librarian.net

Apparently the terrorists mentioned the World Trade Center as a target to a librarian back in 2000. Sadly, this news can only further convince the US government that libraries are the places to watch. [ thanks howard ]

New issue of Information for Social Change is up, themed Libraries for life : democracy, diversity, delivery. It includes the very timely article What does the future hold for our public libraries? as well as a fascinating article on dealing with social exclusion in public libraries.

The idea of social inclusion in libraries and other public institutions has really been taking off in the UK. Here is another article about social inclusion in the realm of services to children and young adults.

Not At All Work Safe: The Naughty Librarian [ thanks chuck ]

Former Carnegie library for sale, yours for 3.25 million.

Ruth's first library sale

Ruth's small size is turned to her advantage. A good three feet shorter than her counterparts, she is able to squeeze invisibly in among them plucking up the choicest low-lying items. Like a wolf club learning to stalk her prey, Ruth takes this deadly serious pursuit for a game and nips in and out on the heels of the booksellers in dizzy delight.

Another way bookstore is not like a library, according to Miss Manners who, while she may have it a bit wrong, has her heart in the right place. [ thanks lis ]

Some pro and con and nutty letters to the editor about Seattle Public's closure this week.

Don't fault the above-average wages too much. It takes a well-paid professional, working many tireless hours, to ensure our precious children continue to have easy access to all the filthy smut on the Internet these days. [ thanks bill ]

24/7 reference is getting popular. It also seems like it's becoming a new popular niche for outsourcing where library money goes to pay outside corporations to do library work. [ NYT thanks lis ]

I have long been a fan of letterboxing, this letterbook in a Vermont library is too good to pass up [and if you're not in VT, you can still play along]. [ thanks miriam ]

Hi. If you have access to php and MySQL, you can now use the same software I use for maintaining my booklist. Announcing version 1.0 of Oddbook, created by Greg, with some help from me.

Oooo, a new feature from Librarians Index to the Internet: Free Range Librarian. This month's piece: The Gospel According To Marvin: A Review of A Festschrift in Honor of Marvin H. Scilken. [ libnews ]

BurlyQ, a Queer Cabaret, featuring the naughty librarian.

We are singers, erotic gymnasts, 1950's housewives, and the librarian you had a crush on in grammar school. [ thanks sal ]

Apparently we don't have to close the public libraries, merely sell them to the highest bidder. [ thanks jen ]

Have I mentioned the the first public library weblog in the UK yet? [ techlog ]

Seattle Public Library and their website are closed this week. Suck.

The Feminist Task Force of SRRT has a new shorter URL: http://libr.org/FTF/

Australian Erotica archive at the National Library to include porn websites.

[I]t is clear that there is no merit in being coy today and therefore delivering an incomplete picture to future researchers." The library's guiding policy says that material should not be rejected on the grounds that its content is controversial or likely to offend some library clients. [ thanks ole ]

Long article on the former Librarian of Congresss's porn collection, soon to be appearing at NYC's Museum of Sex. To be fair, saying that you collect every kind of porn except gay porn is really leaving out a fair amount of the genre, but why split hairs?

[I]n the early '70s, he had an epiphany: The Library of Congress was collecting nearly every variety of printed matter -- even phone books, for crying out loud! -- but not porn. Apparently, it was up to him to preserve the X-rated aspects of America's glorious heritage. [ thanks lis ]

Library Juice has an interesting back and forth between SRRT coordinator Rory Litwin and ALA liaison Satia Orange about the "Speaking with One Voice" Policy which apparently prohibits ALA groups from publicizing their activities outside of the organization. This policy is not listed in any policy manual. The exchange of emails is long but well worth a read.

When you give legal reference assistance, is it lawyering? The issue that doesn't go away... [ thanks pauline ]

Leave No Library Behind: The Christian Science Monitor weighs in on the library funding crisis in the US. [ thanks lis ]

The Society of College, National and University Libraries [UK] now has a newsletter online. Current issue includes Libraries and the Law, collection development for the visually impaired and noise zoning at your library.

We've all been hearing about the floods in Europe: here's a few articles on damage to European libraries and museums. [ thanks klaus ]

Stephen Cohen from Library Stuff is collecting thoughts and remembrances for a special 9/11 anniversary post. You can email him your thoughts here.

I don't know much about television, but there is a new show with not one but two references to libraries on their premiere page. I might ask the people who put the survey together "hey, what's wrong with looking like a librarian?" [ thanks amy ]

Monroe County [NY] library system tells it like it is: here is what we have to cut under the new budget crunch. With a link right up there on their main page. Gutsy. You'll notice that they have a very active Friends of the Library organization. [ libplanet ]

The Librarian's Book Club is reading Farenheit 451 and Carnegie Libraries Across America this month. [ lisnews ]

Hi. My article on working for Google Answers will be appearing in the October issue of Searcher Magazine, look for it.

