Pulp friction

Internet companies are racing to get books online, but publishers are understandably wary“INFORMATION wants to be free,” according to a celebrated aphorism from the early days of the internet. Yet this ethos has been creating new headaches recently. As search-engine firms and others unveil plans to place books online, publishers fear that the services may end up devouring their business, either by bypassing them or because the initiatives threaten to make their copyrights redundant.  

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MSN Search announces Book Search

MSN is working with the Open Content Alliance to bring millions of publicly available print materials worldwide to the Web.2005 —MSN Search today announced its intention to launch MSN® Book Search, which will support MSN Search’s efforts to help people find exactly what they’re looking for on the Web, including the content from books, academic materials, periodicals and other print resources. MSN Search intends to launch an initial beta of this offering next year. MSN also intends to join the Open Content Alliance (OCA) and work with the organization to scan and digitize publicly available print materials, as well as work with copyright owners to legally scan protected materials.Read the whole article

GOOGLE subpoenaed over porn

GOOGLE has been subpoenaed by the US Justice Department to turn over a database of search terms as part of a government probe of online pornography.Read the article

How do I love thee?

On 14th February 2006, ‘How do I love thee?' Elizabeth Barrett Browning 1806–61, opened at the British Library. This exhibition, drawing on manuscript and printed items, photographs and memorabilia from the British Library and the collection of rarely seen and important material relating to the Brownings and their circle at Eton College, celebrates the bicentenary of her birth on 6th March 1806.

Microsoft - accelerating search in academic research

Live Labs is a partnership between MSN and Microsoft Research (MSR) focused on applied research for Internet-enabled products and services at Microsoft. Live Labs includes people with many different skills and perspectives on internet technologies -- researchers, engineers, developers and designers. Together, they foster Internet-centric research programs, rapidly prototype and launch emerging technologies, incubate entirely new inventions, and improve and accelerate Live product offerings. The Live Labs team will collaborate closely with the academic research communities through research grants, fellowships, workshops, conference sponsorships, sabbaticals, internships, and more. More information on Live Labs is available at http://labs.live.com. This Request for Proposals is in support of Live Labs’ collaboration with the academic research community and is focused on the Internet Search research area.

Law library 2006

The Law Library 2006 Mar. 15, 2006In the rapidly changing legal environment, law librarians find themselves taking on many new roles and responsibilities. At this annual program, law librarians will learn from nationally recognized experts about these new roles, skills and strategies, "best practices" and solutions to issues they confront in their ongoing day-to-day activities.

Little Red Book story doing the rounds of the internet

'Little Red Book' story gets wide publicity
A Standard-Times story about a UMass Dartmouth student who was visited by federal agents for requesting a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's "Little Red Book" has received worldwide attention, thanks to the Internet. The story, which appeared Saturday, discussed a student's claim that he was visited by federal agents after requesting the book through an interlibrary loan. The account was immediately picked up by numerous Web logs and chat rooms, and by Monday had reached a world-wide audience.Article continues

Jewish book week

‘fast-becoming one of Britain’s leading literary festivals’. Jewish Book Week 200625th February – 5th March 2006

Lagardere to buy TimeWarner books

Lagardere to buy Time Warner books for $538 mlnLONDON/PARIS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - French media group Lagardere has agreed to buy Time Warner's  book publishing arm for $537.5 million, fulfilling its long-standing ambition of entering the U.S. book market.  Article continues

Research books its place in the library of the future

In the digital age, cultural institutions face new technical and organisational challenges. They must improve and sometimes radically change how they acquire, store and preserve their collections as well as how they provide access to users. European research is helping them rise to the challenge. European libraries and archives contain a wealth of material representing the richness of Europe's history, and its cultural and linguistic diversity: books, newspapers, films, photographs, and electronic publications such as CDs, databases, scanned papers or multimedia content published on the Web. But the value of libraries in the Internet area lies not only in their own resources but also in their role as gateways enabling access to other collections.Read the whole article

Libraries fear digital lockdown

Libraries fear digital lockdown Libraries have warned that the rise of digital publishing may make it harder or even impossible to access items in their collections in the future. Many publishers put restrictions on how digital books and journals can be used. Such digital rights management (DRM) controls may block some legitimate uses, the British Library has said.

Partnering for the community

“We're glad you're here! If you're a museum, library or public broadcaster, we want to help you work together to address local needs, increase civic engagement and improve the quality of life in your community
On this site you will find resources that will help you to partner effectively with each other and with other organizations in your area – case studies, exercises, tools – as well as information about training events and sources of project funding.”

