Library news:

A passionate defence of libraries which, as Tom Roper's blog points out, doesn't quote a single librarian. His full response is here. It's passionate and constructive and why isn't this possible? This is also an interesting piece on the availability of books in libraries. I'm incredibly lucky that Oxford City Library has a great and wide-ranging collection, but I'm aware that this is the exception rather than the rule.

In response to the list of Movers and Shakers in the library world, librarians can now add themselves to the list of Shovers and Makers. I'm currently resisting the urge to add every single blog listed to my RSS feeds.

Florida country is thinking of privatizing their libraries. Um. Okay…

An interesting piece about content control and who should have it. I need to go and read the original blog post linked in this article, but I like the idea that librarians "have the public's back"…

…like this. While I don't things are as problematic as the article suggests, there are interesting questions raised by the DRM on eBook readers that no one seems to be thinking about. Apart from librarians, of course.

Provocations: Leadership in Transformational Times. The presentation isn't complete without the talking, but the slides are cool (ignore the typos) and there's some great ideas and challenges.

I might have posted this before, but it bears repeating: What Google can learn from history. As a Classicist, I'm all about the long view.

Wyoming libraries go for a novel *ahem* form of advertising

Skeletons in the stacks in Vermont. Literally.

Internet access in libraries is a wonderful thing, but this is a very good point about how limited it is.

Oxford University Library Service has found a site for its new repository. This should amaze me, but then it's from Oxford city council, so I guess it shouldn't. Having blocked the original plans (because the size of building needed would 'spoil the skyline' despite being in the middle of an industrial estate), they're now complaining that it's not being built in Oxford. Considering the size of the site that was eventually required, there's simply nowhere in Oxford that it could have been built. Honestly.

Michigan University Press will publish its monographs digitally. E-publishing is now the norm for journals, but I don't think it's been extensively tried with books yet. And while we're on the subject Google is doing interesting things with e-access to books. The copyright issues on this one are so huge that I don't understand most of them, but this one is going to run for a while.

Cook's library in LA closes

Interesting piece about the value attached to research depending on where it's published


Web 2.0:

What happens to Twitter conversations when they're finished? Apparently, no one archives them. In fact, I could have filled this whole entry with links to guides/search engines, but I'm limiting myself to the former and this one: The Tweetbook

Teaching social media in primary schools. This sounds like a horror story, and may well turn into one. Definitely something to keep an eye on.

Defusing traditional arguments against letting go of content. Cute slideshow.

Legal news (libraries and others):

Interesting piece about how privacy law works in the UK including an interview with one of the lawyers generally considered responsible for it.

New Zealand withdraws anti-piracy law, for now.

Free Legal Research Resources Online. US-only, but I wonder if there's a UK equivalent.

And finally:

The cartoonist has a point…