Recent Comments
- Amazon’s book city #1, Alexandria, VA, may cut library hours: Time for a digital-era national endowment to help ease U.S. libraries’ financial woes? | The Travelin' Librarian { [...] Read the full article @ LibraryCity.org. [...] }
- Promising DPLA debut—but please don’t confuse special-collection items, exhibits and APIs with a full-fledged ‘public library’ demo | The Travelin' Librarian { [...] Read the full article @ librarycity.org. [...] }
- Tom Peters { Excellent review of the nascent D(P)LA e-resource. I agree with all your major points. Tis a pity that the usual suspects (Twain, Fitzgerald, Cather, et... } – Apr 19, 11:28 AM
- Online la Digital Public Library of America, che vuole superare Google e Wikipedia | Tropico del Libro { [...] di questo ambizioso progetto. Non sono mancate, in questo senso, le polemiche di chi ha vivamente esortato i creatori della DPLA a preoccuparsi anche... }
- David Rothman { Thanks for such a prompt and classy reply, Dan---you're indeed giving #dpla its due! I truly truly hope that the DPLA succeeds, and meanwhile the... } – Mar 31, 11:58 AM
- Dan Cohen { Thanks for the great and helpful post, David. To be clear on #2, I'm very interested (as I know others are within DPLA) and plan... } – Mar 31, 10:40 AM
- David Rothman { Hi, Don. Nice to see such enthusiasm from a veteran school librarian. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, agree with your priorities, and will have more to... } – Mar 26, 4:57 AM
- Don Smith { If I might, I would like to propose a statement of purpose for the National Digital Library. Often times during my forty year career as... } – Mar 25, 8:54 PM
- David Rothman { Hey, Ralph, here's a belated but heartfelt reply to one of your points. Around here we love both libraries and librarians and are interested in... } – Mar 13, 9:58 AM
- Some news from LibraryLand | not so quiet { [...] this opinion piece, David Rothman makes a case for folks in the Warren Buffet and Bill Gates income bracket to support [...] }
- Bibliotecas públicas sin libros en EE.UU. ¿A la de tres? | Bibliotecas 2029 { [...] comunicada, tuvo una contestación pública demoledora. No sólo los profesionales de todo el país se escandalizaron por este proyecto sino que los propios usuarios... }
- A National Digital Library Endowment { [...] An interesting concept from blogger David Rothman, founder of TeleRead. He suggests that those who have signed The Giving Pledge (though he doesn’t mention... }
- David Rothman { Hi, Robert. Some quick replies… 1. I envision a variety of business models in use, but if nothing else, libraries could buy multiple e-copies (or... } – Feb 20, 2:05 PM
- Robert Nagle { Generally, a great proposal, but here are some practical issues which pop up in my mind. First, if everything is centralized, when I put a... } – Feb 20, 12:56 PM
- ATG Article of the Week: Need Library E-Books to Feed Your New Gadget? Here’s the Answer | Against-the-Grain.com { [...] Need Library E-Books to Feed Your New Gadget? Here’s the Answer, is an thought provoking article by David Rothman posted in TeleRead a few... }
- Reading about eReading this week 2/18/2013 « Allegany County Library System Director's Notes { [...] A national digital library endowment: How America’s billionaires could be modern Carnegies for rea... [...] }
- Reading about eReading this week 1/28/2013 « Allegany County Library System Director's Notes { [...] Dwarf-sized public e-libraries vs. abundance: Listen to veteran publishing guru Brian O’Leary and ... [...] }
- David Rothman { You're welcome, Anthony. Keep us posted if you can Amy-ize your new Fire without installing a full-strength version of Android. David } – Jan 19, 5:46 PM
- Anthony { Thanks Dave! } – Jan 19, 4:47 PM
- David Rothman { Hi, Anthony. Some possibilities: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/where-to-get-more-help-with-your-kindle.html Happy Kindling, David } – Jan 19, 4:00 AM
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Recent Posts
- E-book usability news: Adjustable line spacing now on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9” and perhaps other Fire HDs—although I still can’t narrow the spaces sufficiently
- Voice Dream e-reading app: Stellar for text to speech—and promising as a general reader
- Amazon’s book city #1 avoids cuts in library hours but still might reduce its library book budget—already below the U.S. per-capita average
- Cut in Alexandria, VA, library hours not needed, says city staff memo. Also: Councilman Justin Wilson endorses LibraryCity’s national digital library endowment plan
- Is your local library budget about to be slashed? Here’s an example of how you can fight back
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- Harvard's Robert Darnton
- Library Journal
- LISNews
- Mike Shatzkin
- NDPL discussion forum
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Tag Archives: librarianship
Cut in Alexandria, VA, library hours not needed, says city staff memo. Also: Councilman Justin Wilson endorses LibraryCity’s national digital library endowment plan
Justin Wilson, a councilman in Alexandria, VA, Amazon’s “most well-read” city, now threatened with a reduction in library hours, has shared a city staff memo saying that the hours cuts aren’t necessary. He says the library board will have the final say. Would board members challenge the memo? I’ll try to reach Board Chair Kathleen [...]
Is your local library budget about to be slashed? Here’s an example of how you can fight back
This letter has gone to Mayor William Euille (photo below, contact information here for him and other top officials) in Alexandria, VA, the town that Amazon inaccurately depicted as America’s book city #1. Also see a local Friends group’s talking points for library advocates—and the other side: a city staff memo saying the library board [...]
Promising DPLA debut—but please don’t confuse special-collection items, exhibits and APIs with a full-fledged ‘public library’ demo
A caveat first. The Digital Public Library of America is evolving. What’s more, I’m a booster of the organization and of the people behind it, including the new executive director, Dan Cohen, who so decently reacted after the Boston Marathon bombings. But for now, the academic-and-hacker mindset is prevailing at the DPLA over the traditional [...]
