Archive for October, 2007
Old Feed Titles
October 12th, 2007Robert Scoble doesn’t like e-mail anymore and I’m not doing Twitter/Facebook/etc these days, so I’m hoping he’ll see this in a blog search for his name.
I’ve had his feed in my reader for quite a while and it still says “Microsoft Geek Blogger” even though he’s been at a new job for longer than a [...]
Do the Dew
October 11th, 2007Elinor Mills - “In a blind “taste test” searchers chose Google, then Microsoft and Yahoo.”
Spies, Spies, Everywhere There Are Spies…
October 11th, 2007AP - “FBI officials followed a terrorism suspect to a public library and when he was done using a computer there violated his privacy by making, without a warrant, records of the Web pages and e-mail addresses that he had accessed, the man’s attorney alleged Thursday”
A Different Type of Book Banning
October 11th, 2007Hilary White - “Catholic parents of students at a Catholic colleague in Minneapolis are outraged that their children will be forced to read the sexually explicit and anti-Christian novel, A Handmaid’s Tale by Canadian author and far-left feminist Margaret Atwood. The English Department’s faculty at the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minneapolis, has [...]
Twacking Twitter
October 11th, 2007I’m still not back on Twiiter and probably won’t be for a while (I’m over my anxiety about quitting [qwitting?]), but this is really cool from a keeping current POV.
Rafe Needleman - “[N]ow you can get alerted whenever someone Twitters about you or your company. Just send a Twitter message “Track [word],” and whenever someone [...]
Advanced Searching Techniques
October 11th, 2007Genie Tyburski - “Seeking out facts, and even basic information on a topic, is relatively easy. Enter 2 or 3 relevant keywords at your favorite search engine. But going beyond the basic, or conducting investigative research, often means using advanced search commands, not to mention additional or more targeted finding tools. This article examines the [...]
Unpublished Doesn’t Mean Bad Law
October 9th, 2007Michael Doyle - “The 19-year-old restaurant worker is suing the California Supreme Court to reverse its practice of largely ignoring unpublished court opinions. In California, these opinions disposing of routine cases can’t be cited as precedent. They also become difficult to appeal.” (via)
book pocket card: Oct ‘07
October 9th, 2007
book pocket card: Oct ‘07
Originally uploaded by millvalleylibrary
New Blog From ALSC
October 9th, 2007ALA - “The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), has launched an ALSC blog at http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog The blog provides a venue for coverage and interactive discussion of time sensitive news in children’s librarianship, current issues in the field, programs, conferences, initiatives, resources and activities of interest [...]
Read To Me
October 9th, 2007Tara Calashain - “This doesn’t fall into the category of Internet research, but definitely falls under “things a librarian might find useful.” There’s a new service available for blind and low-vision people to have things read to them over the phone.”
A Librarian’s Dream
October 9th, 2007Smithsonian Magazine - “Joshua Schachter didn’t plan to organize the Internet.” (via)
The Continuous Battle
October 9th, 2007Atlas Shrugs - “Close the Leftard Libraries?”
New Yahoo! (!)
October 9th, 2007Yahoo Search Blog - “Today we launched a site that gives you a quick way to learn how the new Yahoo! Search can help you go from “to-do” to “done.”
Who’s a User?
October 9th, 2007Wayne Bivens-Tatum - “Our job isn’t to make things easier for ourselves, but for the library users, and it’s easier to see that if we also, at least occasionally, are put in the place of the non-librarian library user.”
Clearly one of my favorite librar* blogs these days. Way to go Wayne.
Traveling. Blech!
October 9th, 2007Glenn Reynolds - “Air travel sucks, which is why I do it less and less.”
Ditto.
Too Traditional?
October 9th, 2007Francine Fialkoff - “Nearly 13 years after LJ’s groundbreaking report on job satisfaction, “Are You Happy in Your Job?” (LJ 11/1/94), the latest survey, touted on our cover, reveals some fundamental concerns about the profession, especially your willingness to loosen the “tight reins of tradition.” (via)
Conference Blogs
October 9th, 2007T. Scott - “I remember that just a few years ago, having a blog as part of the pre-conference preparations was a new and radical experiment, and they’re still not as common as I might expect.”
2 Steps Forward, 2 Steps Back
October 9th, 2007Joe Garofoli - “Fifty years ago today, a San Francisco Municipal Court judge ruled that Allen Ginsberg’s Beat-era poem “Howl” was not obscene. Yet today, a New York public broadcasting station decided not to air the poem, fearing that the Federal Communications Commission will find it indecent and crush the network with crippling fines. (via)
The Possible Strike In Victoria, CA
October 9th, 2007Have you been reading about this?
Kim Westad - “Greater Victoria library workers may escalate their job action to a full strike this week, as both union and management say they’ve reached an impasse in contract negotiations.”
I flip-flop on union strikes. I can’t make up my mind whether or not they actually do any good.
Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful
October 8th, 2007Above The Law - “They can Shepardize like nobody’s business. They know the proper Bluebook form for CCH looseleafs, by heart. And they look really good in swimwear.”
This is an old post, but it’s new to me. So, take a look (via)
Best R.E.M. Quote! Ever!
October 8th, 2007Michael Stipe - “My actions make me beautiful and dignify the flesh”
Great words of advice.
The Last of the Banned Book Week Posts
October 8th, 2007Lichen Rancourt - “Maybe we need a banned patrons week.”
Hee Hee.
Lots of great pics on the Dover Public Library blog.
Random Acts of Loving Kindness
October 8th, 2007Amy F. Reiter - “Along with coming of age, a Bar Mitzvah often means lots of presents and a nice boost for the college fund. But for Daniel Downie of Urbana, to receive wasn’t good enough. He wanted to give. So for a tzedakah project – an act of charity – Downie asked the guests [...]
More on Sony
October 8th, 2007I just received an e-mail from Valerie Motis, Director of Corporate Communications at Sony Electronics. She sent along a note from Steve Haber, Senior Vice President of Sony Electronics Digital Imaging and Audio Division, regarding the reactions from the “Sexier Than a Librarian” advertisement. She gave me permission to post his note:
“Thank you [...]
Good Grief!
October 8th, 2007Patricia Cohen - “Schulz said that when he read Mr. Michaelis’s manuscript in December, members of the family were shocked by the portrayal of a depressed, cold and bitter man who was constantly going after different women.”
Colbert Reports
October 8th, 2007Janet Maslin - “Books are for pantywaists. Or at least that’s how “Stephen Colbert,” the excitable commentator played to rock-star perfection by Stephen Colbert, viewed them before he became a published author.”
The Really Modern Library
October 8th, 2007Ben Vershblow - “This is a request for comments. We’re in the very early stages of devising, in partnership with Peter Brantley and the Digital Library Federation, what could become a major initiative around the question of mass digitization. It’s called “The Really Modern Library.”
Government Blogging
October 8th, 2007AP lists a few of them.
Daily News Picks Up “Alms For Jihad” Story and Adds More
October 8th, 2007Robert Gearty - “Hard-line Islamic books that justify violence against non-Muslim societies - including texts used as terrorist “recruiting tools” - are freely available in New York City public libraries.”
Quiet Room Anyone?
October 8th, 2007Letter to Heloise - “The libraries should restore standards and insist on polite behavior from children, their parents and adults. Yes, libraries have changed in their offerings, but rudeness is never part of any positive environment.”