Author: Dan

I posted this CNN story to LISNews a few minutes ago, I thought I would add my own comments here.

It seems that West Virginia Wesleyan College had a good idea but bad implementation. The shotgun approach of throw tech everywhere and see where it sticks, is a huge waste of money. But there were a few places where technology stuck and worked well.

“But if Wesleyan’s experiment was a failure, how to explain the library? Parker, the school librarian, says ubiquitous computing has brought it to life.

Students consult the online Oxford English Dictionary 20 times more often than they once checked the print version. Wesleyan is part of a consortium of small colleges that buys online chemistry journals, but use here exceeds that at all the other colleges in the group combined. Even traditional books get used more; students have a betters sense of what’s in the library.”

Now just imagine if they had put even more money into the library. A library that doesn’t have a strong technology component is a dying breed. By using technology wisely, the entire library can benefit and thrive.

As a side note I’ve gone back to using w.bloggar, Sharp MT just wasn’t as good.

Just in case you wanted to know, here is how manuscripts were illuminated.

From this article I found out that libraries and librarians have three patron saints; Catherine of Alexandria, Jerome, and Lawrence.

I’ve been following the saga of the proposed new library, but it’s been a while since I wrote about it. Back in March a new library seemed certain. But by the end of last month, the library was in limbo. The proposed site was shifting, and even how to pay for was in question.

These are questions no longer. At a Knox County commission meeting Monday, August 23rd, the new library idea lost steam and died. The new library’s death is being blamed on a lack of leadership and salesmanship by County Mayor Mike Ragsdale.

An editorial August 25th in the Knoxville News Sentinel has a great quote.

“Even in an age of instant Internet access and e-mail, a public library is more than an ornament; it is central to an enlightened existence.”

Wired is reporting that the American Library Association will be providing educational materials for school libraries to teach students about copyright. The idea is to provide balance to the hardline copyright stance of the Business Software Alliance, the Motion Picture Association of America, and others, to the detriment of fair use.

Always lively discussion can be found at Slashdot.

Kurt Vonnegut recently voiced his support of librarians, not specifically for this, but for defense of democratic ideals in general.

But lest we think librarians are always paragons of virtue, River of Data has a listing of “interesting” depictions of librarians.