Cambridge University Press has agreed to destory the remaining copies of the embattled book Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World due to a lawsuit from Khalid bin Mahfouz, a Saudi banker. Mahfouz had claimed to be libeled by suggestions in the book that he was associated with terrorism through various businesses and charities.
Cambridge also promised to ask libraries around the world to remove the book from their collections. That ought to be really successful! Read more:
Joe Hodnicki writes “Claire Germain, Edward Cornell Law Librarian and a Cornell Law School professor of law, was awarded the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur medal, France’s highest honor. See http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/law_librarian_blo g/2007/07/cornell-law-l-2.html“
The FCC will grant some of Google’s wishes regarding the auction of 700mhz frequencies later this year. The FCC will require some level of openness for about one third of the frequencies. This will mean that wireless services will need to provide access from more than just their own approved devices.
Google would like to see the 700MHz frequencies the FCC is putting up for auction early next year open to openness. Google has submitted a letter to the FCC urging that all bidders be required to accept certain principles of openness such as allowing any wireless device to connect to any service. It is clear that Google would like to foster an environment where ubiquitous computing is enabled. Whether they want to be in the wireless phone business is not clear.
Read more:
Educause has come out with another of their “7 things” publications, this one on Wikipedia. It’short and sweet, presenting a particular scenario about a student using Wikipedia…and the 7 things you should know. It’s not pollyannaish, nor hysterical. Kind of a nice counterpoint to Michael Gorman’s screed over on Britannica.
Jane Karp writes “The National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the
Library of Congress, is at a crucial juncture in the
project of switching the format of talking books and
their playback equipment from 4-track cassette tapes
to digital flash memory cartridges. Cassettes were
first introduced to the system in 1970, superseding
vinyl records. While the media has lasted a long
time, it is now pitifully obsolete.
Jane Karp writes “The National Library Service for the Blind and
Physically Handicapped (NLS), a division of the
Library of Congress, is at a crucial juncture in the
project of switching the format of talking books and
their playback equipment from 4-track cassette tapes
to digital flash memory cartridges. Cassettes were
first introduced to the system in 1970, superseding
vinyl records. While the media has lasted a long
time, it is now pitifully obsolete.It is becoming increasingly difficult for network libraries to purchase blank cassettes and adequate duplication equipment. NLS has spent almost 15 years researching and developing the next Talking Book format. The USB flash cartridge books and players were chosen rather than CDs or commercial MP3 players because: * CDs cannot have braille labels on them, are difficult for people with limited dexterity, and are not robust enough to go through the mail multiple times >* Many commercial MP3 players are not accessible without vision, most would not be able to hold a product that supports a braille label, and all are too small/limiting for people with physical disabilities and/or limited dexterity. What just happened: The House Committee of Appropriations just announced that it is recommended less than half of the requested funds by NLS to move forward with this project. NLS estimates the cost to transition is $76.4 million over a four-year period ($19.1 million for each of the next four years). The House Committee has only included $7.5 million for this project in the bill, which passed the committee yesterday. What this might mean: Fewer Digital Talking Book players and cartridges will be produced. Network libraries and their patrons will have limited and/or greatly delayed access to the new technology and many patrons will be stuck on waiting lists for years before they can get one of the new players. Network libraries will be stuck with supporting and marketing cassette tapes and heavy yellow 4-track cassette players for much longer.”
“The CIA recently delivered more than 420,000 additional pages of redacted declassified electronic records to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) facility in College Park, Maryland. The declassified CIA records are hosted on the CIA Records Search Tool (CREST), which is an electronic search and retrieval system. CREST now includes more than 10 million pages of records declassified under Executive Order 12958.”
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