Celine

The
Women\’s Library opened on Monday in its
redesigned London building. It is the \”largest collection
of women\’s history in the UK\”. It began as part of the
London Society for Women\’s Suffrage in 1926 and was
previously known as the Fawcett Library. The redesign
started just before I left the UK so I\’ll be visiting the new
library when I return in a couple of months. The BBC and The Guardian both have features
articles on it.

This is slightly off-topic (but related to literature and
books so therefore loosely to libraries) but I found it
hilarious:
Alternative authors\’ versions of Lord of the Rings.

It\’s not Friday yet, so this isn\’t a Friday funny but it definitely made me laugh. Most of you probably know that Warrior Librarian Weekly is always good for a giggle but today I found a page I felt I wanted to share: Banner Ads for Library Web Pages.

Salaries are a big issue right now (when are they not?). The Career Journal from the Wall Street Journal has a listing of median salaries for librarians in 2000. The statistics are broken down by sector, by job title and by industry area.
[Thanks to the Internet Scout Weblog]

A question on the newlib-l mailing list asked for suggestions for a regular movie night: movies in which a character is a librarian or in which a library features in some way. Many suggestions have been made but, as always, a quick Google search led me to a fantastic resource, Librarians in the movies: an annotated filmography. Maintained by Martin Raish at Brigham Young University, this is definitely worth a look if you\’re wondering what to watch on video next weekend. It even includes a short bibliography relating to librarians and libraries in movies. Great stuff!

I was somewhat surprised to realize that NewBreed Librarian is celebrating its first birthday! It only seems like yesterday that I read the very first issue (misty-eyed reminiscing….) Anyway, there\’s a new issue available with articles on libraries as keepers of memory, advice on running a solo library, a review of the Opera browser and much more… go enjoy (and wish them a happy birthday).

Australia\’s Northern Territory has released a draft version of an information bill covering freedom of information, privacy and records management. It claims to be unique as it was not developed for a \”paper-based economy\” but in the context of \”an information based economy\”. It is currently available for public comment.
This story came to me via the excellent NewsAgent.

The British Library has released a number of proposals for the switch from UKMARC to MARC21 in UK cataloguing. The change is due to take place towards the end of 2003 and the document dicusses the issues raised. See the full document here.
I found it interesting, and not only because I\’m hoping my knowledge of MARC21 will get me job on my return to the UK later this year!

Bedtime Reading Week is coming, March 11-17 2002 in the UK (though that doesn\’t mean it can\’t be observed elsewhere). Established by William Sieghart, who also founded National Poetry Day, and backed by various national initiatives, it was first celebrated last year and aims to \”encourage everyone to enjoy reading together\”. There is a page of ideas for teachers and librarians.

The January 2002 issue of D-Lib Magazine is out with some great articles on interoperability and digital preservation. The opinion piece on the role of the library in text encoding is close to my heart (or, more accurately, the heart of my library school thesis work!). I will be reading it over a cup of tea today.