Fixed means fixed, by the author or with the author's permission, in a tangible means of expression, including, for instance, paper, CD-ROMs, film, or other media. The federal copyright statute does not cover unfixed works (such as oral stories or performances that have not been recorded or were recorded without the author's permission); they may be protected under state law.
"Blogs—digital paper, someone has called them—enable librarians and teachers to initiate online conversations with their students, prompting thoughtful comments about current events, science experiments, field trips, and math problems. Many teachers use blogs to display course notes, showcase student writing, distribute assignments, and provide homework help. Blogs on the Web site of the Magnolia Elementary School in Joppa, MD, highlight fifth-grade writers and kindergarteners' artwork. Fourth graders studying Maryland history have built a compendium of fascinating facts about their state on their blog. The school's math specialist has built a blog “for students and teachers to think, write, and read about (and hopefully eventually discuss) math skills and instruction.”
The ability of blogs to bind people together has caught the attention of many school administrators. Visit the Web site of the Buckman Arts Magnet Elementary School in Portland, OR, and you will discover a bevy of community-building blogs. Among them are notes to parents about classroom activities, meals, and vacations; a letter from the principal; a newsletter for parents by parents; and photo galleries of school events. The library's blog provides an introduction to its services, book recommendations, links to a database on the “Musician of the Week” (Bach has reigned all summer), archived posts reaching back to January 2003, and even a request for donations.
One of the most remarkable school library sites is Patrick Delaney's “Li-Blog-ary” at San Francisco's Galileo Academy of Science and Technology. The Li-Blog-ary is the synapse of a schoolwide community of bloggers. Drop-down menus offer instant access to research sites and specialized search engines and to blogs maintained by student organizations, parents, staff members, and teachers. “Blogging from a school library,” Delaney explains, “implies multiple blogs in a school, centered around the sort of professional and curriculum development that librarians have the potential for.” A library blog that isn't the “keystone of a school blog community,” he insists, “doesn't make much sense.”
The main purpose of this article is to examine the system that governed the flow of information to senior policymakers in the USSR. Fundamental cultural differences between the Soviet and Western worlds have impeded efforts by Westerners to fully understand this system. It is much easier for those who were born and educated in the Soviet Union, and have spent much of their lives there, to comprehend the main features that dominated the upward flow of information in that now-defunct nation.
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Access to Foreign Publications
The question of access to foreign literature—books, journals, and other writings—was a complex one during the Communist era. First of all, an applicant had to be able to read one or more foreign languages. Then he or she was required to obtain a pass to a spetskhran, a secured, restricted-access library room or section that carried foreign literature connected with politics, ideology, or news of the day.
In contrast, journals in non-political fields were open to everybody. Anyone could go to a library and read specialized magazines—Popular Mechanics was one notable example—that had been published in the West. Such publications were available elsewhere as well. Haute couture journals, for example, would be lying on tables in shops where dresses and suits were custom-tailored.
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How Censorship Entities Really Worked
Pre-packaged lists seem to have been a central element in the modus operandi of the Glavlit and the Spetskhrans:
Glavlit: The censors in the Glavlit generally did not in fact read books, magazines, or newspapers very thoroughly—if they read them at all. Together with the Agitprop Department, the Glavlit simply maintained lists of foreign periodicals and book topics. The lists would determine whether a publication would be sent to a spetskhran.
Spetskhran: If a library housing a spetskhran was part of an academic institution, it had a list of scholars who were permitted to read the literature in that room. If a scholar was employed somewhere else, he had to bring a letter signed by his superior to the director of the institute to which the spetskhran belonged. The letter was supposed to specify exactly what topic the researcher planned to explore. But in reality, such rules did not mean much. Librarians generally restricted few if any researchers. There were two reasons for this:
* The librarians were not qualified to argue about what a researcher really needed.
* They did not care.
The main preoccupation of most of the librarians was to be sure not to let any book or magazine be carried out of the room. But the director of the Institute and his deputies—usually three or four people—were empowered to order that a particular book or books be brought to their offices. They could also take books and magazines home, and/or use them together with other researchers from their own or some other institute. This meant that more people interested in a topic could look at and use the publication. They could also make citations from a book, thus enabling other scholars to learn of its existence.
Constraint on Foreign Books: The Customs Hurdle
Books of fiction did not present any problems at Soviet Customs. But Customs officers could seize non-fiction political and economic books to have their content checked. The tourists would have to come back to Customs several days later to retrieve their books. The authorities, in the meantime, would determine whether any of the seized books or their authors were on any lists of forbidden publications. And they would decide whether the content of a suspect book was “undesirable.” I doubt that many tourists or others returning from abroad were inclined to take risks in their dealings with Soviet Customs.