LibraryCity’s take on K-12 libraries and the Digital Public Library of America
Yes, LibraryCity has been on an S. R. Ranganathan kick lately (here and here). Still ahead is a DPLA-related essay on his Five Laws of Library Science as applied to K-12, including school libraries—a follow-up to the LibraryCity post by Apple Distinguished Educator Donald R. Smith, a teacher-librarian with 40 years of experience. If you [...]
eBooks, LibraryCity, National Digital Public Library
Also tagged Chief Officers of State Library Agencies, COSLA, Digital Public Library of America, Don Smith, Donald R. Smith, DPLA, John Palfrey, k-12, librarians, libraries, national digital libraies, national digital library, Ranganathan, Robert Darnton, school libraries, school libraries and the DPLA
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Sad fate of ‘Five Laws’ book shows need for DPLA-related efforts to keep old masterpieces alive
Oh, the irony! In The Five Laws of Library Science, S. R. Ranganathan argued in the 1930s for libraries as improvers of life for rich and poor alike. Now Google Books has digitized 30 million titles, but you won’t find Laws on the Web in its entirety from Google at any price. You’ll see a [...]
eBooks, National Digital Public Library
Also tagged academic librarians, academic libraries, Digital Public Library of America, Don Smith, Donald R. Smith, Donald Smith, DPLA, education, k-12, national digital libraies, national digital libraries, national digital library, public librarians, public libraries, public schools, Robert Darnton, schools
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Beyond a ‘Digital Attic’: How the DPLA can honor the Five Laws of Library Science—and help libraries in Orange County, Florida
This is the era of bits and bytes and multimedia and 3D printing, not just books and other texts. But Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan’s Five Laws of Library Science would still apply today in spirit even after more than eighty years. Educated originally as a mathematician, S. R. Ranganathan was a library-science genius who studied librarianship [...]
Later today at LibraryCity.org: The DPLA and the Five Laws of Library Science
If Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan were alive, what would he think of the Digital Public Library of America? Is the DPLA’s present vision in line with his Five Laws of Library Science? Later today, Washington, D.C., time. (Update: Online late Saturday.) For now, enjoy the holidays. And while you’re at it, check out a child-oriented library [...]
FAQ on National Digital Library endowment plan going online this weekend: Be a part of it
Update, April 18, 2013: The FAQ is here. Feedback still welcome! Librarians and others can help build a National Digital Library Endowment FAQ—with questions, suggested answers and other ideas. Just email. Yes, I know: If you’re a typical librarian, for example, you’re busy enough with your regular work But this is an invitation to those [...]
Was librarian David Faucheux the world’s first blind blogger?
Was my friend David Faucheux—a library and information science graduate—the world’s first blind blogger? Any librarians or others know the answer? I set David up in May 2004 on a commercial audio service, which he dialed up to submit recordings, often augmented with text. For the next four years David gave us an inimitable slice [...]
A national digital library endowment: How America’s billionaires could be modern Carnegies for real
Update: James Fallows’s blog on The Atlantic’s site reproduced part of this proposal, and the long version appeared in Sabrina Pacifici’s award-winning LLRX library journal. More details and an FAQ on the proposal are here. Warren Buffett was on CBS Sunday Morning. The interviewer, Rebecca Jarvis, asked if he owned an iPad. No. iPhone. No. [...]
eBooks, National Digital Public Library
Also tagged Amazon, Andrew Carnegie, Berkshire Hathaway, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Global Libraries Initiative, Bill Gates, Born Digital, Brian O'Leary, Cengage, Congress, contractors, digital divide, digital libraries, digital library, DPLA, dysfunction, e-book, e-books, ebook, ebooks, endowments, family literacy, FCC, Federal Communications Commission, Giving Pledge, Inerstate Highway System, Internet, Internet Archive, iPad, James Fallows, Jeff Bezos, John Palfrey, Jr., Kindle, library endowments, library of congress, Lorain, Microsoft, National Archives, national digiital library system, national digital libraies, national digital library, National Digital Library Endowment, national digital library system, National Digital Public Library, New Jersey, Newark, Ohio, Paprika, Pentagon, philanthropies, philanthropy, public libraries, Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, Surface tablet, TeleRead, The Atlantic, TheAtlantic.com, Warren Buffett, Wayback Machine, Web, WFB, William F. Buckley
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Dwarf-sized public e-libraries vs. abundance: Listen to veteran publishing guru Brian O’Leary and librarian Sarah Houghton
People in Bexar County, Texas, should be excited about the 10,000-e-book “BiblioTech” library system that the country is starting from scratch—without paper books. This is reportedly the first U.S. public library system to shun paper, cardboard and ink, except for computer printouts. Any books are better than none, and besides, the 10K figure encompasses only [...]
Toward a Library-Publisher Complex for the digital era: Where the money is for both sides
The Military-Industrial Complex in Alexandria… I live in the Washington suburbs, where “Military-Industrial Complex” is more than just rhetoric in an Eisenhower speech from 1961. Just across 1-395 from me, here in Alexandria, Virginia, loom the twin towers of the $1+ billion Quarter Pentagon, featured in this Army Corps of Engineers video bragging of its [...]
National Digital Public Library, Uncategorized
Also tagged AAP, ALA, Alexandria, American Library Association, Association of Americans Publishers, Dangerous Convictions: What’s Really Wrong with the U.S. Congress, digital divide, digital libraries, k-12, Library-Publisher Complex, Library-School-Publisher Complex, LSPC, Maureen Sullivan, military-industrial complex, Oxford University Press, publishers, publishing, Tom Allen, VA
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