News Snippets
Out of Print News Snippets
Microfilm as the most reliable way to store archives
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Microfilm shelf life 500 years. Hard drives, 3-5 years.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/07/microfilm-lasts-half-a-millennium/565643/
Is literacy a right?
A group of students from Detroit want to learn to read, they go to court for their right.
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/26/632566914/students-argue-literacy-is-a-right-in-lawsuit
E-Reading: How has it changed in recent years?
When Out of Print was released, 20% of American adults own an…
Millennials in Public Libraries?
More than half of adults between ages 18-35 visited a public library in the course of a year, according to a 2016 Pew study, compared to 45% between the ages of 36-51 and 43% between 52 and 70. This may be in part because libraries are changing and offering new services, like courses in practical subjects, and providing social space.
http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/09/09/libraries-2016/
Who’s reading now?
When Out of Print was released, one out of four Americans did not read a single print book in an entire year. In 2016, this number had not changed (recent Pew study).
What else is new? Among those who did read, 65% had read a print book, 28% had read an e-book, and 14% had “read” (listened to) an audio book.
Short Books
Best-selling author James Patterson has decided to try to reach people who have given up on reading by bringing out a series of short books -- 150 pages or less -- that will sell for under $5 and can be read in a single sitting. Patterson will write some of the planned two-titles-per-month series, which will be published by Little, Brown, co-author some, and select the authors of the others.
Authors Guild v. Google
Three authors, joined by the Authors Guild, have asked the Supreme court to overall a decision permitting Google Books to copy books under copyright and to provide access to "snippets." The authors claim that the project adds nothing new to the originals and therefore does nothing to reshape their character in a “transformative” use. The case is Authors Guild v. Google, docket 15-849
Smell
Miss the smell of a book while reading your ebook? It is now possible to purchase an aerosol that replicates the smell of a new book or the "classic musty smell" of an old book. The new book smell comes from adhesives and chemicals in the paper, while the old book smell is the result of the breakdown of cellulose and lignin in the paper compounds over time.
Engage
The Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) has published a major multi-author report entitled The Library in the Life of the User: Engaging People Where They Live and Learn. Highlights reported by compiler and co-author Lynn Silpigni Connaway
People associate the library with books and do not consider the library in relation to online resources or reference services.
People may not think of using libraries to get their information because they do not know that the services exist and some of the existing services are not familiar or do not fit into their workflows.
The context and situation of the information need often dictates how people behave and engage with technology.
Engagement and relationship building in both the online and physical environments is important for the development of successful and effective services.
The abstract and a link to the full report is at
http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/2015/oclcresearch-library-in-life-of-user.html
No Off-Site for New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is building a new underground storage facility in which the 2.5 million items in the research collection will be barcoded and shelved according to size, not subject, with an automated retrieval system designed to fulfill user requests within 40 minutes. The system is expected to be operational by the end of spring, 2016. The library's originall proposed to move the collection to a storage site in New Jersey was met with strong protests from users.
Tom Mashberg, New York Times, November 15
Digital Book Sales Down
Third quarter digital book sales, which include e-books and audio books, were down 11.8% at HarperCollins and 10.7% at Simon & Schuster compared to the same period in 2014. Audio books have been showing increasing sales overall, so the decline is probably associated entirely with e-books.
Publishers Weekly, November 6, 2015
Devices for Reading
Ownership of dedicated E-book readers (Kindle, Nook, etc.) has dropped to 19% of U.S. adults, and 18% of those between 18 and 29 years of age, from a high of 32%. Tablet computer ownership has continued to grow, however, with 45% of adults, and 50% of those 18 to 29, owning tablets, while smart phones are now owned by 68% of adults and 86% of those 18 to 29. E-book sales have remained roughly constant at 510 million units,so the numbers suggest a movement from dedicated E-book readers to other devices.
Device data are from the Pew Research Center report Technology Ownership:2015, October 29, 2015. E-book sales data are from the Association of American Publishers.
New Seattle Bookstore
Amazon is opening a 5,500-square-foot bookstore in Seattle, with 5,000 to 6,000 discounted titles. Selections will be based on Amazon's extensive data and will include reviews and ratings from the online site. (Seattle Times, November 2)
E-Books in France
Electronic books account for only two percent of book sales in France, according to the New York Times (Nov 2, 2015). France, where publishers are able to fix the price of books in stores and online, has more independent book stores than the United States.
