Jonathan

http://search-engines-web.com/ writes that the Brooklyn Public Library has digitized and web published issues of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper from 1841 to 1902, according to a Library Journal article. The librarians in charge of the project write:

“Although the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online was not the Brooklyn Public Library’s (BPL) first digital project, it has become a catalyst for change and future library initiatives. This is largely because of the richness of the content, the scope of the project, and the response from users….”

http://search-engines-web.com/ writes that the Brooklyn Public Library has digitized and web published issues of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper from 1841 to 1902, according to a Library Journal article. The librarians in charge of the project write:

“Although the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online was not the Brooklyn Public Library’s (BPL) first digital project, it has become a catalyst for change and future library initiatives. This is largely because of the richness of the content, the scope of the project, and the response from users….”“The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, founded in 1841, was Brooklyn’s newspaper of record. During the Civil War it was the most widely read afternoon newspaper in the nation, gaining prestige as the century drew on. The vast repository contains vibrant reporting on local and national events through a period of enormous growth. It is also a rich resource for illustrations and photographs.

“After the Eagle ceased publication in 1955, BPL received the paper’s morgue and related files. Today, they are the centerpiece of the Brooklyn Collection, which also houses books, photographs from the Eagle and from other photographers, newspaper clipping files, and manuscripts, prints, and illustrations.

“Several factors have limited access to the Eagle. It was only indexed between 1891 to 1902. Just a few libraries in the country have microform editions, and even fewer have substantial print runs. To access the paper, most users came to Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza Library to use the microfilm version or submitted a research request to look through the limited and fragile clippings in the morgue. Although articles in the morgue were often crossed-referenced, access cannot be compared with keyword searching.

“The digitization initiative included the hiring of a librarian with a strong background in digitization, key to the project’s success. She resolved a multitude of functionality problems, created a user-friendly web interface, managed the budget, and acted as a liaison with the vendor and other library departments.

“Beta testing of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online (www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eagle) began in March 2003, when a select group of users, including genealogists, were invited to try it out. Despite limiting the number of initial users, word traveled fast, and during our first month of testing, usage surged to over 100,000 visits. From March 2003 to March 2004, the site attracted an average of 60,000 visits per month, with a visit defined as a session of 15 minutes or more. Most users come from the United States and Europe.

“The most important outcome of the Eagle Online is an intended one: users of many backgrounds have found a treasury of long-sought or unexpected information. As one happy researcher wrote, “It sure beats the hell out of poring over reels and reels of microprint just to verify a reference. I kiss you all!”

“We have received emails and hundreds of surveys from remote users and onsite patrons. Many of the respondents used the Eagle Online for genealogical research. Other reasons cited included historical research, academic or classroom use, and general interest.”

http://search-engines-web.com/ writes Owing to Microsoft’s decision to issue a dividend, Bill Gates will receive a $3 billion bonus.
Gates said on Tuesday that he plans to donate the windfall to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to expand access to technology through public libraries and improve global health. The foundation estimates its endowment at $27bn. See article here.

http://search-engines-web.com/ writes Owing to Microsoft’s decision to issue a dividend, Bill Gates will receive a $3 billion bonus.
Gates said on Tuesday that he plans to donate the windfall to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to expand access to technology through public libraries and improve global health. The foundation estimates its endowment at $27bn. See article here.“The pledge today is recognition that our world, the nation and our region — now more than ever — can and should dramatically improve equity in health, education, and access to information and human services for vulnerable families,” Gates said in a statement on Tuesday.

Anonymous Patron writes “According to the Portland (ME) Press Herald:

Read the full story here.“

Just for fun, a snippet from Simon Schama’s account in the New Yorker of the Queen Mary 2’s maiden voyage:

“[In 1842 when Dickens sailed] there were a few books in the saloon. Only in the second half of the nineteenth century . . . did a comprehensively stocked and magnificently panelled and furnished library become a crucial fixture. The heavily used library on the QM 2 runs the gamut from Danielle Steel to Tom Clancy; there is a wall of less intensively visited Everyman classics, and I found, improbably lurking amid the bodice-rippers and spy thrillers, Albert Camus’s ‘The Plague.'”

Anonymous Patron sends news of an article from Federal Computer Week.
“As more federal agencies publish government information on Web sites without notifying GPO, important documents that should be indexed, catalogued and preserved for public access in the Federal Depository Library Program have instead become ‘fugitive’ documents, according to GPO officials.”

An Anonymous Patron sends news of an effort based at Carnegie Mellon U. to digitize and web publish 1,000,000 books free of charge by 2007. A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article is here and a web page for the project is here. Apparently some 80,000 texts have been scanned and about 14,000 are fully processed and available for download. The texts are in a wide variety of languages, including Sanskrit, Urdu, Arabic, French and Hindi.

Steffers writes “Here is a look at the new Seattle Public Library. The 360 tour is pretty cool and the article attached is interesting. The library definitely looks futuristic but it looks incredible in the night photos.”

Lori Bell writes “Join us for our online book discussion group and the May edition of ebookworm.

Thursday, join us for ebookworm at 3:00 p.m. central time. Program moderator Tom
Peters will discuss ebooks with Jon Noring, an ebook publisher, technologist, advocate, and standards developer. He is the founder and moderator of The
eBook Community, the Internet’s oldest, largest, and most respected general ebook forum.”

Four Minnesota private colleges (Carleton, Gustavus Adolphus, Macalester, and St. Olaf) have joined the ranks of institutions declining to renew the ScienceDirect journals package from Reed Elsevier. They stated, “While the reasons and decision processes were somewhat different on each campus, we are all convinced that the escalating prices for many scientific journals are unsustainable and that the time has come for change.” See press release here.

Anonymous Patron writes
“Nearly two years after the city barred a local political group from meeting at the Tarpon Springs Public Library, the group said last week that it plans to meet in Palm Harbor instead.

When city officials closed the library’s meeting room to the Suncoast Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State in late 2002, they said it was because the group lacked the ‘political neutrality’ required to use the room.” The town later dropped the requirement, but the library is repurposing the room for children’s programs. Read full story here.