[LISNews] The LISNews For February 5th 2010
The LISNews Librarian News By Email
lisnews at lishost.net
Fri Feb 5 11:21:34 CST 2010
Happy Friday! It's the LISNews for February 5th, 2010...
Let's look at the top headlines from the past week:
-[1] - Amazon Has a Hissy Fit
http://lisnews.org/node/35788/
-[2] - The only perfect reference work Nelsons Perpetual Loose-Leaf Encyclopaedia
http://lisnews.org/node/35823/
-[3] - "The Catcher in the Rye": A story in covers
http://lisnews.org/node/35790/
-[4] - Books, iTunes, and rental
http://lisnews.org/node/35787/
-[5] - Henderson NV libraries become Redbox locations
http://lisnews.org/node/35817/
And here's the latest from LISNews:
--And Who Will Be the Next Lexington KY Library Director?
- http://lisnews.org/node/35860/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Friday February 5th at 11:51 AM
-Read 53 times - 0 Comments
Following up on yesterday's story about a public forum on the candidates for Director of the Lexington Library, here's an
opportunity to view the three candidates in actionon youTube. Who made the best impression (as if it's up to you...)?
--Did You Meet The Love of Your Life @ Library School?
- http://lisnews.org/node/35859/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Friday February 5th at 9:26 AM
-Read 183 times - 1 Comments
Clarion University of Pennsylvania has a page on Facebook, and is inviting its members to relate stories of how they met
their significant other at library school. They also have a page of couples photos on the site. Here's their page on
facebook; as Valentine's Day is nearly upon us, please add your own love story in the comments. Did you meet that someone
special at a lecture, in the library, in the cafeteria or at the gym? Let us know, and of course where & when you went to
library school. Thanks to Kelly Palma for the tip!
--Why are you for killing libraries?
- http://lisnews.org/node/35858/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Friday February 5th at 7:54 AM
-Read 204 times - 0 Comments
Why are you for killing libraries? When a top industry analyst looks at the book world, libraries don't figure very
prominently. There is a war going on, and libraries are going to be collateral damage. They don't deserve it. US libraries
circulated some 2.1 billion books last year, compared to 3.1 billion books sold. But they don't have much of a profile in
the commercial world.(1) Being responsible for something like 39% of reading, bookstores only are about 4% of book sales.(2)
The difference is, of course, that libraries don't pay every time they circulate a book. Under the First Sale doctrine—the
idea that you, well, own the things you own—libraries can pay once, and lend a book out multiple times.
--Librarian wins victory over 'religion' box on Turkish ID cards
- http://lisnews.org/node/35857/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Friday February 5th at 7:21 AM
-Read 164 times - 0 Comments
Librarian wins victory over 'religion' box on Turkish ID cards A 47-year-old public library worker from western Turkey may
go down in history as the man who forced his country to rethink the relationship between the state and its citizens.
--Prison librarian sentenced for smuggling drugs
- http://lisnews.org/node/35856/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Friday February 5th at 7:19 AM
-Read 213 times - 0 Comments
Prison librarian sentenced for smuggling drugs A Stillwater prison librarian was sentenced to seven years of probation for
helping inmates check out more than library books. According to a criminal complaint filed in Washington County District
Court she tried to smuggle marijuana into the prison, located in Bayport, while she worked as a law librarian at the prison,
a job she did once a month. She pleaded guilty to one count of bringing contraband into a state prison. She faces seven
years of probation, 30 days of community work service and 30 days on a sentence to service crew.
--"I can quit Googling anytime, man!"
- http://lisnews.org/node/35855/
-Blog Entry by AndyW Posted Friday February 5th at 2:45 AM
-Read 105 times - 1 Comments
On the heels of last night’s post, I saw this older article come across Twitter entitled “100 Things You Should Know About
People: #8 — Dopamine Makes You Addicted To Seeking Information”. Apparently, it would appear that librarians are not simply
the kind, educated information philanthropists that society and culture has caricatured us. No, we are users and pushers for
the dopamine system. […] the latest research shows that dopamine causes seeking behavior. Dopamine causes us to want,
desire, seek out, and search. It increases our general level of arousal and our goal-directed behavior. (From an
evolutionary stand-point this is critical. The dopamine seeking system keeps us motivated to move through our world, learn,
and survive). It’s not just about physical needs such as food, or sex, but also about abstract concepts. Dopamine makes us
curious about ideas and fuels our searching for information. The latest research shows that it is the opoid system (separate
from dopamine) that makes us feel pleasure. And, of course, it’s not without potential drawbacks. With the internet,
twitter, and texting we now have almost instant gratification of our desire to seek. Want to talk to someone right away?
