Contents
U.S. & World News
ALA News
AL Focus
Booklist Online
Denver Update
Division News
Awards
Seen Online
Tech Talk
Publishing
Actions & Answers
Calendar

Google settles scanning suit with authors, publishers
After two years of negotiations, a settlement has been reached in lawsuits between Google and author and publisher groups over the search-engine company’s scanning of copyrighted books. Under the settlement, announced October 28 and subject to approval by a New York federal court, Google would pay $125 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit brought in 2005 by book authors and the Authors Guild, as well as a separate suit filed by five publishers. The payment would go toward creation of a Book Rights Registry where authors and publishers can register works and receive compensation....
American Libraries Online, Oct. 29

Boston’s Margolis appointed New York state librarian
The Board of Regents of the New York State Education Department announced October 21 that Bernard A. Margolis (right) has been appointed New York state librarian. The embattled former president of Boston Public Library will assume his new responsibilities in January 2009 in the prestigious post once held by Melvil Dewey, father of modern American librarianship. A longtime member of the ALA’s governing Council, Margolis instantly received a flood of praise and congratulations on the Council’s electronic discussion list....
American Libraries Online, Oct. 27; AL Inside Scoop, Oct. 24

Hispanic janitors arrested at Mesa library
The Mesa (Ariz.) Public Library found itself briefly touched by the nationwide conversation about immigration reform when Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (right) and a heavily armed group of some 60 deputies and volunteers, accompanied by police dogs, raided the main library at about 2 a.m. on the morning of October 16. The action resulted in the arrest of three allegedly undocumented janitorial workers of Hispanic descent, two inside the library and one in the library parking lot....
American Libraries Online, Oct. 24

Bunny Suicides complainant douses book-burning talk
When her 13-year-old son checked out a dark-humor cartoon collection, The Book of Bunny Suicides, from the Central Linn High School Library in Halsey, Oregon, Taffey Anderson decided that British artist Andy Riley’s drawings of self-destructive rabbits were neither funny nor appropriate reading for children. She filed a written request with the school district October 20 to have the book reviewed, but neglected to return it to the library. An initial report quoted Anderson as saying, “They’re not getting this book back,” and threatening to burn it, but she has since softened her stance....
American Libraries Online, Oct. 28

ALA seeks $100 million in stimulus funding
ALA is asking Congress for $100 million in stimulus funding to aid the nation’s working families during the current economic crisis. Aid is sought to stem the bleeding of critical library services that help Americans with job searches, small business development, financial literacy, and other essential assistance in hard economic times. ALA’s recommendation comes as Congress holds hearings this week on economic growth and job creation, including an October 30 Joint Economic Committee hearing....
District Dispatch, Oct. 29

Denver Sunrise Speaker Series
Start each day off in Denver with four distinguished authors at the ALA Sunrise Speaker Series. The series is part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, January 23–28, and will be held each morning from 8 to 9 a.m. Speakers will include authors Leigh Rubin, Dom Testa, Kevin J. Anderson, and Richard North Patterson (right)....

Midwinter Author Forum welcomes women of mystery
Some bestselling female mystery authors will gather at the Exhibits Round Table Author Forum at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Denver on January 23 to discuss the art of revealing “who did it?” Erica Spindler, Francine Mathews, Mary Jane Clark (right), and Nancy Atherton will meet to discuss the art of the mystery plot and how all those twists and turns work to reveal the truth....

Responses needed for library internet survey
Your feedback is needed to ensure national and state-level analyses from the Public Library Funding and Technology Access Study. Data from the library internet survey, which closes November 7, will be used for peer comparison, budget requests, media outreach, and testimony before legislative bodies. Log on now....

ALA SLymposium on virtual worlds and libraries
The ALA Virtual Communities and Libraries Membership Initiative Group has announced its first ALA SLymposium to be held in Second Life on ALA Island, November 8. The fall SLymposium will offer a look at what all types of library-related organizations are doing in Second Life. The keynote speaker for the SLymposium is Tom Peters, CEO of TAP Information Services and author of the recently released Libraries and Virtual Worlds....
Virtual Presence, Oct. 27

Gaming at Oak Park Public Library
During the summer and autumn this year, Oak Park (Ill.) Public Library has held monthly teen gaming tournaments. This is a video (3:15) of sights and sounds from the September tourney, as well as an interview with Young Adult Librarian Monica Harris, who explains why and how the library got into gaming and the benefits it offers the library and the community....

