Where's the news? 

Sorry for the lack of activity over the last week. Your webmaster has been on the road and offline. But, I'm back and regular postings begin again today.

E-Books, Shmee-Books 

AOL Retreats From Big Push for E-Books

In the latest setback to the once- promising future of electronic books, the books division of AOL Time Warner (news/quote) said yesterday that it was cutting back its expensive line of digital books and laying off almost all 29 employees, citing a slump in sales of all books and especially digital ones.

"Perhaps Mr. Gutenberg has the last laugh here," said Laurence Kirshbaum, chairman of the books division. He said the remaining electronic book publishing would be consolidated with the company's Warner Books and Little, Brown units. [read more]

It's a Hoax 

Hey, did you hear that the US Postal Service is going to start charging for email?

Hoax Warnings

A hoax message is in circulation that appeals to people to oppose Bill 602P that is reportedly aimed to charge 5 cents from each e-mail a person sends. [read more]

A New Book 

From Yale Universtiy Press, Paper Before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the islamic World by Jonathan M. Bloom

Jonathan Bloom traces the earliest history of paperãhow it was invented in China over 2,000 years ago, how it entered the Islamic lands of West Asia and North Africa, and how it spread to northern Europe. He explores the impact of paper on the development of writing, books, mathematics, music, art, architecture, and even cooking. And he discusses why Europe was so quick to adopt paper from the Islamic lands and why the Islamic lands were so slow to accept printing in return. Together the beautifully written text and delightful illustrations (of papermaking techniques and the many uses to which paper was put) give new luster and importance to a now-humble material. [read more]

More NetLibrary News 

NetLibrary sale plans move forward by Erika Stutzman

Struggling Boulder firm netLibrary's sale through bankruptcy court took two major strides forward Monday when a judge approved a loan to keep the firm going and granted its sales procedure.

The approved motions are important to netLibrary. Its chief executive testified Monday to the urgency of a quick sale.

Robert Kaufman, netLibrary's president and CEO, stressed that the proposed $10 million sale to OCLC Online Computer Library Center is urgent. He said the sale, which netLibrary hopes will close on Jan. 15, will boost netLibrary's sales, which have dropped significantly since it went up for sale and filed for Chapter 11 protection. [read more]

Living in the Virtual World? 

The Virtual Library Past, Present and Future by Holly M. Riccio

When I first began researching the topic of the virtual library, I went to Google and did a search on just that, "virtual library."ÝAfter sifting through the numerous hits for actual virtual libraries, most of which were created and maintained by academic institutions, governments and nonprofit organizations, I stumbled upon a discussion from the Archive of the Law-Lib Electronic Discussion List that was exactly what I had been hoping to find. The opinions and ideas that were expressed in these posts were very true and relevant to what I was researching. There were comments about the issue of price versus immediate access, the problems caused by contract and licensing variations amongst vendors, and the issue of whether or not to charge clients for virtual library resources. A quote from one person's post seemed to sum it all up - "We, as librarians, are going to have to live in both [the print and the digital world] for some time." [read more]

Digital Library How-To 

The Digital Library Tool Kit by Dr. Peter Noerr

This document is designed to help those who are contemplating setting up a digital library. Whether this is a first time computerization effort or an extension of an existing library's services, there are questions to be answered, decisions to be made, and work to be done. This document covers all those stages and more.

You can request a hard copy or download the pdf.

Creating a Digital Preservation How-To 

Long-term Retention of Digital Research Materials

Libraries, archives, and museums face a unique set of challenges in preserving their digital collections. The range of standards, policies, and practice guidelines to be created demands significant energy and creativity to move toward multi-institution consensus and solutions. The Research Libraries Group's long-term retention initiative will develop a digital archiving model, fine-tuned for preserving RLG members' collections.

Selection, deposit, storage, maintenance, and access components of the archiving model will be examined and best practice guidelines created. Where such guidelines must evolve while the knowledge base expands, they will be identified and begun. Task groups and consultations will expand the range of what is known, and that knowledge will be consolidated in Web-based tools to provide guidance worldwide. [more]

Press and Archive Looking for Home 

Back in my days running BookLab, I had the opportunity on several occasions to bind small editions of books for Cheap Street Press. Jan O'Nale, the proprietor was a tough and demanding customer, but I believe she was always happy with BookLab's work. It was a privilege to work for her, projects from demanding customer were always the most rewarding.

I got an email from Jan the other day, from which I quote, in part:

"We are retiring the Press after our current project and trying to find a home for the archives--even the Press equipment, type, and so on. We posted a notice with the librarian's "Ex Libris" and did get some response, but not as much as we'd hoped. Any chance you could suggest other places to make the announcement and ask for interest?

Please contact Jan O'Nale (btypress@earthlink.net) if you are interested or can give her a lead.

Thanks,
Craig Jensen, AcmeBook Webmaster.

OCLC announces ALA Midwinter pre-conference 

Knowledge Access Management Tools and Concepts for Next-Generation Catalogers

Descriptions This 1 day pre-conference seminar provides a practical understanding of cataloging Internet resources through examining key USMARC fields and AACR2 rules. An introduction to metadata, focusing on the Dublin Core and other alternative description methods, including TEI, EAD and GILS. A guided lab provides an opportunity to interact with leading-edge concepts and systems such as automated classification and metadata record creation. Facilitated small-group discussions enable participants to assess the impact of their learning and begin the process of transforming knowledge into action.

Intended audience Head of cataloging, chief cataloger, cataloging team leaders, digital cataloging principals, special format catalogers, electronic resource librarians, digital librarians, metadata librarians, Internet resource librarians

Who owns the internet? 

The Internet Under Siege by Lawrence Lessig

Who owns the Internet? Until recently, nobody. That's because, although the Internet was "Made in the U.S.A.," its unique design transformed it into a resource for innovation that anyone in the world could use. Today, however, courts and corporations are attempting to wall off portions of cyberspace. In so doing, they are destroying the Internet's potential to foster democracy and economic growth worldwide. [read more]