 The less common reader |
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| The much-discussed, and somewhat contested, NEA report on reading came out at around the same time as The Uncommon Reader, a fictional account by Alan Bennett of the late discovery of reading by the Queen (of England). The conjunction was discussed in the New York Times:
PERHAPS the most fantastical story of the year was not â??Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,â? but â??The Uncommon Reader,â? a novella by Alan Bennett that imagines the queen of England suddenly becoming a voracious reader |
 07-Jan-08 08:00 AM  http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001525.html |
| In the flow - royally |
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| I was pretty interested earlier to come across The Royal Channel, the Official Channel of the British Monarchy on YouTube. At first I suspected a joke, but there is a link from the official 'royal' site. Somebody seems to be putting quite a bit of thought into the Monarch's web presence.
The 2007 Christmas Broadcast had already been viewed over 820,000 times.
(I came across this as I am writing an entry on Alan Bennett's quick read The Uncommon Reader, a fictional account of the awakening o |
| 07-Jan-08 08:00 AM http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001524.html |
| Digg and LISNEWS |
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| When you click on a LISNEWS story title you are taken to the story in a full page view. When you are one that page there is a icon that says "digg it". Here is the Wikipedia entry about Digg. I think that LISNEWS readers should subscribe to Digg so that they can Digg LISNEWS stories. If a story gets around 50 Diggs it starts to draw attention from other people at the Digg site. If these people then Digg the story the votes will grow. I think this would be beneficial for LISNEWS and could draw s |
| 07-Jan-08 08:00 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28766 |
| LISten- The LISNews Podcast: Episode #4 |
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| The fourth episode of the six episode trial season has a surpise in store.
After the special guest opening we have a breakdown of top stories and blog posts. A special report is given at the end about the upcoming analog to digital switch-over that television broadcasting in the United States will soon face.
Links to some of the items mentioned on the podcast:
What Do You Want To Read About On LISNews In 2008?
LIS Future:A Library Mentor and Leadership Development Wiki
JK Rowling drops hints of |
| 07-Jan-08 08:00 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28765 |
| What the reader intends ... |
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| From the ever-suggestive William Gibson ..
Did Borges ever imagine a library in which we could know which volumes users were thinking about consulting? [William Gibson]
He is pointing to a recent article about the analysis of user data by Google and the types of intelligence they can derive from it. The article cites John Battelle's well-known idea of the "database of intentions", the progressively richer map of user choice and intention that Google is developing.
I worked many years ago i |
| 06-Jan-08 08:20 PM http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001523.html |
| NPR's StoryCorps Profiled in New Book |
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| The founder of NPR's StoryCorps, Dave Isay, has published a book, Listening is An Act of Love (Penguin Press). The StoryCorps project began in 2003 with a recording booth in New York's Grand Central Station and continues on with recollections of Americans young and old about people they've known and experiences they've shared; it's the largest oral history project in the U.S. today.
Columnist Joy Wallace Dickinson gives us her thoughts on the book in the Orlando Sentinel, and here's the website |
| 06-Jan-08 10:40 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28762 |
| Life imitates art |
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Life imitates art, originally uploaded by Weymouth Public Library.
After reading “Dad’s Bald Head”, Dad Ken decided to take the plunge and shave his head too! Connor is proud of his dad!
This made me smile… [...] |
| 05-Jan-08 01:00 PM http://tametheweb.com/2008/01/05/life-imitates-art/ |
| A Misplacement of Vigilance |
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| An interesting editorial from Atlanta talks about the policies of the Atlanta Fulton County Public Library when it comes to adults using the children's area of the library. Apparently it's against policy for an adult to be in the children's section if they're not with a child. In an age of seeming rampant pedophilia, that makes sense, at least on the face of it.