The lowdown on LoDo
LoDo (Lower Downtown) comprises a 25-block area that, just a decade ago, wasn’t much more than abandoned warehouses and rail yards. Today, restored and easily accessible from the Colorado Convention Center, LoDo is one of the liveliest areas in the city and the place in Denver to eat, shop, and stay. The historic buildings house a variety of shops, restaurants, and businesses, and exude a fun and entertaining atmosphere. Union Station, where the Winter Park Ski Train departs, lies in the heart of LoDo and is a great place to start a visit to the neighborhood....
LoDo District

Denver Public Library
The Central Denver Public Library, designed by Michael Graves to mimic a city skyline, is famous for its Western Americana photographs and African-American archives. Inside, check out the amazing “rolling historical landscape” mural of Edward Ruscha. Outside, you’ll find “Lao Tzu,” a soaring steel sculpture by Mark di Suvero that stands 30 feet tall and weighs 16 tons; and Donald Lipski’s “The Yearling,” featuring a life-size fiberglass pony perched atop an enormous red chair (right)....
Denver Public Library

AASL Fall Forum attendees challenged to lead
Calling AASL’s Standards for the 21st-Century Learner “among the most brilliant of those I have seen,” endnote speaker Everett Kline challenged school library media specialists in attendance at the AASL 2008 Fall Forum to “go out and lead.” From October 17 to 19, school library media specialists from across the country gathered in Oak Brook, Illinois, for an in-depth look at assessments of student learning....

Western New York schools offer AASL institutes
In an effort to make professional development a top priority among its school library media specialists, Erie 2–Chautauqua–Cattaraugus BOCES has contracted with AASL to offer multiple institutes on various topics across Western New York. Twenty-seven licensed institutes will be offered over a six-month period to school library media specialists from multiple school districts....

Volunteer for the YALSA Road Trip
YALSA seeks volunteers for its 2009 Road Trip, during which the division will strive to have a presence at a library conference in every state in 2009. Options for participation include hosting a social event, implementing a YALSA-provided program, or staffing an exhibit booth. Volunteers are still needed in 39 states. Apply by November 14....

ACRL’s Midwinter workshops
ACRL will hold three professional-development workshops in conjunction with the 2009 Midwinter Meeting in Denver. Registration is now open for the January 23 workshops, which cover custom search plug-ins, the Q Method of evaluation, and basic teaching strategies....

ACRL offers Gaming in Academic Libraries
ACRL is releasing a new publication, Gaming in Academic Libraries: Collections, Marketing, and Information Literacy. Edited by Amy Harris of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and Scott E. Rice of Appalachian State University, this lively volume contains 16 examples of ways libraries are integrating games into their learning and outreach programs....

Apply for an ALA scholarship
ALA has more than $300,000 for students who are studying library science or school library media at the master’s degree level. Scholarships typically range from $1,500 to $6,500 per student per year. The application and instructions are available online. The application deadline is March 1....

Deadline extended for National Library Week Grants
Sue Kowalski and Tony Tallent know what it takes to succeed @ your library. As past winners of the Scholastic Library Publishing National Library Week Grant, they both developed public awareness promotions that reached out to their respective communities in new and exciting ways. The deadline for the 2009 grant has been extended until November 14. U.S. libraries of all types are invited to apply for $3,000 that will be awarded to the best public awareness campaign that promotes the theme “Worlds connect @ your library” during National Library Week, April 12–18, 2009....

2009 Library Adult Services Award
RUSA is seeking nominations for the 2009 Margaret E. Monroe Library Adult Services Award. The citation honors a practicing librarian, library and information science researcher or educator, or retired librarian who has made a significant contribution to library adult services. Nominations must be received by December 15....

RUSA award honors document delivery superstars
Know a librarian who has made a recent significant contribution to the interlibrary loan or document delivery fields? Consider nominating him or her for the 2009 Virginia Boucher–OCLC Distinguished ILL Librarian Award. The award, a citation and a $2,000 cash prize sponsored by OCLC, honors a librarian for outstanding professional achievement, leadership, and contributions to the interlibrary loan and document delivery field. Nominations are due by December 15....

