Category Archives: News

Are Library Books on Borrowed Time?

Posted on 21 February 2013 by Rick Mason

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 →

Posted in Books, Libraries, News, Online Services | Leave a comment

Inventor of the Bar Code Dies

Posted on 14 December 2012 by Rick Mason

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.

Posted in Books, Death, History, Libraries, News | Comments Off

More Master’s Degree News

Posted on 11 June 2012 by Rick Mason

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

Posted in Education, Libraries, News | Comments Off

Google Books Unsettled

Posted on 22 March 2011 by Rick Mason

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 →

Posted in Books, Copyright, Government, News, Publishing | Tagged Copyright, copyright law, Denny Chin, Fair Use, Google Book Search, Google Inc., Orphan works | Comments Off

Library Staff Using Online Tools

Posted on 11 August 2010 by Rick Mason

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 →

Posted in Blogs, Education, Libraries, News, Online Services, Software, Training | Tagged Blogs, Libraries, Library, Listservs, Online Courses, Online social networking, online tools, rural, technology differences, Technology/Internet, urban | 1 Comment

Chickens in the Library

Posted on 6 August 2010 by Rick Mason

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 →

Posted in Cataloging, Classification, Humor, Libraries, News | Tagged Chicken, Disaster/Accident, Humor, Libraries, News | 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 →

Posted in Ethics, Libraries, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services | Tagged III, Innovative Interfaces Inc, Jay Jordan, Larry Alford, Library automation, OCLC, OCLC Board of Trustees, Online Computer Library Center, SkyRiver, SkyRiver Technology Solutions | Comments Off

Unicorn Validator

Posted on 5 August 2010 by Rick Mason

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 →

Posted in Library 2.0, News, Online Services, Web Design | Tagged Cascading Style Sheets, html, Markup languages, Technology/Internet, Validator, W3C Markup Validation Service, Web Design, web standards, World Wide Web, World Wide Web Consortium, XML | 1 Comment

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 →

Posted in Cataloging, Ethics, ILS, Libraries, Licensing, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services, OPAC, Open Access, Open Source, Search, Software | Tagged bibliographic services, CONTENTdm, creative commons, ILS, Libraries, Library, Library automation, Library catalog, LibraryThing, News, OCLC, Online Computer Library Center, OpenLibrary, search tools, SkyRiver Communications Inc, Technology/Internet, Web Scale Managment Services, Worldcat | 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 →

Posted in Blogs, Cataloging, Ethics, ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Licensing, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services, Software | Tagged Blog, Edward M. Corrado, Ethics, III, Libraries, OCLC, SkyRiver, Software, technology | Comments Off

Guide to the SkyRiver vs. OCLC Lawsuit

Posted on 1 August 2010 by Rick Mason

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

Posted in Cataloging, Groups, ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Licensing, News, OCLC, Online Services, OPAC | Tagged Lawsuit, Libraries, LibraryTechnology.org, Marshall Breeding, OCLC, SkyRiver | 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 →

Posted in Cataloging, Ethics, ILL, ILS, Libraries, News, OCLC, Online Databases, Online Services | Tagged III, Innovative Interfaces Inc, Jerry Kline, Libraries, Library, Library Journal, OCLC, Online Computer Library Center, SkyRiver, SkyRiver Communications Inc, Twitter Inc | 3 Comments

How the Digital Revolution Changed Our World

Posted on 24 July 2010 by Rick Mason

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 →

Posted in Blogs, Books, Google, Government, History, News, Periodicals, Publishing, Statistics, WebSearch | Tagged Blogs, Books, Google, History, News, Newsweek, Publishing, Statistics | Comments Off

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 →

Posted in Ethics, Government, Groups, History, Libraries, News, Online Services | Tagged Anna Davlantes, Anthony Bourdain, Author, California State Library, Chicago, Chicago Public Library, city services, Commissioner, DC, Digital media, e-book, Education, English as a second language, Google Books Library Project, Harold Washington Library Center, hour Internet sessions, Illinois, job search assistance, journalist, librarian, Library, Library and information science, Library Board, Library Board of Directors, MacArthur Foundation, marketing, Mary A. Dempsey, online information, online research collections, pdf, Public Library, School library, Science, Talking Book Center, the Ravinia Music Festival, USD, Walter Cronkite, Washington, WFLD | 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 →

Posted in Ethics, Government, Language, Libraries, News | Tagged Chicago, Chicago Public Library, Commissioner, Cook County Illinois, DuPage County Illinois, Geography of Illinois, Geography of the United States, Illinois, Mary A. Dempsey, media organization, reporter, USD | 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 →

Posted in Ethics, Government, Libraries, News, Politics | Tagged Business/Finance, Comptroller, Daniel Hynes, Government of Illinois, Illinois, Illinois Comptroller, library systems, The New York Times, The New York Times Co, Triage, United States | Comments Off

Upgrade

Posted on 17 June 2010 by Rick Mason

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 →

Posted in Blogs, Books, Libraries, Library 2.0, News, Open Source, Software, Web Design | Tagged blog software, Computing, Content management systems, Digital media, html, Human Interest, PHP programming language, Technology/Internet, WordPress, World Wide Web | Comments Off

Tragic Death

Posted on 15 June 2010 by Rick Mason

It has been a long time since I worked there, and I highly doubt that I would recognize or be recognized by anyone currently on staff, but the news of the tragic death of a librarian from the Brookfield Public … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, Libraries, News | Tagged Brookfield Public Library, Condolences, Death, librarian, News | Comments Off

Library of the Year

Posted on 7 June 2010 by Rick Mason

The Columbus Metropolitan Library System was named 2010 Library of the Year by Library Journal. Hoo-Rah! (And given budget realities, I bet directors were nervous to be called into a surprise meeting this morning!)

Posted in Libraries, News | Tagged awards, Columbus Metropolitan Library, Library Journal, Library of the Year, News | Comments Off

I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a library today…

Posted on 13 May 2010 by Rick Mason

Another method of dealing with fiscal woes is beginning to impact library organizations. My former state of residence, Illinois, has always for years run several months behind in payments to state-funded organizations. I know this from keeping an eye on … Continue reading →