Category Archives: Ethics

Five Laws of Library Science (Ebook edition)

Posted on 18 August 2010 by Rick Mason

Andy Woodworth has printed an update of Ranganathan’s Five Laws, only how they relate to Ebooks: Five Laws of Library Science (Ebook edition) Ebooks are for use. Every reader his or her ebook. Every book, any ereader. Save the time … Continue reading →

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Posted in Books, Ethics, History, Libraries | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

OCLC Questions

Posted on 7 August 2010 by Rick Mason

Jonathan Rochkind at Bibliographic Wilderness weighs in on the OCLC issue, and ultimately asks a lot of significant questions that don’t have easy answers. We all need to be asking significant questions, not only of OCLC, SkyRiver, and III, but … Continue reading →

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Posted in Cataloging, Classification, Ethics, Groups, History, ILL, ILS, Libraries, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

OCLC’s Response to Lawsuit

Posted on 5 August 2010 by Rick Mason

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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The Positive No

Posted on 3 August 2010 by Rick Mason

No One Nos : Learning to Say No to Bad Ideas is an article on A List Apart that discusses when and how to address those situations where, for a variety of reasons, your best option is to tell someone … Continue reading →

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One Possible OCLC Solution

Posted on 2 August 2010 by Rick Mason

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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Posted in Cataloging, Ethics, ILS, Libraries, Licensing, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services, OPAC, Open Access, Open Source, Search, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

InfoToday Article on Lawsuit

Posted on 2 August 2010 by Rick Mason

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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Posted in Blogs, Cataloging, Ethics, ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Licensing, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

SkyRiver sues OCLC

Posted on 29 July 2010 by Rick Mason

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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Posted in Cataloging, Ethics, ILL, ILS, Libraries, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How to Respond to Bad Press, continued

Posted on 10 July 2010 by Rick Mason

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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Posted in Ethics, Government, Groups, History, Libraries, News, Online Services | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How to Respond to Bad Press

Posted on 7 July 2010 by Rick Mason

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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Posted in Ethics, Government, Language, Libraries, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Scope of the Illinois Crisis

Posted on 3 July 2010 by Rick Mason

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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Catch-22 Terms of Service

Posted on 8 June 2010 by Rick Mason

Apple pulled a newsreader called Pulse from their App Store yesterday after the New York Times sent a letter saying that the application violated their terms of service. The issue seems to revolve around the fact that Pulse is a … Continue reading →

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Top Ten Customer Service Skills for Library Staff

Posted on 15 December 2009 by Rick Mason

ALA Learning’s Top Ten Customer Service Skills for Library Staff is not only a great review of those habits that can make us more effective when we interact with the public, but are also good reminders of what we can … Continue reading →

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Posted in Ethics, Libraries | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

SSNs @ Your Library?

Posted on 18 November 2009 by Rick Mason

My former place of work (FPOW) used to have Social Security numbers as college ID numbers, which were written on book checkout cards.  About ten years ago, we switched to an ILS and began generating in-house ID numbers for students. … Continue reading →

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Inspirational Library-related StoryCorps

Posted on 2 October 2009 by Rick Mason

This morning I heard one of the most inspirational library-related stories I have encountered.  It was a StoryCorps segment on NPR’s Morning Edition radio program, and I feel that everyone who works in libraries should listen to it, if only … Continue reading →

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Professionalism

Posted on 6 September 2009 by Rick Mason

Circulating Zen posts about dealing with a staffing issue on a holiday weekend. She is faced with a student worker scheduled to cover several shifts (allowing other students to travel home for the holiday weekend) who has come down with … Continue reading →

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Books : A Plan To Scan

Posted on 13 August 2009 by Rick Mason

A very straightforward and readable overview of the issues surrounding Google’s book scanning project appeared in yesterdays Financial Times :  Books : A plan to scan. A prime focus of the analysis is the Orphan Works issue, books that fall … Continue reading →

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Posted in Books, Copyright, Ethics, Fair Use, Google, Libraries, Library 2.0, Licensing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Copyfraud – Poisoning the Public Domain

Posted on 16 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Copyfraud : Poisoning the Public Domain is an introduction to some of the ways that content providers (websites, publishers, etc.) abuse copyright protections when they use public domain materials.  A couple of minor points, however: The act of assigning a … Continue reading →

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Posted in Archival, Books, Copyright, Ethics, Google, History, Licensing, Online Services, Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

OCLC Withdraws Records Policy

Posted on 29 June 2009 by Rick Mason

The Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship has released their final report on OCLC’s proposed policy for use of records (pdf), and after reviewing the report, OCLC has formally withdrawn the policy. This conclusion to the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Books, Cataloging, Copyright, Ethics, Fair Use, Groups, Libraries, Library 2.0, Licensing, News, OCLC | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

More Elsevier Questions

Posted on 7 May 2009 by Rick Mason

Was the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine incident an isolated case, or is it the first of several Elsevier journals that only appear to be legit? Michael Hansen, CEO Of Elsevier’s Health Sciences Division, issued a statement today … Continue reading →

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Posted in Conferences, Ethics, Medical, Periodicals, Publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Merck, Elsevier, and Ethics

Posted on 6 May 2009 by Rick Mason

Ever hear of the Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine?  Sounds official, as well as medically specific.  Did you know it was published by Elsevier?  That is is Peer Reviewed?  And that it published an article on the effectiveness … Continue reading →

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