Monthly Archives: July 2009

If you were thinking about buying a magazine or two…

Posted on 31 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Publishers Weekly is reporting that not only are they up for sale by their publisher, Reed Business Information, but that Library Journal and School Library Journal are available as well. Without knowing the cost/profit information for each of these, I … Continue reading →

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OLC Cancels Conference

Posted on 24 July 2009 by Rick Mason

The Ohio Library Council has announced that they are canceling their annual conference due to low expectations of attendance.  The organization surveyed library directors throughout Ohio and determined that most libraries simply don’t have the funds to participate. Is this … Continue reading →

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The State of Open-Source Library Software

Posted on 22 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Brett Bonfield has a great post, actually more of a long essay or article, on open source library software projects.  W-E-B-S-I-T-E, Find Out What It Means To Me (great title, but certainly more limited than the post’s topic) covers a … Continue reading →

Posted in ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, OPAC, Open Source, Software | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Millennial Disc

Posted on 19 July 2009 by Rick Mason

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 … Continue reading →

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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 →

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

Ohio Gets A Budget

Posted on 14 July 2009 by Rick Mason

The deal has finally been closed, and the state of Ohio has a new two-year budget.  The proposed cuts to libraries were scaled back by two-thirds, to about 11%.  All told, library funding is expected to drop between 25-30% from … Continue reading →

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Sugar for Your Computers

Posted on 12 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Sugar is the desktop environment developed for the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) program, and it is now available as an open-source download through the Sugar Labs project.  This could be a fantastic way to keep older computers useful and … Continue reading →

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Talon

Posted on 9 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Talon is a Firefox add-on that enhances the way you can grab images from your web browser.  The neatest aspect of this is the ability to create an image that contains the entire web page you are viewing.  The benefits … Continue reading →

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Choosing and Choices – Librarianship and Serials

Posted on 8 July 2009 by Rick Mason

A Look at Librarianship through the Lens of an Academic Library Serials Review is a post from In the Library with a Lead Pipe.  It is not only a great examination of the options available, with their assorted benefits and … Continue reading →

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Inclusion, Relationship and Commitment

Posted on 7 July 2009 by Rick Mason

The Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian has a short “rant” about what libraries need and don’t need, and it is very much worth reading. He urges us to “Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero – ‘seize the day and place no … Continue reading →

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Open Web Tools Directory

Posted on 7 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Mozilla’s Open Web Tools Directory is a site designed to quickly connect the user with a variety of online tools for a variety of projects.  The categories include Design tools, Coding tools, Debuggers, and more.  Many of the projects listed … Continue reading →

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Trends in the WebSphere

Posted on 6 July 2009 by Rick Mason

A couple of news items that signal trends in the way the web will evolve: Internet Explorer has lost a significant amount of market share recently. This is good news in a couple of ways.  First, it signals growing diversity … Continue reading →

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Strickland Gets Strict

Posted on 6 July 2009 by Rick Mason

Last Saturday, Governor Ted Strickland suggested that Ohio Librarians ought to take a pay cut rather than be critical of his budget proposal: As for libraries, which, in Strickland’s original budget framework were slated for a 30 percent cut in … Continue reading →

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Awful Library Books

Posted on 6 July 2009 by Rick Mason

You know it, even if you don’t admit it… your library has books that should have been weeded years ago, but have hung around until they become anachronistically funny.  To give you an anonymous outlet for this outlandish situation, there … Continue reading →

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Open Source Survey

Posted on 6 July 2009 by Rick Mason

If you have a few minutes, answer a few questions for Nicole Engard, the Open Source Evangelist for Liblime (how’s that for a job title?).  She is conducting an online survey because, in her words: “I am working on some … Continue reading →

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World eBook Fair

Posted on 1 July 2009 by Rick Mason

The World eBook Fair begins this Saturday, July 4th, coinciding with Project Gutenberg‘s 39th anniversary. To celebrate, the World eBook Fair members are providing free access to over two million books between July 4th and August 4th. found via ResourceShelf

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NASA Needs A Library Solution (But So Do Libraries)

Posted on 1 July 2009 by Rick Mason

In a merging of two of my great interests, NASA has issued a Request For Information (ROI) on how best to “analyze and catalog notes from spaceflight pioneer Wernher von Braun into an electronic, searchable database or other system.“ At … Continue reading →

Posted in Archival, Classification, Government, History, Libraries, Library 2.0, News, Online Databases, Software, Space, Web Design, Wiki | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment