Google Partners Say Its China Stance Is Putting Them at Risk
March 17th, 2010Bloomberg – “Google Inc.’s partners in China said they have received no information from the company since it announced it may exit the country, putting their businesses at risk.”
Judiciary Approves PACER Innovations To Enhance Public Access
March 16th, 2010US Courts – “The Judicial Conference of the United States today approved key steps to improve public access to federal courts by increasing the availability of court opinions and expanding the services and reducing the costs for many users of the Public Access to Electronic Court Records (PACER)”
Psychology of the bookplate
March 16th, 2010Yale Alumni Magazine – ““This book belongs to me.” For over five centuries, that has been the message conveyed by every bookplate, whether printed and hand-tinted for Hildebrand Brandenburg in 1480 or mass-produced for Barnes & Noble or Amazon. (Yes, they sell bookplates.) Think of a bookplate as a wedding ring binding the reader to the book, and vice versa. The symbolism isn’t so far apart: ownership, possession, desire.”
China to Google: Please Exit In An Orderly Fashion
March 16th, 2010All Things D – “If Google’s (GOOG) talks with the Chinese government end at an impasse and the company shutters Google.cn and ramps down its operations in the country, it best do so properly and according to law. That’s the latest from Beijing, which continues to threaten and posture amid reports that the search giant is on the brink of closing its Chinese search engine.”
Google’s book project may change copyright law
March 16th, 2010San Jose Mercury News – “Sometime in the near future, a federal judge will decide whether Google can proceed with its plan to create a digital library and bookstore out of millions of old books scanned from libraries around the world. Google Book Search has already spawned a class-action lawsuit, and now, a surge of opposition from scholars, consumer advocates and business competitors who contend the plan gives Google too much control over a priceless store of information. The legal issues are complex. But the impact and implications of the plan, which would create a copyright framework for old books that would persist into the 22nd century, could be huge, some say.”
London Jewish Museum reopens after major facelift
March 16th, 2010AP – “A museum tracing the history of Britain’s 300,000-strong Jewish community is reopening after a 10 million pound ($15 million) expansion. The Jewish Museum calls itself the only such gallery in London dedicated to a minority group. It includes a large collection of Jewish ceremonial art as well as interactive displays tracing the history of Jews in Britain from the 11th century until the present day.
Two Library Magazines Sold
March 16th, 2010Publishers Weekly – “Two weeks after Library Journal and School Library Journal were acquired by Media Source, two other publications serving the library market have been sold. VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates), which is aimed at librarians serving young adults, and Teacher Librarian, the journal for school library professionals, have been acquired by E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC, a new company formed by publishing and library veteran Edward Kurdyla.”
John Grisham joins e-book parade
March 16th, 2010USA Today – “He had been one of publishing’s major holdouts. But best-selling author John Grisham is finally joining the e-book bandwagon. Random House announced today that all 23 Grisham titles are now available for purchase in the U.S, and Canada, “wherever e-books are sold.” That includes Amazon’s Kindle Store, the Sony Reader store and Barnes & Noble.com.”
HPU Libraries Utilize Social Media And Late Night Hours To Help Students Stay In Touch
March 16th, 2010High Point University News – ” In the old days, a card catalog and a microfilm reader were considered high-tech in terms of tools in the library, but students today need much, much more – and thanks to ever-growing services in the High Point University libraries, students have everything they need and more. Case in point? The library is on Facebook, and students can literally be in touch with the library all day, every day – a feature that’s new this semester.”
Break the law and your new ‘friend’ may be the FBI
March 16th, 2010AP – “The Feds are on Facebook. And MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, too. U.S. law enforcement agents are following the rest of the Internet world into popular social-networking services, going undercover with false online profiles to communicate with suspects and gather private information, according to an internal Justice Department document that offers a tantalizing glimpse of issues related to privacy and crime-fighting.”
See also, “EFF Posts Documents Detailing Law Enforcement Collection of Data From Social Media Sites.”