Send a text and they respond in a few seconds. Want to look up some information? Just type it into google. What to see what
your friends are up to? Go to twitter or facebook. We get into a dopamine induced loop… dopamine starts us seeking, then we
get rewarded for the seeking which makes us seek more. It becomes harder and harder to stop looking at email, stop texting,
stop checking our cell phones to see if we have a message or a new text. I’m curious to see further research or postings
on the dopamine system, but I’m not sure if I’m perpetuating a dopamine loop or engaged in a legitimate short term inquiry.
But, I swear, a couple of database searches and I’ll drop it. Honest! AndyW
--Why are you for killing bookstores?
- http://lisnews.org/node/35854/
-Front Page Story by Bibliofuture Posted Friday February 5th at 1:41 AM
-Read 212 times - 0 Comments
Blog post by Mike Shatzkin No news from here today; just rumination. Those of us in the book business have to choose
which anti-social position we want to take. Some people are for the most rapid possible adoption of ebooks. They can be
cheaper. They don’t require paper which pollutes when you create it and adds carbon footprint every time you ship it around.
They have much greater functionality, or at least the potential for it. They enable business models that don’t require
capital-intensive infrastructure. Full blog entry here
--US Anti-Trust Reviewers Still Objecting To Google Books Deal
- http://lisnews.org/node/35853/
-Front Page Story by StephenK Posted Thursday February 4th at 9:59 PM
-Read 204 times - 0 Comments
The crew at Vulture Central (further known as British tech publication The Register) posted a report by Cade Metz about the
continuing review of the proposed Google Books settlement. Metz notes that the US Department of Justice still finds as a
fundamental problem to the settlement that it is using class action lawsuit mechanisms to do an overly far-reaching end-run
of the legislative process so as to effect significant change in society.
--School Library makeover voting
- http://lisnews.org/node/35852/
-Blog Entry by Anonymous Patron Posted Thursday February 4th at 3:08 PM
-Read 69 times - 0 Comments
https://usspringpromo.acer.com/Campaign/SchoolLibraryMakeover/index.htm?LS=Intel "Vote for your favorite school by March
31, 2010 and see what a difference you can make. Schools from throughout the U.S. are finalists. The winner will be chosen
by public vote, so it’s your chance to pick a winner. Acer and Intel believe that giving kids the tools to learn can be
transformational—inspiring students to reach their potential, and teachers to excel. Now’s your chance to transform a K-12
school library into a 21st century learning lab—with the latest technology and expertise from Acer and Intel. "
--Macmillan v. Amazon Redux
- http://lisnews.org/node/35851/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Thursday February 4th at 2:11 PM
-Read 233 times - 0 Comments
Andrew Zack weighs in on the Macmillian/Amazon battle in the Huffington Post: Macmillan wants to change the way it sells
eBooks via Amazon and other eTailers (You get it? Retailers online=eTailers). Amazon didn't like the plan, so it pulled the
"buy" button from all Macmillan titles on its website. Imagine this in a grocery store and either Coke or Frito Lay ran into
the same situation. Shelves and shelves full of bottles or chips and people aren't allowed to buy them. Get it? Okay. Even
Amazon admits it must "capitulate" to big, bad Macmillan. Not that they call Macmillan "big" or "bad," but that's the
underlying message. But the irony is that Amazon will make more money under the new structure, because it has been selling
eBooks as loss leaders to promote sales of the Kindle. But with the iPad out from Apple, there's only one thing to say, "Be
scared Jeff [as in Bezos]. Be very scared."
--Skyline Books closes doors after 20 years
- http://lisnews.org/node/35849/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Thursday February 4th at 11:55 AM
-Read 223 times - 0 Comments
Village rare bookstore, Skyline Books, closes doors after 20 years Say goodbye to yet another dusty, musty piece of
vanishing Manhattan. All that's now left of Skyline Books is a sign in the window reading "End of an Era. Thanks for 20
Great Years." That's how long Robert Warren's used book store at 13 W. 18th St. lasted - a kind of hole-in- the-wall home
to a universe of rare books, from first editions of Beat Generation classics like "The Dharma Bums," to pornographic Italian
comics to an autographed copy of Charles Bukowski's "Post Office."
--Is Amazon Building a Superkindle?
