Blake

E-Books Can Subvert Book Bans, But Corporate Profit-Seeking Stands in the Way

E-Books Can Subvert Book Bans, But Corporate Profit-Seeking Stands in the Way
Exorbitant costs and restrictive licenses are obstructing libraries’ efforts to resist book bans via access to e-books.

“The ultimate aim is to try to get five or six state laws passed, and then hope that the federal government says, ‘Okay, this is a mess. We’ve been kicking the can down the road for 30 years on this digital copyright stuff. It’s time for us to look at this and say, libraries have a vital function. We need to carve out special exemptions for them and make the terms under which they get books more fair.’”

“No one else is saving it”: the fight to protect a historic music collection

The ARChive of Contemporary Music, which houses more than 90m songs and is supported by names such as Martin Scorsese, is in need of a new home

The Arc preserves copies of every recording in all known formats. It has electronically catalogued more than 400,000 sound recordings and digitised 200,000 with the Internet Archive – more than any other public university or private library in America. It also contains more than 3m pieces of material including photos, videos, DVDs, books, magazines, press kits, sheet music, ephemera and memorabilia.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/16/archive-of-contemporary-music-new-york

Iowa election 2023: Pella Public Library retains independence

Pella voters keep library independent by slim margin following failed 'Gender Queer' challenge

In a tense battle over book censorship, Pella residents voted Tuesday to protect the local library board’s independence.

About 51% of voters cast ballots against a measure to give City Hall officials oversight of the library’s actions and budget, according to unofficial results. The non-binding referendum reached the ballot after some residents petitioned the library board to remove a graphic novel about gender fluidity, mirroring a national debate driven by conservatives over what books taxpayer-funded libraries should carry.

Just 87 votes separated the two sides, according to unofficial results.

Thanks Robin !

A door at a Swedish library was accidentally left open 446 people came in, borrowed 245 books. Every single one was returned

A door at a Swedish library was accidentally left open — 446 people came in, borrowed 245 books. Every single one was returned
They say a reader does not steal and a thief does not read. In the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, that’s definitely true.

Mihai AndreibyMihai Andrei November 9, 2023 in News, Offbeat
When Anna Carin Elf arrived at her workplace in Gothenburg, she immediately realized something was not right. She works at a library, and she was greeted by several visitors, just like any other day. But this was not any other day — the library was supposed to be closed.

“They were surprised. They thought it was a bit empty,” she says. “The people in the library behaved as usual. Many were sitting reading newspapers, some families were in the children’s section and others were searching for books on the computer.”

Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age – Without maintenance, most digital information will be lost in just a few decades

Shining a Light on the Digital Dark Age
Without maintenance, most digital information will be lost in just a few decades. How might we secure our data so that it survives for generations?

The Internet Archive also takes multi-century preservation energy costs into account: “We own and operate and run all our own data centers,” says Bailey. “That’s partly because we’re an archive and don’t want to be dependent on corporate infrastructure, and partly because we can then run less expensive climate control operations.”

Stephen King: My Books Were Used to Train AI

My Books Were Used to Train AI

I have said in one of my few forays into nonfiction (On Writing) that you can’t learn to write unless you’re a reader, and unless you read a lot. AI programmers have apparently taken this advice to heart. Because the capacity of computer memory is so large—everything I ever wrote could fit on one thumb drive, a fact that never ceases to blow my mind—these programmers can dump thousands of books into state-of-the-art digital blenders. Including, it seems, mine. The real question is whether you get a sum that’s greater than the parts, when you pour back out.

In St. Joseph, local GOP pressured lawmakers to block approval of gay library board member

The Buchanan County party leader threatened not to allow city council members to run as Republicans if they approved the appointment of a gay pastor to the city’s library board. The controversy has created a push for broader change in St. Joseph.

In St. Joseph, local GOP pressured lawmakers to block approval of gay library board member

“This transgender and homosexual propaganda is pure evil, It is designed to destroy the family, to undercut traditional American values and our way of life, and ultimately institute governmental control that will undermine our city, county, state, and nation.”