Blake

Defund libraries. Create a nation of fools.

Libraries are a final safety net. People use libraries to search for jobs, read newspapers and books, take computer classes and inform themselves. They’re a particularly valuable resource for educating children.

An informed and educated population would see through the Koch brothers’ goals and fight back against their enrichment at the expense of the poor and middle classes. Defunding libraries can only serve to keep the population pliant and ignorant.

From Editorial: Defund libraries. Create a nation of fools. | The Platform | stltoday.com

Libraries are a final safety net. People use libraries to search for jobs, read newspapers and books, take computer classes and inform themselves. They’re a particularly valuable resource for educating children.

An informed and educated population would see through the Koch brothers’ goals and fight back against their enrichment at the expense of the poor and middle classes. Defunding libraries can only serve to keep the population pliant and ignorant.

From Editorial: Defund libraries. Create a nation of fools. | The Platform | stltoday.com

March 28, 2016 by Blake Libraries

Shakespeare’s skull probably isn’t in his grave

Under the cover of night, the three men crept toward the dusty chancel of the church, carrying dimmed lanterns and an assortment of tools. It took them a few, breathless moments to find the right headstone in the darkness. Ignoring the threat engraved upon it — “cursed be he that moves my bones” — they lifted the heavy slab and began to dig up the grave beneath.

From Shakespeare’s skull probably isn’t in his grave – The Washington Post

Under the cover of night, the three men crept toward the dusty chancel of the church, carrying dimmed lanterns and an assortment of tools. It took them a few, breathless moments to find the right headstone in the darkness. Ignoring the threat engraved upon it — “cursed be he that moves my bones” — they lifted the heavy slab and began to dig up the grave beneath.

From Shakespeare’s skull probably isn’t in his grave – The Washington Post

March 28, 2016 by Blake Uncategorized

E-books are more than just digital facsimiles, and publishers need to realize that, pronto

The truth is that e-ink books are great for certain things. E-readers are perfect for taking fiction on holiday with you: You can carry a library’s worth of books on a device that has weeks of battery life. And, as a bonus, nobody can see that you’re reading Fifty Shades of Grey. Perfect.
The technology built into the e-readers is maturing rapidly. Highlighting, bookmarking and dealing with footnotes, end notes and cross-referencing is all standard. The biggest change from five years ago is that I can now see myself reading academic works on e-readers without major problems.

From E-books are more than just digital facsimiles, and publishers need to realize that, pronto | TechCrunch

The truth is that e-ink books are great for certain things. E-readers are perfect for taking fiction on holiday with you: You can carry a library’s worth of books on a device that has weeks of battery life. And, as a bonus, nobody can see that you’re reading Fifty Shades of Grey. Perfect.
The technology built into the e-readers is maturing rapidly. Highlighting, bookmarking and dealing with footnotes, end notes and cross-referencing is all standard. The biggest change from five years ago is that I can now see myself reading academic works on e-readers without major problems.

From E-books are more than just digital facsimiles, and publishers need to realize that, pronto | TechCrunch

The Little-Seen Maps and Stories of Women in Cartography

Which women, and when? Mapmaking spans genders, centuries, cultures, and technologies. A complete history of women in cartography would require many volumes of pages, and possibly a graduate degree. To make this series sensible for online readers, I’ve narrowed my selection to works by women mapping North America over the past 300 years. Within this “small” range is a diversity of stories, styles, and approaches that, collected together, should provoke curiosity about the many more ways women have mapped the world.

From The Little-Seen Maps and Stories of Women in Cartography – CityLab

Which women, and when? Mapmaking spans genders, centuries, cultures, and technologies. A complete history of women in cartography would require many volumes of pages, and possibly a graduate degree. To make this series sensible for online readers, I’ve narrowed my selection to works by women mapping North America over the past 300 years. Within this “small” range is a diversity of stories, styles, and approaches that, collected together, should provoke curiosity about the many more ways women have mapped the world.

From The Little-Seen Maps and Stories of Women in Cartography – CityLab

March 28, 2016 by Blake Internet

The Mystery of the Phantom Page Turner

Impossibly so, as it turns out: After researching the topic for several years, Spellerberg concluded that page turners simply did not exist during the Victorian Era. In fact, according to Spellerberg, page turners didn’t exist during any historical period at all, making them the unicorns, if you will, of office collectibles, mythical objects that tell us more about how we imagine people lived rather than how they actually did.

From The Mystery of the Phantom Page Turner | Collectors Weekly

Impossibly so, as it turns out: After researching the topic for several years, Spellerberg concluded that page turners simply did not exist during the Victorian Era. In fact, according to Spellerberg, page turners didn’t exist during any historical period at all, making them the unicorns, if you will, of office collectibles, mythical objects that tell us more about how we imagine people lived rather than how they actually did.

From The Mystery of the Phantom Page Turner | Collectors Weekly

March 28, 2016 by Blake Uncategorized

This Artist is Distributing Mini Libraries of Zines and Collages

He’s not too concerned about the libraries being raided by art thieves who, in keeping and not sharing the works, strip them from their social connections. “I think if you have something nice, it’s even nicer to give it away,” says Ventral is Golden. “I once made a series of illustrations for my girlfriend about how we first met in Portugal… when I gave them to her two months later, she accidentally left the originals on the Metro in Paris. I like the idea that they’re still circulating on a continuous loop underneath the city.”

