[LISNews] The LISNews For February 2nd 2009

Mon Feb 2 11:10:49 CST 2009

Happy Monday! It's the LISNews for February 2nd, 2009...
 On Monday we start with the most popular headlines from the weekend:

-[1] - EVERYTHING Is Harmful To Your Computer - Google Cites Human Error
   http://lisnews.org/node/32607/
-[2] - Books as Objets D'Art on Exhibit in Minneapolis
   http://lisnews.org/node/32599/
-[3] - What Books Inspired Our New President?
   http://lisnews.org/node/32602/
-[4] - Stephen King's Office
   http://lisnews.org/node/32610/
-[5] - A Newspaper? On a PC? That’s Crazy Talk
   http://lisnews.org/node/32609/

And here's the latest from LISNews:

--Google's Got All the Marbles
- http://lisnews.org/node/32622/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Monday February 2nd at 8:52 AM
-Read 104 times - 0 Comments
Robert Darnton, head of the Harvard library system, writes in a lengthy article in the February 12th issue of the New York
Review of Books:  "Google will enjoy what can only be called a monopoly--a monopoly of a new kind, not of railroads or
steel but of access to information. Google has no serious competitors. Google alone has the wealth to digitize on a massive
scale. And having settled with the authors and publishers, it can exploit its financial power from within a protective legal
barrier; for the class action suit covers the entire class of authors and publishers."  He also discusses the economics of
professional journals and how the system has changed over the past hundred years.  A portion of his commentary:    "The
result stands out on the acquisitions budget of every research library: the Journal of Comparative Neurology now costs
$25,910 for a year's subscription; Tetrahedron costs $17,969 (or $39,739, if bundled with related publications as a
Tetrahedron package); the average price of a chemistry journal is $3,490; and the ripple effects have damaged intellectual
life throughout the world of learning. Owing to the skyrocketing cost of serials, libraries that used to spend 50 percent
of their acquisitions budget on monographs now spend 25 percent or less. University presses, which depend on sales to
libraries, cannot cover their costs by publishing monographs. And young scholars who depend on publishing to advance their
careers are now in danger of perishing." 

--LISTen and Hyperlinked History by The Faceless Historian
- http://lisnews.org/node/32618/
-Blog Entry by Great Western Dragon Posted Sunday February 1st at 11:45 PM
-Read 122 times - 0 Comments
While Stephen deals with the stress of moving, he asked that I fill in for him for a special episode of LISTen - The
LISNews Podcast. As my alter-ego, The Faceless Historian, I'll take you on a journey through history back to the distant
past and the origins of the DRM and copying controversies we deal with today.  Stephen and the regular LISTen gang will be
back next week with your regularly scheduled podcast. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy something a little different about
something related to issues we face in libraries today.  If you're in the mood for more of my historical meanderings, you
can catch my podcast (Hyperlinked History) on iTunes or via the Hyperlinked History website.

--As to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act news
- http://lisnews.org/node/32616/
-Front Page Story by StephenK Posted Sunday February 1st at 3:20 PM
-Read 143 times - 0 Comments
Apparently there was a press release from the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently.  Press releases like that are
not normally considered full statements of government action and may not necessarily contain all the nuances an actual
order might contain.  Press releases from the Federal Communications Commission have an explicit disclaimer on them that
they are not actions in and of themselves.  See for example this release.  I will ask for calm right now.  It should be
remembered that the CPSC is not at full strength and has an acting chair, as noted in the US Government Manual.  With one
vacancy in the body of commissioners, a single appointment by President Obama clearing the US Senate could very well change
things.  The stimulus package that is under debate and that House Republicans unanimously voted against could still wind up
with a rider or two changing things.  Hang in there.  Just because there was a press release issued about a stay does not
mean it will necessarily have to remain in effect the full year.  Quite a lot is in play right now.

--Tons of Twittery Tips
- http://lisnews.org/node/32615/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Sunday February 1st at 1:36 PM
-Read 248 times - 1 Comments
>From John Kremer, Book Market, here are just some of his twitter suggestions:   Google Twitter Gadget:  Allows you to read
and update Twitters right on your desktop.  Loud Twitter: This batch-tweeting service allows users to set up automatic
posting of their tweets to their blog (a listing of tweets once per day).  Mr. Tweet: Helps you build meaningful
relationships on Twitter, showing you the followers and influencers you should follow. Also recommends you to enthusiastic
users relevant to you.   A free service that allows you to customize your Twitter page. Again, a customized page is a boon
for helping you to brand yourself on Twitter. I (www.bookmarket.com) used this service to produce my current Twitter
background in five minutes.  Ping Vine: A free service that takes an Atom or RSS feed from your blog, lifestream or
favorite website and posts it to Twitter, Ping.fm or Identi.ca. Hence, you can automatically post your blog posts to
Twitter via RSS feed. 

