Seeking Authors
At Litwin Books and Library Juice Press we have a number of projects sitting on back burners awaiting the right authors to get them going. I will list some here, … Read more Seeking Authors
“Nonpartisan” …. nonplussed
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
Organizing personal info in an age of change: Tickets to a Pavement concert
An item in the New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town” section in the last issue is about the difficulty of keeping track of a valuable information object over time: a … Read more Organizing personal info in an age of change: Tickets to a Pavement concert
Automated commerce in action
I have commented on problems stemming from automated reasoning as capitalism shifts to an AI foundation. Here is a juicy example of what I am talking about.
The Mad Men of the FBI
I thought the FBI had been shamed out of spying on pacifists long ago, but check this out. Incredible. Greenpeace, Thomas Merton Center, Catholic Worker, and other anti-war activists got … Read more The Mad Men of the FBI
A Google trick for staying ahead of AI
Increasing use of AI means smarter-than-average searchers constantly need to learn tricks in order to counteract the AI that assumes a user base of average consumers. Here is one for … Read more A Google trick for staying ahead of AI
Ephemera from UVa Library’s computing past
From an early pamphlet advertising a bibliographic database, found among the ephemera saved at the University of Virginia Libraries: “Why use a computer search? Consider the time it takes … Read more Ephemera from UVa Library’s computing past
Props to ALA on 9/11
Leonard Kniffel, editor of American Libraries, the American Library Association’s house publication, write in his blog: Book burning is the most insidious form of book banning, and just as the … Read more Props to ALA on 9/11
New issue of Information for Social Change
There is a new issue of Information for Social Change, on the theme of information ethics. This issue is edited by Mikael Böök. It’s a very international collection of articles, … Read more New issue of Information for Social Change
Save the Date: New Orleans, June 2011
Save this date if you’re planning to be in New Orleans next June for the ALA Annual Conference. Saturday, June 25th Library Juice Press, possibly with one or more other … Read more Save the Date: New Orleans, June 2011
Extinct Citations, Missing Links and Other Bibliographical Wonders
Chapter one of Vanishing Act: The Erosion of Online Footnotes and Implications for Scholarship in the Digital Age, by Michael Bugeja and Daniela V. Dimitrova, is now online: Extinct Citations, … Read more Extinct Citations, Missing Links and Other Bibliographical Wonders
Tracking Cookie Opt-Out (Behavioral Advertising)
I blog about tech stuff only very rarely, but this is something I really want to share. If you’re at all concerned about online privacy, you will want to know … Read more Tracking Cookie Opt-Out (Behavioral Advertising)
Brief note on libraries and elitism
The 1980s began the “give ’em what they want” era of library collection development, when it became irredeemably elitist for librarians to think they occupy some kind of teaching role … Read more Brief note on libraries and elitism
Our niche and how to get back into it
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
Jaron Lanier Op-Ed on AI
Jaron Lanier has an Op-Ed in the August 9th issue of the New York Times, titled, “The First Church of Robotics.” It is a brief revisitation of some ideas from … Read more Jaron Lanier Op-Ed on AI
Jeremy Dibble reviews Slow Reading
Jeremy Dibble, of the PhiloBiblos blog, has reviewed John Miedema’s book, Slow Reading, which was published by Litwin Books last year. I am late in linking to the review. Jeremy … Read more Jeremy Dibble reviews Slow Reading
Remembering Ralph Shaw
Ralph Shaw was an academic librarian, an educator, and in 1950, the founder of Scarecrow press. He was known as an outspoken guy who forged his career more on the … Read more Remembering Ralph Shaw
Richard J. Cox reviews Vanishing Act
Richard J. Cox of the University of Pittsburgh i-School has posted a review of Michael Bugeja and Daniela Dimitrova’s Vanishing Act: The Erosion of Online Footnotes and Implications for Scholarship … Read more Richard J. Cox reviews Vanishing Act
The Onion: Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text
From The Onion Unable to rest their eyes on a colorful photograph or boldface heading that could be easily skimmed and forgotten about, Americans collectively recoiled Monday when confronted with … Read more The Onion: Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text
Tony Judt has died
The New York Times has reported that Tony Judt has died. I have been a regular reader of Tony Judt’s columns in the New York Review of Books and saw … Read more Tony Judt has died