ABC-CLIO Online History Award
RUSA seeks nominations for the 2009 ABC-CLIO Online History Award, an honor that expresses the division’s commitment to the role librarians play in linking up patrons with information. The winner will receive $3,000 and a citation donated by ABC-CLIO. Nominations must be received by December 15....

In search of outstanding Jewish literature
The RUSA Collection Development and Evaluation Section seeks recently published works of Jewish literature for adults as candidates for the 2009 Sophie Brody Medal. Endowed by the Brodart Foundation and Arthur Brody, the award consists of a citation and a medal, and pays tribute to Arthur’s wife Sophie, a recognized leader and philanthropist in the Jewish community. Works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry published between December 1, 2007, and November 30, 2008, are eligible for consideration....

Student writing and development award
LLAMA is now accepting entries for the 2009 YBP Student Writing and Development Award. All students enrolled in a library and information studies graduate program are eligible to submit essays on the theme “Take the lead @ your library.” The winning article will be published in a future issue of Library Leadership & Management....

Three inducted into SLA Hall of Fame
Three distinguished information professionals have been inducted into the Special Libraries Association Hall of Fame. They are Toby Pearlstein, now retired director of information services for Boston-based Bain and Company; Dana Lincoln Roth (above), chemistry librarian at California Institute of Technology; and the late Sue O’Neill Johnson, World Bank librarian. All were honored for their work and contributions at SLA’s Annual Conference in Seattle in June. Watch the video....
Special Libraries Association, Oct. 22

Travel grant to SLA in Washington
The Division of Museums, Arts, and Humanities of the Special Libraries Association will reimburse travel and accommodation expenses up to $2,000 for a professional librarian from a non-G8 country to attend the SLA Annual Conference. The awardee will also receive free registration to the conference and to all MAHD ticketed events. The deadline is December 31....
Special Libraries Association, Oct. 28

Head of Lincoln Presidential Library fired
Richard E. Beard, executive director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, was fired by Gov. Rod Blagojevich October 28 after disclosure of an August 22 shoplifting charge at a Target store. Store security guards believe he was trying to steal a DVD box set. Beard faces another charge of shoplifting nearly $300 worth of neckties from a Macy’s store last November. He then got into a scuffle with security guards when they tried to stop him from leaving with the items....
Springfield (Ill.) State Journal-Register, Oct. 24, 28

Calvert County keeps Tango
Calvert County (Md.) library trustees voted unanimously October 21 to keep a controversial book about two male penguins where it is shelved—in the children’s section, along with other picture books. In December, Beth Bubser of Dunkirk filed a complaint about And Tango Makes Three to the county library staff, saying there was no warning on the book that it is about same-sex parents. The board affirmed Library Director Patricia Hofmann’s January decision to keep the book on the shelf....
Washington Post, Oct. 23

Gold’s exit deal investigated
The Sacramento (Calif.) Public Library govering board agreed to pay embattled library director Anne Marie Gold nearly $25,000 in return for her resignation, and a county grand jury has signaled that it is investigating that agreement. The grand jury has been looking into Gold’s management for nearly a year as a result of the newspaper’s review of library finances that revealed overbilling for maintenance services at library branches....
Sacramento (Calif.) Bee, Oct. 23

MSN’s 10 coolest public libraries
MSN City Guides has selected 10 of the most interesting “secular temples to the worship of words,” from old school Beaux-Arts beauties to the airy halls of contemporary architecture. The South Euclid–Lyndhurst branch (right) of the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Public Library is one. Also on the list is Chicago’s Harold Washington Library Center and the Thomas Crane Memorial Library in Quincy, Massachusetts....
MSN City Guides

A Catch-22 for libraries
Public libraries in Phoenix, Arizona, are packed with patrons searching for free ways to feed their literary appetites, rent movies, and use computers to update their résumés and apply for jobs online. But the boom in visitors and circulation (and their transition into lively community spots) couldn’t come at a worse time for libraries, which are facing their own budget woes due to the faltering economy. Phoenix, like other municipal governments, is facing a budget shortfall as sales-tax collections plummet and property-tax projections soften. Nonetheless, the Phoenix Public Library raised more than $342,000 for programs that support children’s literacy at its Dinner in the Stacks 2008 event October 18....
Phoenix Arizona Republic, Oct. 25, 28; Phoenix Public Library, Oct. 28