--She So Loved the Library She Left It Her Inheritance
- http://lisnews.org/node/32614/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Sunday February 1st at 11:25 AM
-Read 201 times - 1 Comments
The Baltimore Sun reports that Enoch Pratt Free Library officials happily discovered the esteem one of their retirees held
for the place.  At her death, Sara (Bunny) Siebert directed that more than $650,000 of her assets go to the library, a
figure that exceeds the total of all the paychecks she took home in her 34 years as Pratt's director of young adult
reading.  She died at age 88 last year.  Siebert, an energetic and popular librarian who sought no attention as a donor
during her life, left an estate of more than $2 million.  Having no survivors, she divided her assets among the Baltimore
institutions she admired including the Pratt Library and her alma mater, Goucher College.

--John Updike Man of Letters
- http://lisnews.org/node/32612/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Sunday February 1st at 9:01 AM
-Read 178 times - 0 Comments
The New York Times  has a multi-media review of the work and life of John Updike who died last Tuesday.

--Workshop thoughts
- http://lisnews.org/node/32611/
-Blog Entry by StephenK Posted Sunday February 1st at 1:48 AM
-Read 95 times - 1 Comments
While cruising the 'net to find feeds to plug into LISFeeds, I came across something notable.  If you knew about the US
Department of Agriculture's Graduate School, you might know they have unique courses available.  Not all relate to
agricultural topics like alpaca husbandry.  Some classes available include ones on Counter and Anti-Terrorism,
Conversational Turkish I-III, Evolution, and more.  One particular course caught my eye.  The course description states: 
Podcasting-offering audio content for download via the Internet-is a great way to offer non-visual material to a worldwide
audience. This course presents the basic skills, equipment and knowledge you need to start creating your own Internet-based
"radio show." As with many digitally-based media, access to the technology is inexpensive, but the difference between a
tossed-together podcast and a polished show is like night and day. This class will help you get started toward an
appealing, well-produced podcast.  This may sound similar to the matter discussed in the press release Boot Camp on Online
Production for Librarians Announced.  The costs are a little different.  The USDA event takes place in DC and costs $215
per attendee.  The event being put on by Erie Looking Productions in the Las Vegas Valley would cost $249 dollars.  There
are reasons for the cost difference.  First and foremost, the USDA presenters get salaries from USDA.  The presenters here
don't so a small fraction goes towards covering that.  Secondly, the $100 up-front deposit goes towards the purchase of
food and the securing of space for the event as well as ensuring we have a working projector.  If there was more than four
dollars in the bank, putting deposits towards all that would not otherwise be necessary.  Unfortunately, this is just
economic reality for us right now.  We are planning on ensuring attendees are fed a fabulous lunch, too.  I bring all this
up as the deadline to register for the event is coming up on February 9th.  I do not handle the registrations directly. 
This was a deliberate step taken so that I could worry about putting together a ton of fabulous content rather than where
money is going.  The person handling the business side is Pam Munson.  To get more details about the event and/or register,
the easiest way to reach her is via e-mail with ELPEVENT on the subject line so that her spam filter doesn't kill your
message.  The key thing is to fire questions off to her and not me as she handles the business side while I am finalizing
curriculum.  I cannot offer CEU's like the USDA Graduate School.  I have to have an established track record of offering
programs first.  Since this creates a lovely chicken and the egg situation, this results in folks having to take a chance. 
For hands-on instruction in working with tools that aren't taught in library school, the odds of a good time are better with
us than in playing video slots.  As we continue into Superbowl weekend, I put this before you.  If you want to take a fun
trip to Vegas that can count for business purposes, this is a great opportunity at a meteorologically pleasant time of
year.  The weather is beautiful in February and not nearly as oppressive as in the summer when that future ALA annual
conference was planned for here.  Valentine's weekend room rates are high but the weekend between Valentine's and the big
NASCAR race on the north side of town results in pretty cheap hotel rates compared to summertime.  What will you choose?

--Stephen King's Office
- http://lisnews.org/node/32610/
-Front Page Story by Great Western Dragon Posted Saturday January 31st at 5:24 PM
-Read 262 times - 0 Comments
You ever want to walk through a bestselling author's office? You know, just to see what it's like?  Well, you can do that
virtually with Stephen King's office. He's got a new thing on his website that allows you to take a interactive tour of his
workspace. You'll want a fast computer to do this along with Flash, but it is kind of fun and interesting. You can click on
items to get information about them and there's even a sort of treasure hunt involved.  Take the tour. When you get
started, it will look like it's asking for a log in, but it's actually not. You can walk around without entering anything.

