Where libraries sit in the ebook revolution
August 5th, 2010Future Book – “Footfall. Always an important measure of success for the public library. How many customers / users step through the front door and into your library. We must, we must improve our visitor figures. For the library service, as a tool for performance management, visitor figures remain Very Important. And then, once we have our visitor, we give them their PIN, so that next time they want to renew their books they can log onto their PC at home and do so without having to come into the library. Or if they want to check the catalogue and reserve an item – armed with their PIN they can do so – without having to come in; to access The Times from three years ago; to check that entry on Who’s Who – all without having to come in.”
Wannabe playboy gets prison term for possession of stolen Shakespeare plays
August 4th, 2010AP – “An unemployed book dealer who paraded as a wealthy playboy was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for possessing a stolen first edition of Shakespeare’s plays, a rare volume described as a “quintessentially English treasure.” Last month, a jury cleared Raymond Scott, 53, of stealing the First Folio but convicted him of handling stolen goods.”
Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age
August 4th, 2010NYT – “Professors used to deal with plagiarism by admonishing students to give credit to others and to follow the style guide for citations, and pretty much left it at that. But these cases — typical ones, according to writing tutors and officials responsible for discipline at the three schools who described the plagiarism — suggest that many students simply do not grasp that using words they did not write is a serious misdeed.”
Shiny, Appy People: Library Gets iPhone App
August 4th, 2010LOC – “Developers for the iPhone and iPad have been able to say “there’s an app for that” about a quarter-million times–the total number currently available in Apple’s App Store. But not until now has there been an official app for the Library of Congress. (So far it’s the first and only app–don’t be fooled by imitators!)”
Kudos for the R.E.M. reference, LOC!
Judge rules against Russia on Jewish documents
August 4th, 2010AP – “A federal judge has issued a judgment against the Russian government for its refusal to return a library of historic books and documents to a Jewish group. Royce Lamberth, the chief judge of U.S. District Court in Washington, ruled that taking the material was discriminatory, not for a public purpose and occurred without just compensation to the Jewish religious organization that is suing, Chabad-Lubavitch.”
NY library to honor Steve Martin for gift of ideas NY library to honor Steve Martin for gift of ideas
August 4th, 2010AP – “Steve Martin has been recognized in New York as a literary lion. The actor-author-playwright was among five Library Lions announced Wednesday by the New York Public Library. Also cited were actor-author Ethan Hawke, authors Malcolm Gladwell and Zadie Smith and New York Public Library President Paul LeClerc.”
East Hampton Village Board nixes library expansion
August 2nd, 2010NYPOST – “East Hampton Village’s quiet library is providing the hamlet’s loudest controversy. In a decision that some are ripping as elitist and exclusionary, the tony village’s zoning board last week rejected a bid to expand the enclave’s tiny Main Street building by roughly 6,000 square feet. Livid library officials say the board rejected the project to avoid having children from less sparkling areas of East Hampton Town pour into an inviting new facility. “The old guard is scared that the Latino kids and their parents from Springs are going to invade their precious downtown area,” said one seething library source. “It’s really that simple.”
‘The Great Gatsby’ goes interactive
August 1st, 2010USATODAY – “I-play, which has created computer games based on contemporary literary works by Nora Roberts and James Patterson, has now set its sights on an 85-year-old classic: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic The Great Gatsby. Now available for Windows-based PCs, Classic Adventures: The Great Gatsby is a downloadable casual game that lets you interact with familiar characters, locations and story lines from the legendary American novel. As Nick Carraway, a young idealist back from the Great War, you must unravel secrets buried behind the decadence of the Roaring ’20s.”
Libraries branch out into job-hunting centers
August 1st, 2010SF Gate – “Public libraries around the Bay Area and the country have emerged as vital resource centers for the growing hordes of job hunters. With free Internet access, tons of information online and in print, knowledgeable staffs and convenient locations, public libraries are attracting unemployed folks like never before.”
Winston Churchill Goes Digital
July 28th, 2010NYT – “Under the deal, the entire Churchill archive, currently stored in 2,500 boxes at the center’s home in the quiet, grassy precincts of Cambridge university’s Churchill College, is to be digitized and made available on a pay-as-you-go basis to those with an Internet connection.”
Amazon Introduces $139 Kindle With Wi-Fi Amid Tussle With Apple
July 28th, 2010Bloomberg – “Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos cut prices and added features to the Kindle to defend it against a threat from Apple Inc. in the fast- growing market for electronic readers. Amazon introduced two new versions of the device today, including a $139 model that works with Wi-Fi. A second version, with 3G mobile technology as well as Wi-Fi to download books, costs $189. Bloomberg News reported details in May about Amazon’s plans for the Kindle, its bestselling product.”
As college text prices soar, students get a rental option
July 26th, 2010Boston Globe – “College students will have new, cheaper alternatives this fall to shelling out hundreds of dollars each semester for textbooks they may never use again. * Tweet 31 people Tweeted this * Submit to Diggdiggsdigg * Yahoo! Buzz ShareThis In an effort to curb escalating book prices amid sky-high college costs, bookstores at more than a dozen campuses across the state and hundreds more around the country will begin renting textbooks at about half the cost of buying them.”
British library Annual Report
July 26th, 2010The 2009-2010 report was released today.
Libraries Loan More Movies than Netflix
July 26th, 2010Courant.com – “Red boxes, red envelopes and the blue and yellow Blockbusterstores may dominate the movie rental landscape, but according to a recent survey, when Americans want to watch a DVD, they are most likely to turn to their local library.The survey, released this year by OCLC, a nonprofit library co-operative and research organization, found that public libraries in the United States lend an average 2.1 million videos every day, slightly more than the 2 million that Netflix ships. The other top two competitors, Redbox and Blockbuster, come in at 1.4 million and 1.2 million respectively, according to daily averages provided by company representatives.”
More here
Hunt proposes closure of the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council
July 26th, 2010Guardian – “The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) would be abolished under new proposals put forward today by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to cut the number of public bodies the government funds. A statement from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) proposed that the MLA – which works to promote best practice in the UK’s museums, libraries and archives – would be wound up as the department focused its efforts instead “on front-line, essential services and ensur[ing] greater value for money” in the area. “Government support for museums, libraries and archives will continue,” it added.”
Promoting Literacy the Curious George Way
July 26th, 2010NYTimes – “The Library of Congress has chosen Curious George, the children’s book character, to star in its new public service advertising campaign. Introduced Monday and distributed by the Advertising Council, the ads are intended to encourage parents to read with their children. According to Florida State University, this activity makes children more willing to read and increases the frequency of their reading”
Public Libraries Nourishing the Mind
July 25th, 2010PC World – “I’ve been thinking a lot about what ought to be architecturally designed into public library spaces in the future. As physical books play a lesser role, we can rethink the best use of library space.”
The Library of America launches a blog
July 25th, 2010Los Angeles Times – “The Library of America, the nonprofit publishing house dedicated to creating an in-print library of editions of America’s greatest works, launched its first blog Friday. Called Reader’s Almanac, it focuses on joining the current online discussions that touch on the works and authors in the publisher’s catalog, such as William Faulkner, Jack Kerouac, Mark Twain and Walt Whitman.”
COMIC-CON 2010: A boom in digital comics portends big changes for readers
July 25th, 2010Los Angeles Times- ‘Los Angeles Times writers Alex Pham and John Horn take a look at how a new wave of digital comic books designed for mobile phones, tablet computers and other devices stands to impact the publishing industry and independent retailers — not to mention devoted fans — in a page-one story in Friday’s paper.’
Celebrated authors bypass publishing houses to sell ebooks via Amazon
July 24th, 2010Guardian – “Discontent over digital royalties prompts Roth, Amis and other leading names to enter into exclusive deal with Odyssey Editions”
Little reader: 5-year-old gets jump on broadcast career:
July 24th, 2010WCF Courier – “Sporting a pink skirt and pink flip-flops, Zoe Malin Campbell tilts her head toward a large, silver microphone and begins to read from one of her favorite books, “Amazing Grace” by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch. Not once does the 5-year-old stop to ask an adult how to pronounce a word. Not once does she look confused or nervous. Campbell, who has been learning to read since age 3, has her own radio show on KBBG radio. “Zoe’s Book Club with a lot of Books” airs at 11 a.m. every Saturday.”