Idaho medical librarian helps son battle rare cancer
A Rexburg, Idaho, woman who spends her days helping doctors, nurses, and patients is also using her skills to help one of the most important people in her life, her son. Teresa Murdock has been working as Madison Memorial Hospital’s medical librarian for the past 15 years. Just three months ago, Murdock’s 19-year-old son Chance was diagnosed with an extremely rare type of terminal cancer....
KIDK-TV, Idaho Falls, Oct. 27

Alan Bennett donates archive to the Bodleian
English playwright Alan Bennett (The Madness of George III, The History Boys) has bequeathed his literary archive to the Bodleian library in Oxford. Bennett was originally prompted to hand over his archive by a former Bodleian chief librarian, David Vaizey, a friend since they met as undergraduates. He said that he saw the gift as a debt repaid. The Bennett archive, which includes original manuscripts and drafts for all his stage and television plays, is expected to be open to researchers by 2010....
The Guardian (U.K.), Oct. 24

Kentucky law school to close over library debt
A problem-plagued Kentucky law school has announced that it will close at the end of the year. The Barkley School of Law in Paducah—formerly known as the American Justice School of Law—is withdrawing its application with the state for a license to operate in 2009. The biggest of its problems, according to Dean Larry Putt, is the debt associated with the library it inherited. The American Justice School of Law claimed about $6 million in debt when it filed for bankruptcy, and Putt estimates that at least $2 million of that involved purchases made for the library....
National Law Journal, Oct. 23

Montreal’s Fraser-Hickson Library to reopen
After more than a year without a home for the Fraser-Hickson Library, a $6-million plan has been announced that would see it reopen in 2009 on the lower level of Trinity Memorial Church in Montreal. Forced to close in March 2007, following years of struggle brought on by a dwindling endowment, many felt that the Fraser-Hickson had been left to drift on its own by the city of Montreal, which had kept the privately-funded library on life-support for several years with short-term grants....
Montréal (Québec) Monitor, Oct. 21

Accused Folio thief launches legal challenge
A man arrested over the theft of a Shakespeare First Folio is mounting a legal challenge to have it returned to him. Ray Scott, from Washington in North East England, launched the action against Durham University October 25. Durham police are treating the Folio, alleged to be the one stolen from the university 10 years ago, as evidence and are holding it in a secure vault after it was returned to the U.K. under guard in mid-October. Scott had brought it to the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., in June to have it authenticated but he was arrested shortly afterwards....
Darlington (U.K.) Northern Echo, Oct. 27

How to master screencasts in 7 steps
Torley writes: “Making screencasts (also known as video tutorials) is already easy, and becomes easier with better tools and broadband proliferation. However, no tech is complete without a human who dives in, does experiments, and discerns best practices from the results. I’ve made over 200 video tutorials, mostly for the virtual world of Second Life. If a picture’s worth 1,000 words, then a video is a lot more. Through such experience, these are tips and tricks I’m sure you’ll find practical and applicable to your further forays into the video fields.”...
Mashable, Oct. 22; Second Life Showcase

The 15 dumbest names for Web 2.0 startups
Robin Wauters writes: “I realize naming is a difficult thing, and finding the domain name to match the description you have in mind is virtually impossible these days. I also realize names don’t necessarily have to be descriptive enough to sum up what you do in one or two words, as long as it’s memorable and distinctive enough. Here’s a list of 15 startups I personally think have some of the dumbest names in the Web 2.0 industry (I’m not judging their actual service), in no particular order.”...
The Next Web, Oct. 13

A decade of the DMCA
John Timmer writes: “Ten years ago this week, President Clinton (remember him?) signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act into law. Ostensibly passed to bring U.S. copyright law in line with World Intellectual Property Organization treaties, the law has had a variety of effects, some good, others obviously not. Its two main features are its safe harbor and anticircumvention provisions. We’ll take a look at each.”...
Ars Technica, Oct. 28

