Caesar and the Pinto

Another weekly image from the family archive. This one obviously from Las Vegas around 1973 although I am guessing at the date. Pretty much everything in this picture is no longer there. The hotel was demolished and if I recall the Pinto had a tendency to explode on contact.

Caesar and the Pinto, Las Vegas 1973

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A Cool eBook Platform

The link to the TED site for non Flash users is: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mike_matas.html

A Library for Human Capital

Andrew Carnegie spent his lifetime building physical capital and used to advise nascent industrialists that wealth could be used to “bind together the rich and poor in harmonious relationship.” By the end of his life, Carnegie had invested heavily in the establishment of public libraries around the world and, while most of this investment occurred at the beginning of the 20th century, he would have felt right at home at the New York Public library last Friday when the discussion turned to the future of libraries. Of the several themes discussed last week, he would have appreciated the continued need for private investor support (even for large libraries like the NY Public) but, most importantly, he would have agreed that public libraries help build public capital.

The “future of libraries” topic is a vibrant one, although broad discussion is often overwhelmed by those who suggest the end of all libraries is just a matter of time. Even at this discussion, which included President of the NYPL Dr. Paul LeClerc and President of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France Bruno Racine, moderator Paul Holdengräber started proceedings by quoting from Anthony Grafton who, to paraphrase, suggests that libraries face a Hobbesian choice: Carry on regardless, eventually becoming gigantic ghost ships with “all the lights on but nobody home” or reconstitute themselves by shipping books off to offsite storage and building nice buildings with open space, computers and internet access but, ultimately, offering nothing the patron can’t get anywhere else.

LeClerc took this one on and prefaced his comments by noting that, while he and “Tony” are good friends he doesn’t agree with him. Later in the conversation, he was more pointed when he expressed his frustration with people who speak “cavalierly about “libraries” and ignore the many differences between libraries”. There is a similar misreading of the situation in the publishing community: You would think that libraries exist at the will of the publishing industry and, implicitly, that libraries will cease to exist – vanish – once publishers stop shipping books.

Books – or, more accurately, published materials – are only one component of the value libraries provide to their patrons. A little past opening time at any one of the satellite outlets of the New York Public library, the library will already be full in a mélange of indigent, industrious, curious, educated, disenfranchised, foreign, young and old. All these patrons are embarking on explorative journeys both big and small whether they be reading the newspaper, looking for a new job, investigating vacation destinations or researching their dissertation or new business idea.

LeClerc noted two important aspects of the NYPL community: Firstly, that during 2010 there were 40 million physical visits to the library and, secondly, that an enormous number of people in NYC live marginal lives and can’t afford to buy books or other media. The library in this context is seen as an anchor of many communities offering a multiplicity of services often unrelated to books that go underappreciated by many prognosticators. Perhaps these services are considered irrelevant to the puffed-up value publishers place on their own products.

Predictably, LeClerc would also say he has no patience for people who say libraries will be an anachronism in the foreseeable future, especially in light of the fact that 68% of US citizens visited a library last year. In a recent Harris Poll of those visiting a library more than 25% of respondents did so more than 10 times in the past year and they visited in person rather than online or some other method. The library is embedded into the social network of our communities and lives but, perhaps, less so in the minds of people relied upon to fund libraries. Even the NYPL, which is a private library open to the public needs to raise a $1mm per week from public fund-raising activities.

Both speakers highlighted the influence of technology on the activities of the library, noting that Google has been more transformative that Gutenberg and that we can’t ignore the digital era. Responding to a question about the role of librarians, there was general agreement between the two that librarians are increasingly being asked to navigate the patron experience in an increasingly complex and chaotic content world. LeClerc said that librarians are ‘drowning in materials’ which is causing a whole new approach to information services dependent on technology. Younger patrons are “incredibly gifted” at retrieval but lack deep cultural education or awareness which continues to represent an opportunity for librarians, especially in the academic setting.

Naturally, this was a very positive discussion about the future of libraries and largely underscored the view that many people writing off libraries are really fundamentally unaware of their functions and the position of libraries on campus, on 5th Avenue and in the barrio. Libraries are attendant to, but not dependent on, the whims of publishers and the breadth and extent of their services to their communities is likely to be sought out for a long time to come. In closing, the two were asked about preserving digital content and, in the deliberations over the costs of doing so and issues related to storage, Racine suggested that it might be necessary to print content to preserve digital materials. And where would they put this but a library?

MediaWeek (Vol 4, No 19) EBooks on Campus, Jeffrey Archer, LexisNexis Sued, Archiving the Web

Don't let the date stamp on this press release fool you as the National Association of College Stores announce findings from their March 2011 OnCampus Electronic Book and E-Reader Device Report. Here is their press release:

The results showed a 6% increase in e-book purchases of any kind when compared to a similar study done in October 2010, while fewer students are relying on laptops or netbooks to read the material. Nearly 15% fewer students said they used those devices to read e-books, while 39% said they used a dedicated e-reader, up from 19% just five months ago. “Although the vast majority of students still do not own a dedicated e-reader, this is a significant jump in five short months,” says Julie Traylor, NACS chief of planning and research.

Nearly 15% reported owning an e-reader, up from 8% in October. Of those now owning a digital e-reader, the Amazon Kindle was the most popular, with 52% of college students owning one, compared to 32% five months ago. Other top e-reader devices included Barnes & Noble’s Nook (21%), Apple iPhone (17%), and Apple iPad (10%).

Students interested in purchasing a new e-reader are most interested in the iPad and Kindle (both 27%), followed by the Nook.

Curiously, print textbooks continue as the preferred media option among this demographic. Fully 75% of the college students in the March 2011 survey said that, if the choice was entirely theirs, they would select a print textbook. This is similar to the findings of the October 2010 e-reader survey, as well as one done in the fall of 2008.

