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Cities Are Driving a Public Library Boom in Australia

Perth opened a new central library last spring in a gleaming cylindrical building that is both a book silo and an architectural exclamation point for one of the world’s most isolated cities. Perth has experienced 50 years of steady growth, topped by a downtown building boom to serve Western Australia mining, making it the nation’s Houston or Denver. So it was high time for the first new municipal building since a concert hall in 1972. The striking design stacks seven levels on the edge of a low bluff overlooking Perth’s rapidly developing recreational waterfront. When I visited one Saturday afternoon, visitors were taking in the view from upper-level balconies, and the floors dedicated to kids were hopping with children exploring the world of ideas.

From Cities Are Driving a Public Library Boom in Australia – Next City

May 2, 2017 by Librarians Libraries Public Libraries

Harvard Libraries to Extend Loan Periods, Eliminate Standard Late Fees

Harvard libraries will no longer charge 50 cent per day fees on overdue books.

The change, one of several detailed in a post on the Harvard Library system’s website, went into effect on April 1. Though standard fees have been eliminated, fees for overdue recalled material have been raised from two dollars a day to three dollars a day, with a 45 dollar maximum.

“The goals of these changes are to improve the student experience and embrace a ‘One Harvard’ approach for borrowing material across Harvard Library,” wrote Steven Beardsley, Harvard’s associate director for access services administrative operations and special projects, in an email.

From Libraries to Extend Loan Periods, Eliminate Standard Late Fees | News | The Harvard Crimson

May 1, 2017 by Libraries

A Case For Federally Funding Public Libraries

Under President Donald Trump’s proposed budget, federal funding for public libraries would be eliminated. Our guest explains why he calls the plan an attempt to suppress transparency. He also discusses why he says libraries are “essential” to society, and on this “Take Action for Libraries Day,” how people can advocate for continued funding.

From A Case For Federally Funding Public Libraries | Wisconsin Public Radio

May 1, 2017 by Libraries

The end of Academia.edu: how business takes over, again

The lessons to be drawn from this, are the same ones that Siva Vaidhyanathan listed when talking about the Google Books projects. The academic production of knowledge should not be used to make profit, but to improve society. Academic knowledge is, or at least should be a common. The fact that academic knowledge is now part of the ‘for profit’ business can only be understood as the failing of the state and the dominance of neoliberalism. The market destroys academia and the only way to change that is to set up our own platforms. Platforms that only have one goal: to give that knowledge back to society. Fortunately, in a way, this policy shift in Academia.edu now opens a space for new platforms offering genuinely open access for a community of scholars around the world, craving to read and discuss each others’ findings, but increasingly constrained by insane paywalls.

From The end of Academia.edu: how business takes over, again | diggit magazine

April 30, 2017 by Google

The Lost Picture Show: Hollywood Archivists Can’t Outpace Obsolescence

These days, nearly all of the films from all of the major studios are shot and edited digitally. Like Lubezki, filmmakers have switched to digital because it allows a far greater range of special effects, filming conditions, and editing techniques. Directors no longer have to wait for film stock to be chemically processed in order to view it, and digital can substantially bring down costs compared with traditional film. Distribution of films is likewise entirely digital, feeding not only the digital cinema projectors in movie theaters but also the streaming video services run by the likes of Netflix and Hulu. The industry’s embrace of digital has been astonishingly rapid.

From The Lost Picture Show: Hollywood Archivists Can’t Outpace Obsolescence – IEEE Spectrum

April 29, 2017 by Archives

The most important part of Facebook’s disinformation strategy is what it leaves out

But what we’re left with is the real prospect of foreign powers manipulating public discourse, and no clear way to fix it. As with false reporting, Facebook has laid out a plan for more aggressive action against fake accounts, but it’s running up against more serious limits. Even more than false information, disinformation campaigns happen largely outside of Facebook’s control. What should be a reassuring document ends up as an admission of defeat. This is what Facebook can do to fight the problem — and what it can’t do. The bigger message may be that if we want to protect public discourse, we’ll need more than algorithms.

From The most important part of Facebook’s disinformation strategy is what it leaves out – The Verge

April 28, 2017 by Books EBooks

UK Book sales hit a record as children’s fiction gains in popularity

Children’s fiction helped drive UK book sales to a record £3.5bn last year, the Publishers Association (PA) has said.
The 6% rise came despite the waning popularity of ebooks, which saw sales fall by 3% to £538m last year.
Sales of children’s books rose 16% to £365m, with the increase due mainly to the purchase of printed works.

From Book sales hit a record as children’s fiction gains in popularity – BBC News

April 28, 2017 by Books EBooks

New Round Of Layoffs May All But Decimate San Diego School Libraries

The proposed cuts are on top of pink slips that went out in March to more than half of the aides who staff elementary school libraries. The remaining aides had their schedules reduced to as little as two hours a week.

“I just can’t even imagine how that’s going to be cost effective, because there’s just going to be so much lost — lost materials, lost time, lost educational experiences,” said Elaine Sabetti, the library technician at Pershing Middle School in San Carlos. “I don’t know how they can even do it.”

From New Round Of Layoffs May All But Decimate San Diego School Libraries | KPBS

April 27, 2017 by Libraries School Libraries

That Wasn’t Mark Twain: How a Misquotation Is Born

“When I started off, it was mysterious exactly where these misquotations were coming from, and it was interesting that sometimes you could find these clues that pointed to how they may have originated,” said Mr. O’Toole, an alias for Gregory F. Sullivan, a former teacher and researcher in the Johns Hopkins computer science department who now spends his time writing.

From That Wasn’t Mark Twain: How a Misquotation Is Born – The New York Times

April 27, 2017 by Uncategorized

The rise of reading analytics and the emerging calculus of reader privacy in the digital world

This paper studies emerging technologies for tracking reading behaviors (“reading analytics”) and their implications for reader privacy, attempting to place them in a historical context. It discusses what data is being collected, to whom it is available, and how it might be used by various interested parties (including authors). I explore means of tracking what’s being read, who is doing the reading, and how readers discover what they read. The paper includes two case studies: mass-market e-books (both directly acquired by readers and mediated by libraries) and scholarly journals (usually mediated by academic libraries); in the latter case I also provide examples of the implications of various authentication, authorization and access management practices on reader privacy. While legal issues are touched upon, the focus is generally pragmatic, emphasizing technology and marketplace practices. The article illustrates the way reader privacy concerns are shifting from government to commercial surveillance, and the interactions between government and the private sector in this area. The paper emphasizes U.S.-based developments.

From The rise of reading analytics and the emerging calculus of reader privacy in the digital world | Lynch | First Monday

April 27, 2017 by EBooks Legal Issues Libraries Privacy

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