Some of the general principles:

• The Public Domain is the rule, copyright protection is the exception.
• Copyright protection should last only as long as necessary to achieve a reasonable compromise between protecting and rewarding the author for his intellectual labour and safeguarding the public interest in the dissemination of culture and knowledge.
• What is in the Public Domain must remain in the Public Domain.
• The lawful user of a digital copy of a Public Domain work should be free to (re-)use, copy and modify such work.
• Contracts or technical protection measures that restrict access to and re-use of Public Domain works must not be enforced.

I recommend that you review the manifesto, and if you agree with it, show your support by signing it.

found via Open Source Initiative

There is a wide range of material available, and it is great to see them open to everyone, with the only requirement being the iTunes software.

Launch the site within your installed iTunes, and see a model for what other states, educational institutions, and libraries can do with their media content.

discovered via the OhioLINK Digital Resources Management Committee (Drmc) list

PLOS Currents : Influenza is built utilizing Google Knol and a new service from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) called Rapid Research Notes.  This service allows the user an easy way to follow current research and search for relevant scientific information.

As we approach influenza season, expect greater levels of concern and interest in H1N1.

found via the Official Google Blog

RECAP (which is PACER spelled backwards) is a new, open source Firefox extension which appears to follow all the rules:  you access documents through PACER, paying all assessed fees, and you get your docuements.  RECAP, however adds two elements to the mix:

1. RECAP automatically uploads any document that is accessed by users of the extension to a public repository hosted by the Internet Archive.
2. RECAP will alert the user when a document they wish to access is available through the public repository.

On the surface, it may appear that people are conducting an end-run against the court’s system for providing documents.  However, a broader view strongly suggests that these documents are public, and that the PACER system is actually an exception in the realm of access to public records.

The Executive and Legislative branches of the federal government provide documents free to the user; this is an attempt to make the workings and decisions of the judiciary as public as the other branches.  RECAP is a fully legal means to provide information in a way that is the spirit of the law.

Further reading:

• The Case Against PACER
• Firefox Extension Liberates US Court Docs from Paywall
• Use RECAP to Bypass Court Document Paywall

From the NASA Educator Resource Center Network web site:

• NASA Educator Resource Centers provide services to those in the education community including teachers, scout leaders, public and private schools, homeschoolers, museums, planetariums, colleges and universities, and other education-related groups.

• It helps to be precise about your interests and requests, so have a topic and grade level in mind when you call. ERCs have limited amounts of materials available.

• NASA educational resources fall under categories such as Earth Science, Space Science, Living and Working in Space, Aeronautics, Aerospace, and topics related to Mathematics, Science, Technology, and Geography. Materials are designed to supplement K-University curriculum. Complete curriculum guides are not available from NASA.

I had the opportunity to visit the Educator Resource Center at the Kennedy Space Center a few years ago.  They were helpful, enthusiastic, informative, and had loads of reference material.  It reminded me of what a good library should strive for!

found via the NASA Do-It-Yourself Podcast blog

This is still not a good situation, but libraries are still better off than many other state services.

It didn’t have to be this way.  The budget process was confrontational, and most people have a bad taste in their mouth.  Most of this was due to the inflexibility and charged rhetoric coming from the Governor.  I suspect that we will revisit this episode during next year’s election, and that Ted Strickland will not be viewed favorably as a result of his words and actions.

Because I feel strongly that criticism should be joined with the responsibility of offering one’s own solutions, I feel that the option of a temporary sales tax increase (not affecting food or drug purchases) would have provided a reliable cash flow without negatively impacting those least able to cope.  This was never even included as a possibility by the Governor, perhaps because of next year’s election, and we have a controversial gambling plan plus drastic cuts in libraries and social services as a result.

Ohio residents:  is your voter registration current?  If not, make it so, and remember everyone’s words and actions when you make your choices next year.

some sources found via SaveOhioLibraries

As for libraries, which, in Strickland’s original budget framework were slated for a 30 percent cut in state assistance, the governor said that librarians across the state might consider a pay cut.

