Best Books 

Library Journal's Best Books of 2001

Each fall, LJ staff set aside countless hours, burning plenty of midnight oil in order to attack a pile of best book possibilities that can reach 250 titles. This year, to make the process both faster and better, we divided ourselves into committees, each of which had three members and read intensively in fiction, social science, science, or the arts. The result was not only more enjoyable for us but, we feel, better for you, yielding a cornucopia of 61 distinctive and deeply considered choices that range from favorites like Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections and David McCullough's John Adams to a challenging anthology of major Manifestos to first novels by Donna Gershten and Manil Suri. [read more]

How many have you read?

Permanence 

Image Permanence Institute (IPI)

The Image Permanence Institute (IPI) is a university-based, nonprofit research laboratory devoted to scientific research in the preservation of visual and other forms of recorded information. IPI is the world's largest independent laboratory with this specific scope. IPI was founded in 1985 through the combined efforts and sponsorship of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T).

Book Biz 

Is J.K. Rowling propping up the book biz? Suppose her latest were offered online by David Kipen

What if publishing phenom J.K. Rowling announced that she was going to publish her popular cycle's breathlessly anticipated fifth book, provisionally titled "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," exclusively as a downloadable e-book?

The snorfling sound that would result would be every soul in the book business swallowing his gum in abject, cowering terror. Rowling has thus far signed no final contract for "Order of the Phoenix" -- still tentatively scheduled for this fall -- with either her usual publisher, Scholastic, or anyone else. So the question only naturally arises: What if? [read more]

World Book Day 

{pictureRef(, align:"left")} World Book Day

World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and was marked in over 30 countries around the globe last year.

World Book Day 2002 in the UK and Ireland will take place on Thursday 14th March.

World Book Day is about helping children to explore the pleasures of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.

The Electronic Book 

Evolution of and Electronic Book: The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography.

The Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography has become an invaluable online resourse. This is Charles W. Bailey, Jr.'s own story of its history.

Life in the Digital World 

A year without print at Princeton, and what we plan next by David Goodman (pdf)

Abstract:
Princeton began to receive some major titles as electronic only, starting with the 2000 subscription year. We are expanding this in appropriate cases where we have confidence in the publisher, and the financial advantage is significant. There have been no complaints, and also almost no comments. Apparently users now look for current journal articles online, using the paper versions only if online is not available. We plan further developments to facilitate user convenience. [read more]

Collateral Damage 

Ingenuity's Blueprints, Into History's Dustbin

On these frigid winter nights, Randy Rabin can be found combing through trash bins outside the United States Patent and Trademark Office, trying to rescue from destruction yellowed copies of patents from America's golden age of invention.

The patent office, home to nearly 6.5 million patents dating to 1790, is converting to an electronic database and discarding a significant portion of its paper files after they have been scanned and digitized.

Tonight, at least 30 large recycling bins are sitting in a driveway near the patent office's public search room, crammed with documents ready for destruction.

A few random swoops into the bins produce aged prints of patent documents dated from the 1880's and 90's, with spidery intricate sketches of inventions.

Four of the reproductions have the name T. A. Edison at the top of the page. That's Thomas Alva Edison, the inventor of the light bulb and the holder of more than 1,000 United States patents. One of the sketches retrieved from the dust bin of bureaucracy is of Mr. Edison's "dynamo electric machine or motor," patented March 15, 1892. [read more]

Read any good books or seen any good movies lately? 

Based on the Book

'Based on the Book' is a compilation of selected books that have been made into movies. Utilizing the Internet Movie Database as the authority on release dates, all movies in this collection have been released in 1980 or later. In the case where more than one movie has been based on the same book, the most current movie is listed.

Heard any good jokes lately? 

An Angel appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean of the library that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behavior, the Lord will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.

"Done!" says the angel, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. Now, all heads turn toward the dean of the library, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleagues whispers, "Say something."

The dean looks at them and says, "I should have taken the money."

For more laughs, check out, Fun for Bookworms