Does your library do virtual reference? Have you tried for a Samuel Swett Green Virtual Reference Award? If you win, your transcript will be online for everyone to see. [ thanks chris ]

How did I live this long without knowing about Follett's MARC tag of the month website?

One week until SPL libraries go dark for a week. Make sure you've renewed your books, used the online reference as much as you need to and prepare for a week without libraries in Seattle. While I don't agree with this author that a good solution would be to get Microsoft zillionaires to bail the library out, I wonder about what kind if a country we live in when one person could spend .01% of their net worth and stop the public library budget shortfall in the city altogether. [ thanks bill ]

Speaking of budget problems, some citizens of Stevens County Washington are trying to dissolve their entire library system via referendum

The Stevens County library system operates on a budget of a little more than $1 million a year, with a full-time staff of 10. It makes do in metal-roofed sheds, converted cabins and abandoned buildings.... the average household here pays about $38 a year in property taxes [for the library], the same as a month's basic cable television bill. [ NYT, thanks kami ]

You've seen the new spot the Ad Council is running, right? The kid walks into a scary future library and is questioned and harassed about his reading habits. The tagline is: Freedom. Appreciate it. Cherish it. Protect it. I can't tell if this is supposed to portray a post terrorist-takeover America or a post police-state America. [ thanks jeremy ]

The National Library of France is having a bicentennial celebration of Victor Hugo. The site is in French but there's still a lot of neat stuff to look at. [ thanks natalia ]

Remember those fire insurance maps that the LoC swore were being digitized as part of a project they were doing? And then no one could find them? Here's the straight skinny on the Sanborn Fire Insurance Map project.

A quiz from the Laughing Librarian: Book for Kid or Porno Vid?

The Libraries FAQ has added a short list of library webcams. [ thanks tony ]

Rory Litwin and Fiona Hunt have reorganized and expanded their GATS and Libraries web page. If you don't know about the General Agreement on Trade in Services and how it could negatively affect you and your library, you should read it.

Library science doctoral student must spend weekends in jail and weekdays at work at a bowling alley to repay $185,000 in damages for rare books she sliced and sold. Heck, why finish the doctorate at this point? More commentary over at livejournal.

Brightwell pointed out that Moss, who was three-quarters finished with her doctoral work when the thefts were discovered, will forever have difficulty finding any more than a minimum wage job. [ lj ]

Two new library blogs: Chicago Library System's Chi Lib Rocks and LII's Possible Resources Blog for stuff they are considering adding to Lii.org. [ shifted ]

And in older blog-type news, LISNews hit their 5,000th post yesterday. Mazel tov!

Hi. The plot thickens. According to at least one of my readers, Saint Lawrence is the patron saint of libraries, at least in Germany. Check this link, I'm pretty sure that's what it's saying. Also, if you are sudenly seeing broken images instead of this logo, let me know. I've been trying to mess with my .htaccess settings to keep people from swiping them.

California trying to hire Hawaiian library school students . The pay is better in CA and no awful outsourcing history to contend with. [ thanks brandon ]

Dear police department: you are not the FBI. Please return those computers that you took from the library without a warrant. [ thanks bill ]

Blogwatch: ExplodedLibrary.info. A ranter, just like yours truly. [ thanks chuck ]

Wow, I go to Amherst for two days and my inbox fills up with links. It seems that some of these are pretty popular, so my apologies if you've all seen them already. It also seems that this Saint Lawrence character is NOT the patron saint of libraries -- at least according to most websites except the one I cited. That honor would be rightly bestowed upon Saint Jerome.

Tip -- any library director who uses the word "market share" is not to be trusted. You may know this article as 'library uses clerks as librarians'

Library that has been having trouble with its computer systems also find out it has been having trouble with its computer systems administrator. You may know this story as: library employee steals over 200K.

Do you need me to tell you that shrinkwrap licensing [also known as sneakwrap] is a bad idea for books? [ thanks michael ]

Do you remember the naked library from a ways back? That was in Australia, same place as this librarians fired for [allegedly] using books as toilet paper. You've gotta love this "librarianly" quotation:

"I've dedicated my whole life to that library", she said sadly."It's the only world I've ever known. I never even married. I live alone with my two cats. Now I've got nothing."

Hi. My apologies for forgetting to remind you all about the Feast of Saint Lawrence, which was two days ago. As I'm sure you all know, Saint Lawrence is the patron saint of libraries and librarians. The perseid meteor showers, which are tonight, are often called "the tears of St. Lawrence".

Happy second birthday,Library Stuff!