From This Artist is Distributing Mini Libraries of Zines and Collages | The Creators Project

He’s not too concerned about the libraries being raided by art thieves who, in keeping and not sharing the works, strip them from their social connections. “I think if you have something nice, it’s even nicer to give it away,” says Ventral is Golden. “I once made a series of illustrations for my girlfriend about how we first met in Portugal… when I gave them to her two months later, she accidentally left the originals on the Metro in Paris. I like the idea that they’re still circulating on a continuous loop underneath the city.”

From This Artist is Distributing Mini Libraries of Zines and Collages | The Creators Project

March 28, 2016 by Blake Libraries

Launching the Electronic Frontier Alliance

The Alliance will bring together groups pursuing a range of strategies and tactics—from hacker spaces crowdsourcing the open source development of software tools, to student groups hosting teach-ins and documentary screenings. They will be united by five substantive principles:

free expression: people should be able to speak their minds to whomever will listen.

security: technology should be trustworthy and answer to its users.

privacy: technology should allow private and anonymous speech, and allow users to set their own parameters about what to share with whom.

creativity: technology should promote progress by allowing people to build on the ideas, creations, and inventions of others.

access to knowledge: curiosity should be rewarded, not stifled.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/03/launching-efa

The Alliance will bring together groups pursuing a range of strategies and tactics—from hacker spaces crowdsourcing the open source development of software tools, to student groups hosting teach-ins and documentary screenings. They will be united by five substantive principles:

free expression: people should be able to speak their minds to whomever will listen.

security: technology should be trustworthy and answer to its users.

privacy: technology should allow private and anonymous speech, and allow users to set their own parameters about what to share with whom.

creativity: technology should promote progress by allowing people to build on the ideas, creations, and inventions of others.

access to knowledge: curiosity should be rewarded, not stifled.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/03/launching-efa

March 26, 2016 by Blake Privacy

Museums and libraries as co-creators of change | MinnPost

A new national research report [PDF] reveals the catalytic role that libraries and museums are playing in rebuilding troubled neighborhoods. These important “anchor institutions” are helping drive economic, educational and social efforts to raise the standard of living in their surrounding neighborhoods.

The Line
Published by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the research was recently shared at a meeting of Twin Cities community developers and museum and library professionals. The report captures the ways museums and libraries are leveraging their positions and resources to help fuel successful comprehensive community revitalization. It also offers best practice advice for other institutions.

Museums and libraries as co-creators of change

A new national research report [PDF] reveals the catalytic role that libraries and museums are playing in rebuilding troubled neighborhoods. These important “anchor institutions” are helping drive economic, educational and social efforts to raise the standard of living in their surrounding neighborhoods.

The Line
Published by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the research was recently shared at a meeting of Twin Cities community developers and museum and library professionals. The report captures the ways museums and libraries are leveraging their positions and resources to help fuel successful comprehensive community revitalization. It also offers best practice advice for other institutions.

Museums and libraries as co-creators of change

March 26, 2016 by Blake Libraries Museums

The most important Obama nominee no one’s talking about (LoC)

When it comes to presidential appointments, Merrick Garland’s nomination to the vacant seat on the Supreme Court is getting all of the attention. But there’s another appointment that’s flying way below the radar: Carla Hayden’s nomination to be librarian of Congress.

The Library of Congress rarely attracts the same political pomp that other federal bureaucracies receive, but as we await congressional hearings on the president’s seemingly innocuous nomination, it’s important to note that there’s a lot at stake. The library is in the midst of a massive crisis of mission, and undoubtedly, its next leader faces a daunting challenge to preserve — and possibly revitalize — a symbol of our country’s democracy and culture.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2016/03/25/the-most-important-obama-nominee-no-ones-talking-about/

When it comes to presidential appointments, Merrick Garland’s nomination to the vacant seat on the Supreme Court is getting all of the attention. But there’s another appointment that’s flying way below the radar: Carla Hayden’s nomination to be librarian of Congress.

The Library of Congress rarely attracts the same political pomp that other federal bureaucracies receive, but as we await congressional hearings on the president’s seemingly innocuous nomination, it’s important to note that there’s a lot at stake. The library is in the midst of a massive crisis of mission, and undoubtedly, its next leader faces a daunting challenge to preserve — and possibly revitalize — a symbol of our country’s democracy and culture.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2016/03/25/the-most-important-obama-nominee-no-ones-talking-about/

March 25, 2016 by Blake Libraries

Don’t leave UK libraries to councils: ringfence their funds

The problem is that libraries aren’t treated fairly as cultural institutions. Instead councils are forced to contrast them with acute public services, such as child protection or social care. This is an impossible comparison.

Robbie Millen, literary editor of the Times, recently argued that councils are incapable of appreciating the real value of libraries as a symbol for culture, art and literature. He believes the answer is privatisation.

http://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/mar/24/libraries-councils-ringfence-funding-budgets