But I think a library staff member at AFCPL said it best in the article when she explained that the policy is backwards. The library sh |
| 05-Jan-08 09:40 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28759 |
| Apple Store Customer Service |
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| http://curtisrogers.blogspot.com/2008/01/apple-store-amazing-customer-service.html
Dr. Curtis Rogers just bought a MacBook (hooray!) and he describes the customer service at the Apple Store:
 I kept on looking for her to walk me to the back of the store to the check out counter but that was not the case. Another guy came up and while she went to grab my new [...] |
| 05-Jan-08 09:00 AM http://tametheweb.com/2008/01/05/apple-store-customer-service/ |
| Every Kind of Web Marketing |
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| Jeremiah Owyang, a web strategist with Forrester in San Francisco has updated his fantastic list of all the ways you can market on the web. It looks like at least one library is using every one of there techniques and technologies. No one is using all of them in any sector. This is a great list to review and see the opportuities to promote libraries, programs, content, training, events, librarianship, and more. As he notes, changes in communication require enterprises to adapt and evolve the |
| 05-Jan-08 08:40 AM http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/01/every_kind_of_w.html |
| Quick 2007 Facts on Google |
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| Jeff Jarvis compiled this list here:
â?¢ Google is the â??fastest growing company in the history of the world.â? â?? Times of London, 1/29/06
â?¢ Google controls 65.1% of all searches in the U.S. at the end of 2007 and 86% of all searches in the UK, according to measurement company Hitwise.
â?¢ Google was searched 4.4 billion times in the U.S. alone in October, 2007 (three times Yahoo), says Nielsen. Average searches per searcher: 40.7.
â?¢ Googleâ??s sites had 112 million U.S. visitors in Nov |
| 05-Jan-08 08:20 AM http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/01/quick_2007_fact.html |
| 13 Facebook Predictions for 2008 |
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| I recently discovered the Facebook Applications Reviews blog (Thanks Ellyssa). They published 13 predictions for Facebook for 2008:
"1. Facebook will break the 125 Million User Watermark
2. There will be over 37,000 Different Facebook Applications
3. Facebook will license itâ??s platform to 3 Major Social Networking Sites
4. Facebook will Partner with a Major Media Outlet to bring unique Multi-Media content to Facebook (or create their own)
5. Facebook will be the top social networking site i |
| 04-Jan-08 07:00 PM http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/01/13_facebook_pre.html |
| Mobility |
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| Some folks are predicting that 2008 is the tipping point for mobility growth in the North American market. It already tipped in the rest of the world!
Anyway, we're certainly seeing a lot of innovation in digital phones that are available. And the Apple iPhone is pushing everyone in the industry's envelope.
This posting from the CapGemini CTO blog had some nice facts:
"95% of cell phone owners never leave home with out carrying their phone;
3 billion people are always â??connectedâ??, twic |
| 04-Jan-08 07:00 PM http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/01/mobility.html |
| Music and Film |
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| It's always interesting to look at the rest of the content industry. I find the developments in gaming, music, and movies as interesting as technological changes in books, magazines and the web. The short hand we use "BLANK is dead" elicits some interesting reactions when I speak around the continent.
I once (years ago) said that cassettes and CD-ROM would soon be as dead as vinyl. Someone came up afterwards visibly upset. "Vinyl is not dead!!!," he exclaimed. Gently I asked for what evi |
| 04-Jan-08 07:00 PM http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/01/music_and_film.html |
| Web 2.0 Predictions for 2008 |
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| Dion Hinchcliffe has blogged his Web 2.0 Predictions for 2008. They're really interesting and worth reading the whole post. Here's the short list (Read the rest here):
"1. Open APIs finally go beyond free as successful business models emerge.
2. Rich Internet Application (RIA) platforms such as Adobe AIR and Microsoft's Silverlight get major traction as the development of non-trivial Web applications in Ajax remains difficult and time-consuming.
3. Google's product strategy begins to coal |
| 04-Jan-08 07:00 PM http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/01/web_20_predicti.html |
| ACRL Environmental Scan |
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| The Association of College and Research Libraries has just released the 2007 Environmental Scan (by the ACRL Research Committee) It is dated January 2008.
You can download your 29 Page PDF here.