And, the conclusion to the story that had us all on tinderhooks: Nixon's daughters patch it up, get to keep the cash bequeathed by Bebe Rebozo for the presidential library. How's this for a brief press release? [ thanks eoin ]

Well, it seems there are some librarians who are in favor of both the PATRIOT Act and the TiPS program, wink.

NPR talks about the PATRIOT Act the FBI and libraries. While I agree that the FBI should stay the hell away from libraries, NPR's histrionics about what could be found on computers imply that librarians and others don't even know what can be tracked through your browsing history, cookies and other leavings. Inform yourself. I agree with the ALA: keep as few records as possible. And if you get your computers taken away by the FBI, check what condition they are returned in. [ thanks benjamin ]

More discussion of libraries and the FBI over on Slashdot.

The Chinese National Library, much more popular than during the so-called Cultural Revolution. [ thanks mariam ]

Have I linked to this before? Old vocational films about careers: The Librarian [realaudio], [mpeg].

Are [books] your friends? Have you a real love of books and leanring? You do? That's good.... You may well consider the vocation of a librarian. [ thanks paul & step ]

Hi. I applied for the Jaquith Public Library job today. Polished my resume, wrote a nice and professional cover letter, gave them this URL. Wish me luck, please.

I was searching for comparison jobs on Monster.com [I know, I know, it's silly] and I noticed this when I typed in "librarian" as my search query. Who is in charge of the controlled vocabulary here?

Search Related Job Titles: Administrative Assistant, Customer Service Representative, Receptionist, Executive Assistant, Human Resources Assistant....

Librarians shouldn't have to be babysitters. Can I get an amen? [ thanks carol ]

Hi. If you'd like to know why I did or did not include a link or a story, feel free to email me using a return address and I'll happily share my thoughts.

One of the major reasons I have for disliking sites that are designed ONLY for standards-compliant browsers is that sometimes they are unviewable in the public libraries -- where I sometimes surf -- who might use outdated software, for whatever reason. Carrie from Rogue Librarian is trying to rectify the problem, from the library end. Please read her article Why Web Standards Matter and consider upgrading to a newer browser if your library isn't running standards compliant software.

The made-up group Writers Against Piracy joke-pickets the NYPL. Is this funny, or stupid?

Library director retires after nearly 50 years on the job[ thanks leep ]

AskALibrarian weblog. [ libnewsdaily ]

Hi. Katia arrived bearing manuscripts. I am working this weekend. A fond warm and sad farewell to NewBreed Librarian whose pages and people have been exceptional comrades over the past 18 months.

Queens Borough librarians reject loser dress code. No denim, nose rings or tattooes.[ thanks all]

They say they are being forced back into the old stereotypes of prim women with hair buns and bifocal glasses by the code, which insists that no nose rings, tattoos, mini skirts or slip-on sandals must be seen between the shelves and behind the front desk of the 63 borough libraries.

Speaking of dumb, Anna Nicole Smith has a new game on her website. I'll let the description speak for itself. Complaints can go here.

Guide Anna Nicole through Hollywood's glitzy streets, while avoiding pesky paparazzi, lawyers on cell phones and disapproving librarian types who wear their hair in a bun and say things like, "Well, I never!" [ thanks step ]

Giant sci fi collection donated to University of Calgary library

"It spans the age of science and technology," said retired English professor Susan Stratton...The scope of the collection means scholars can chart when the starry-eyed "gosh, wow" view of science began to be challenged by the darker threat of advancing technology. [ thanks jen ]

A bit of misaprehansion about the role of librarians in the new post-PATRIOT world order [scroll down for letter]. Just because we are paid with tax dollars, we are not necessarily government employees. Thank you. [ thanks lis ]

Frequent contributor Lis Osmind-Riba has written a paper about the library management issue of dealing with the PATRIOT Act.

Hi. My article to Searcher magazine has been put to bed and Katia and I are in the home stretch of getting Revolting Librarians Redux to the publisher this month. I am contemplating applying for a job in a one-librarian library up here in Central Vermont. Scary prospect, but I wouldn't mind working in a library for a change.

Someone [not me] should collect links to library webcams. Here you can watch the Evansville Vandeburg Public Library being built -- click on the webcam link. [ thanks marilyn ]

Are G-men harassing your librarian? More about the Patriot Act implementation. [ thanks lis ]

I think when these people use the phrase "robot librarians" what they mean is "robot shelvers" which I don't think is a bad thing at all. A look at the Comprehensive Access to Printed Materials project at Johns Hopkins. [ thanks wendy ]

Harry Potter books restricted in a school library because, among other reasons, it teaches that there is such a thing as "good magic". Can this assertion be disproven? [ thanks lis ]

Library of Congress to make available over one million fire insurance maps online. [ thanks don ]

New publisher scam: offer people money for book reviews of your books that they order their public libraries to purchase. I wonder if this is cost effective? [ thanks steve ]