeding creates space for new books, it has significant labor and disposal costs. Also, it can meet with stiff resistance from faculty and students.

So an increasingly popular strategy for managing overcrowded stacks is moving books to high-density, low-cost, off-campus storage.

From Even University Libraries Aren’t Keeping Hard Copy Books

Even University Libraries Aren’t Keeping Hard Copy Books

In the face of these changes, academic librarians have no choice but to take action. Their challenge, though, is that there are simply too many print books and not enough on-campus space to store them.

The most obvious solution to too many books is “weeding,” the library profession’s term for removing books from a collection. While weeding creates space for new books, it has significant labor and disposal costs. Also, it can meet with stiff resistance from faculty and students.

So an increasingly popular strategy for managing overcrowded stacks is moving books to high-density, low-cost, off-campus storage.

From Even University Libraries Aren’t Keeping Hard Copy Books

It’s not too late to reclaim our online privacy

How did we get here? Data has become currency: we barter it for services from operating systems to music players, while accepting promises of personalisation and assurances of security from those to whom we entrust it.

That trust is misplaced. Silicon Valley is built on data trading, and its products reflect that. Webmail isn’t encrypted; that would stop lucrative ads. Apps don’t tell us what they’re doing. Ad-trackers stalk you as you browse. And instead of real security, we are exhorted to strengthen our passwords – which is unintuitive and largely futile.

From It’s not too late to reclaim our online privacy | New Scientist

Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive?

My thesis here is a modest one: that prolificacy is sometimes inevitable, and has its place. The accepted definition — “producing much fruit, or foliage, or many offspring” — has an optimistic ring, at least to my ear.

Not everyone feels that way. I remember a party where some self-appointed arbiter of literary taste joked that Joyce Carol Oates was like the old lady who lived in a shoe, and had so many children she didn’t know what to do. In truth, Ms. Oates knows exactly what she is doing, and why she is doing it. “I have more stories to tell,” she writes in her journals, and “more novels.” I’m glad of that, because I want to read them.

From Stephen King: Can a Novelist Be Too Productive? – The New York Times

Associated Press sues FBI over fake news story

The AP sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the FBI last year seeking documents related to the 2014 sting. It also seeks to know how many times the FBI has used such a ruse since 2000. The FBI responded to the AP saying it could take two years or more to gather the information requested. Unsatisfied with the response, the Associated Press has taken the matter to court.

From Associated Press sues FBI over fake news story | Ars Technica

Call for Developer: The Wikipedia Library, Digital Library Card Platform

Call for Developers
We are planning to create a Digital Library Card Platform for The Wikipedia Library (see description below). We are looking for a developer, or team, with a history of successfully developing web applications in open development frameworks (such as Drupal, Angular, Ember, CiviCRM, etc.). Efficient production, clear communication, and well-structured and secure code are a must. Additional consideration will go towards applicants who have worked in the Library and Information Science field, on Open Source projects, or in the Wikimedia/Mediawiki communities. Our budget currently allows for $5000-$15,000 for development of a working version within 4- 6 months. We expect to expand the platform in two later phases to add additional functionality around standard online library services.

From Call for Developer: The Wikipedia Library, Digital Library Card Platform – Google Docs