. Visit the site

Libraries - The Information Society in action

Libraries—The Information Society in ActionThe WSIS pre-conference, Libraries—the Information Society in Action, was held Nov. 10–11 in Alexandria, Egypt (http://www.bibalex.org/wsisalex).
It was organized by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA; http://www.ifla.org) in co-operation with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and was supported by several sponsors. The pre-conference presented some of the best practices from libraries around the world in the areas of health, education and training, media literacy, preserving of cultural heritage, and disaster preparedness. Several hot-button issues emerged during the event. 
 Read the report

Cooee! Aussie books

Get lost in Aussie books
Cooee! website live all year
www.connectqld.org.au/cooeeThe Cooee! family summer reading club 2005/6 was developed by the State Library of Queensland in collaboration with Qld Public Libraries to engage children and young people in the discovery of great Australian books, reading, writing and art activities during the summer holidays.  The program was conducted in public libraries throughout Queensland and via the interactive website www.connectqld.org.au/cooeeThe website will remain online for use in schools as curriculum support.In levels 1, 2, & 3 you can access:
Choose your own adventure stories by Queensland authors Jill Morris, Rebecca Johnson, Anita Bell, Josie Montano and Pat Flynn
What happens next? Continuous stories by Narelle Oliver
Book Reviews
Activity sheets
In the ‘for the whole family’ section you will find: Reading Compass – young readers can match a book to their interests
Transcripts of online chats with Andy Griffiths and Meme McDonald
Pirate Plunge fun interactive game
A-Z: know your library
Celebrity readers
…..and test your own knowledge of Aussie books, play the adult book quiz.

Computers in libraries - delivering library services to the patron's doorstep

By Robert P. Rynkiewicz
By the time this article is published, I will have had yet another pleasant and stress-free holiday shopping experience. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I’ll have avoided the traffic jams and the maddening crowds at the mall in favor of the ease and comfort of shopping at home online. I save time, I can compare prices with just a few clicks of the mouse, and the products I purchase are delivered to my doorstep in a few days. And let’s not forget gift-wrapping either! It’s a wonderful thing that I can shop at thousands of Internet sites that serve millions of visitors 24 hours a day and not have to stand in long lines to purchase gifts. I want my library to be convenient and dynamic like this. I want to deliver services to my library users over the Internet and not require them to visit the physical building.

-->http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/feb06/rynkiewicz.shtml

Library Schools and the copyright knowledge gap

By K. Matthew Dames
Years from now, once librarians gain the benefit of perspective fostered by temporal separation, we will consider 2005 a watershed year. Certainly, epochal change has been discussed for some time, but last year, a series of events ensured that information switched its dominant format from analog to digital.—

http://www.infotoday.com/it/feb06/dames.shtml

High Beam research offers free article search

HighBeam™ Research Expands Premium Content, Makes 1.5 Million Articles Free
CHICAGO – JANUARY 30, 2006 – HighBeam™ Research, Inc. announced today a series of upgrades to its collection of content on the HighBeam Research Engine (www.highbeam.com), offering more than 1.5 million full-text articles to individual researchers for free and adding extensive premium reference and news articles from Knight Ridder, Oxford University Press and The Washington Post.Article continues

Webology

Webology is a scholarly journal in English devoted to the various fields of Library and Information Science and serves as a forum for discussion and experimentation. It serves as a forum for new research in information dissemination and communication processes in general, and in the context of the World Wide Web in particular. Concerns include the production, gathering, recording, processing, storing, representing, sharing, transmitting, retrieving, distribution, and dissemination of information, as well as its social and cultural impacts. There is a strong emphasis on the Web and new information technologies. Special topic issues are also often seen.

2006 National Book Festival

2006 National Book Festival
The Library of Congress Celebrates Creativity The 2006 National Book Festival, organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress and hosted by first lady Laura Bush, will be held on Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., between 7th and 14th streets from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (rain or shine). The festival is free and open to the public.(image placeholder) Learn More

Fourth International Conference on the Book

Book Conference, 2006
Welcome to website of The Fourth International Conference on the Book. To be held at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, USA from Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd October 2006, the conference will address a range of critically important themes relating to the book and its surrounds — including the past, present and future of publishing, libraries, information, literacy and learning in the information society. Main speakers will include some of the world’s leading thinkers and innovators in the areas of publishing, editing, librarianship, printing, authoring and information technologies, as well as numerous paper, colloquium and workshop presentations by researchers and practitioners.

Digital literacies and learning in the information society

Digital literacies and learning in the information society
5th International Conference on eLiteracyLoughborough University,Loughborough, East Midlands, UK 28 - 30 June 2006 eLit2006 is the 5th international conference examining the challenge of eLiteracy. eLit2006 will draw together teachers, educational researchers, policymakers, trainers, librarians, IT support staff, learning technologists, and many others to share experiences and to talk and think through issues such as the embedding of eLiteracy skills in the curriculum to the challenges of creating online education.

Ulysses most valuable book

Joyce tops poll of most valuable books
Ulysses, James Joyce's classic 1922 novel which chronicled the perambulations through the streets of Dublin of its main character, Leopold Bloom, in groundbreaking stream-of-consciousness style, has topped a poll of the most valuable works of fiction of the 20th century.Article continues

Future unsure for libraries facing cutbacks

50 libraries face closure as councils balance books
Dozens of public libraries are threatened with closure as local councils struggle to balance this year's budgets.  Article continues

Osama 'plug' boosts book sales

Osama 'plug' boosts book's sales “Osama Bin Laden has seemingly propelled a book by an obscure historian into the US bestseller list, by endorsing it in an audio message aired on Thursday.”Article continues

Disaster planning

Master of disaster“The beginner’s disaster planning site for libraries, businesses and institutions”

Early New Zealand books project

The Early New Zealand Books Project has been developed by staff at The University of Auckland Library. It aims to provide the keyword-searchable text of significant books published about New Zealand in the nineteenth century. Illustrations and maps in the books have also been digitised, with a higher resolution version available by clicking on the image in the text.  Read more