Google China Fate May Be Decided Amid License Reviews
March 16th, 2010Bloomberg – “Google Inc.’s fate in China may be decided this month as Internet-service licenses come up for renewal, amid growing speculation a censorship row with the government will drive the U.S. company from the country.”
See also, “China without Google: ‘a lose-lose scenario’”
Fending Off Digital Decay, Bit by Bit
March 16th, 2010NYT – “Among the archival material from Salman Rushdie currently on display at Emory University in Atlanta are inked book covers, handwritten journals and four Apple computers (one ruined by a spilled Coke). The 18 gigabytes of data they contain seemed to promise future biographers and literary scholars a digital wonderland: comprehensive, organized and searchable files, quickly accessible with a few clicks.But like most Rushdian paradises, this digital idyll has its own set of problems. As research libraries and archives are discovering, “born-digital” materials — those initially created in electronic form — are much more complicated and costly to preserve than anticipated.”
Dot-Com: ‘Three Letters and a Punctuation Mark’ That Changed the World
March 16th, 2010Reuters – “Twenty five years ago, on March 15, 1985, the first commercial dot-com domain name – Symbolics.com – was born. It was one of only six dot-com domain names registered that year (Among the 15 oldest are Northrop.com, Xerox.com, HP.com, IBM.com, Sun.com, Intel.com, TI.com and ATT.com.)”
US broadband plan aims to boost speed, wireless.
March 16th, 2010Reuters – “U.S. regulators released a blueprint for upgrading Internet access for all Americans, with Internet speeds up to 25 times the current average, expanded coverage and more airwaves for mobile services. The U.S. Federal Communications Commission plan released on Monday comes as the Internet increasingly delivers everything from telephone service to movies, music and banking services.”
Libraries, community groups squeezed by cuts to Internet program
March 16th, 2010Canadian Press – “The Conservative government is quietly cutting funding to hundreds of community groups and even hospitals that provide free Internet access to Canadians who might not otherwise have a chance to get online. Organizations that benefit from Industry Canada’s 16-year-old Community Access Program began receiving letters last week informing them that sites located within 25 kilometres of a public library would no longer be eligible for cash.”
C-Span Puts Full Archives on the Web
March 16th, 2010NYT – “Researchers, political satirists and partisan mudslingers, take note: C-Span has uploaded virtually every minute of its video archives to the Internet. The archives, at C-SpanVideo.org, cover 23 years of history and five presidential administrations and are sure to provide new fodder for pundits and politicians alike. The network will formally announce the completion of the C-Span Video Library on Wednesday”
U.S. to roll out major broadband policy
March 15th, 2010Reuters – “U.S. regulators will announce a major Internet policy this week to revolutionize how Americans communicate and play, proposing a dramatic increase in broadband speeds that could let people download a high-definition film in minutes instead of hours. Dramatically increasing Internet speeds to 25 times the current average is one of the myriad goals to be unveiled in the National Broadband Plan by the the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday. The highly anticipated plan will make a series of recommendations to Congress and is aimed at spurring the ever-changing communications industry to bring more and faster online services to Americans as they increasingly turn to the Internet to communicate, pay monthly bills, make travel plans and be entertained by movies and music.”
Warning: We Filter Websites
March 15th, 2010The power of Twitter (or not) in Iran
March 15th, 2010USA Today – “Twitter’s role in the Iran elections and in the women’s movement there has been analyzed and dissected endlessly. In a South by Southwest Interactive panel here on “2009: Iran election: Women’s Revolution? Twitter Revolution?”, two Iranian women and a college professor lauded Twitter but kept things in perspective.”
Hemingway’s Key West House Named Literary Landmark
March 15th, 2010AP – “Ernest Hemingway’s Key West home, where the American author lived in the 1930s, was designated a literary landmark on Sunday. Hemingway, who lived in the Spanish-colonial home with his second wife Pauline and their two sons, owned the property until his death in 1961. It became a museum honoring the Pulitzer and Nobel prize-winning author in 1964. He worked on many of his best-known manuscripts in the Key West property’s second-story writing studio.”
Report Faults U.S. Government’s Efforts at Transparency
March 15th, 2010NYT – “Indeed, Mr. Obama’s administration has posted White House visitor logs online, it has made public the once-classified memorandums on torture policies in the George W. Bush administration, and it has developed an internal system for archiving its own unclassified e-mail messages. But a new report released Sunday by a private research group, the National Security Archive, suggests that the results of Mr. Obama’s push for transparency have been decidedly mixed across the federal government, with progress slow and erratic.”
Somerville gets zine library
March 15th, 2010Wicked Local – “After more than four years in Harvard Square, the Papercut Zine Library has found a new home in Somerville. When the library reopens next week, patrons will once again be able to borrow a variety of independently produced media, dealing with everything from politics to the author’s private thoughts. “We have a pretty broad definition of ’zines,’” said Clara Hendricks, a member of the collective that runs Papercut. “They’re independent or underground, sometimes handmade, publications. We do have some glossy printed magazines, but they are all independent. The vast majority of our collection is photocopied, handmade. We archive some of that stuff that you wouldn’t find at the public library.”
History channel offering series to schools
March 15th, 2010AP – “The History channel says it will give a free DVD copy of its sprawling 12-hour series on American history to any school in the country that wants one. The network is launching a broad educational outreach to accompany “America The Story of Us,” which premieres April 25. Before the series starts, it will mail posters, a teacher’s guide and family viewing guide to 35,000 high schools and middle schools.”
Report: Google near certain to close China site
March 15th, 2010AP – “A newspaper Web site is reporting Google Inc. is “99.9 percent” sure to close its search engine in China after negotiations over censorship stalled. The Financial Times cited an unnamed source familiar with the company’s thinking when it reported Saturday that Google has drawn up plans to shutter Google.cn. The newspaper did not say when the company would shut the site.”
China Warns Google
March 12th, 2010WSJ – “A Chinese minister made the government’s strongest statement yet on Google Inc.’s future in the country, warning that the U.S. Internet company “will have to bear the consequences” if its follows through on its pledge to stop censoring its Chinese search site.”
See also, Google Prepares to Stop Censoring in China
Is Voice-Based Bubbly the New Twitter?
March 12th, 2010Ad Age – “In India, thousands of consumers are going from tweeting to bubbling. Bollywood stars Kareena Kapoor and Aamir Khan began using Bubbly and talking about it ahead of the premiere of their hit film ‘Three Idiots.’ A hot new social networking service dubbed “Bubbly,” which is essentially a voice-based Twitter, is quickly gaining popularity among Indians. And thanks to Bollywood celebs being early adopters, Bubbly is growing virally and with virtually zero marketing spend.”
Lead paint leads to complaint against Orange library
March 12th, 2010NJ Star Ledger – “Orange officials have known for decades that the city’s public library, the oldest in Essex County, has lead paint on its walls. But a complaint that the paint is disintegrating moved the city to inspect the building and threaten the library with closure. In a letter Wednesday, Orange health inspector Vincent DeFilippo said he received a call about lead paint on the building’s walls. The letter, addressed to the library’s executive director Doris Walker, said that he found areas of defective paint, and if they are not abated within two weeks he may shut down the building.”
Samsung Unwraps a New E-Book Reader
March 12th, 2010NYT – “Samsung unwrapped its long-awaited e-book reader for the American market this week, and it’s a curious combination of useful features and a key missing feature.”
UTS Library’s new Teamboard room
March 12th, 2010Book clubs for doctors show human side of medicine
March 12th, 2010AP – “Doctors, nurses and other health care workers are tapping into their inner Tolstoys to better connect with patients. With increasing regularity, they’re meeting in monthly book clubs to discuss medical-themed literature. Humanities courses are now required in many medical schools.”
