Free e-books 

Blackmask Online

7882 books to choose from in lots of categories.

Digital Libraries 

At First Monday, Building Digital Communities: Web-Wise 2002.

Papers from the Third Annual Conference on Libraries and Museums in the Digital World sponsored by the U.S. Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and Johns Hopkins University, 20-22 March 2002, Baltimore.

Everything you wanted to know about ILL 

ILLWeb

ILLWeb is a gateway to electronic and print resources pertaining to all aspects of interlibrary loan (ILL), document delivery, and resource sharing. Designed to be comprehensive and international in scope, ILLWeb features links to resources that will help practitioners locate materials for their clientele, manage the ILL process, and keep up with developments in the profession. [read more]

Balancing act 

At E-Pub's Davos, Balancing Print and Electronic, Hype and Backlash by Steven Zeitchik

You'd be hard-pressed to find a better barometer of electronic publishing than the University of Virginia's annual conference at the Library of Congress.

Knowledgeable but not insidery, the event can usually be counted on for two things. First, people who come here tend to know a lot about both technology and the book business. Second, they tend to know each another.

The gathering is normally intimate, and this year's was even smaller than usual. Yet despite the sector's problems, the mood seemed relaxed. It's almost as though participants were less worried about the storm now that they'd lived through its onset. In a culture that weathered a period first of hype and then of defensiveness, the temperature seems to have settled to just the right point, as issues like e-rights, distance-learning, customer acceptance and interoperability were discussed with a balance of optimism and realism. [read more]

Happy belated birthday, LC 

Library of Congress celebrates its 202nd birthday.

... On April 24, 1800, President John Adams approved the appropriation of $5,000 for the purchase of "such books as may be necessary for the use of congress."

The books, the first purchased for the Library of Congress, were ordered from London and arrived in 1801. The collection of 740 volumes and three maps was stored in the U.S. Capitol, the Library's first home. President Thomas Jefferson approved the first legislation defining the role and functions of the new institution on January 26, 1802.

In the almost two centuries since its founding, the Library has taken on the mission of making its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people, and sustaining and preserving a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. The vast holdings of the Library now number well over 110 million items.

Statistics 

Preservation Statistics

The 1988-89 edition was the first formal presentation in this series, started as a pilot project in 1984. The latest edition includes data tables on personnel, expenditures, conservation treatment, preservation treatment, and preservation microfilming. An in-depth analysis of data by size of library is also provided.

Best of the Web 

Museums and the Web 2002

Beware 

Dangerous Klez worm could compromise sensitive data by John McCormick

Now in its third or fourth version, the initially innocuous Klez worm is turning nasty, as vandals tweak both the mode of attack and the payload. Most important, at least one security firm reports that the newest version of this worm will sometimes share your confidential files with others. [read more]

E-books -- they keep trying 

Forget Laptops, the Folding Screen Lands in Korea

A new paperback-sized computer screen that folds like a book will be ideal for Internet users reading online novels, its South Korean inventor said on Tuesday.

The 6.7 inch by 5 inch flat LCD screen folds along a central hinge and is much clearer than existing devices, display maker Samsung SDI said. [read more]

International eBook Association Launched in Europe

Microsoft Corp. today announced the launch of the International eBook Association (IeBA), a new eBook organization based in Europe that will support the worldwide eBook community and promote the growing opportunities and promise of eBooks.

The new association follows the pioneering work done by the International eBook Award Foundation (IeBAF), which will cease operations at the end of the month. While the new International eBook Association plans to announce its own set of eBook awards, the focus of the new association¼s work will be to address critical issues facing the electronic publishing community. Its principal goal will be to facilitate and accelerate the adoption of eBooks. [read more]

Digital Imaging 

TASI -- Technical Advisory Service for Images

What is TASI?

The Technical Advisory Service for Images is a service that has been set up to provide advice and guidance to the Further and Higher Education community on the issues of creating, delivering and using digital images together with managing digitisation projects.

The objectives of TASI are:

• To encourage the creation of high quality digital image collections
• To promote good practice in the creation, delivery and use of digital images and in the management of digitisation projects
• To promote and support the use of standards within digitisation projects
• To promote technical expertise within the FE/HE community by providing advice, guidance, support, training and consultancy
• To encourage networking and the building of an imaging community within FE and HE