Can you believe it ? Instead of librarians and/or their library boards selecting/censoring materials that may not be appropriate for their local collections, now TIME, Inc. is doing it for us !!! Maybe it really is time for me to think about retiring - things are changing WAY too fast. The following article will explain what I'm talking about...
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Library Journal
Sports Illustrated Withholds Swimsuit Issue from Libraries, Schools
— March 8, 2007
In an unannounced policy change that already has librarians fuming, Sports Illustrated decided this year to withhold copies of its risque annual swimsuit issue from classrooms and libraries.
In an unannounced policy change that already has librarians fuming, Sports Illustrated (SI) decided this year to withhold copies of its risque annual swimsuit issue from classrooms and libraries. SI spokesman Rick McCabe acknowledged to LJ that publisher TIME, Inc., neither offered to let libraries opt out of receiving the issue nor announced it beforehand. Though reader mail doesn't indicate that the issue is any racier than before, McCabe gave this explanation: "Over the course of time, we've received feedback from some of those institutions saying it wouldn't be an acceptable thing for them to have or to share with their constituents, and the decision was made that this was one way to hopefully alleviate that issue."
Nor was the publisher able to differentiate among academic libraries, public libraries, and school libraries. "It's done as a block," McCabe said. Those institutions that didn't receive an issue can request it either through a toll-free customer-service number or the web site, he said; already some have done so through their serials vendor. While libraries of all types have suffered from the "Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue disappearance syndrome" and thus kept the issue behind the desk, that doesn't mean librarians wanted SI to stop sending it. Writing on the SERIALST electronic discussion list, Lynne Weaver of Randolph-Macon Woman's College reported that her customer service representative told her that the publisher decided it was inappropriate to send to "institutions." She observed, "It seems to me that if one has a subscription to a title, all issues for that subscription period should be sent. It is up to the recipient to decide what to do with the issue once it is received."
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H-m-m. I always wear a different hat at the beginning of my 'Director's Memo' in each month's online issue of WVLS' nwsletter, The Lamplighter. If I had known what TIME, Inc. was up to, maybe I would have worn a swim cap this month... ;->
Friday, March 9, 2007
Thursday, March 8, 2007
DST and other/better dates to celebrate
Are you ready for Daylight Savings Time?The latest crise du jour stems from the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which moves daylight saving time forward by about three weeks to March 11. The result? This time change is likely to throw off computer users’ operating systems and Outlook calendars. Find out how to fix it here....PC Magazine, Mar. 5
(As seen in the 3/7/07 issue of American Libraries Direct)
Microsoft: Daylight Saving Time Help and Support CenterThis guide helps users of computers with Microsoft Windows operating systems make sure that their computers are updated for the new daylight saving time. "Beginning in 2007, daylight saving time (DST) will be extended in the United States. DST will start on March 11, 2007, which is three weeks earlier than usual, and it will end on November 4, 2007." Include sections for home and workplaces users, IT professionals, and PDAs and cell phones.URL: http://support.microsoft.com/dst2007
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/23457 (As seen listed in LII New This Week 3/8/07)
WVLSers are Party Animals
Those who know WVLS well know that we really like to eat. Passersby are often seen gazing through the office window...eyeing the always-interesting array of tasty tidbits on display. If we can find a legitimate reason to mark a day as 'special' for some reason so that we can point to a REAL reason to have treats, so much the better! We've even been known to tailor our dress and treats in appropriate colors for special days. So, yes, we DO like to celebrate.
I just noticed a couple of upcoming notable dates that may be worth celebration - dates we've never recognized in our office before that might well make for interesting clothing and food.
Just next week on Monday, March 12th we could celebrate the beginning of the Girl Scouts. Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia on March 12, 1912 for a local Girl Scout meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars, and studied first aid. Today Girl Scouts of the USA has a membership of nearly four million girls and adults...more than 50 million women in the U.S. today are Girl Scout alumnae...(about 1/2 of the WVLS staff have Girl Scout/Brownie connections...a couple even admit to being 'thrown out' of their troops for......(h-m-m-m, maybe that's fodder for another story, another time). Anyway, we could wear brown or green, dig out our old badge sashes, check to see if we have any frozen Girl Scout cookies to bring to the office, bring in S'mores candy bars, etc.
On Friday, April 6th we could all wear some kind of plaid to work to mark America's National Tartan Day. This day has been officially recognized by the US Senate a a celebration of the contribution generations of Scots-Americans have made to the character and prosperity of the United States. There are over 20 million people who claim Scots descent in the US (I'm one of them through my mother who was a Fulton, a direct descendant of Robert Fulton of steamboat fame). But what to bring for food? Haggis? Porridge? Scotch Whisky (only the Irish and Americans spell this word whiskEy).
Celebrating all kinds of events/milestones in the office every once in a while might seem rather frivolous to some but, to us, it adds a bit of fun, learning, and always, always, good food.
(As seen in the 3/7/07 issue of American Libraries Direct)
Microsoft: Daylight Saving Time Help and Support CenterThis guide helps users of computers with Microsoft Windows operating systems make sure that their computers are updated for the new daylight saving time. "Beginning in 2007, daylight saving time (DST) will be extended in the United States. DST will start on March 11, 2007, which is three weeks earlier than usual, and it will end on November 4, 2007." Include sections for home and workplaces users, IT professionals, and PDAs and cell phones.URL: http://support.microsoft.com/dst2007
LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/23457 (As seen listed in LII New This Week 3/8/07)
WVLSers are Party Animals
Those who know WVLS well know that we really like to eat. Passersby are often seen gazing through the office window...eyeing the always-interesting array of tasty tidbits on display. If we can find a legitimate reason to mark a day as 'special' for some reason so that we can point to a REAL reason to have treats, so much the better! We've even been known to tailor our dress and treats in appropriate colors for special days. So, yes, we DO like to celebrate.
