September 2010
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August 2010
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What about nonfiction? →
Familiar with doing readers advisory for fiction but not for nonfiction? Why should fiction get all the attention? Nonfiction books can be just as fun to read too. For doing readers advisory for nonfiction, here’s a valuable reference tool: The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Nonfiction by Neal Wyatt, published by ALA Editions.
This is a quick review of a book that looks like it’s...
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How Steampunk can Save Librarianship: Libraries... →
So, it seems to me that in the same way that steam punk is creating the future with the power and design of the past, libraries are trying to provide the future of information with the power and design of our informational past. We’re providing modern technology such as computers and Internet access within the framework of an organization that is designed for the information access of the past....
City library considering book-dispensing kiosk at... →
“The Toronto Public Library is studying the idea of installing an automated kiosk at Union Station, where patrons could borrow a book with the simple swipe of their library cards at any time of day.” (via LISNews)
Bestseller Express | LISNews: →
“Some libraries that offer Bestseller Express
The idea behind these programs is that if you pay a fee you can avoid the long hold list for popular books.”
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How the internet is changing language →
Christopher Poole, founder of anarchic image message board 4Chan, had been called to testify during the trial of the man accused of hacking into US politician Sarah Palin’s e-mail account.
During the questioning he was asked to define a catalogue of internet slang that would be familiar to many online, but which was seemingly lost on the lawyers.
At one point during the exchange, Mr...
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Fictional 16-year-old captivates readers in... →
The third book in the YA trilogy that started with The Hunger Games came out this week. This article highlights related events, and touches on the trend of mature readers enjoying YA literature. Also linking it for the local flavor.
See also: http://lisnews.org/got_mockingjay
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projectgutenberg:
No doubt she also belonged to the category of ordinary people who dream of being original, but she soon discovered that she had not a grain of true originality, and she did not let it trouble her too much.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Idiot (1869) translated by Eva Martin [full text]
No E-Books Allowed in This Establishment →
chumsicle:
shrinkinglibrarian:
A few weeks ago I decided to mosey over to a local Manhattan coffee shop for an afternoon cappuccino.
After placing my order I sat down at a table and pulled out my Amazon Kindle.
I barely made it a sentence into the e-book I was reading before an employee of the coffee shop came by, stood over me and said, “Excuse me sir, but we don’t allow computers in...
projectgutenberg:
In society they not only disliked asserting themselves, but were actually retiring. Certainly no one could blame them for being too arrogant or haughty, and yet everybody was well aware that they were proud and quite understood their own value. The eldest was musical, while the second was a clever artist, which fact she had concealed until lately. In a word, the world spoke...
projectgutenberg:
Philip felt inclined to cry, but he had an instinctive disinclination to letting other people see his tears, and he clenched his teeth to prevent the sobs from escaping. Mr. Carey sat down in his arm-chair and began to turn over the pages of a book. Philip stood at the window. The vicarage was set back from the highroad to Tercanbury, and from the dining-room one saw a...
Google Says There Are 129,864,880 Different Books... →
Urban Dictionary Word of the Day: book google →
When you need to figure out something, so you look it up in a book, like in the olden times, when dinosaurs ruled the earth.
Guy 1: Quick! What’s the definiton of “callow?” Guy 2: I don’t know! My iPhone 4 doesn’t get signal here! Guy 3: Book google that sh*t!
“The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have...”
– Chuck Klosterman, Eating The Dinosaur (via 52hearts) (via dejavrooom)
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National Archives' treasure hunting team keeps... →
“We hope people will call us and say, ‘We have something, I would like to give it back,’” said Yockelson, believed to be the only “investigative archivist” in the country. “The goal of my job is to make things whole again, to fill in the gaps of history.” (via Library Stuff)
Mmm, investigative archivist. That sounds so amazing
The Life Theoretic
projectgutenberg:
While I have been fumbling over books And thinking about God and the Devil and all, Other young men have been battling with the days And others have been kissing the beautiful women. They have brazen faces like battering-rams. But I who think about books and such— I crumble to impotent dust before the struggling, And the women palsy me with fear. But when it comes to...
Librarian fired for not revealing weight →
“In Urbandale, Iowa librarian Lisa Bonifas was fired for refusing to tell her employer how much she weighed.
Nevermind the fact that she’s had good performance reviews and that there’s no weight requirement for her position. That didn’t matter, according to a Des Moines Register column.” (via LISNews)
Pope Benedict wanted to be a librarian →
“At the time the future Pope Benedict was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pope’s doctrinal enforcer.
But he found his job ‘burdensome’ and wanted to retire to academic study of ancient documents for the rest of his life.
He asked the Pope if he could step down from his role when he turned 70 on April 16,...
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Second library removes gay book →
“A gay-themed book, which was pulled from a local high school’s library after a resident objected to its content, has also been yanked from Burlington County’s library system.
The county system’s decision to remove ‘Revolutionary Voices,’ an anthology of first-person works by gay youths, was made quietly in the spring. But it’s now stirring an online...
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OverDrive | Survey results give insights about... →
In June, we concluded a survey, linked on 10 of our highest traffic websites, with more than 5,000 responses from patrons around urban and rural America. The survey included questions regarding demographics, computer/device usage, borrowing habits, general feedback on user experience, and suggestions for collection development.
74% of users are female, between the ages of 30-59.
Nearly 70% have...
Etsy Finds: It's Classified →
Growing up, I loved to visit my local library. On hot summer days that’s where you’d find me, hiding in the stacks, imagining encounters with literary and real life loves, finding private nooks for reading, and enjoying the musty smell of paper and cloth. In college, I maintained this little affair with libraries, leading to my career as a librarian. While today I see libraries as...
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Lines on Plagiarism Blur for Students in the... →
This article brings up some good points, but I don’t like the tone. Calling students lazy, saying they just need to learn how to write, or implying that they’re too stupid to realize they shouldn’t steal information isn’t going to solve the problem of plagiarism. Obviously I don’t advocate cheating, but as a recent student and also an inhabitant of the internet, I...
“Once I began a book, I couldn’t put it down. It was like an addiction; I read...”
– Haruki Murakami (via bookshelves)
“Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it’s just an...”
– David Sedaris (via 52hearts)
The Project Gutenberg Project: He extended his... →
He extended his hand; it seemed to meet something in mid-air, and he drew it back with a sharp exclamation. “I wish you’d keep your fingers out of my eye,” said the aerial voice, in a tone of savage expostulation. “The fact is, I’m all here—head, hands, legs, and all the rest of it, but it happens I’m invisible. It’s a confounded nuisance, but I am. That’s no reason why I should be poked to...
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Coffee shops are taking Wi-Fi off the menu →
Coffee shops were the retail pioneers of Wi-Fi, flipping the switch to lure customers. But now some owners are pulling the plug. They’re finding that Wi-Fi freeloaders who camp out all day nursing a single cup of coffee are a drain on the bottom line. Others want to preserve a friendly vibe and keep their establishments from turning into “Matrix”-like zombie shacks where...
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No E-Books Allowed in This Establishment →
A few weeks ago I decided to mosey over to a local Manhattan coffee shop for an afternoon cappuccino.
After placing my order I sat down at a table and pulled out my Amazon Kindle.
I barely made it a sentence into the e-book I was reading before an employee of the coffee shop came by, stood over me and said, “Excuse me sir, but we don’t allow computers in the coffee shop.” (via LISNews)
I...
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Making the case for a fully mobile library web... →
via Stephen’s Lighthouse
“When you sell a man a book, you don’t sell him 12 ounces of paper and ink and...”
– Christopher Morley (via bookshelves)
