this is  librarian.net, okay?
links : about : me : contact



I like to dip in and out of books, let them merge together, a great racing flow of language that permeates my life.
-- Paul Ford [who?]

search me:
NYT & Trib login
user: payyourauthors
pass: abouttime

2002
jan : feb : mar
apr : may : jun
jul : aug : sep
oct : nov : dec

2001
jan : feb : mar
apr : may : jun
jul : aug : sep
oct : nov : dec

2000
jan : feb : mar
apr : may : jun
jul : aug : sep
oct : nov : dec

1999
apr : may : june
jul : aug : sep
oct/nov : dec

31mar02
When is someone goning to do a web page about Librarians in Advertising? Here's my addition -- the librarian vibrator ad. [ work safe, thanks rebecca ]
Meanwhile librarian avenger Erica Olsen appears on the Manic Panic website [scroll down], more good PR.
Librarians in Australia win a pay increase of up to 25%.
Library workers have been underpaid because their profession is dominated by women, according to a landmark decision handed down today. [ thanks fiona ]
Brooke Astor turns 100, celebrates birthday with 100 NYPL librarians.
Mrs. Astor had an early birthday celebration on Thursday afternoon at the New York Public Library with 100 librarians. "I asked her how she wanted to celebrate, and this is what she wanted," [NYPL president] Mr. LeClerc said.
Heike Kordish, a research librarian, said Mrs. Astor often celebrated her birthday with the librarians. "And she always asked each of us to stand and talk for five minutes about our experiences," Ms. Kordish said. [ NYT, thanks benjamin ]
Library job coin toss follow-up.
For no particular reason, Usha Rangachari picked tails. And with that five-letter word, the Hamilton Public Library employee got to keep her job of 14 years. The library held a coin toss yesterday — in accordance with a union agreement — to determine whether Rangachari or another employee would get bumped into a more junior position. But Rangachari, a part-time library technician, doesn't feel victorious. "I feel so sick about it. It's not fair to do this to anybody," [ thanks jen ]
28mar02
Rory Litwin & Mark Rosenzweig: Declaration of the Niceness of Libraries
And as much as we love Library Juice, let us remember that it is not a weblog.
New library story over at Rogue Librarian: My Life in Libraries.
Do you ever notice how these "everyone reads the same book!" articles always manage to promiently place the coffee companies who will be providing refreshments? DC on the bandwagon. [ thanks amylinda ]
Why do you suppose more copies of a title are lent in libraries than sold in stores? Is it a conspiracy against writers? Hell no, it's math. One title can be lent multiple times but only sold once. [ thanks bill & owen ]
Putting the porn back in porn trial!
As part of its attempt to defend a library-filtering law from a legal challenge, the U.S. Justice Department unveiled a thick black binder stuffed with color printouts from sex sites. Attorney Tim Zick asked a librarian testifying in opposition to the law, 59-year-old Candace Morgan, to page through the images and say whether visitors to her public library would be permitted to view them.
"Is it your testimony that I have the right to look at these websites?" Zick asked.
"Yes, it is," replied Morgan, the steely-eyed associate director of the Fort Vancouver, Washington, regional library. [ thanks dsdlc ]
When is it okay to restrict new members to your library? Maybe when you've already gotten 3,400 new members since January? [ thanks bill ]
Mixed messages with library e-postcard. Wouldn't you be mad if a patron put gum in your book? Is the bun really necessary? [ thanks laura ]
The super Libraries FAQ has moved to a new URL over at ibiblio [ thanks tony ].
What does a law librarian look like? [ thanks tony ]
25mar02
Hi. My new job is a textbook model on how to be a big awful corporation with absolutely no ability to manage a large scale project. Me? I've just been reading hundreds of essays on teen fashion. This must be catch-up karma from something terrible I did in a previous life.
James Lileks chills out somewhat, writes this nice follow-up in part inspired by Mr. Johnson over at MJC Six Reasons Why the Service Sector Hates You. Touche. [ thanks dave ].
Alfred Lane, RIP.
Mr. Lane was the volunteer librarian at the Writers' Room, a haven for novelists, historians, cookbook writers and anyone else able to prove seriousness about writing. Mr. Lane showed up at the Writers' Room in 1988, a decade after its founding, and volunteered to be the librarian, a position that had not existed. At the time, the room owned one book: a dog-eared dictionary. By the time he retired in February 2001, leaving a $25,000 contribution for the room's endowment fund, he had assembled a collection of 3,000 books [ NYT thanks jen ]
Children's Internet Protection Act in the courts in PA.
"It is going to affect everyone's First Amendment right to get access to information that is perfectly legal," said Judith F. Krug, director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. [ NYT, thanks karen ]
Canada's going to have everyone in the country read one book, let's see if they get as churlish about it as the US. [ thanks chris ]
Zine Librarian Zine. Send one dollar, right now! [ thanks newbreed ]
22mar02
Hi. The big joke is that I'm the most famous unemployed librarian in town. Well, that all ends today. For the next month I will be a test reader for the Educational Testing Service as they try to determine the general aptitude of California's ninth graders. I will be reading essays, roughly 4-8 hours per day on famous Americans and general reading comprehension. Lord help us all. Thanks for all the nice email, sorry I've been a bit behind.
