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I was amazed and embarrassed to remember this late in the game that this is Banned Book Week. Luckily the ALA has full documentation of what’s on the ‘banned list’, what’s on the merely ‘challenged’ list, and whatever else you need. There’s lots more out there but these links should get you started.
Now read, damn you! READ!
Baker & Taylor and OCLC Announce Cataloging Partnership
I’m not really sure if this is good news or not, but it’s probably good to know for those libraries who do business with B&T. In part:
"CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – October 13, 2005 — Baker & Taylor, the leading distributor of books and audio-visual materials and provider of library services, and OCLC Online Computer Library Center, the world’s largest library cooperative, today announced a partnership that will offer OCLC cataloging records to subscribers who receive books and audio visual materials from the Baker & Taylor family of companies."
This one comes from the "Yes, It’s a Shameless Plug and I Don’t Care Who Knows It Dept.":
My wife, who is a public health librarian at the NYC Dept. of Health, is having her first book published next week. It’s a big deal to her and to me, because I know how hard she worked on it and how much time energy and just plain having no life is involved. It’s a major project, no matter how one looks at it, and I won’t even mention the summer that we’re devoting to sales, marketing and various other forms of promotion we’re doing to help it out of the gate. For the record, advanced ordering is in effect.
So when I spotted this bit in today’s ETR, I decided to put it here (behind the link.) Yes, it sounds like a sales talk–all of Masterson’s writing does–but that doesn’t detract from the quality of the information. I kept the money-making link in the text, mostly because I figured it was the least that I could do, seeing as how he’d be contributing to today’s post.
Anyway, buy the book.
We just got in a free copy of the 2005-2006 Health Information for International Travel book (a.k.a. the CDC Yellow Book) by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. I admit I haven’t looked it over very carefully (it’s been very hectic today), but from what I’ve glanced at, it appears to be very complete and very well thought-out and planned. And it’s got complete information of vaccinations, preventive medicine, diet, water supplies, etc. Not a bad thing to have in a medical or health library by any means.
There are so many great classics – so many books you’ve heard of that you wish you’d read. Fact is, a lot of them aren’t good… or at least they’re not good for you at this particular point in your life. Here are some tips from Steve Leveen, author of "The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life", to help you get over the guilt of never having read "War and Peace":
—If you’re 50 pages into the book and still not hooked, put it down. Maybe you give it the heave-ho, maybe you save it for another time. But it’s not your fault if the author didn’t write a book that grabs you.
—Learn to discern between literary pretentiousness and books that are actually worth reading. Maybe the book just made the list of classics because it was groundbreaking for its time. That doesn’t mean you’re illiterate for not having read it.
—Establish a shelf of "maybe later" books. If a book doesn’t appeal to you now, perhaps it will down the road – when you’re traveling or are in a different state of mind.
(Source: Rachel Sauer, writing in The Palm Beach Post)
I picked this article up from Michael Masterson’s Early to Rise newsletter. (Masterson has written a few books, none of which I have read–yet–but I get his newsletter delivered to my mailbox every morning, and so far that’s a decision I’ve been happy with.) I won’t say that it’s applicable to absolutely everyone, but he writes about an approach to reading that makes a ton of sense to me. Personally, I’ve long been in the habit of just plugging book titles and authors into my Amazon.com wish list as soon as I come across them . . . but until my monthly income gets a little higher there’s no way to keep up with the flood of stuff I’d like to buy if I had the cash for it. Luckily, Amazon.com lets people buy used books from other folks, which saves a lot of cash, and a library card handles a few other wants & needs, so it’s not an impossible situation, merely an inconvenient one.
One thing to be aware of: Masterson is ultimately a salesman, and his newsletter is filled with sales tips. I actually think his article reads like a sales pitch . . . and, I suppose it is, in a way. He’s pushing reading to people. I don’t mind the technique because Iagree with the aim. Other might, but, well . . . think about this. Pushing reading is something that too few parents a teachers do, so we librarians had better be involved somehow with the process of introducing folks who are not in the habit of reading for fun or enrichment. The ugly truth is that if we don’t, we’re putting ourselves out of business. And let’s face it: we’ll be putting the communities our libraries serve out of business, too. Just my humble opinion, mind you.
Now, for a bit of disclosure: I actually e-mailed Masterson to get his permission to post the article here, and my mail was returned "Undeliverable" by the server. I tried a second time and got the same result. I like to think this is a temporary situation between Masterson and his ISP, so I’m going to keep trying. And if for some reason I can’t, and he sees this article here and tells me to take it down, I will. Having said that, here’s the article.
I found this article in the NY Times’ Book Review section yesterday, and while self-publishing has had an inarguably democratizing effect on the world of literature and research over the past decade, I personally think it’s had the side-effect of dropping the average worth of the content of those subjects just abit (mor than a bit in some cases.) Having said that, (and probably sounding like an eletist to at least a few people), I think it’s something worth knowing about.
Enjoy!