To whet your appetite:
Top Ten Assumptions for the Future of Academic Libraries and Librarians
1. There will be an increased emphasis on digitizing collections, preserving digital archives, and improving methods of data storage, retrieval, curation, and service.
2. The skill set for librarians will |
| 04-Jan-08 07:00 PM http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/01/acrl_environmen.html |
| Top Inventions of 2008 |
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| Must read article with loads of goodness:
Michael S. Hart, The Top Inventions of 2008, Global Politician, January 3, 2008. Hart is the founder of Project Gutenberg.
Read the entire article for more, but here are some tantalizing tidbits:
What will be the top inventions in 2008?
1. Inexpensive Terabytes and USB 3.0
Cool - never needing to delete anything! Easy backups! Virtually unlimited storage.
2. Virtual Reference Service
Can we go global? "The world could be a much better place for |
| 04-Jan-08 07:00 PM http://stephenslighthouse.sirsidynix.com/archives/2008/01/top_inventions.html |
| Genre/Form Headings for Radio Programs |
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| Adapted from the e-mail distributed to many lists.As the next step in the development of genre/form headings at the Library of Congress, the Cataloging Policy and Support Office (CPSO) would like to announce the beginning of a project to add genre/form headings for radio programs to the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). These headings will join those already being established for moving images.The genre/form headings will be based chiefly on the concepts represented in the Radio Form/ |
| 04-Jan-08 04:20 PM http://catalogablog.blogspot.com/2008/01/genreform-headings-for-radio-programs.html |
| You Never Know What You'll Find at the Library |
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| For example...A USB (Universal Serial Bus) stick with classified military documents on NATO's ISAF peace-keeping force in Afghanistan, as well as an intelligence report on the attempted assassination of Lebanon's defense minister and the murder of Sri Lanka's foreign minister. These items were found at a public library in Stockholm, Sweden; no one is exactly sure how the USB stick ended up on a public computer at the library.
Here's the original report in Swedish and more from the AP.
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| 04-Jan-08 01:40 PM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28754 |
| Google Book Search: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly |
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| Campus Technology Takes A Look at Google Book Search: When it comes down to it, then, this brave new world of book search probably needs to be understood as Book Search 1.0. And maybe participants should not get so hung up on quality that they obstruct the flow of an astounding amount of information. Right now, say many, the conveyor belt is running and the goal is to manage quantity, knowing that with time the rest of what's important will follow. Certainly, there's little doubt that in five ye |
| 04-Jan-08 12:40 PM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28753 |
| Librarian captures coveted couch potato title |
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| The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has a story Published on: 01/04/08 about a librarian, Stan Friedman, who won a Couch Potato contest recently.
Stan Friedman won the ESPN Zone Ultimate Couch Potato Competition, which began Tuesday morning at the ESPN Zone restaurant in Times Square. The event ended Wednesday afternoon after more than 29 grueling hours of continuous sports viewing â?? mainly college football bowl games and endless highlights loops.
The four participants, sitting in recliners in fr |
| 04-Jan-08 12:40 PM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28752 |
| LISjobs.com launches online community |
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| Hi all - I launched online discussion forums at LISjobs.com yesterday, and would love to see you there!
LISjobs.com, the largest free library career portal on the Internet, is pleased to announce the launch of its new online community for librarians. Devoted entirely to career development and job hunting, these forums provide a space for librarians, LIS students, library workers, and information professionals to discuss professional development issues: http://lisjobs.com/forum/.
â??Iâ??m excited |
| 04-Jan-08 11:40 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28744 |
| Future Tense on the Pew Report: Information Searches That Solve Problems |
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| Future Tense's Jon Gordon interviewed Leigh Estabrook, author of the latest Pew Report, "Information Searches That Solve Problems" on Jan. 1. Short show (~4 minutes); available at minnesota.publicradio.org, (RealAudio, mp3, & itunes link). Also there is Jon's blog post about how much he loved libraries as a kid and uses them now. Plus a nice drawing of the new Alameda Free Library, which he enjoys.