--A Newspaper? On a PC? That’s Crazy Talk
- http://lisnews.org/node/32609/
-Front Page Story by Bibliofuture Posted Saturday January 31st at 2:22 PM
-Read 257 times - 0 Comments
NYT Bits Blog looks at a 1981 story about putting the newspaper online. Blog entry here.

--A Fond Farewell To Favorite Cultural Spots In Milwaukee
- http://lisnews.org/node/32608/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Saturday January 31st at 12:42 PM
-Read 191 times - 0 Comments
Arnie Birren writes in the UWMLeader :  "Just imagine, one day we'll tell our kids about books. The way they smelled when
first purchased, the graceful aging of the yellowed volumes that lined the shelves of resale stores and the satisfaction of
turning that final page.  Start saying goodbye to the paperback. Say farewell to off-tune punk ballads bleeding through the
low-ceilinged basements of Riverwest. Kiss your art goodbye Milwaukee. It's leaving you behind.  March 31 will mark the
final day of operation for Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, a Milwaukee staple since 1927. Not only a bookshop, Schwartz also
serves as a venue for book and poetry readings. It connects the loose network of local readers and writers to nationally
touring authors. It has been a place to talk about books." 

--EVERYTHING Is Harmful To Your Computer - Google Cites Human Error
- http://lisnews.org/node/32607/
-Front Page Story by Great Western Dragon Posted Saturday January 31st at 12:34 PM
-Read 448 times - 2 Comments
Between 6:30 and 7:25 am PST, every single search result on Google was met with their dire warning that "This site may harm
your computer!".  So what happened?  Most programmers will nod and smile when they hear that the value "/" was listed as
being a site containing malware. For the uninitiated, a / is basically added to the end of every site's URL and it expands
to all URLs. So all those Google links got tagged as bad when they were, in fact, just websites.  The Google Blog has the
full deal. But really, from the perspective of someone who's done web design and programming, it's nice to see the big guys
screw up every now and again.  Additional reporting by Cali Lewis of GeekBrief TV:     

--Tributes to Kate and Kathy
- http://lisnews.org/node/32606/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Saturday January 31st at 12:12 PM
-Read 216 times - 0 Comments
Read tributes and add your own to the ALSC Blog entry Celebrate the lives of Kate McClelland and Kathy Krasniewicz. 
Association of Library Service to Children Vice President Kate McClelland and Notable Children’s Videos Chair Kathy
Krasniewicz were killed in a hit-and-run automobile accident earlier this week.  

--Winthrop Mass Library facing closing
- http://lisnews.org/node/32605/
-Blog Entry by Anonymous Patron Posted Sunday February 1st at 4:16 PM
-Read 151 times - 0 Comments
The Saturday Boston Herald reports that the Winthrop (Mass) Public Library is facing closing because of a state-level
$511,000 local aid cut.  See: http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1148970

--Head of South Carolina Archives and History Cuts His Own Job
- http://lisnews.org/node/32604/
-Blog Entry by Anonymous Patron Posted Saturday January 31st at 12:19 PM
-Read 92 times - 0 Comments
The director of the S.C. Department of Archives and History is cutting his own job to two days a week to help his agency
deal with the latest round of budget cuts.  Rodger Stroup, 62, had planned to retire as director of the agency in February
after working 30 years in state government, but the agency board of directors asked him to stay on through June while it
searches for his replacement. Stroup agreed.  Then as the agency staff worked to trim the budget yet again in December,
Stroup opted to cut his own work schedule to save somebody else’s job.   “This effort of his as he retires is just one more
thing he’s doing to ensure the agency survives and can continue doing its job,” said A.V. Huff, chairman of the archives
board.  Stroup’s annual salary, according to the S.C. Budget and Control Board database, is $80,516.  From:
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/657981.html 

--The New, Tech-Savvy Librarian
- http://lisnews.org/node/32603/
-Blog Entry by Anonymous Patron Posted Sunday February 1st at 6:18 PM
-Read 5 times - 0 Comments
People often picture librarians as the stiff, grey-haired stereotype wearing horned-rimmed glasses and a bun -- and
shushing people. Many librarians, however, are on the cutting edge of the coolest of media tools. Today's librarians have
embraced some incredible new technologies to spread a love of reading and to promote their craft.  Elizabeth Bird, or Betsy
Bird, is one of a new generation of librarians. She has achieved a lot very early in her career including sitting on the
Newbery award committee in 2006 and, following the success of Fuse #8, her own blog about children’s books, has become a
blogger for the web edition of the popular print magazine School Library Journal. Betsy’s also been known to produce
episodes of her Fuse#8 podcast.   Listen in as Mark Blevis of JustOneMoreBook.com  chats with New York Central Children's
ultra hip Librarian, Betsy Bird.

