Books

  • The Perfect Library, From The Telegraph

    Rejoice, for the weekend is nearly upon us.  (Yay!) If you have some time for reading this weekend, you might take a look at the UK Telegraph’s  list of "110 Books: The Perfect Library."  I’m sort of disappointed that Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash did not make the list, but I approve of what science fiction…

  • News Flash: 3 in 4 Americans Read a Book in 2006!

    I don’t think there’s anything to say about this story from Yahoo! News other than to suggest that it’s not good news for the future of the country: "One in four adults say that they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday.  Of those who…

  • Framing the Debate, Live & In Person

    I just hitched my Typepad account to FeedBurner. I have no idea what this means in terms of what readers (all 4 of them) will see  on the off chance they actually look at what’s here, and I somehow doubt that I have hordes of fans who are busily linking a number of RSS feed…

  • Girls School

    Two great book titles today, one of which is an actual non-fiction tome and the other is . . . not.  Here’s a fast quiz, choose one: "Teen-Aged Dope Slaves and Reform School Girls""College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Co-Eds, Then and Now" If you chose the first one as being the comic book, (ahem,…

  • The Awesome Story of Medieval Helpdesk

    Behind this link is an amazing story of tech support in  Medieval times.  As you watch, consider whether all our fancy newfangled text storage systems are actually better than the books, or merely more complicated.  (Y’all already know what I think–that there is no more reliable or easier to use system than a bound sheaf…

  • Happy New Beer!

    It’s 2007, so rejoice! That’s 365 more days (well, 363.5 as I write this) in which to learn a new skill (I’m going to learn how to brew beer) or improve a skill you already have.  It’s also  365 days in which to kiss your spouse, hug your kids and tell your parents and friends…

  • Banned Book Week

    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,…

  • Baker & Taylor News Bit

    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…

  • How to Write & Publish a Best-Seller

    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…

  • The CDC Yellow 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…