The Library 101 video debuted today at the Internet Librarian conference.  Created by Michael Porter (a.k.a. Libraryman) and David Lee King, the video is a foot-tapping, library-rocking tour-de-force.  Clear the next eight minutes in your schedule, put on some headphones, and enjoy:

The Library 101 website not only has the video, but also a collection of essays by prominent library supporters, as well as a “101 Resources and Things to Know” page that provides a great overview of just what they are striving to communicate.

To settle any bar bets, as well as disclose a connection:  I am in the video.  I first appear at the 30 second mark (though all you see is my arm and notebook computer), but show up later in full frame.

My using the computer for the “1″ and “0″ was the solution to a problem:  when the call went out for pictures of library people holding sheets of paper containing the magic numbers, I was on vacation in Branson, Missouri.  No printer.  I could probably have found a Kinkos, but it wouldn’t have gone over well with my family because, you see, I was on vacation.  Drawing the numbers might have worked for someone with artistic talent; not for me.

I really like my idea of using the computer… it fits the theme of the video:

So, I hope you watched and enjoyed the video… Michael and David deserve some serious positive feedback for their ideas and efforts.

TinEye is an image search engine with a twist:  you provide it with an image, and it returns a list of websites utilizing that image.

I can quickly think of a few really good uses of this service:

• You have an image that you downloaded sometime in the past, but you don’t remember where you got it.
• You have found an image that would be perfect for a project, but you aren’t sure who the owner is, or what the usage terms might be.
• You are the owner of an image, and want to ensure that it isn’t being mis-appropriated by others.
• You have an image, and want to locate a site with a higher quality or different version of the image.

found via a comment thread in MetaFilter

It’s called the Millennial Disc, and it is being marketed as a 1,000 year storage for digital information.

Before we run out and buy a stack of these for our archives, I would simply ask:

How many years before some aspect of this technology – the 5″ 12cm digital storage disc, the disc formatting, the communication channel between the drive and the computer – becomes obsolete?

This is not meant to be a snarky or rhetorical question.  The Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project has been dealing with those very issues:  extracting an obsolete data format from an obsolete storage media using restored obsolete equipment.  If the team didn’t have a couple of original machines, and a technician who understood how they worked, the images would be incredibly difficult (approaching impossible) to recover.  And this is going back only 43 years.

I used to use CD-ROM, CD-RW, and later the DVD variants, for most of my data exchange.  Now it is cheaper, easier, and faster to simply use a USB flash drive.  I don’t expect the 5″ 12cm disk to be around longer than 5 or 10 years.  Neither should libraries.

Any archival storage should utilize high-quality, durable storage material.  There should be a regular, ongoing evaluation as to when the storage media should be replaced.  Always keep some old equipment (with old software) around to ensure your ability to convert.

found via LISNews

Shorpy is a collection of photographs presented using a blog, but it is an especially captivating collection.  A combination of historical photographs, found images, and personal/family photos, there is rarely an entry that doesn’t hold some interest for the viewer.

I especially like the pictures with an element of mystery… the attempt to gain some context of what is happening or where/when the photograph was taken.

found via Librarians’ Internet Index

FreeLargePhotos.com is a website that matches its name.  It is a collection of photos greater than 4MP that are free for use with attribution, except for selling products or promoting businesses or organizations.

If you are a photographer, note that they are looking for photographic contributions.

Of additional note:  it seems the person behind the site is none other than Roy Tenant.  Good work and a great collection of photographs, Roy!

found via ResourceShelf

Jessamyn posted this link, in an effort to help identify the library.  I wasn’t the first to come up with the correct answer, but it was a treat to scan several pages of Google Images containing library frescos before finding this result.

The Open Library Environment (there will be a post on this project in the near future) recently met at Lehigh University’s Linderman Library in Bethlehem, PA.  Pictures were taken and posted on Flickr.

I especially love the stained glass skylight…

About 2 million images from the LIFE Photo Archive have been digitized and are available via Google Image Search.  What is even better is that, over the next few months, the remaining 8 million images from the collection will be added.  Many of these have never been published, so there ought to be some historically interesting and significant gems in this collection.

You can search the collection by using the above link, or add “source:life” (without the quotes) to your image search query.

via the Official Google Blog

In a brief essay titled Orphan Works:  A Rant, posted on ©ollecanea, Kenny Crews presents an interestingly common example of how a common encounter results in an orphan work.

“…I kindly handed the camera to a total stranger, requesting a photo of the whole gang. The stranger complied, took a picture, and handed that camera back to me. I might own the camera and stored image, but the tourist who just drifted back to Iowa composed the picture and evidently under the law owns the copyright.”

It is extremely unlikely to become an issue for those of us who are on either side of the camera in this situation, but the potential is there.  An absolute stickler for copyright would need to have a release form handy, or limit their use of the photo to that allowed under the fair use section.

Now we understand that these situations reflect a favor without any expectation of payment, but it is interesting that in the current legal environment we would need to recognize these possibilities.  What if it were to turn out that one of the people was (or is about to become) famous, and the photograph is later featured on the cover of a national magazine?  Then the photographer might become interested in the fine points of copyright law.

Go to WorldCat and type in a search.  The results contain books, video, audio, you name it.  One of the more recent additions is the Digital Images Collections, which can be wonderful to view.  How to find them, though?

Type in your search terms, then add cntnt (“Content” without the vowels) as an additional term (which acts as a limit).  Viola!

Try chicago cubs cntnt

Try airplanes cntnt

Try carnegie libraries cntnt

You get the idea…

found via the WorldCat blog

Wired.com has a great set of photographs detailing the process that goes into scanning books for the Internet Archive’s text  project.

The process isn’t what I envisioned… I expected something that would look like it came from the radiology department of your local hospital rather than that relatively normal Canon EOS SLR digital cameras.  Of course, to gain a bit of perspective, one needs to see just how upscale these cameras are

• Canon EOS 1D
• Canon EOS 5D

found via HangingTogether.org

This is one of those stories that just makes one feel sick to your stomach… the Detroit Public Schools simply abandoned a book depository sometime in the mid 1980s.  Twenty years, several fires, and a great deal of weather exposure has reduced the warehouse of books, flashcards and other school resources to mold, mushrooms, and some sad but fascinating pictures:

• Sweet Juniper blog post
• Flickr photoset

found via LISNews