Jeffrey Archer interviewed by The Telegraph:

And we’re only 10 minutes in. I’m trying to steer the conversation towards writing techniques, towards inspiration and the existential angst of being a writer. I don’t think Jeffrey does existential.

More to the point, I’m painfully aware that of the two writers in the room, only one has an original Monet on the wall. “Kane and Abel!” he explains, pointing to it with a laugh. Just the one book, then. I don’t think Jeffrey is deliberately trying to trash me, but he does seem to have a strange reflex action that manifests itself as one-upmanship.

I mention that I’ve enjoyed the daily tours at the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York. Well, he has a famous academic who takes him around the world’s greatest galleries once a week. I tell him I walked the two miles to his home. Cue an anecdote about his running the London marathon. It really matters to him that he sells tons more than other famous writers he names, although he doesn’t want to offend them so asks me not to.

None of this is boasting, not exactly. Here’s the strange thing, or perhaps, not so strange, given those past crimes and misdemeanours.

Jeffrey seems to have an impulse to prove everything he says. He tells me that for six weeks he’s been the bestselling author in India. His assistant immediately pops down a second time with a printout of the Indian chart. And yes, there he is, well ahead of Mirza Waheed and Manju Kapur.

Interviewer: I once had to go to detention. Archer: That's nothing, I once did 2yrs for perjury. More NACS news and they've asked the Better Business Bureau to their claim that Amazon is misleading consumers of college textbooks (InsideHigherEd):

On March 25, the National Association of College Stores asked the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau, a self-regulatory body of advertisers, to look into the three claims made by Amazon. On Tuesday, Amazon filed for a declaratory judgment from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington that the company’s advertising claims were not misleading.

While the price of textbooks has long been a hot topic of discussion -- prompting among other things the formation of student groups and legislation to combat high prices -- rarely has the market been competitive enough for advertising to be a point of legal contention. But the dispute between college bookstores and Amazon could indicate a new, more competitive era of textbook sales.

“NACS and the 3,100 college bookstores it represents are threatened by the lower prices that Amazon offers students on the sale of textbooks, and the high prices it offers to buy back books. It is actively seeking to limit Amazon’s ability to advertise these prices,” reads Amazon’s complaint. Amazon did not cite its market share in the complaint or respond to a request to comment on the subject.

LexisNexis is being sued in a class action that accuses the company of categorizing some potential employees as 'thieves' (CourtHouse News):

The problem, the plaintiffs say, is that LexisNexis doesn't "impose on members any rules, procedures or criteria regarding what constitutes an 'admission,' how admissions may be obtained, the form of admission statements, or what, if anything, employees signing an 'admission statement' must be informed of about Esteem or the purpose of the statement." The class adds: "And, where the statement refers to circumstances that could be interpreted as something other than a theft, defendant does not require the contributing member to furnish any clarifying information and, instead, resolves all doubt in favor of the contributing member." LexisNexis styles the supposed admission a "verified admission statement," but the company does not do its due diligence to investigate or verify it, the class claims. Named plaintiff Keesha Goode says that after she lost her job as a cashier at a mall in October 2008, she applied for a position with Family Dollar Stores, an Esteem subscriber, in May 2009.

A unit of Elsevier Health and Microsoft have joined forces to offer a new Nursing product in the Philipines (PressRelease);

Elsevier, Redfox Technologies and Microsoft today announced the launch of the iCitizen Nursing Skills Netbook, an integrated and affordable e-learning netbook for nurses and nursing students in The Philippines. As part of this landmark partnership, the Redfox Netbook is being powered by the revolutionary Windows 7 operating system and enhanced with the Microsoft Office 2010 productivity suite. This world renowned software within the netbook is further complemented with a selection of the Mosby's Nursing skills software from Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. "With more and more hospitals expected to adopt information technology to provide better quality healthcare at the point of care, nurses will increasingly need to keep up with the latest technological changes and innovation in the workplace," explained Pascal van den Nieuwendijk, Director Public and Private Partnerships for Microsoft in Asia. In addition to juggling their workloads, nurses are faced with the challenge of constantly updating their skills, not only to keep abreast of the rapidly evolving standards of local health ministries but, more importantly, to provide a higher quality of healthcare to patients. This is where the iCitizen Nursing Skills Netbook comes in, as both practicing nurses and nursing students can easily access up-to-date knowledge in critical care skills and patient care procedures. "The iCitizen Nursing Skills Netbook demonstrates the seamless integration of a netbook, software and specialized content which underpins Microsoft's ability to drive innovative solutions in collaboration with our valued partners in one of the Philippines' key sectors," Van den Nieuwendijk added. "This project will support the overall government's drive to provide world class healthcare providers and remain one of the world's leading countries in this growing segment."

From IHEd an article about archiving the web (IHEd):

Many libraries are beginning to use the Internet Archive, and its popular WayBack Machine, to develop scholar-friendly archives of websites. The organization currently hosts collections of archived websites for more than 60 different colleges and universities.

The idea is essentially to preserve websites the way libraries have long preserved newspapers via microform. As the Internet has increasingly become society’s medium of record, it has become common for the authors of scholarly papers to cite Web content that has no corresponding print documents. (Several academic style guides recently added guidelines for citing Twitter and Facebook content.)

“In many ways this is just a continuation of what libraries have always done,” says Robert Wolven, an associate university librarian for bibliographic services and collection development at Columbia University.

From the Twitter: Judith Regan Settles Lawsuit That Threatened to Implicate Ailes NYMag UK Vice Chancellor calls for universities to publish their own journals. UniversityDiary Alibris Announce Rental Program for Book Sellers PND And in sports: BBC