Historical
Stereotypical or...
Cultured.I don't understand some people's (companies') obsession with e-Books. They didn't catch on. People don't like them. They're a royal pain in the ass. The article says that there are roughly $3.2 million dollars worth of e-books sold every year. $3.2 million?!? That's essentially -zero-. So why are companies still trying to push what has been proven time and time again to be a product that nobody wants? It ain't gonna work.
"Just about every major online news source uses RSS to deliver content to subscribers. RSS has been adopted by major publishers such as CNET, the BBC, Yahoo, Motley Fool, InfoWorld, The New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, Wired News, The Wall Street Journal and many others, including a rapidly growing number of local and regional newspapers.
Unfortunately, most of these media companies do not yet understand the impact that RSS is having on their Web site traffic, also known as the 'RSS Effect.' They know even less about how to monetize this new content channel.
Moreover, they don't know who's using it, when and how. And most important, they don't know how much traffic and revenue their Web properties will forgo as a result. To publishers, the whole issue of RSS is not a question of 'if' but of 'when.' "
"When I decided to place the entire text of 'An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural' on the Internet, it was suggested to me that this could cut into the sales of the printed version. However, experience has shown that, in the publishing business, making a book available on the Internet only stimulates sales of the actual book! Another mystery.
I'm very pleased that we're able to do this for our readers, which reminds me that I must thank a good number of you for sending me corrections that needed to be made. You know who you are. Many of the errors were ones that I should have spotted long ago, and there were quite a few typographical errors -- especially in the index.
As with all of my books, I dropped in a few jokes. I had a hard time getting these jokes accepted by St. Martin's Press, the original publishers. However, now that it's on the Internet, I not only can make sure that the full force of my wit is felt, but I can add new ones in response to my latest whims. Seriously, if you find errors here, I urge you to notify me and they will be promptly corrected.
"Apparently Sept 24 through Oct 1 is “Banned Books Week.” Oh yay!
Banned Books Week (BBW) celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where these two essential conditions are met.
I like the way the phrase “unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints” is used. Might as well say “hedonistic and immoral.”"
"In 2002, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers sent an open letter to Jeff Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com, which has a market for used books in addition to selling new copies. 'If your aggressive promotion of used book sales becomes popular among Amazon's customers,' the letter said, 'this service will cut significantly into sales of new titles, directly harming authors and publishers.'
But does it? True, consumers probably save a few dollars while authors and publishers may lose some sales from a used book market. Yet the evidence suggests that the costs to publishers are not large, and also suggests that the overall gains from such secondhand markets outweigh any losses.
Consider a recent paper, 'Internet Exchanges for Used Books,' by Anindya Ghose of New York University and Michael D. Smith and Rahul Telang of Carnegie-Mellon. (The text of the paper is available at ssrn.com/abstract=584401.)
The starting point for their analysis is the double-edged impact of a used book market on the market for new books. When used books are substituted for new ones, the seller faces competition from the secondhand market, reducing the price it can set for new books. But there's another effect: the presence of a market for used books makes consumers more willing to buy new books, because they can easily dispose of them later.
A car salesman will often highlight the resale value of a new car, yet booksellers rarely mention the resale value of a new book. Nevertheless, the value can be quite significant."
There is not room for those who wish to take up library work simply because they fancy it to be easier and more agreeable to one who is fond of books and cultivated society; because it will give such a good chance to read; or because there seems to be nothing else to do and so they try to get in a library. In fact, the work is not easy except in some small libraries where the pay is still easier, and though surrounded constantly by thousands of books which are handled during all the working hours there is hardly any occupation which gives so little opportunity to read. Our traditional motto is 'The librarian who reads is lost.' Of course I am speaking now of working hours. The librarian who does not read at other times is certainly lost to growth.
"help us make literary history by turning the whole world into a library!"
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What is BookCrossing?
bookcrossing
n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
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"We teach BookCrossers, our members, the '3 Rs' of BookCrossing: to Read, Register, and Release their books for others to enjoy," says Ron Hornbaker, President and CTO of BookCrossing.com's parent company, Humankind Systems. "Sharing books with your friends and neighbors is a natural instinct... what we've done is created a tracking database so that you can see where your books are, and read the journal entries along the way."