--What Books Inspired Our New President?
- http://lisnews.org/node/32602/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Saturday January 31st at 9:08 AM
-Read 270 times - 0 Comments
A New York City bookstore, McNally Jackson, has mounted an exhibit not of new books, but of books that inspired President
Barack Obama as a young man in his 20's.  The exhibit is entitled "How History Was Made: Books that Inspired a President." 
 "There is an incredible range of books and writers," said McNally Jackson's John McGregor, who came up with the idea for
the display shortly after Obama won the election in November.  McGregor conducted extensive research to compile the list of
more than 50 featured titles, drawing on such sources as Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope and interviews given
by Obama. "It was a really deep period of contemplation and study for him," said McGregor. The young Obama's reading
selections ranged from Shakespeare's King Lear and Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook to Adam Smith's The Wealth of
Nations and James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son. Also included in the display are some more recent books Obama has
indicated reading, such as Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and Gandhi: An Autobiography.  Here's the list of titles read by
Obama.  Great idea. 

--Impact of recession on libraries
- http://lisnews.org/node/32601/
-Front Page Story by StephenK Posted Saturday January 31st at 12:39 AM
-Read 248 times - 0 Comments
The following was found via AUTOCAT and is posted entirely as it isn't showing up in the web archive quite just yet: Please
excuse duplication.  Please forward to interested colleagues and other listservs.  The Bottom Line:  Managing Library
Finances will be publishing a special issue(s) on the effect of the current global economic recession on libraries.  The
editor is looking for articles from all types of libraries:  public, academic, private, special, corporate, etc.   
Articles that deal with managing layoffs, permanent cuts to staffing and collections, innovative collaborative and
cooperative arrangements between and among libraries and/or other organizations because of budget cuts (including shared
print, cataloging, collection building, etc.), and organizational change and/or strategic planning in a time of dramatic
budget cuts are especially encouraged.  Articles can be of any length, and figures and screen shots are encouraged.  If you
are interested in contributing, please send the editor your name, a short proposal of the topic, and a tentative title for
the article.  Deadline for proposals is March 1, 2009.  Articles would be due to the editor by July 1, 2009.  Any questions
can be directed to the editor.    Thank you.  Dr. Brad Eden Editor, The Bottom Line:  Managing Library Finances Associate
University Librarian for Technical Services and Scholarly Communication University of California, Santa Barbara
eden at library.ucsb.edu 

--Salem Public Library, Oregon, without a director
- http://lisnews.org/node/32600/
-Blog Entry by Anonymous Patron Posted Friday January 30th at 11:18 PM
-Read 292 times - 0 Comments
Director Gail Warner, a tireless advocate for library services in Salem, Oregon, was fired last week. City officials cite
budget cuts. The library is now part of the parks department. 
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090122/NEWS/901220347/1001

--Books as Objets D'Art on Exhibit in Minneapolis
- http://lisnews.org/node/32599/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Friday January 30th at 5:52 PM
-Read 311 times - 0 Comments
Many collectors will tell you that books are works of art. Not just for their words, but as objects of art. Many artists at
some point in their careers have made books. The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is celebrating the book as an art form
with it's exhibition "Text/Messages." It features books created by Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Kara Walker, among
others.   Story, slide show and audio from Minnesota Public Radio.

--Conversation with "Lady Liberty: A Biography" illustrator, Matt Tavares
- http://lisnews.org/node/32598/
-Blog Entry by Anonymous Patron Posted Sunday February 1st at 5:17 PM
-Read 128 times - 0 Comments
Matt Tavares, illustrator extraordinaire, talks about turning his senior thesis into his first published book, the ageless
appeal of baseball stories and a kindergarten teacher who fostered his passion for art.  Listen in on the chat here on the
Just One More Book podcast. 

--Filipino Librarian Plays on "Deal or No Deal"
- http://lisnews.org/node/32593/
-Blog Entry by vonjobi Posted Sunday February 1st at 3:15 PM
-Read 121 times - 0 Comments
  Watch the video promoting the Philippine version of the show here. Find out how much he won and read about his experience
here. It's not very prominent on the video, but he wears a "Love Your Librarian" button during the show.

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