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The best American wall map

By contrast, David Imus worked alone on his map seven days a week for two full years. Nearly 6,000 hours in total. It would be prohibitively expensive just to outsource that much work. But Imus—a 35-year veteran of cartography who’s designed every kind of map for every kind of client—did it all by himself. He used a computer (not a pencil and paper), but absolutely nothing was left to computer-assisted happenstance. Imus spent eons tweaking label positions. Slaving over font types, kerning, letter thicknesses. Scrutinizing levels of blackness. It’s the kind of personal cartographic touch you might only find these days on the hand-illustrated ski-trail maps available at posh mountain resorts.

From The best American wall map: David Imus’ “The Essential Geography of the United States of America”

May 13, 2017 by Uncategorized

How J.J. Abrams Reinvented the Written Word with ‘S.’

“It made me smile, this optimistic, romantic idea that you could leave a book with a message for someone. It reminded me of being in college, and seeing the notes that people would leave in the margins of the books they’d checked out of the library.”

With the help of creative writing mastermind and novelist Doug Dorst, Abrams built on the romantic idea of the found object as a storytelling device. He constructed, from the ground up, a meta-narrative, centered upon a novel titled Ship of Theseus, written by fictitious author V.M. Straka, in 1949.

From How J.J. Abrams Reinvented the Written Word with ‘S.’

May 12, 2017 by Libraries

Top 20 Library Scandals in Recent History

Hopefully these examples show how at times it’s worth turning our gaze inward to discover how we can do things better. That’s why, although there’s certainly plenty of cases of library patrons behaving badly — from hackers to politicians to exhibitionists (to say nothing about irresponsible authors) — the focus of this list is primarily on librarians, along with the government and vendors that we do business with. So then, in the spirit of those words from Alice Roosevelt Longworth, “If you can’t say something good about someone, sit here by me.”

From Top 20 Library Scandals in Recent History – John Hubbard – Medium

May 11, 2017 by Librarians Libraries

The Strange and Grotesque Doodles in the Margins of Medieval Books

Manuscripts can be seen as time capsules,” says Johanna Green, Lecturer in Book History and Digital Humanities at the University of Glasgow. “And marginalia provide layers of information as to the various human hands that have shaped their form and content.” From intriguingly detailed illustrations to random doodles, the drawings and other marks made along the edges of pages in medieval manuscripts—called marginalia—are not just peripheral matters. “Both tell us huge amounts about a book’s history and the people who have contributed to it, from creation to the present day.”

From The Strange and Grotesque Doodles in the Margins of Medieval Books – Atlas Obscura

May 11, 2017 by Books

What it was like to be peer reviewed in the 1860s

That path from submission to revision and publication will sound familiar to modern scientists. However, Tyndall’s experience with the Philosophical Transactions—in particular, with its refereeing system—was quite different from what authors experience today. Tracing “On the absorption and radiation of heat” through the Royal Society’s editorial process highlights how one of the world’s most established refereeing systems worked in the 1860s. Rather than relying on anonymous referee reports to improve their papers, authors engaged in extensive personal exchanges with their reviewers. Such a collegial approach gradually lost favor but recently has undergone something of a resurgence.

From What it was like to be peer reviewed in the 1860s

May 10, 2017 by Uncategorized

One of the first books ever printed in England discovered by university librarian

The University of Reading has discovered pages of one of the first books printed in England, dating from the 15th century.

The pages of a mediaeval priest’s handbook, dating to between 1476 and 1477, were found in the University’s archives by Special Collections librarian Erika Delbecque while she was cataloguing thousands of items showing the history of print and graphic design.

From One of the first books ever printed in England discovered by university librarian | The Independent

May 9, 2017 by Academic Libraries Books Librarians Libraries

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Is Looking for a Librarian

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, or “Rock Hall,” is best known for their annual selection of new inductees. But the museum also boasts an incredibly comprehensive library and archive chock full of scholarship and memorabilia, from photonegatives of Aretha Franklin in the studio to Jimi Hendrix’s handwritten ‘Purple Haze’ lyric sheet to a full drawer of Kid Rock posters.

From The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Is Looking for a Librarian – Atlas Obscura

May 9, 2017 by Librarians Libraries

A Better Way to Get Kids in Libraries: Stop Fining Them

Marx is currently on the look-out for some creative ways to not fine kids, but still hold them accountable. One idea he’s toying with: put a hold on a child’s account until they simply return their overdue materials, no fines involved. Five years ago, Marx granted city-wide amnesty to children with fines, and he says they saw 80,000 kids return to the library over time. Now, he’s trying to secure a $10 million endowment to get rid of fines in perpetuity.

From A Better Way to Get Kids in Libraries: Stop Fining Them – WNYC News – WNYC

May 9, 2017 by Libraries

Ancient Library Scrolls Blackened by Vesuvius Are Readable at Last

The 79 A.D. eruption of Mount Vesuvius is most famous for burying Pompeii, spectacularly preserving many artifacts—and residents—in that once bustling town south of Naples. The tumbling clouds of ash also entombed the nearby resort of Herculaneum, which is filled with its own wonders. During excavations there in 1752, diggers found a villa containing bundles of rolled scrolls, carbonized by the intense heat of the pyroclastic flows and preserved under layers of cement-like rock. Further digs showed that the scrolls were part of an extensive library, earning the structure the name Villa of the Papyri.

From Ancient Scrolls Blackened by Vesuvius Are Readable at Last | History | Smithsonian

May 8, 2017 by Librarians Libraries

Libraries aren’t simply city buildings; they’re community building blocks

Think about it: a library isn’t just a place where thousands of books are housed on plain shelves with a dusty card catalogue squeaking every time someone opens a wooden drawer.
Libraries are public community centres: gathering places for all. In fact, a library is one of the most accessed free public services around anywhere … period. I’m hard-pressed to think of anything else that comes close.

From Libraries aren’t simply city buildings; they’re community building blocks | Commentary | St. Albert Gazette

May 8, 2017 by Libraries

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