LISNews: Librarian Blog Since 1999

Librarian finds that marble sculpture in library turns out to be very valuable. Full article

Occupy Wall Street Claims the City Ruined Its Library
A member of the Occupy Wall Street movement filed a claim on behalf of the group Thursday that the city had damaged or destroyed $47,000 worth of books and other property while clearing its protest site at Zuccotti Park last fall. The notice of claim, filed with the comptroller’s office, is a preliminary step toward lodging a civil lawsuit.

Penguin, which only offered backlist e-book titles for library lending, is terminating its contract with OverDrive, the library digital vendor, and starting February 10 will cease to offer any of its e-books or audiobooks to libraries. Penguin is negotiating a “continuance” agreement that will allow libraries that have already purchased Penguin e-books to continue to loan them.

In addition, Penguin has also prohibited over-the-air downloads of Penguin e-books to Kindle devices or apps. Patrons of libraries that do have Penguin e-books will have to download them to a personal computer and use a USB cable to load them into their Kindle devices. While the scope of Penguin’s concerns over library lending are not clear, it does appear that the role of Amazon devices—OverDrive has partnered with Amazon to allow library patrons to borrow e-books via wireless download to their Kindle devices—in library lending is a factor in Penguin’s decision to withdraw its e-books from OverDrive.

Full article

Elsevier boycott gathers pace
Timothy Gowers is surprised and delighted that thousands of mathematics and other researchers have joined him in a public pledge not to have anything to do with Elsevier, the Amsterdam-based academic publishing giant. He is leading a boycott because of company practices that he says hinder the dissemination of research.

But he is not expecting a big response from Elsevier. “The goal of the boycott is not to get Elsevier to change how it does things, but rather to change how we in the mathematics community behave, and in that way to rid ourselves of major commercial publishers,” he says.

As of today we are nine days into Black History Month. All over the country people are reflecting on the plight of blacks in America and the strides we have made through time. For me, those are things I think about all the time, however, I realize that may not be the case for everyone. That's why I believe having this month of remembrance and celebration is important. One way to do both — remember and celebrate — during this time is through reading.

Full article

The February 13 New Yorker has an interesting article - The Plagiarist's Tale
You have to subscribe to the New Yorker to read the full article.

The publisher has pulled the book. Used copies are going for $37 on Amazon: Assassin of Secrets

Libraries that have the book.

Nancy Pearl, the famous librarian (and action figure!) who recently partnered with Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) to republish a handful of out-of-print titles each year, tells the New York Times and Seattle Times that based on the reaction she’s received it’s a “hard question” whether she’d do it again.

Amazon Publishing is launching Pearl’s line at a time when many in her community—independent booksellers, librarians and some authors—are very angry at Amazon for what they see as predatory business practices, relentless discounting and attacks on independent bookstores.

Full article at Paid Content.org

In a new tactic for countering the data assault, offices are giving workers a second computer screen and sometimes a third.

Full article

On popular Web sites, misinformation about antipiracy legislation amounted to an abuse of trust and a misuse of power.

Opinion piece here.

Robert Siegel talks with Classics professor Philip Freeman about his translation of the book, "How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians." The book was written by the brother of Marcus Cicero, for when Marcus ran for office in Rome in 64 B.C. But the ancient Roman guide for campaigning still holds lessons for today's elections.

Full piece

Book: How to Win an Election: An Ancient Guide for Modern Politicians

For nearly two centuries, Charles Dickens' colorful characters and memorable expressions have worked their way into the vernacular. The prolific 19th-century English novelist left behind 989 named characters and two dozen novels full of the pathos and comedy of London's rich and poor.

Full piece here.

Story on "All Things Considered" on NPR

In his new book, Charles Murray, co-author of the controversial The Bell Curve , argues that in an increasingly economically stratified America, the white working class is slipping behind.

Full NPR piece: Is White, Working Class America 'Coming Apart'?

Current book being discussed in NPR piece is: Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010

Annoyed Librarian commentary on libraries and popular books.

Interesting blog entry from KM the Librarian about a discussion on the above-mentioned issue.

The other day I got into an "argument" with a student about whether or not I was really a librarian. His position was that I wasn't a librarian--I was actually a teacher who happened to have an office in the library.

It was a weird discussion to be having. As the conversation continued, it became clear that he was, in no small part, trying to annoy me. But I don't think the original statement was meant just to taunt me. We ended up trying to pull in other students to make our respective cases--his that I wasn't a librarian, mine that I really was. The general consensus seemed to be that I was definitely a librarian. And probably also a teacher.

I was thinking about the discussion I had with him, and with other students, in light of one of the phrases I so often hear when it comes to changing the perception/image of school librarians:

"how do we make them see that librarians [fill in the blank]"

This was not a student I know particularly well, nor have I worked with him a lot. He's new to the school this year. There's nothing I've done to try and "make" him see anything. I've just been doing my job the same way I've been doing it for years, and he came to his own conclusions.
-- Read More

Join Us in Supporting the Students and Teachers of Tucson Unified School District

This is where you come in. Acting in solidarity with OccupyTucson and the students, parents, and teachers of the Tucson Unified School District we are going send copies of the banned texts to Tucson for distribution. Lots of copies. As many copies as we can find and buy. We respect the rights of authors and publishers, so all copies will be completely legally purchased though an independent bookseller or directly from the publisher. Donations of the these texts are, of course, welcomed.

Boulder library reports sharp decline in security problems
In the three years since the Boulder Public Library began hiring private security guards, the number of reported incidents at the main library branch downtown have fallen to record lows.

According to city records, the number of reported incidents -- ranging from assaults and trespassing to theft and intoxicated people -- totaled just 50 in 2011. That's down 73 percent from a high of 185 reported incidents during 2009, the first full year of the security patrols.

"This is good news for us," said Jennifer Bray, a spokeswoman for the library. "It is a safe place to be. That is one of our No. 1 goals."

Authors share how they deal with lousy reviews
Authors also know that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, which is why we develop coping mechanisms that we turn to when the reviews start rolling in. It's inevitable that even though your new release got four stars from RT Book Reviews and a starred review in Publishers Weekly, someone out there is going to poo all over it. And, yes, I speak from experience with my recent release, True Shot. That's why I asked several authors this question: How do you deal with bad reviews (we all get them!)? Chocolate? Alcohol? Shooting range?

Ruling Could Affect Restrictions On Sex Offender Use Of Mass. Libraries
“They simply said that, you know, ‘Our ordinance enjoys a presumption of constitutionality and we rest on that, and that anyone challenging it has the burden of proof,’ ” Timmins said, meaning a true constitutional debate over this issue has yet to occur in the courts.

There’s no indication that debate is going to happen in Massachusetts anytime soon. A spokesman for the ACLU of Massachusetts said they’ve not been contacted by any sex offenders interested in pursuing a lawsuit.

Two article on Facebook - articles look at data privacy and ownership

Austrian Law Student Faces Down Facebook
Max Schrems's crusade against the information collected by the social network has become a cause célèbre in parts of Europe, looming over the company as it prepares to go public.

Disruptions: Facebook Users Ask, ‘Where’s Our Cut?’
Without the free content created by its 850 million users, Facebook would surely not be on the verge of a multibillion-dollar initial public offering.

Defining Fair Use.

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has released a “Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Academic and Research Libraries” — a 32-page document, based on interviews with dozens of librarians, outlining the principles and limitations it believes are relevant to eight common scenarios. The guidelines also recommend additional actions libraries can take to insulate themselves against legal challenges.