Melvil Dewey, racist and anti-semite and inventor of, among other things, the vertical file.
Previously, businessmen had stored their documents in cumbersome cases, or folded and labelled the pieces of paper and stuck them in the pigeonholes of the secretary desks.... What Dewey proposed was essentially an enlarged version of a card catalogue, where paper documents hung vertically in long drawers. The vertical file was a stunning accomplishment. In those efficiency-obsessed days, it prompted books and articles and debates and ended up winning a gold medal at the 1893 World's Fair, because it so neatly addressed the threat of disorder posed by the proliferation of paper. What good was that railroad schedule, after all, if it was lost on someone's desk? Now a railroad could buy one of Dewey's vertical filing cabinets, and put the schedule under "S," where everyone could find it. [ thanks michael ]
It's rare that we get to see a bad library exchange from a patron's point of view. James Lileks has a minor freakout when he tries to get a library card. [ thanks eric ]
Briitish Library finding fun stuff in its basement, this time, gunpowder, possibly very old. [ thanks owen ]
Video store type rental fees at the library?
"I'm picturing a coin-op library. It boggles the mind," said MacPhail, director of the Racine Public Library. "That's not why I went to library school." [ thanks bill & katia ]
More Nicholson Baker articles about after Double Fold gets printed in the UK. [ thanks owen ]
Why I named my album Libraries are Fun, by Nicole Skeltys [ thanks rach ]
Wow, I didn't know they called librarianship a "pink-collar" profession. I thought that was only when my husband did the wash! OK, I have no husband and gender stereotyping is rarely funny. No wonder we can't get more men in the profession. [ thanks bill ]
20mar02
Hi. I hear there's some picture of me out on the cover of something, maybe Library Journal? If any readers could send me a snapshot of the cover, I'd sure appreciate it. Also regarding pictures. I went to SFPL while I was in San Francisco and delighted at their book arts exhibit and their card catalog card installation. Here's the link to all the pictures.
Oh look, a letter to me over at The Biz. Thanks, Aaron!
Dear Editor, please do not let them sell our library. Thank you. [ thanks david]
Rock stars dig librarians, at least in some circumstances.
Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers introduced Talking Heads, saying that hearing the band gave him a new sensation: "I wanted to have sex with a lot of librarians." [ thanks rebecca ]
Teaching tolerance and other social studies programs wrapped up in One City, One Book. Harper Lee herself [now 76] chimes in with support. You'd think if this were all about her book, someone would have noticed that her birthday happens during the festivities but there's no event scheduled to celebrate it. Happy Birthday Harper Lee, we're sorry Barnes and Noble is hawking candy emblazoned with the cover of your book. [ thanks dave ]
An amusing look at these "mass-reading bees"
My compromise solution is to ditch the book-choosing committee, which is far too goody two-shoes and dull, and take tips directly from regular New Yorkers. Every month or so, the mayor -- or perhaps one of those pretty women who pick the lotto numbers on television -- could board a subway car somewhere in the city system and pick a passenger with a book. Whatever that book happened to be, would be the city's book of choice for the next month.
Typographical Errors in Library Databases: "The most misspelled word on the Internet seems to be: 'Infomation'" Linked from newcomer Catalogablog.
God speaks to art teacher, tells her that books must be removed from school library. I can not make this up.
"God spoke to my spirit that we must do HOUSE CLEANING!" said the letter announcing the review request. "As a Christian teacher in the public school, God has showed me that it is my responsibility to take a stand and lift my voice." [ thanks janet ]
Bebe Rebozo [bee'-bee re-bow'-zo] has always been my favorite name in politics. He bequeathed 19 million dollars to the Nixon Library and now the Nixon daughters are fighting over who gets to control how it is spent.
Mr. Gellman, author of three volumes on Franklin D. Roosevelt, said today that he wanted to steer clear of the feud but that he had been shocked by the poor quality of the library's operations. "There is no library that is as poorly operated as the Richard Nixon library, as compared with any other presidential library," he said. "It's a disgrace." [ thanks bill ]
18mar02
Hi. I feel a slight pressure to be "edgy" after the great write up Marylaine gave me, so please bear with me.
If you didn't already read about it in the New York Times, my pal Mark's Online [Free] Lending Library is now at booklend.net. Go borrow a book by post, or donate one or two to his collection.
Midnight Librarians, the movie [work safe link]
Ever wonder what librarians do after hours when they remove their glasses, lose the orthopedic shoes and let their hair hang down? Do you think librarians fuck?? [ thanks katester ]
Darien Librarian, the cocktail [ thanks eoin ]
We're so hip, we wear sneakers nowadays.
