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Books are good enough in their own way, but they are a mighty bloodless substitute for life.

- Robert Louis Stevenson




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2001
jan : feb : mar
apr

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

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

30may01

YAY! "You WILL study, you WILL read, you WILL enjoy it". Read more from Biblia, the Warrior Librarian. [ newbreed ]

Hmm, now the EEOC [you may remember them from Clarence Thomas's tenure there] has ruled that librarians having to view porn at their jobs puts them in a "sexually hostile" environment. [ thanks mark ]

Forget the Mormons, howabout the Shanghai Public Library for genealogy records? [ thanks ryan ]

A somewhat heavy-handed parable about "The Alexandria Effect" -- using closed formats to store human knowledge. [ newbreed ]

28may01

First Monday is back with "Circulating Libraries and Video Rental Stores" [ thanks iboy ]

Iowa state librarian calls it quits.

This weekend I've been looking at a lot of bookplate art and other book art and thinking about a new tattoo.

25may01

Our love affairs with our books:
"I can smell ink on you," she said.
"It's not like that," I said. "I love you."
"Tell it to your little paper bitches," the Web replied.
[ thanks unclejoe ]

Arson blaze at UW, rare books lost. [ thanks mark ]

23may01

Damn, those ads are getting bigger and bigger over at the NYTimes... Non-profits [getting free ad space from the NYTimes] are helping students whose only access to the Internet is at school stay connected year round. Amazingly, public libraries do not seem to have enough computers to meet demand. [ NYT, thanks rebecca ]

Uncle Frank takes on review-for-hire services like ForeWord reviews.

"'I should have been a historian,' [Bill Wyman] said. 'Or an archaeologist. Or a librarian. I don't need fame.' He might not have had such a great time as a librarian. In just one two-year period as a Rolling Stone, Wyman slept with more than 250 women. Surely librarians don't have that kind of pulling power? [ thanks susan ]

Violence in libraries? "So in conclusion, it seems that for the most part, and except for a fairly serious number of vandalized books and periodicals in the Hugh Owen Library, Aberystwyth’s libraries do exist in that magical, book-filled alternative dimension where the most exciting thing that can happen is for a librarian to tell someone to be quiet." [ thanks jhobbs ]

Cuba and their independent libraries make the front page of the Boston Globe. [ thanks amylinda ]

Librarians have been seen as "enemies of books" for decades. This library school inaugural address indicates why books are still important. [ thanks eoin ]

And, as the Boston Globe eliminates [or, rather, consolidates] its book section, British TV is doing away with its book television. [ thanks eoin ]

20may01

Hello, my name is Jessamyn and I'm in recovery from literature abuse. Oh, who am I kidding? I eat books for breakfast. [ thanks lauren ]

Incidentally, I am also back on the East Coast for the Summer in case anyone needs a barn to visit. Or, if you prefer more structured entertainment, I am having a party in late June. Yes you are invited.

Pitching ebooks to academic libraries can be a tough sell. [ thanks jen ]

Kevin Smokler is very very sorry that he said bad things about librarians.

17may01

Do you think the very nice people at the Washington Post just though that the name librarian.net was so evocative of its own URL that they did not have to link it? Obviously you all found it just fine.....

Oh yes, going to ALA? Please avoid the SF Marriot. Thank you. [ thanks andrea ]

Actual ebooks used in actual classrooms. The results? Mixed. [ thanks jen ]

16may01

Chess hooligans cause chess games to be banned from Minneapolis library. [ thanks sean ]

"... [Nicholson's book] has caused a stir among the nation's librarians, a group that gets riled up about as often as a tray of peat moss." Looks likes someone doesn't know the profession too well, or hasn't met me at least. [ thanks rebecca ]

Aliteracy vs. illiteracy versus just plain lazy. Why don't peaople read lately? [ thanks andrea ]

Publishng industry pitted against libraries. "...to hear [Pat] Schroeder tell it, legions of librarygoers are primed to topple the publishing industry" I don't know about where you come from, but I have many many [ahem] friends in Seattle who would never take a book out from the library for the same reason they don't take public transportation. These people want to be in bed with publishers, let them. [ thanks blake ]

Cincinnati, home to one of the better public library systems is looking at devastating budget cuts which may keep them from opening new branches. [ thanks sarah ]

Some librarians love their old newspapers. [ thanks chris ]

Brad Thomas has made a web page for displaying Ugly Duckling books -- childrens and young adult books with cover/spine damage that have had replacement covers made by local kids.