I just noticed a couple of upcoming notable dates that may be worth celebration - dates we've never recognized in our office before that might well make for interesting clothing and food.
Just next week on Monday, March 12th we could celebrate the beginning of the Girl Scouts. Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low assembled 18 girls from Savannah, Georgia on March 12, 1912 for a local Girl Scout meeting. She believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. With the goal of bringing girls out of isolated home environments and into community service and the open air, Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars, and studied first aid. Today Girl Scouts of the USA has a membership of nearly four million girls and adults...more than 50 million women in the U.S. today are Girl Scout alumnae...(about 1/2 of the WVLS staff have Girl Scout/Brownie connections...a couple even admit to being 'thrown out' of their troops for......(h-m-m-m, maybe that's fodder for another story, another time). Anyway, we could wear brown or green, dig out our old badge sashes, check to see if we have any frozen Girl Scout cookies to bring to the office, bring in S'mores candy bars, etc.
On Friday, April 6th we could all wear some kind of plaid to work to mark America's National Tartan Day. This day has been officially recognized by the US Senate a a celebration of the contribution generations of Scots-Americans have made to the character and prosperity of the United States. There are over 20 million people who claim Scots descent in the US (I'm one of them through my mother who was a Fulton, a direct descendant of Robert Fulton of steamboat fame). But what to bring for food? Haggis? Porridge? Scotch Whisky (only the Irish and Americans spell this word whiskEy).
Celebrating all kinds of events/milestones in the office every once in a while might seem rather frivolous to some but, to us, it adds a bit of fun, learning, and always, always, good food.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
BOOKs
BOOKS...
It's a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere--even sitting in an armchair by the fire--yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM.
Here's how it works: each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. By using both sides of each sheet, manufacturers are able to cut costs in half.
Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The book may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward and backward as you wish. Most come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.
Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is the entertainment wave of the future, an many new titles are expected soon, due to the surge in popularity of its programming tool, the Portable Erasable-Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus...
Courtesy of IFLA as seen in the February 2007 INFOcus column of www.LYPonline.com
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Every once in a while I see the above piece and it never fails to amuse me. The first time I saw it was in a library school class taught by Muriel Fuller at the University of Wisconsin School of Library Science back in, I think, 1963 or 1964. Computers were just beginning to be widely used in the military, business and the university and they seemed SO far away from meeting any of our everyday needs. The idea of the BOOK (above) was something we could really grasp and assure ourselves that we were really hip ;-> 'cuz we understood the computer 'connections' in the piece. At any rate, it's another example of 'what goes around comes around'.
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I came across the following piece this past week-end while cleaning out a drawer at home. I cut it out from something I was reading thinking that I would use it somehow as an example of how easy it is for us to jump to conclusions. Since I haven't yet used it, I thought I'd put it here in the blog so that (1) I might be able to find it again and (2) so that someone else might have access to it for some useful purpose.
Why are we there?
Every day there are news reports about more deaths.
Every night on TV, there are photos of death and destruction.
Why are we still there?
We occupied this land that we had to take by force,
but it causes us nothing but trouble.
Why are we still there?
Their government is unstable,
and they have no leadership.
Why are we still there?
Many of their people are uncivilized.
Why are we still there?
There are more than 1000 religious sects
which we don't understand.
Why are we still there?
We can't even secure the borders.
Why are we still there?
They are billions of dollars in debt and it will cost
billions more to rebuild - which we cannot afford.
Why are we still there?
It is becoming very clear
We must abandon California !!!
It's a revolutionary breakthrough in technology: no wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere--even sitting in an armchair by the fire--yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM.
Here's how it works: each BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. By using both sides of each sheet, manufacturers are able to cut costs in half.
Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The book may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward and backward as you wish. Most come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.
Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is the entertainment wave of the future, an many new titles are expected soon, due to the surge in popularity of its programming tool, the Portable Erasable-Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus...
Courtesy of IFLA as seen in the February 2007 INFOcus column of www.LYPonline.com
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Every once in a while I see the above piece and it never fails to amuse me. The first time I saw it was in a library school class taught by Muriel Fuller at the University of Wisconsin School of Library Science back in, I think, 1963 or 1964. Computers were just beginning to be widely used in the military, business and the university and they seemed SO far away from meeting any of our everyday needs. The idea of the BOOK (above) was something we could really grasp and assure ourselves that we were really hip ;-> 'cuz we understood the computer 'connections' in the piece. At any rate, it's another example of 'what goes around comes around'.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I came across the following piece this past week-end while cleaning out a drawer at home. I cut it out from something I was reading thinking that I would use it somehow as an example of how easy it is for us to jump to conclusions. Since I haven't yet used it, I thought I'd put it here in the blog so that (1) I might be able to find it again and (2) so that someone else might have access to it for some useful purpose.
Why are we there?
Every day there are news reports about more deaths.
Every night on TV, there are photos of death and destruction.
Why are we still there?
We occupied this land that we had to take by force,
but it causes us nothing but trouble.
Why are we still there?
Their government is unstable,
and they have no leadership.
Why are we still there?
Many of their people are uncivilized.
Why are we still there?
There are more than 1000 religious sects
which we don't understand.
Why are we still there?
We can't even secure the borders.
Why are we still there?
They are billions of dollars in debt and it will cost
billions more to rebuild - which we cannot afford.
Why are we still there?
It is becoming very clear
We must abandon California !!!
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Got'cha I bet !
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