Getty receives grant money for digital German art initiative
July 20th, 2010Los Angeles Times – “The Getty Research Institute is receiving grant money from the National Endowment for the Humanities for a joint project that involves the digital archiving of German auction catalogs from 1930 to 1945. The archives are intended to help establish the origins of artistic and cultural assets that were taken from their legal owners during the Nazi regime.”
Five Reasons Amazon E-Books are Outselling Hardcovers
July 20th, 2010PC Worlds – “Are you still holding out to see what happens with this whole ebooks “fad” before deciding whether to embrace it for your business? Well, the times they are a changin’ and there are a variety of reasons that ebooks are outpacing printed books. Amazon reports that ebook sales are three times higher than last year, and that Kindle versions of books have outsold their hardcover equivalents by 43 percent over the last quarter. The traditional written word printed on paper will not be fading to oblivion any time soon, but here are five factors contributing to the success of the ebook”
‘Unbound: A National Exhibition of Book Art’:
July 17th, 2010SF Chron – “‘Book art’ is a synthesis of form and content and provides us a bridge between the traditional book and contemporary art,” Lederer says. “Artists’ books engage us in their meaning through a myriad of elements (versus just text), including words, image, materials, shape, form and color. The creative opportunity for structuring and packaging book art is endless – from pop-ups to sculptural housing.”
Out There: A charming hideaway for rare-book lovers
July 17th, 2010LA times – “Those who’ve been to William Andrews Clark Memorial Library love its intimate, elegant grounds and trove of historical writings. Run by UCLA but tucked away in Jefferson Park, it gets few visitors.”
EU OK with Google-Dutch Library deal
July 17th, 2010Associated Press – “The European Commission said Thursday it does not object to Google digitizing 160,000 books in the archives of the National Library of the Netherlands if they will be made publicly available. EU spokesman Jonathan Todd said the EU executive welcomed the digitization of materials from public libraries provided “they are made available to European citizens” and meet EU copyright and competition laws.”
Don’t go to the library on Sunday. Or Monday
July 17th, 2010Los Angeles Times – “Budget contractions are squeezing the Los Angeles Public Library, which begins a new schedule of reduced hours this Sunday, July 18. Going forward, the Central Library and all 72 LA Public Library branches will be open just five days, Tuesday through Saturday. This means that students who need the computers or Internet access will have to queue up for places on Saturday. People who work regular hours and want to stop at libraries on the weekend will now have to remember Saturday is their only chance. And for many — students, people with daytime jobs — getting to the library at all will be a challenge. While the new hours seem paltry, the budget crisis might force even more drastic cuts in service in the future.”
Power and propaganda of maps at British library
July 17th, 2010Retuers – “Rare cartographic gems mapping the world from 200 B.C. to the present go on display at the British Library in London. “Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art,” showcases some of the finest wall-maps in the British Library’s 4.5 million-strong collection, in an exhibition which encourages visitors to question the nature and purpose of maps.”
Federal wage subsidy plan running out of cash:
July 17th, 2010SF Chron – “Several dozen workers at a book-scanning factory in San Francisco are among 3,500 city residents who are earning paychecks today thanks to a federal wage subsidy that will expire Sept. 30 unless Congress puts an additional $2.5 billion into the program.”
Wily raccoon breaks into Brooklyn Public Library basement
July 14th, 2010NY Daily News – “A wily raccoon snuck into the basement of the Brooklyn Public Library’s central branch late last week, startling maintenance workers. “He was probably just wandering around looking for some books to check out,” joked Brooklyn Public Library spokeswoman Malika Granville, who suggested the critter read the kids book “Raccoon’s Last Race” by Joseph and James Bruchac.