Beyond its utility for Internet historians, the Web page database, searchable with a form called the Wayback Machine, is also routinely used by intellectual property lawyers to help learn, for example, when and how a trademark might have been historically used or violated."
That is what brought the Philadelphia law firm of Harding Earley Follmer & Frailey to the Wayback Machine two years ago. The firm was defending Health Advocate, a company in suburban Philadelphia that helps patients resolve health care and insurance disputes, against a trademark action brought by a similarly named competitor.
In preparing the case, representatives of Earley Follmer used the Wayback Machine to turn up old Web pages - some dating to 1999 - originally posted by the plaintiff, Healthcare Advocates of Philadelphia.
Last week Healthcare Advocates sued both the Harding Earley firm and the Internet Archive, saying the access to its old Web pages, stored in the Internet Archive's database, was unauthorized and illegal.
The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Philadelphia, seeks unspecified damages for copyright infringement and violations of two federal laws: the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
The Internet History Sourcebooks are collections of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use.
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The Internet History Sourcebooks Project [IHSP] is a world wide web project designed to provide easy access to primary sources and other teaching materials in a non-commercial environment. It was developed and is edited by Paul Halsall with the aid of numerous other contributors.
Wireless Internet access is growing nationwide. Whether at work, at home or on the go, people now have more choices of where and how they access, share and enjoy information and entertainment.
Intel's 3rd Annual 'Most Unwired Cities' survey ranks the top 100 U.S. cities and regions for the greatest wireless Internet accessibility. This year's survey reveals a growing number of diverse locations - both indoors and outdoors - where people can log on and connect to the Internet without wires. Today, wireless hotspots can be found at coffee shops, colleges and hotels, but they're also popping up at skate parks, pipe shops, gas stations, bowling alleys and golf courses.
Schools using open source software can develop their information and communication technology (ICT) as they think best, without worrying about software costs and licensing because OSS is usually free.
There can be few things more gratifying in life than finding a kindred spirit; someone who sees the world as we do, who enjoys the same intellectual challenges, who smiles at the same funny side of life. It’s something we all yearn for and yet, as we tunnel between work and family commitments, it’s often difficult to meet people beyond our immediate circle, let alone someone with whom we can have a meaningful conversation.
The days of such intellectual isolation may be over thanks to ConnectViaBooks, a brand new web site which allows people to meet kindred spirits in the safe and culturally neutral setting of cyberspace. As the name implies, these encounters are forged through a shared love of books.
In our experience, the books we read say a lot about our personality and interests. The more books we have in common with a person, the closer in personality type we are likely to be. This was the inspiration behind ConnectViaBooks, which allows people to find others who have read the same books and share their experiences. The time you most want to talk about a book is when you’ve just put it down. But isn’t that what book clubs are for?
Book clubs serve a slightly different need. ConnectViaBooks isn’t just about sharing the latest novels. People may have favourite books on cookery, dressmaking or something more esoteric like Japanese prints. Whatever your hobbies and interests, you can now find others who have been inspired by the same writers. It’s a book club with attitude.
Take a look at the great books we'll be reading at Book Club Story Time. Plus, each week we will read additional books based on requests by club members. See a store associate for more details.
Tuesday, June 7th - Bubble Gum Bubble Gum
Tuesday, June 14th - The Hiccuping Hippo
Tuesday, June 21st - Priscilla
Tuesday, June 28th - Mr. Sea Horse
Tuesday, July 5th - Otto has a Birthday
Tuesday, July 12th - Mother Goose
Tuesday, July 19th - The Worm Family
Tuesday, July 26th - The Best Pet of All
Tuesday, August 2nd - The Blue Ribbon Day
Tuesday, August 9th - Where the Wild Things Are
Tuesday, August 16th - Camping Spree with Mr. McGee
Tuesday, August 23rd - Fillmore & Geary
Tuesday, August 30th - The Yawn Heard Around the World
Story Time book selections are subject to change at the store manager's discretion based on the age of story time participants.
In response to efforts in Oklahoma and elsewhere to 'restrict or prohibit access to materials related to sexual orientation within their publicly funded libraries,' Council resolved that ALA 'affirm the inclusion in library collections of materials that reflect the diversity of our society, including those related to sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation' and that ALA encourage all 'chapters to take active stands against all legislative or other government attempts to proscribe materials related to sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.' Some Chapter councilors warned that the resolution might hurt the chapter's relations with the state legislature, while others suggested such cautions recalled Civil Rights era debates in which ALA asked legislatures to integrate libraries and forced Chapters to integrate.
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