Category Archives: News

The Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity

The ALA Council has approved a new award, The Lemony Snicket Prize for Noble Librarians Faced With Adversity, to be awarded annually to a librarian who “has faced adversity with integrity and dignity intact.” It will be interesting to see … Continue reading

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healthcare.gov likes Opera

Even though I am not currently working in the library field (and am not following library-related news as closely), I have been following the implementation and rollout of the Affordable Care Act somewhat closely. I think libraries have an important … Continue reading

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Libraries and the Affordable Care Act

Some interesting news will be announced at the American Library Association (ALA) conference in Chicago:  the ALA will be coordinating an effort to have libraries nationwide assist people who will be signing up for insurance beginning October 1st under the … Continue reading

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Are Library Books on Borrowed Time?

Are Library Books on Borrowed Time? is a short article in Financial Times that covers what many in libraries have recognized for some time:  we are in the midst of a transition between paper books and some combination of e-books … Continue reading

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Inventor of the Bar Code Dies

The media coverage, rightly so, emphasizes the tremendous impact that N. Joseph Woodland’s creation had on retail sales and inventory.  Library folk should take a moment and reflect on how much this one technological achievement as affected our work.

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More Master’s Degree News

Guess which field made Forbes #1 Worst Master’s Degree in terms of mid-career pay and job availability…

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Google Books Unsettled

The Google Books Settlement was tossed out by U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, arguing that it gave too much power to Google in allowing the company “significant rights to exploit entire books.” The major problem appears to be the issue … Continue reading

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Library Staff Using Online Tools

WebJunction has posted the survey results for online tool usage by library staff, and a few of the results might surprise: The online tool that has had at least some use by the highest percentage of staff is Online Courses, … Continue reading

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Chickens in the Library

So, what would you do if live chickens were released in your library?  Is this covered in your organization’s disaster plan? If you need to examine another library’s response, review this Shelf Check comic for the following procedure: Alert the … Continue reading

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OCLC’s Response to Lawsuit

Just received via OCLC Member Update e-mail: The following statement is from Larry Alford, Chair, OCLC Board of Trustees, and Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO: “On July 29, SkyRiver Technology Solutions and Innovative Interfaces, Inc. filed suit against OCLC, … Continue reading

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Unicorn Validator

Unicorn, W3C’s unified validation service, is live. As someone who has found the W3C html, css and feed validators to be valuable tools in web design, the merging of the three tools into one interface is a terrific step.  With … Continue reading

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One Possible OCLC Solution

I am going to be very presumptuous and put forth a possible solution to the OCLC situation. Ready? Divide OCLC in two. One entity, which we will call OCLC.org (just to keep from having to make up some name for … Continue reading

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InfoToday Article on Lawsuit

InfoToday has posted a very good overview of the SkyRiver/III/OCLC suit on their website, written by Edward M. Corrado, who also blogs at http://blog.ecorrado.us (I have quoted him on this blog several times, and follow his posts closely). My post … Continue reading

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Guide to the SkyRiver vs. OCLC Lawsuit

Marshall Breeding at LibraryTechnology.org has gathered together resources and information regarding the lawsuit filed by SkyRiver against OCLC: Guide to the SkyRiver vs. OCLC Lawsuit

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SkyRiver sues OCLC

SkyRiver, the new bibliographic records company created by Innovative Interfaces, Inc. (III) owner Jerry Kline, has filed suit against OCLC, alleging that they are “unlawfully monopolizing the markets for cataloging services, interlibrary lending, and bibliographic data.” SkyRiver has been joined … Continue reading

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How the Digital Revolution Changed Our World

An visual chart in the current Newsweek sums up many of the changes we have seen over the past decade: Exactly How Much Are The Times A-Changin’? The categories that are in decline speak volumes: The US Postal Service is … Continue reading

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How to Respond to Bad Press, continued

In a post a few days ago I referred to a letter written by Mary A. Dempsey, Commissioner for the Chicago Public Library, as a response to a Fox Chicago News story that asked Are Libraries Necessary, or a Waste … Continue reading

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How to Respond to Bad Press

Mary A. Dempsey, Commissioner for the Chicago Public Library, responded exceptionally well to a story on Fox Chicago News that suggested that the $120 million spent on the library was a waste, given the amount of information on the internet … Continue reading

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The Scope of the Illinois Crisis

The New York Times is running an article in today’s edition that highlights just how poorly the state budget in Illinois has been managed: Payback Time : Illinois Stops Paying Its Bills, but Can’t Stop Digging Hole The article doesn’t … Continue reading

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Upgrade

Libology has upgraded to WordPress 3.0, which is a significant jump ahead in standards and features.  One of the most interesting, for me, will be support for HTML 5. I have also switched to the Twenty-Ten theme, as it is … Continue reading

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