- http://lisnews.org/node/35848/
-Front Page Story by Bibliofuture Posted Thursday February 4th at 10:53 AM
-Read 442 times - 1 Comments
NYT Bits Blog If you were Amazon, and Apple released the iPad, what would you do? Scurry away into the corner, or buy a
small company in New York and use its technology to build a Superkindle, with a multitouch color screen and built-in
applications? If you guessed the latter, you’d be right. Full blog entry
--Amazon's Overblown E-Book Tussle
- http://lisnews.org/node/35847/
-Front Page Story by Bibliofuture Posted Thursday February 4th at 10:23 AM
-Read 273 times - 0 Comments
AMAZON.COM (TICKER: AMZN) shares are down 6% since Macmillan announced that it was switching from a wholesale pricing model
to an agency pricing model (the agency model prevents Amazon from discounting e-book titles). We believe concerns over the
impact of the potential change in e-book pricing and Apple's (AAPL) iPad launch have been overblown. Even if all of the
publishers move to the agency model, which is unlikely, we still expect Amazon to capture a large share of the e-book
market. We also expect physical book sales, in which Amazon has a leading market position, to significantly exceed digital
book sales for at least the next five years. In addition, the iPad costs two to three times more than the Kindle, and its
liquid crystal display screen provides an inferior book-reading experience. Finally, we expect nonmedia sales to be the most
important driver of Amazon's growth. Story at Barron's
--Springfield's IL Last library branch closed yesterday
- http://lisnews.org/node/35846/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Thursday February 4th at 9:46 AM
-Read 360 times - 1 Comments
And then there was one... The Southeast Branch of Lincoln Library, which has been open to city residents for 27 years, will
close today, the victim of city budget cuts. The West Branch closed, perhaps permanently, on Wednesday. The closures were
announced less than 24 hours after aldermen approved a spending plan for the next fiscal year that doesn’t include funding
for the branch libraries.
--Lexingtonians, Meet the Candidates for New Library Director
- http://lisnews.org/node/35845/
-Front Page Story by birdie Posted Thursday February 4th at 8:28 AM
-Read 282 times - 0 Comments
The Lexington KY Public Library is inviting members of the community to meet the three candidates for the position of
Library Director. The three finalists will be on hand for a public forum at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, at the Central
Library Theater. Each candidate will address the public and answer questions. Check out their vitae here. Who's your pick?
--HTML5 Explained
- http://lisnews.org/node/35844/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Thursday February 4th at 7:27 AM
-Read 326 times - 0 Comments
Why HTML5 Isn't Going to Save the Internet HTML is also setting forth a vision of media—specifically video—that doesn't
rely on crashy, resource-intensive proprietary plugins. Look in your plugins folder, you will probably see four video
plugins at a minimum. HTML is a standard with an optimistic view of the future: You launch your browser, and whatever site
you visit, whatever media you choose to play, your browser just magically supports it, without the frustration, confusion
and added instability of a plug-in. But at heart HTML is just a framework, a glimpse, and an ideal: Its real effect on the
internet continues to be defined by the companies and web developers who choose to adopt its many pieces—and it is further
shaped by those who don't.
--Stanford signs Google Book Search agreement, endorses court settlement
- http://lisnews.org/node/35843/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Thursday February 4th at 7:00 AM
-Read 414 times - 1 Comments
Stanford signs Google Book Search agreement, endorses court settlement "Stanford is on the cutting edge of technology
development and is using technology to improve access to information not just for their faculty and students, but for the
world," said Dan Clancy, Google Books engineering director. "Their early participation was important to the establishment of
the Google Books project, and we’re very pleased that they have continued to support this effort and expanded their
commitment under the terms of the settlement."
--The future of books
- http://lisnews.org/node/35842/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Thursday February 4th at 6:54 AM
-Read 405 times - 0 Comments
The future of books Rebecca Smith, communications and advancement director for KU Libraries, says the Sony Readers have
been so popular they are planning on purchasing four more. “We’re trying to meet and anticipate student needs,” Smith says.
“E-book readers are something students are incredibly interested in. So far, we’ve had overwhelmingly positive feedback.”
However, not everybody is enthusiastic about reading a screen instead of a traditional paper page. Ian Hrabe, 2009 graduate,
doesn’t think e-books could ever replace the real thing.
--With enough libraries, all content is free
- http://lisnews.org/node/35841/
-Front Page Story by Blake Posted Thursday February 4th at 6:52 AM
-Read 304 times - 0 Comments
Jessamyn West: when good librarians go bad, geniune options in librarianship "That is to say… if the world was one big
library and we all had interlibrary loan at that library, we could lend anything to anyone. The funding structures of
libraries currently mean that in many cases we’re duplicating [and paying for] content that we could be sharing. This is at
the heart of a lot of the copyright battles of today and, to my mind, what’s really behind the EBSCO/Gale/vendors."
--The Body of Information
- http://lisnews.org/node/35840/
-Blog Entry by AndyW Posted Thursday February 4th at 1:49 AM
-Read 131 times - 0 Comments
I just finished reading a New York Times article entitled “Abstract Thoughts? The Body Takes Them Literally” that came out
a few days ago. Librarians certainly talk about how information is organized and how it can be accessed, and so I thought
this article relates well in talking about how the brain (our ultimate end user) perceives information. It is part of an
psychological field called embodied cognition. Notable quote: “How we process information is related not just to our
brains but to our entire body,” said Nils B. Jostmann of the University of Amsterdam. “We use every system available to us
to come to a conclusion and make sense of what’s going on.” We talk about how information is presented all the time, but
this brings it to a whole new level. Should we be designing the user experience with these types of body cues in mind? Does
this have a viable use in the library at all?
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