An Anonymous Patron writes “An Aug. 10, 2007 post from Tokyo reports that cellphone novel downloads already outstrip paper books in Japan
The biggest seller has been a work entitled The Red Thread, which has sold over one million digital copies in six months; each phone novel can cost anywhere between $1 and $8.”
The Ithaka Report on University Publishing has been attracting plenty of commentary. Check out posts from Caveat Lector, Free Range Librarian, and Future of the Book. Download the report here to get a sense of the current state of scholarly publishing, an overview of the issues facing university presses, and read about the opportunity for academic libraries to collaborate with presses as the landscape of scholarly communication changes.
From Inside Higher Ed, the article “More Than Coffee and Wireless” provides a brief overview of trends in library renovations and how libraries fit with general campus facilities planning.
Bibliotrope writes “The B.F. Jones Memorial (public) Library in Aliquippa, Pa., is starting cleanup after over six inches of water collected in the Children’s Learning Center in the building’s basement. The library is just one of many downtown Aliquippa buildings damaged by a flood caused by severe rains Thursday, which saw 3.5 inches of rain fall on the Western Pennsylvania town. (Other parts of Beaver County received more than 4 inches. The county has declared a state of emergency and is seeking emergency funding from the stae and Federal governments.)
The Children’s Learning Center was just renovated and opened to the public last year. The floodwater, which poured through the doors, flooded the elevator shaft, and damaged the children’s librarian’s computer and all the books on the lower shelves. Other books on higher shelves may also be in danger of mold. Many local history items are also stored in the basement. As a result, the library is expecting to have to discard several thousand books. Summer programs may need to be held outdoors until the cleanup is complete, and the library is seeking cash donations to help replace the damaged materials.
References: Article in the Beaver County Times and on WTAE-TV (including video clip).”
Anonymous Patron writes “Skeptical Medical Reference: Helping Patrons Find Critical Resources for Consumer Health Issues. With the popularization of the Internet, there has been a vast proliferation of consumer health material available to the public. Unfortunately, this has only accelerated a pre-existing trend- the fact that much of the material made available is unproven, unreliable, or outright fraud. This requires librarians to make a choice: are they passive and uncritical dispensers of information or are they critical educators who help patrons choose the best information available? In this article we examine the issues facing librarians in this matter and present skeptical materials that may help librarians to answer critical health questions. From Library Philosophy and Practice”
From the Nashville Scene, an account of what happens when proposed budget cuts might lead to shortened library hours, and less story times featuring local celebrities like Library Pete, The Professor, and Mary Mary.
The Blogosphere can be a great source of information to build your reader’s advisory knowledge. Right now plenty of new books news is coming from Book Expo 2007. My favorite posts come from Bully, you can read about the expo from the point of view of a little stuffed bull – Day One and Day Two.
Elsewhere, Fuse #8 tells us all about the Random House Preview of forthcoming books.
Big A little a reviews the Meet the Authors series.
Oz and Ends reviews the Silver Sequence trilogy.
Bookshelves of Doom loves Skulduggery Pleasant.
Roger Sutton lists the latest starred reviews in the July/August issue of Horn Book Magazine.
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