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The Victorians had the same concerns about technology as we do

Of course, all old technologies were once new. People were at one point genuinely concerned about things we take for granted as perfectly harmless now. In the later decades of the 19th century it was thought that the telephone would induce deafness and that sulphurous vapours were asphyxiating passengers on the London Underground. These then-new advancements were replacing older still technologies that had themselves occasioned similar anxieties on their introduction. Plato, as his oral culture began to transition to a literary one, was gravely worried that writing itself would erode the memory.

From The Victorians had the same concerns about technology as we do

July 5, 2016 by Technology

AIGA | 50 Books/50 Covers Competition

“50 Books/50 Covers” has a long history of celebrating design excellence, with selections exemplifying the best current work in book and book cover design as chosen by a distinguished jury of design peers. The annual competition developed from AIGA’s “Fifty Books of 1923” exhibition and past selections have been added to the AIGA Design Archives as well as the physical archives at the Denver Art Museum and in Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Collection at the Butler Library. Since 2011, the competition has been managed by Design Observer.

“Justified: AIGA Design Competition” represents the next generation of AIGA’s competitions and seeks stories that reveal the value design created for the client. For book design, AIGA encourages entry in both competitions. 

From AIGA | 50 Books/50 Covers Competition

Here are the 2015 winners: Books and the Covers.

July 5, 2016 by Books Libraries

Shakespeare: Actor. Playwright. Social Climber.

The new depictions Ms. Wolfe has gathered are all from the 17th century. More than half associate the arms with “Shakespeare the player,” or with William, not John.

This material not only proves “that Shakespeare was Shakespeare,” as Ms. Wolfe wryly put it. It also, she argues, underlines the degree to which contemporaries saw the coat of arms as, in effect, being for William.

“It makes it abundantly clear that while Shakespeare was obtaining the arms on behalf of his father, it was really for his own status,” she said.

Mr. Shapiro said he agreed. “All evidence suggests this was not about the father,” he said, “but about how Shakespeare wanted to be seen.”

From Shakespeare: Actor. Playwright. Social Climber. – NYTimes.com

July 5, 2016 by Uncategorized

Mississauga workers’ strike shuts down 18 public libraries

“How do they justify giving (library) director Rose Vespa a 7.3 per cent salary increase the same year we got .5 per cent,” asked librarian and CUPE Local 1989 president Laura Kaminker, after a strike Monday shut down all 18 public libraries in Mississauga.

Contract negotiations between the city and the union representing about 390 members who work in the libraries broke down over the weekend, with no immediate plans to resume talks.

Late fees won’t be applied while the shutdown continues, and online services are not impacted by the strike.

From Mississauga workers’ strike shuts down 18 public libraries | Toronto Star

July 4, 2016 by Internet Libraries

The Secret History of Holywell Street: Home to Victorian London’s Dirty Book Trade

Victorian sexuality is often considered synonymous with prudishness, conjuring images of covered up piano legs and dark ankle-length skirts. Historian Matthew Green uncovers a quite different scene in the sordid story of Holywell St, 19th-century London’s epicentre of erotica and smut.

From The Secret History of Holywell Street: Home to Victorian London’s Dirty Book Trade | The Public Domain Review

July 4, 2016 by Books

NY Libraries unsure about opioid antidote program

With heroin and opioid abuse now the No. 1 cause of accidental death in the state, a new law makes it possible for public libraries around the state to provide treatment to combat overdoses. But area libraries are unsure whether they’d take part in the voluntary program.

On June 22, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill to allow public libraries to maintain and administer opioid antagonists, such as the antidote naloxone, commonly known by the brand name narcan, for the treatment of overdoses. The original bill was sponsored by Sen. George Amedore of Niskayuna, a co-chair of the New York State Senate Task Force on Heroin Addiction and Opioid Abuse that visited Lake Placid in May.

From Libraries unsure about opioid antidote program – AdirondackDailyEnterprise.com | News, Sports, Jobs, Saranac Lake region — Adirondack Daily Enterprise

July 3, 2016 by Legal Issues Libraries

What do modern libraries loan? Human books

“A Human Library is just like a real library but instead of paperbacks and hard covers, we have real people on our bookshelves,” said Ronni Abergel, cofounder of the Human Library Organization.

“You can borrow the bipolar or the Muslim or the transgender or the homeless, and in this way you get a chance to talk to this person and you may just realize what you have in common.”

From What do modern libraries loan? Human books

July 3, 2016 by Books Libraries

Take it from me: Your local library needs a cat

Critics might wonder whether the energy spent campaigning for — or against — a cat in the library would be better spent improving literacy rates and building up the collection. But both recent cases underscore the rapidly changing role of American libraries in an era in which people can receive a deluge of information in the palm of their hand.

From Take it from me: Your local library needs a cat – The Washington Post

July 3, 2016 by Librarians Libraries

ArXiv preprint server plans multimillion-dollar overhaul

To attract support from donors, arXiv’s operator, Cornell University Library in Ithaca, New York, is hoping to come up with a “compelling vision”, Rieger says.

Scientists seem to love arXiv: 95% of the survey’s 36,000 respondents said that they were very satisfied or satisfied with it. And most want to keep it just the way it is, although perhaps with some modernization. They were enthusiastic about the possibility of tweaks to improve the site’s search functions, and about allowing references to be hyperlinked directly to research papers, for example (see ‘What do arXiv users want?’). Some wanted the site to broaden into new subject areas, such as chemistry — although such expansion would require the recruitment of scientists who are willing to moderate the manuscripts, notes David Morrison, chair of arXiv’s scientific advisory board.

From ArXiv preprint server plans multimillion-dollar overhaul : Nature News & Comment

July 2, 2016 by Libraries

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