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| 04-Jan-08 10:40 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28730 |
| In 2018 Libraries Will Beâ?¦. |
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Make your own here: http://blog.acpl.lib.in.us/cgi-bin/in2018.pl
Sean Robinson at the cutting-edge Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, inspired by the incredible folks in New Zealand, has created a card creation system for sharing your thoughts on what libraries will be like in ten years. Scoot on over and give it a go. Then checkout [...] |
| 04-Jan-08 10:20 AM http://tametheweb.com/2008/01/04/in-2018-libraries-will-be/ |
| The growing value of old books |
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| The growing value of old books: At a time when traditional investment havens are looking a little shaky, here's a tip: sink some money into Cormac McCarthy first editions - but only if signed by the author.
Investing in books, says Warwick Jordan, is not unlike buying shares.
"Not all books go up in value. Valuable books can go down over time - tastes change, collecting habits change. It's very similar to playing the stock market."
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| 04-Jan-08 09:40 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28749 |
| Australian Couple accused of library theft spree |
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| A BRISBANE couple allegedly stole more than $40,000 worth of books, DVDs, CDs and magazines from libraries across the city before storing the booty in cereal boxes in their home.
A man, 52, and a woman, 55, from Acacia Ridge, on Brisbane's southside, were charged after the goods were discovered on Saturday.
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| 04-Jan-08 09:40 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28748 |
| What Do You Want To Read About On LISNews In 2008? |
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| Happy 2008! The new year is upon us, and it's time to think about what we should do @LISNews... What do you want to read about in 2008 on LISNews?
Do you want more audio/video features? Interviews with authors or librarians? Articles about UFOs? Learn how to repair a book? More top 10 lists?
Would you like to see fewer posts about public libraries? Learn more about cataloging? See more Harry Potter Stories? Maybe more about the web?
Orâ?¦something else?
What do you want to see or hear on LISNews |
| 04-Jan-08 08:00 AM http://www.lisnews.org/node/28746 |
| Putting Wikis into Play |
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| This weekend marks the conclusion of one of my classes this semester at Dominican University’s GSLIS. Internet Fundamentals & Design traces the history of the Net, features some simple Web page coding, and covers a whole lot of Web 2.0 exploration, including group presentations on how to implement new technologies in libraries. Yes, group projects, [...] |
| 03-Jan-08 09:00 PM http://tametheweb.com/2008/01/02/putting-wikis-into-play/ |
| Welcome to Our World |
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| Welcome to Tech Tips for Every Librarian, your monthly guide to cost-effective, easily implemented, and otherwise eminently doable technology solutions for your library. Yes, we said your library, and we do mean that! No matter how small, how isolated, or how short on staff or time or money you are. Tech Tips will contain technological [...] |
| 03-Jan-08 09:00 PM http://tametheweb.com/2008/01/01/welcome-to-our-world-2/ |
| My ALA Midwinter 2008 Schedule |
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|
Friday, January 11, 2008
Arrive 11:30 a.m.
1:30 - 4:30 pm, Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, Grand Ballroom, Salon E-F - OCLC Symposium: New Leadership for New Challenges
5-8 p.m. LITA Happy Hour Cebu,123 Chestnut Street [depart 5:45]
6-8 PUBLIB Happy Hour
8 - Dinner with friends
Saturday, January 12, 2008
(At some point on Saturday or Sunday I’m hoping to spend an hour [...] |
| 03-Jan-08 08:20 PM http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/freerangelibrarian/~3/210829583/ |
| Whaddya do with LibraryThing? |
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| I have heard a lot of library staff talk about the wonders of LibraryThing, but in the same breath wonder how it could be used in the library. LibraryThing has a wonderful page devoted to things you can do with LibraryThing. Some of the ideas are clearly transferable to libraries.
Put LT on your blog: Create a cute little book-cover-badge showing books in your library. Libraries could use this by creating a "library" of recent arrivals or bestsellers, or even a speci |
| 03-Jan-08 08:00 PM http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2008/01/whaddya-do-with.html |
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