Aaron

Kids from TV-Watching Families May have Reading Trouble

Very young children who live in homes where the television is on most of the time may have more trouble learning how to read than other kids their age, according to a study of media habits of children up to 6 years old.

“Watching TV is far inferior to playing with toys, being read to or playing with adults or talking with parents,” said Dr. Henry Shapiro, chairman of developmental and behavior pediatrics at the American Academy of Pediatrics. “Watching TV without a parent is a junk experience, especially for young children.”

The Full Story from the Star-Tribune

[thanks Robin]

October 29, 2003 by Uncategorized

Amazon as Search Tool

Bibliofuture writes “Slate has an interesting article, “The Best Search Idea Since Google: How Amazon can make money from books you already own.”

The author mentions how Amazon’s new “Search Inside” feature can be used to search not only books one might consider buying, but also those one already owns.
The full story.

Is your current OPAC so lousey that you find yourself at amazon.com to find correct titles for books?
Would you consider turning to amazon.com to see the contents of a book before looking on shelf for a patron?

October 29, 2003 by Amazon Google Yahoo

Lucky Library Wins Luxe Car

“The Berkshire Eagle had this story about librarian Nancy Walker hitting a big one.

Excerpt: “When Nancy Walker goes back to work as head librarian at Berkshire Community College next week, she won’t be driving her 2002 Toyota Camry.

Instead, she’ll be behind the wheel of a 2004 convertible Porsche Boxster…””

[via Katie]

October 26, 2003 by Librarians Libraries

Chaucer Goes Online with “Canterbury Tales”

Poet Geoffrey Chaucer has made a pilgrimage to the Internet after
the British Library published on its website the entire first two editions of his 14th
century classic, “The Canterbury Tales”
at
http://prodigi.bl.uk/treasures/caxton/search.asp

The digitisation of the work, a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English and told
by pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral, coincides with the anniversary of
Chaucer’s death on October 25, 1400.

“The Canterbury Tales” has been a bestseller and one of the most loved books in the
English language since it was first printed by William Caxton in the 1470s.

“With these digital copies users can explore (Caxton’s) early editions in their entirety
and study not only the text but the development of printing techniques and illustration,”
British Library spokeswoman Kristian Jensen said.

Told by pilgrims from all layers of society travelling to the shrine of the murdered Saint
Thomas a Becket, the tales, written between 1387 and 1400, range from the romantic
to the bawdy and are marked by timeless insights into human nature.

[from Reuters.co.uk
via Charles Davis]

October 26, 2003 by Internet Libraries

Book Drive for Kalangba Agricultural Secondary School

Michele Wisneski writes:

I’m a second year library science student organizing a book drive for a school in Sierra Leone. Their library was destroyed during the fighting in 1998. Info on the book drive is available on my website: www.thebookfaerie.net; additional information on the school is available at www.teunvoeten.com. Would it be possible to have this posted on LIS News?
Thank you
-Michele Wisneski

Why yes, it would, but only because you’re so well mannered. I think because of his politeness you should take that copy of The Sound and the Fury you’re never going to open again and send it on. Maybe ask your library friends too.

October 21, 2003 by Books EBooks Libraries School Libraries

SanFran PL and RFID

Included in the San Francisco Public Library’s three year strategic plan is the idea of adopting RFID by 2005-6. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation who claims the technology could compromise patron privacy.

…critics contend that if the devices can be turned off, they can be turned on. And that, they say, means that anybody from a law enforcement officer to a small-time computer hacker could track the whereabouts of somebody who just checked out, say, “The Communist Manifesto.” Or a bomb-making book. Or erotica.

SF Gate story

Globe and Mail story

October 7, 2003 by Legal Issues Libraries

Can a Librarian Go to the Prom?

An anonymous patron sent this one in [via craigslist]

can a librarian go to the prom? -m4w
I was at the central library this evening with my daughter. Completly and unexpectedly I became smitten with the beautiful librarian working in the juvenial section. I’ve been trying to work up the courage to ask a woman to the prom being held at Roshambeau Winery this saturday night. I’m a single father and would never ever ask a woman out in front of my number one lady(daughter). I do hope you are there when I get a chance to come in alone. Oh and I know tons about Yom Kippur now, thank you.

Just thought we’d post this in case the lucky librarian reads LISNews!
[link]

October 7, 2003 by Librarians Libraries

Going Google and Beyond

You’re looking for information on something — say, the number of movies that have been filmed in Ottawa. You fire up your Web browser, go to Google, type in a few words, and come up with the perfect answer, right?

Not so fast, my friend.

Although this neat story from Canada.com offers some alternatives to Google, it doesn’t mention librarians, or virtual reference projects such as My Web Librarian. I guess that was to much to ask. It does mention two names synonymous with search engines in the library world, Gary Price and Chris Sherman. It also contains a little guide to the difference in the major search engines.

The Full Story

[via Gary Deane]

September 25, 2003 by Google Libraries

‘Green’ library in the works

From the San Francisco Examiner: “SAN MATEO — “Goodbye old 55.” A slogan tagged in copper-colored paint in the stairwell of San Mateo’s now-empty, old Main Library says it all — it is time to make way for something new.

In the city’s largest recycling/rebuilding project to date, the old building at 55 W. Third Ave. is about to be fully gutted in order to make way for the foundation of the long-awaited $65 million new “green” Main Library. In fact, with this project, San Mateo is on its way to becoming the first city — not only in the county, but also in all of Northern California — to build a certified sustainable public library.

The full story
[via Katie]

September 25, 2003 by Librarians Libraries

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