"It's becoming a younger profession," said Paige Wasson, an ALA spokeswoman, who donned sneakers at the event. "You see folks with dreadlocks and chunky boots. They're not the 'shush, be quiet' librarians of old." [ thanks jude ]
Librarian Mythbreakers is a site in progress, help the guy out and send in your photo. [ thanks eoin ]
The Public Library is an antidote to cynicism. Someone write this guy a nice note.
...there are ways to recover one's perspective. You can wait for one of those periodic crises that summon the best of the decent men and women who toil at virtually every level of government. Or you can go to your local public library, where the democratic ideals of liberty, equality and free inquiry are still burnished by daily use. These days, they also have the latest DVDs. [ thanks kevin ]
If you still haven't pulled off the perfect librarie website, Carrie Bickner can help. Sticky Sites on a Shoestring
More online reference, in cartoons: The Rudiments of Wisdom.
16mar02
Hi. You may have seen the Library Journal part about 2001's Movers and Shakers, with myself among them. Other groovy librarian-types include Rory Litwin [woith a much better picture than mine], Blake Carver [LISNews mastermind], Eric Lease Morgan [open source champion and way more interesting than this article sugggests] and this tired quote in an article about Julie Herrada "Anarchy and libraries don't seem like a good match; one prides chaos, the other values order." I think they mean anarchists and librarians, but either way, I know many people who would disagree. I'm getting my ears unstuffed and am back in Seattle. Updates resume Monday.
12mar02
Are you ready for World Book Day on Thursday? [ thanks eoin ]
Fun from PUBLIB: "How can you say that about Harry Potter? You belong to a Klingon organization!" [ thanks eli ]
Extensive British Library History Database including more information on the country house libraries we all know and love
History of the California Maritime Academy library.
You know, I don't recall having the Guinness Book of Records having big photo entries on the most expensive bikini when I was a kid. Now, sure enough, they're causing trouble in grade school libraries. [ thanks michael ]
The "one city one book" project was never meant to be a civics lesson, explains Nancy Pearl, again. [ thanks aaron ]
Librarian murderer convicted in NY. [ thanks bill]
Book burning in DC put off for at least three weeks. Library of Congress steps in to lend some assistance. [ thanks carol ]
Canadian school libraries in crisis. Lack of purchasing of Canadian titles is also causing publishers to turn to US markets where they are encouraged to downplay Canadian content. [ thanks karen ]
11mar02
Hi. Looks like the satire story by the aforementioned jackass has thrown LISNews's server out of wack. There is a longer, more meaty apology by the writer of the piece over at Library Stuff [now with commenting features!]. I think we can all relax now, perhaps.
... and start focussing on library masturbation stories again! [ stuff ]
... and go read the encyclopedia. And when I say "encyclopedia" I mean THE Encyclopedia. 11th Edition baby, online. You know, I have my own story about the good old EB 11th Ed.[ acmebook ]
... and go borrow some books from the radical lending library. [ libgeek ]
.... and catch up on weird new "strategic partnerships" that OCLC is making with bookstores
09mar02
More discussion about the jackass of yesterday plus an apology of sorts can be found over at LISNews.
Since yesterday's little activism exercise went so well, how about this one -- help halt an old-fashoined book burning. The offender's contact info appears to be here and some discussion is starting on MetaFilter.
Researchers, Russophiles and spies made their way to Victor Kamkin Inc., which for decades collected and sold books detailing every aspect of life and history in the Soviet Union, all in their original Russian. A little more than 1 million bound volumes were in the last inventory, taken two years ago. Workers there estimate there could be nearly 2 million books and other published materials today. On Monday morning, Montgomery County sheriff's deputies are expected to receive the entire collection at the county incinerator. [ thanks janet ]
08mar02
Hi. I'm going to be in San Francisco for a week starting Saturday. Drop me a line if you'd like to hang out. I have no car and very little motivation, but I will be hanging out in the Mission a lot of the time. Updating might be slow, I'm technically "on vacation"
Jackass. You may enlighten this misguided student by emailing him at this address. [ thanks amylinda ]
What if a library opens a coffee shop, and no one shows up to run it? [ thanks bill ]
If your library raises 85% of its funds with traffic fines, better driving equals less money for books [ thanks erica ]
07mar02
Hi. I'm updating my links page a bit. There are a few resouces I've been enjoying lately and a few more that just haven't stayed fresh or current. Please check them out, send me ones you think I may have missed.
Sandy Berman's original catalogging at Hennepin County library to be replaced with dull and inaccurate LC headings Heck!.
Scott's weblog list now has links to some good articles on weblogging, in case you want some further reading.
Anchorage City Librarian planning to retire after all the hub-bub of last year. [ thanks michael ]
Bizarre LoC story. Librarians versus libertarians.
