Category Archives: News

New York Times – TimesSelect for free*

Posted on 18 March 2007 by Rick Mason

The New York Times is offering it’s TimesSelect service for free – if you register with an .edu e-mail address. You can register here. from Web4Lib post

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Copyright Chaos

Posted on 18 March 2007 by Rick Mason

Lawrence Lessig has an Op-Ed in today’s New York Times called “Make Way for Copyright Chaos“, which discusses a shift towards the courts when interpreting copyright law. from ©ollectanea

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Library Cryptography

Posted on 15 March 2007 by Rick Mason

Kind of an interesting news story that, in the end, leads to a library-related conclusion. James Randi, the well-known challenger of psychics, has an item placed in a locker, and has offered a million dollars to the person who can … Continue reading →

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Libraries, Religion, and the Supremes???

Posted on 14 March 2007 by Rick Mason

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has declined to revisit the question of church services in library meeting rooms (see my earlier post here), and the case is being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Will it … Continue reading →

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Fair Use Act

Posted on 28 February 2007 by Rick Mason

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has information on their site about HR 1201, a.k.a. The Fair Use Act, currently working its way through the U.S. House of Representatives, that would strengthen the fair use concepts that have been in existence … Continue reading →

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LibLime expands

Posted on 24 February 2007 by Rick Mason

LibLime, the U.S. based support company for the Koha open-source integrated library system (ILS), has acquired Katipo Communication’s Koha division. This is interesting news: not only will LibLime be in a much better position to offer support (it now employs … Continue reading →

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Orphan works remain orphaned

Posted on 25 January 2007 by Rick Mason

I think we are now in a position where a re-examination of copyright law needs to take place. If the current law cannot allow for orphan works to be used through some process (what we have now is a Catch-22), … Continue reading →

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Public Libraries as Economic Benefactor

Posted on 11 January 2007 by Rick Mason

A new report by the Urban Institute, Making Cities Stronger:  Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development (Pdf), details the ways that an active and involved public library benefits local economies. from ResourceShelf

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“It’s never too late to return your books!”

Posted on 7 January 2007 by Rick Mason

You see these news stories every once in a while, but you always have the urge to see Which library When it was due What book was overdue I still expect to find a story about someone returning The Red … Continue reading →

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Congressional Summary of EPA Library Closings

Posted on 6 January 2007 by Rick Mason

Here is a good PDF summary of the background and issues involved with the EPA library closings.  This is likely to be addressed by the new congress, and there will likely by a fair amount of emotion involved when it … Continue reading →

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Wikiasari

Posted on 23 December 2006 by Rick Mason

Take the large number of people who work on Wikipedia and have them evaluate web pages, and what do you get? Wikisauri, a search engine from Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia. The concept will be that the searches that … Continue reading →

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Library Web

Posted on 20 December 2006 by Rick Mason

Library Web is a “rolling” news site that features articles of interest to the library profession. from ResourceShelf

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Ten Library Stories that Shaped 2006

Posted on 16 December 2006 by Rick Mason

Although we still have two weeks left to generate a top ten news story, LISNews has their Ten Stories that Shaped 2006 list compiled. from Web4Lib listserv

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Update on EPA library issue

Posted on 8 December 2006 by Rick Mason

As an update to this post, it seems that the situation with the EPA library is getting worse. Presumably in response to a congressional request to halt the closure of its libraries, the EPA is removing thousands of documents from … Continue reading →

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Iraq Study Group Report

Posted on 7 December 2006 by Rick Mason

The report from the Iraq Study Group is available as a pdf download here.

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The Bibliognost’s Handbook

Posted on 7 December 2006 by Rick Mason

The Bibliognost’s Handbook (pdf) is listed as an essay on the New York Time’s website, but it is a page of brief lists, definitions, and information that are fascinating to review. thanks Jean!

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Dewey the Cat has died

Posted on 2 December 2006 by Rick Mason

Dewey Readmore Books, the mascot cat for the Spencer Public Library in Iowa, died on November 29th. Dewey was many things to many people, and I like the idea of library mascots.  We had a Jack Dempsey Fish in the … Continue reading →

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Crime in Libraries

Posted on 24 November 2006 by Rick Mason

This article, dated a few weeks ago, on a Chicago news radio station’s website makes it sound as though libraries are more dangerous than they are. I suspect that many of the “thousands of files” depicting the crimes were either … Continue reading →

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EPA dumping part of its library…

Posted on 21 November 2006 by Rick Mason

According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the EPA is trashing a significant portion of its library collection. If the article is accurate, then we risk losing a significant amount of environmental information and research. from ResourceShelf

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Opensecrets.org

Posted on 10 October 2006 by Rick Mason

If you have this desire to know what is being spent, and by whom, in this year’s political races, then Opensecrets.org is the site for you. from ResourceShelf

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