12may01

I saw Bookwars last night at the local indie film joint. If you haven't heard of it, it's a great documentary about the world of street booksellers in Manhattan made by someone who was in the biz for several years. It's a must see for anyone who loves books. There was a Q&A session with the director afterwards at which I told him he was a cult hero among radical librarians everywhere, which garnered the usual chuckles. He said he hadn't been selling many copies to libraries. I suggested he go hawk his wares at ALA. In case you have missed this title for some reason, here is a link where you could buy it, if you were so inclined.

Silent Library in Berlin to be replaced by car park. Hell. [ thanks eoin ]

Bookworm parade.

"Techno-prophets said libraries were supposed to go the way of lamplighters and record-player repairmen. Instead, during the past few years, bookshelves have been flying up around the country faster than strip malls during the 1980s." Libraries reinvent themselves, again.

wall humping: rubbing a thigh against a security card scanner to allow access without the inconvenience of removing the card from one's pocket. More fun from the American Dialect Society.

10may01

Mitch Freedman, ALA president. Wow. Excellent.

Heavy layoffs at Questia. Could anyone see this coming? [ thanks molly ]

You can read some discussion about Questia in last month's Juice supplement.

Sometimes even Canada blames Canada. Library school staffing slashed in Quebec.

Stuff librarians find as bookmarks. Piece of cake? [ newbreed ]

Ha ha ha, it's an article about libraries. And it has Shhh in the headline. Get it? Hilarious. Seattle's new libr ary-in-planning stages is threatening to reinvent the bookshelf.

08may01

Hrm, does anyone know the real URL for the new Baaqlin National Library?

Searcher Magazine takes on Baker in this well written piece. [ stuff ]

Have library, will travel. A historic look at Idaho's travelling library.

Sontag wins Jerusalem Prize, declines to use acceptance speech to make political statement.

07may01

One can never get enough library erotica: "Odd jobs? In a household consisting of a lonely, horny librarian; her lonelier, hornier father; and about three thousand books (half of them wr itten in dead languages) I'd say there were few odd jobs to be done. Yes, sir." [ thanks rebecca ]

Library cat injures dog, man sues. [ thanks victoria ]

New Alexandria library subject to Islamic censorship? [ thanks victoria ]

Nazis hack Australian state library! [ thanks lynne ]

Library scofflaws and the librarians who hunt them down. Mister Austin Bale can always be emailed if you'd like to [ni cely] tell him to mend his ways.

Prime the pump and kindle the fire -- consider making a donation to Free Read if you live in the PA/NY area.

06may01

Okay, I'm back, no worse for wear. The trip was fun and I am contemplating getting a library-oriented tattoo. Looking for good bookplate images or other imagery, though I am considering just getting Ranganathan's five principles on my back in two inch tall gothic lettering. Some of these links may be a little old, but they are new to me, so please politely suffer through them. Thank you.

When I was just in Fargo, ND, I bowled my third highest score ever. Fargo has many superior librarians, including Vernette Nelson, beloved children,s librarian, RIP. [ thanks victoria ]

A Baker log, of sorts. Praise Jehu. [ thanks heather ]

Library Futures report on technology in libraries has been updated. [ thanks john ]

Shakespeare librarian retires after 18 years. [ thanks david ]

May is Victims of Pornography month. Unfortunately the resources section of their w eb site is still under construction. Sponsored by American Family Online who informs us that the US Army is going to begin installing Internet filtering. [ thanks kate ]

Librarian shortage in Los Angeles. "Driving the librarian shortage are enough overlapping subplots to fill a novella." Who writes this stuff? [ thanks Alison ]

Researchville has been updated with more great "deep web" content. I must admit I still find the interface a bit wonky. Go to a category. Enter a search t erm. Click OK. Nothing happens. You need to click on a link or the "open in five new windows" button to perform a search. And sometimes I just don't want five new windows. [ thanks bob ]

Dear potential Millionaire contestants. I am available for speedy question answering. Don't wind up like this guy. [ thanks hanan ]

Public libraries made AC/DC what they are today. [ thanks mk ]

"putting the rarin' back in librarian since 1993"

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