Robbie Franklin of McFarland Publishers was generous in his advice when I was first starting Library Juice Press back in 2005/2006. So I have often thought of his press in … Read more A book I regret passing on – The Gen-X Librarian
As a rule, this is not a personal blog. I have only taken the liberty to talk about my own life a few times over the years. I’ve decided to … Read more Why I dropped out of a PhD program
Eric Hellman, founder of Unglue.it, has a note in the current issue of the New York Law School Review titled, “The eBook Copyright Page is Broken.” It is a quick … Read more Comment’s on Eric Hellman’s note on eBook Copyright Pages
I’m working on a “Publisher’s Pledge to the Library Community” that we will release soon. I’ve put out some feelers regarding what people want to see in this pledge, and … Read more On Timeliness and Timelessness in Book Publishing
In the Library with the Lead Pipe published an interesting editorial this morning titled, “DIY Library Culture and the Academy,” though editorial may not be exactly the right word for … Read more Comments in response to Lead Pipe editorial, “DIY Library Culture and the Academy”
We haven’t done this in the past, but I think I would like to begin a tradition of sending a “year-end update” to friends and customers. Why now? Probably because … Read more Year-End Message to Friends and Customers
I HATE the slogan, “Librarian: The Original Search Engine.” It is on a coffee mug that was given to me as a gift by a family member, and it seems … Read more You would not say, “Astronomers: The Original Telescope”
The latest issue of InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies (Volume 8, Issue 1) is available at interactions.gseis.ucla.edu. Table of Contents: Articles Stop Speaking For Us: Women-of-Color Bloggers, … Read more New issue of InterActions
Arthur Brisbane is New York Times Public Editor, a position outside the regular editorial team that is supposed to act as the reader’s representative. Followers of this blog have probably … Read more The New York Times, Compromise, and the Past
Given Google’s dominance in search and the scope and integration of their Google Books product (hate to use the word product, but libraries have been converted into product here), we … Read more What Google permits and does not permit in Google eBooks
Some of my colleagues in the Progressive Librarians Guild used to complain that Banned Books Week was an unfortunate distraction from the greater problem of a propagandistic media system. I … Read more My problem with Banned Books Week
Librarians have responded to the internet and other technologies that have reduced people’s demand for our services in a couple of complementary ways over the past 20 years or so … Read more Turning the Reference Desk into a Reference Bureau
The use of certain library statistics, mainly related to circulation and its electronic semi-equivalents, has taken on a high degree of importance in library management since 1979, when Charlie Robinson … Read more Some objections to our use of library statistics
A bit of satire in response to the question, “How many control freaks does it take to screw in a light bulb?” Any resemblance to organizations you may have heard … Read more How many control freaks does it take to screw in a light bulb?
I am very serious in the view that we should not be trying to increase voter turnout, in this or any election. Let me explain why. Most of us have … Read more Get out the books, not the vote
I am always on the lookout for reviews of books that we have published, and am usually gratified to read them. If there is a complaint in the review, it … Read more On reviews that say a book was “put together quickly”
I am not going to spend a lot of time on this, but I want to point out an inaccuracy in an article on the Adbuster’s website (and maybe in … Read more Inaccuracy in Adbusters article
In teaching students and other library users how to evaluate web pages and other published information for the presence of bias, we direct them to look for a number of … Read more “Nonpartisan” …. nonplussed
More and more, I find that the library profession’s efforts to stay relevant in the age of information technology are in fact eroding our relevance. As a result of these … Read more Our niche and how to get back into it
Many librarians, when asked what is involved in being a librarian besides checking out books, will say something to the effect of, “I don’t know the answers, but I know … Read more Knowing how to find out