Now you see it…
"In 1997, the average lifespan of a web page was 44 days; in 2003, it was 100 days. Links go bad even faster. A 2008 analysis of links in 2,700 digital resources ... found that about 8 percent of links stopped working after one year. By 2011 ... 30 percent of links in the collection were dead." Adrianne Lafrance, "Raiders of the Lost Web," The Atlantic, October 14, 2015
Yes to Libraries!
65% of Americans 16 years of age and older believe that closing their local public library would have a major impact on their communities, but only 46% visited a library or bookmobile in 2014. From the Pew Research Center report "Libraries at the Crossroads," September 15, 2015.
Book Sharing
Should folks who want to set up a "Take one, return one" free mini-lending library outside their houses or along the side of the road require a permit? Conor Friedersdorf, in the February 20, 2015 issue of the Atlantic, has a report of the problems that people young and old have had with local zoning ordinances when they simply wanted to help their neighbors share books.
Paid Editing?
The editor of a Wikipedia article on medical devices discovered attempts to change the description of 13WSZXDE45TFCkyphoplasty, a back procedure, from “controversial” to “well documented and studied.” The writer was an employee of a company that manufactured the (expensive) device. So begins an Atlantic article by Joe Pinsker on "paid editing" of Wikipedia articles, and what it means for reliability of information.
(theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/08/wikipedia-editors-for-pay/393926/)
Iraq: Saving History
The National Library of Iraq in Baghdad is digitizing it's collection, including many documents from the Ottoman period. According to an article in Lebanon's The Daily Star (August 5, 2015), the project has taken on urgency because of the threat to the holdings by the current insurgency, which has already resulted in the destruction of books and manuscripts in Mosul. Thousands of documents from the National Library were lost following the US-led invasion in 2003.
Ebook Reading
Fifty-four percent of ebook buyers sometimes read on their smartphones, according to a Nielsen survey in late 2014, up from twenty-four percent in 2012. Fourteen percent 2012 read primarily on their phones.
Strong Predictor
According to the World Health Organization's World Heath Statistics 2013, "Literacy is a stronger predictor of individual’s health status than income, employment status, education level and racial or ethnic group.”
“… best thing I’ve seen … “
“I saw it last night on Comcast as I missed the PBS broadcast. It's the best thing I've seen about books and the digital age.”
Bruce Joshua Miller, editor
Curiosity's Cats: Writers on Research
Pew Research Center on American Teenagers
One out of four American thirteen to seventeen year-olds is on line nearly constantly, four out of five are on line at least several times a day.
http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/09/mobile-access-shifts-social-media-use-and-other-online-activities/
Clary Shirky Banned Laptops
"…I’m a pretty unlikely candidate for internet censor, but I have just asked the students in my fall seminar to refrain from using laptops, tablets, and phones in class… … Multi-taskers often think they are like gym rats, bulking up their ability to juggle tasks, when in fact they are like alcoholics, degrading their abilities through over-consumption…"
Why Clay Shirky Banned Laptops, Tablets and Phones from His Classroom, Mediashift, September 15, 2014
Tal Gross, Colombia U
"…enormous, world-changing benefits of computers have to be weighed against the costs. We are becoming a distracted nation, constantly alt-tabbing to our e-mail and peeking at our phones. We should not be so quick to throw out our pens and pencils.This year, I resolve to ban laptops from my classroom, The Washington Post, December 30, 2014
Jews of Libya News Snippets
Libya Giado Holocaust (starts at 32:07)
Haim Arbiv, Benghazi, Libya. Holocaust survivor from Giado camp,…
Food and Drink – Libya
Libyan Jewish cuisine has unique dishes, such as mafrūm and lubya be’selk, that are typically eaten on Shabbat and holidays. This article discusses the food and drink of the Jews of Libya and the role of food in everyday and festival life.
Passover, once in Benghazi
"During the Seder we all took turns reading passages from the haggadah... It was read sometimes in several languages, in Hebrew, first and foremost, as well as Judeo-Arabic because everybody ...should understand it."
Libya’s Little-Known Jews and Their Distinctive Recipes
The Atlantic
Mafrum photo and recipe from jewsoflibya.com
Mafrum photo and recipe from jewsoflibya.com
Libya, Jews in Roman Times
Menora engraved in a rock in Cyrenaica from 1stc AD, survives millennia.