Microsoft Office to go online
Richard MacManus writes: “Microsoft announced October 28 at its Professional Developers Conference that the next release of Microsoft Office will include browser-based versions of some of its main office software products—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. These will be lightweight versions, but Microsoft said they will still have rich functionality and be comparable to Google’s suite of online office applications.” See how it might look....
ReadWriteWeb, Oct. 28

How to create a mobile website for your blog
Ellyssa Kroski writes: “If you’re wondering about creating a mobile website for your blog or website, there are actually some very easy-to-use tools out there which will have you mobile within a few clicks. Winksite and MoFuse will create a mobile version of your website or blog from an RSS feed. If you’re looking for additional functionality and customization options, you may want to check out Zinadoo.”...
iLibrarian, Oct. 23

Windowshop at Amazon.com
Windowshop.com is a new site introduced last week that allows you to virtually browse through the best-selling Amazon.com products in various categories, including books, audiobooks, CDs, DVDs (right), and videogames. You can either use your mouse or the arrow keys (the keyboard works better) to scroll through the content and zoom in and out on product previews in a style reminiscent of how the Cooliris browser plugin works. After you zoom in on an item, a preview plays....
New York Times, Oct. 27

Christian Science Monitor ends print edition
After a century of continuous publication, the Christian Science Monitor will abandon its weekday print edition in favor of an online presence, its publisher announced October 28. The cost-cutting measure makes it the first national newspaper to largely give up on print. The Monitor will move to online only in April. Subscribers will receive an emailed PDF edition on weekdays and a print magazine on the weekend....
New York Times, Oct. 28; Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 28

Cheerios offers books by the bowlful
For the seventh year running, General Mills’ Cheerios brand will make reading a part of kids’ daily nutritional requirements with its “Spoonfuls of Stories” promotion, putting 5 million copies of five new children’s book titles from Simon & Schuster inside cereal boxes. The reading campaign kicked off October 13 and continues the rest of the month. The books include Duck for President, When Dinosaurs Came with Everything, and Monkey and Me....
Promo Magazine, Oct. 14

Reed Elsevier to sweeten its magazine sell-off
Anglo-Dutch media giant Reed Elsevier is willing to sweeten its £1-billion ($1.57 billion U.S.) auction of Reed Business Information—which includes trade publications like Publishers Weekly and Library Journal—by increasing its vendor financing package. The RBI sale is being watched closely as a bellwether for companies’ ability to dispose of assets in the difficult market environment. Sources say Reed Elsevier would like to close the deal before the departure of its chief executive Sir Crispin Davis in March. Three parties are still interested....
The Telegraph (U.K.), Oct. 28; PaidContent, Oct. 27

A web of footnotes
Annalee Newitz writes: “The technological development that’s going to change the way we read isn’t e-books—it’s footnotes. For the past few months, if you really wanted to understand DC Comics’ big crossover series Final Crisis, you basically had to read each issue alongside Eisner-winning critic Douglas Wolk’s blog Final Annotations. Each time a new issue in the series comes out, Wolk goes through page by page, carefully documenting what you need to know. A culture of rampant annotators isn’t exactly what you’d expect from the Web, yet it seems that our newest media have reinvigorated what often seems a lost art.”...
io9, Oct. 25

Library ghosts
George Eberhart writes: “Last year about this time (just in time for Halloween), I posted on the Britannica Blog a list of libraries with ghosts, or at least ones that patrons, staff, or local folklorists associate with paranormal happenings. Now the haunted libraries are back, by popular demand, each entry completely updated and about a dozen new libraries added. I have also included links to the websites of most of the libraries mentioned, as well as links to other relevant information.”...
Britannica Blog, Oct. 27–31

School librarians connect kids with galleys
Sally Lodge writes: “It’s a win-win situation: Publishers get middle-grade and young adult galleys into the hands of middle-school librarians, who share them with students in hopes of fueling their interest in reading. The kids’ enthusiasm for a title then creates in-school, pre-pub buzz about the book that can, in some cases, have a positive effect on sales. It’s a chain reaction that is beneficial to all concerned—and one that appears to be happening with increasing frequency.”...
Publishers Weekly, Oct. 23