Peikoff explained that he had given the 2,158-page "Fountainhead" manuscript to the Library of Congress. "But I stole the first and last pages," he added with a laugh. The throwaway line was included in the lengthy magazine article published Aug. 16, 1998. Library officials weren't laughing when they read the piece. They demanded the missing "Fountainhead" pages, claiming them to be property of the U.S. government. When Peikoff refused to turn them over, officials threatened to sue him for $1.1 million--the amount the library had spent "in storing, archiving and preserving the manuscript" in the belief it was the complete original. [ thanks kteela ]
05mar02
Hi. LISNews.com has named me a Top Librarian Personality on the Web. I am in very good company. Blake of course did not count himself so I must add that he was high up on my list.
The crisis in digital preservation -- we know paper falls apart, how do you preserve information for 1000 years? Not with the 12 inch video disks of the Doomsday Book, that's for sure. [ thanks michal ]
Speaking of old books -- the best way to care for them may be to not dust them. The National Trust has been learning about stately home libraries.
Research on the libraries has shown that contrary to popular belief, books in the libraries of stately homes were not acquired by the yard to impress visitors but were bought to be read and cared for. Mark Purcell, the Trust librarian, said: “Many owners of country houses spent more on their books than they did on their furniture.” [ thanks owen ]
New UK library/info organization:
CILIP is the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, a new professional body formed following the unification of the Institute of Information Scientists (IIS) and the Library Association (LA). [ thanks eoin ]
500 year old book found in barn in Maine. [ thanks heidi ]
Cybernetics and librarianship - a fifty year perspective on where we've been and where we're going:
We've all heard and probably used the term "cyberlibrarian" and assume it to mean a librarian who is in constant touch with the Internet, but where did the word “cybernetics” originate? Norbert Wiener coined the term "cybernetics" more than 50 years ago, not to describe the use of computers, but rather as a term denoting the study of the use of messages to control machines and the use of communication to control society. He derived it from the Greek word “kerbernetes” – a “steersman”: the one who controls the ship. [ ftrain ]
Librarian comic. From the FAQ:
Why isn’t there more violence in the strip?
Because you don’t get a lot of blood when you maul someone with a book. [ thanks dawn ]
03mar02
Executive Order 13233 is the newest government secrecy campaign being lambasted by ALA.
The order allows a sitting president to deny the release of a former president's records even if the former president has agreed to make them public.
Why ALA's Put It in Writing @yourlibrary contest is not worth entering. The national essay contest, designed to show women [and others] how libraries can spark imagination and encourage creativity basically creates a huge pool of content that ALA and Woman's Day magazine can use free of charge, forever.
Submission of an entry and/or acceptance of a prize grants Woman's Day and the American Library Association the exclusive and perpetual rights to publish, use, edit, adapt, modify, excerpt and/or copy the entry for any and all purposes in any or all media currently in existence or hereafter invented without further compensation to entrant.
Fundraising tip once you've ditched your old card catalog -- celebrity card auction. [ thanks eric ]
Library Juice has made recommendations for the upcoming ALA elections.
Librarian turned bookselller finds it hard to get rid of her books
Keep up with Cuban Library issues via the friendsofcubanlibraries.org website. For additional data points, see this letter in Library Juice
Forget the PATRIOT Act, some librarians are willing to move or remove allegedly sensitive material without government prompting.
02mar02
Hi. I'm the guest curator over at the Mirror Project this week. I did a little collection called Our Books, go check it out. I am also back on board with dealing with stylesheet stuff, so things may get ugly temporarily, but it's all in the name of them getting eventually prettier. thanks for staying tuned.
Booksharing over the Internet, Napster-style. It's mostly for blind folks, but 3,000 of the titles are copyright free and can be downloaded by anyone. [ thanks chris ]
Mold getting problematic in Hawaii's libraries
State Librarian Virginia Lowell said mold and bugs are a problem for libraries across the state. Because of a budget shortfall that has lasted the better part of a decade, most libraries can spend money either replacing materials or trying to control humidity, but not both. [ thanks brandon ]
Fungus in libraries a source for good cartoons as well. [ thanks christy ]
Almost too cute to link -- libraries and their cats.
Cats have a long and honorable association with libraries, dating back to centuries past when they were employed to guard books from destructive vermin. Silent sentinels, they fit right in with the hushed library ethos. [ thanks eoin ]
Seattle Public Library shutting down all branches for fourteen days in 2002 to save money. Unions agree to cuts in order to avoid layoffs. Meanwhile the costs of the new Seattle Main Branch continues to grow and other branch library building projects are well over budget. [ thanks bill ]


thanks to eskimo.com for hosting librarian.net