“Other leaders have taken a pay cut,” he said. “I’ve taken a pay cut.”

If this were a debate over a 5% or 10% overall cut in library funding, then yes, the option of cutting salaries could make a difference for libraries providing services.  We aren’t facing that level, however.  If all public library librarians were to forgo their entire salaries, it still wouldn’t prevent the closure of many libraries and the gutting of services at most of the rest.

This suggestion is the equivalent of suggesting that by clipping coupons and buying store brand items, an unemployed family could avoid foreclosure.  It just doesn’t make sense.

The Ohio budget mess has become entangled in a mass of politics.  Politicians all seem to have a position; nobody seems to have a solution.  A valid and fair solution is going to hurt, but it needs to be found (and quickly).

from Save Ohio Libraries

Note (added 9 July 2009): As this post was quoted by American Libraries yesterday, I thought it best to reiterate that, as is stated in the About section, this blog is not affiliated with my current place of employment.  I am responsible for the opinions expressed in the posts, as well as the topics discussed.  I do not feel that I was either misquoted or misattributed, but that it could be misinterpreted.

Sample Page from Von Braun's Notes

At first glance, this is something that would be solved by using library tools and software.  However, the list of potential ways to set this up seems to illustrate the gaps in library technology (all points are mine):

• Users should be able to see the notes as they exist.
• The text in the notes, as well as all labels and notations, should be fully keyword searchable.
• All elements of the notes, including text, formulas, diagrams, etc. should be able to be targeted and described in a way that allows for keyword searching.  This includes “tagging”, but also commentary, description and critique.
• Users should be able to define relationships (create links) between ideas within the notes, as well as documents and other resources from other collections.  For instance, someone seeking information on the Saturn V Engine Bell should find all drawings, notes, diagrams, and formulas within the notes, as well as outside resources relating to all of these.

This project begs for a combination of a traditional database (for storing and searching text) with the added functionality provided by social software products.  Nothing in the list is beyond the current means of technology… think  of a wiki combined with flickr-type functionality that can utilize PDF documents and you have a good starting point.

Why hasn’t this been done?  How many libraries and archives have document sets like this that could become a researcher’s favorite collection, with the right application of technology?  Have any been digitized with a social annotation feature?

Why do I suspect that the development of this will come from outside the library community?  We should already have projects that utilize this kind of mash-up philosophy… our collections could be so much more powerful.

There are some great things being done in the library technology realm, and many people and projects that are worth praising.  But now and then I see something like this and wonder how we missed this obvious application of existing technologies.

found via ResourceShelf and Wired Science

Strickland’s office was also flooded with phone calls; gubernatorial spokesperson Amanda Wurst said in the June 23 Toledo Blade that “there were 1,356 calls through our switchboard, 80% of which were regarding library funding.” On a normal day, the office receives 150 calls, she added.

On another front, Save Ohio Libraries has created a Flyer for tomorrow’s Statehouse rally in Columbus (Pdf):

Save Ohio Libraries Rally Flyer

Save Ohio Libraries is the rallying cry as well as the focus of this week’s activities.

The Save Ohio Libraries Facebook page is rapidly approaching 12,000 members (and has gone from 11,543 to 11,768 as I have written this post).  If you are a FB member, add to that number.  Also, become a fan of Governor Ted Strickland and post a message on his board.  As events around the world in recent months have shown, social networking has an impact, and one of the ways to have an impact is a large group of people all taking a step in the same direction.

Rallies are being planned in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Centerville, London, Portsmouth, and (just organized tonight) Columbus.  If you can add a few bodies to the gatherings, do so!

One additional thought to add to this:  this is growing beyond Ohio.  There are many people from other states who are watching this with concern and support.  The success or failure of these efforts (both the efforts to drastically reduce library funding to help balance the state’s budget, as well as our efforts to preserve library services) will make it easier/harder for other states to do the same.  Broadcasting the understanding that cutting library services only hurts recovery efforts by the states will not only benefit libraries across the country, but will also benefit the overall economy.

Make yourself heard!