Library Stuff

“The South By Southwest 2013 conference is coming up quickly and we’re getting excited for the numerous library/archive and museum activities that will be happening (look for an update on this year’s activities soon). One thing we know is happening is the panel we’re moderating on Why Digital Maps Can Reboot Cultural History.  Matthew A. Knutzen, the Geospatial Librarian in the Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division at the New York Public Library, will be part of the panel and we couldn’t be happier. In this installment of our Insights interview series, we’re excited to chat with Matt about the work of the Map Division and their innovative approach to developing and utilizing digital geospatial tools and technologies.”

via The Signal: Digital Preservation.

LA Times – “The Book Depository is a British-based online bookseller that ships to countries around the world, for free. To bring that point home, it has built a map that shows who bought what, where, just now. The window of the map moves to reach the most recent purchase, zooming back and forth from Germany to Singapore to the United States to Australia to Norway. In each location, the title pops up. It’s hypnotic.”

LOC – “Profiles of U.S. federal libraries from around the world are now available online. Presented dynamically with an interactive mapping tool, the Federal Library Directory displays geographic and collections data from more than 1,000 libraries. This publicly available dataset identifies members of the federal library and information center community and offers current information on their locations, collections, services and specialties. Sponsored by the Federal Library and Information Center Committee (FLICC), with research assistance from the Federal Research Division (FRD), this virtual directory provides a comprehensive view of agency library efforts both in the United States and throughout the world. The compiled data includes details on collections, staff size, leadership, circulation and reference services.”

AP – “An Oregon man has given the Library of Congress a rare and unusual gift: a 120-year-old map supporting the theory that the Earth is flat. Don Homuth, of Salem, Ore., says the map was given to him by his eighth-grade teacher. It was created by Orlando Ferguson of Hot Springs, S.D.”

AP – “A Washington businessman is loaning the first U.S. map printed in North America to the Library of Congress after buying it for $1.8 million. The library announced Monday that David Rubenstein bought the 1784 map at auction in December. It had been held by the New Jersey Historical Society since 1862.”

Washington Post – “Hessler, 49, is one of the world’s leading experts in trying to decode the mysteries of the maps, and presented some of his dazzlingly intricate research at a Friday conference at the library, “Re-Examining the Portolan Chart: History, Navigation and Science.”

Washington Post – “Coast had the idea for OpenStreetMap in 2004, when he was a student living in London. Coast had a GPS and a laptop, you see, and he figured that with a little programming magic he could build a map of his local haunts that contained more useful information than any service he could find online.”

More at Open Street Map

Bloomberg – “In December, Deanna Marcum of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. got a call with an offer that was too good to refuse: a chance to exhibit a 400-year-old complete map of the world, the first China had seen.”

This is almost as addictive as Twittervision (via)

Aaron Schmidt – “At the very least, enjoy the pretty map.”