How I learned to stop worrying and love librarians
Unshelved cowriter/artist Bill Barnes writes: “Shortly after our strip went live in February 2002 we were discovered by the library community, and overnight (literally) our readership went from 40 to 3,000. Now our readership is up to about 45,000. In those early months library workers probably made up 99% of our readers. By now they’re ‘down’ to maybe 80%. When I want to find new readers for Unshelved I rent a booth at a library conference and hand a sample strip to the first person who walks by.”...
Webcomics, Oct. 24

Boston Public Library: The ultimate search engine
Watertown-based ad agency Allen and Gerritsen is positioning the Boston Public Library system as the ultimate search engine and portraying its librarians as “heroes of information” in a new campaign. The “What do you want to know?” campaign plays up the resources of BPL’s 27 branches and focuses on the human element often absent from internet-based searches. In fact, librarians’ ability to locate and share knowledge is at the crux of the campaign....
Adweek, Oct. 28

Massachusetts library license plates
Library enthusiasts in Massachusetts can now show their support for libraries on their plates. The Central Massachusetts Regional Library System in Shrewsbury is now accepting advance applications (PDF file) for a new specialty license plate. Proceeds will benefit public, academic, special, and school libraries across the state that belong to a Regional Library System. CMRLS must collect at least 3,000 applications each with a $40 check made payable to the Registry of Motor Vehicles before the state will begin production....
Central Massachusetts Regional Library System

Dealing with loss as a library community
Sarah Granville writes: “Two weeks ago, one of the teens that uses my library committed suicide. What are we, as librarians, qualified to do at a time like this? No matter how hard we try not to get attached, it is difficult when working with youth, especially in a smaller community. Here are some things you can do in the wake of tragedy.”...
Alternative Teen Services, Oct. 27

Foster + Partners selected as NYPL architects
International architecture firm Foster + Partners has been selected to create a design to transform the New York Public Library’s building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street into the world’s largest comprehensive library open to the public. The new central library will serve users of all ages and will feature expansive new reading rooms with open-shelf circulating collections....
New York Public Library, Oct. 23

2009 Renaissance Library Calendar
The Renaissance Library calendars have been produced since 2001 by Information Strategy and Information Management, a consulting and publishing firm based in Sollentuna, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. Each month features a photo of a historic library, selected from nominations submitted by librarians and information professionals in nearly 40 countries. The cover of the 2009 calendar shows the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt....
Renaissance Library Collection

The library student bill of rights
Char Booth writes: “The skills that are becoming essential to the increasingly demanding, complex, and collaborative world of librarianship should be better addressed by the education we receive. Systemic reform of the LIS curriculum is critical if libraries are to survive, beginning with aggressive adoption and progressive interpretation of the newly revised 2008 ALA accreditation standards. In order to create a more vibrant and resilient profession, the students of library and information studies programs should be entitled to the following rights.”...
Tame the Web, Oct. 24

Chocolate Friendzy at Allen Public Library
The Friends of the Allen (Tex.) Public Library held a Chocolate Friendzy celebration October 20 during National Friends of Libraries Week to thank their members for supporting the Friends. It was the group’s 25th anniversary, so they held a special demonstration by the Guinness Book of Records holder for strawberry-dipping in chocolate, Collin Gouldin (right). He broke his own record, dipping 54 strawberries in one minute....
Friends of Libraries U.S.A.

Presidential libraries (PDF file)
Katharine Dunn writes: “On April 18, 2006, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Dorchester, Massachusetts, received a package in the mail, a donation from a former member of JFK’s administrative staff who had died the year before. This donation immediately stood out. It was a framed, handwritten poem by the eminent Robert Frost, who had read the poem, Dedication, at JFK’s inauguration in January 1961. The writing, in pencil, reads, ‘To Jack— First thing to be framed for your office. First thing to be hung there. Jackie.’”...
Simmons College GSLIS InfoLink 12, no. 6 (Oct.): 1, 3, 6

The coming college bubble?
Maurna R. Desmond writes: “Home builders and banks aren’t the only ones facing economic headwinds these days. America’s undercapitalized independent colleges are staring at a spiral of major threats to solvency as penny-pinching students and parents consider cheaper options, and funding sources dry up. As a result, they could be the next bubble industry to pop. For many schools, tuition is the lifeblood of their finances. There isn’t much to fall back on.”...
Forbes, Oct. 23

Why academics should blog
Hugh McGuire writes: “I’m taking a Media Theory course at Concordia in their media studies master’s program, which involves a fair bit of reading. I’ve come to the conclusion that all academics should blog. Here’s why.” Reason no. 2: “Some of your ideas are dumb. The sooner you get called out on bad ideas, the better. When you have a good idea, you’ll hear about it; when you have an incomplete idea, and some others chip in with suggestions, you’ll get a better-formed idea.”...
hughmcguire.net, Oct. 26

Librariana on exhibit
Artist and reference librarian Katie Herzog is exhibiting her library-related artwork through November 22 at the Circus Gallery in Los Angeles. Titled “Librariana,” the exhibit is described as “a conceptual investigation of language, painting, and information science.” One piece, Phone Books, is an eight-foot-long depiction of 66 telephone books on a library shelf, made entirely of colored yarn hand-woven into metal lath. The weft thins at the base and the extra yarn is left hanging to the floor, creating a visual metaphor of information and its unraveling....
Circus Gallery

Fly high with a book
Curtis Rogers writes: “Yesterday when I got to the Dubuque (Iowa) Regional Airport I was happy to see the public library’s ‘Fly High with a Book’ program. The Friends of the Carnegie-Stout Public Library donates old books to the airport ‘fly high’ shelf for visitors to take with them and read. What a great project!”...
Libraries & Life, Oct. 19

An alternative view on IFLA, human rights, and social responsibility (PDF file)
The publication of Alex Byrne’s new book on the development of IFLA’s human-rights involvement provided an opportunity for Al Kagan to discuss that history, especially Free Access to Information and Freedom of Expression’s core activity. Kagan evaluates several case studies (South Africa, Turkey, Israel/Palestine, and Cuba) and suggests ways to create a more democratic and effective FAIFE....
IFLA Journal 34, no. 3 (2008): 230–237

Wikipedia and the meaning of truth
Simson L. Garfinkel writes: “Many people, especially academic experts, have argued that Wikipedia’s articles can’t be trusted because they are written and edited by volunteers who have never been vetted. Nevertheless, studies have found that the articles are remarkably accurate. The reason is that Wikipedia’s community of more than 7 million registered users has organically evolved a set of policies and procedures for removing untruths. But how do the Wikipedians decide what’s true and what’s not? On what is their epistemology based?”...
Technology Review, Nov./Dec.

French National Library to add records to WorldCat
OCLC and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France have signed a letter of intent to work cooperatively to add records from the French national library to WorldCat. The letter was signed during the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Québec in August. OCLC anticipates processing an estimated 13.2-million bibliographic records from the French library....
OCLC, Oct. 22

Getting ready for National Gaming Day
Scott Nicholson, professor of information studies at the Syracuse University Library Game Lab, has prepared a tutorial video (18:24) for librarians interested in National Gaming Day, November 15. Hasbro is sending a copy of Pictureka to all public libraries in the United States, and he demonstrates how to play it in this video. He also talks about other board games to consider and video game tournaments for the occasion....
Syracuse University Library Game Lab, Oct. 25

New warriors of literacy
The Oak Park (Ill.) Public Library’s Warrior Librarians performed in the Illinois Library Association’s second annual Library Book Cart Drill Team Competition, September 24, at Navy Pier in Chicago. The performance, synchronized to Richard Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries,” tied for first place in the state. The team has nine members from each of the library’s three branches, including Executive Director Dee Brennan. Watch the video (4:06) ....
Oak Park (Ill.) Oak Leaves, Oct. 28; YouTube, Oct. 5

ALA Midwinter Meeting, Denver, January 23–28. Seeking some extra funds to attend the Midwinter Meeting or Annual Conference? Check out these funding tips.

Table Talk on National Gaming Day. This week’s Salon Huron is on ALA Island on Thursday, October 30, at 3:30 p.m. Second Life Time/Pacific Time. It will be led by Sonja Morgwain. The discussion topic is National Gaming Day and will last approximately one hour.