Library Juice 4:20 - May 30, 2001

Contents:

  1. Libraries, Liberty and the Pursuit of Public Information
  2. Librarian's Book Club
  3. Diversity Bibliography
  4. Science world in revolt at power of the journal owners
  5. SRRT Newsletter No. 135
  6. InfoRadio
  7. About Uncle Frank's Diary
  8. More Double Fold reviews
  9. New bill would block anonymous use of email in libraries
  10. News stories appearing in the May 28 American Libraries Online
  11. Hacker tool takes on Web censorship
  12. What readers are reading...
  13. A short list of resources about (certain) drugs
  14. Seven-Plus Wonders of Sustainability
  15. Funny Searches in May
  16. Reaction Time


Quote for the week:
"A book is a garden carried in the pocket."
-Chinese proverb

Home page of the week: Amanda Credaro
http://www.geocities.com/bibliophist/

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1. Libraries, Liberty and the Pursuit of Public Information

Stacy Mitchell and Karen Hering and Harriet Barlow, New Rules
February 20, 2001

The public library seems like an institution out of time. In an age of
raging individualism and privatization, the public library stands as an
enduring monument to the values of cooperation and sharing. In an era of
globalization and gigantism, it remains firmly rooted and in scale with its
community. One could simply dismiss the public library as an anachronism,
an idea whose time is past. Except for one thing. It works.

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10505
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2. Librarian's Book Club

At Bibliofuture.com (http://www.bibliofuture.com) there is a
Librarian's Book Club. The purpose of this club is to create a place
where librarians can read and discuss books that deal with libraries
and the library profession.

The current book that is being discussed is "Double Fold" by
Nicholson Baker. This book is a must read for all librarians.
Whether you agree or disagree with the issues in this book they
are important and need to be thought about and discussed.

We welcome anyone to join, but are especially looking for
librarians with leadership tendencies that would post critical
analytical comments to the group.

Thank You,
Troy Johnson
Bibliofuture Founder

Troy C. Johnson
Electronic Services Librarian
Creighton University Law Library
tjohnson[at]culaw.creighton.edu
(402)280-2832
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3. Diversity Bibliography

Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 15:47:26 -0500
From: "Beatrice Calvin" <bcalvin[at]ala.org>
To: Undisclosed Recipients

Your library might be interested in this updated bibliography --

Poynter's Diversity Bibliography
http://poynter.org/research/biblio/bib_rg.htm

We hope you find it useful.

David Shedden
dbs[at]poynter.org
Eugene Patterson Library / Poynter Institute
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4. Science world in revolt at power of the journal owners

James Meek, science correspondent
Saturday May 26, 2001
The Guardian (UK)

Scientists around the world are in revolt against moves by a powerful
group of private corporations to lock decades of publicly funded western
scientific research into expensive, subscription-only electronic databases.
At stake in the dispute is nothing less than control over the fruits of
scientific discovery - millions of pages of scientific information which
may hold the secrets of a cure for Aids, cheap space travel or the workings
of the human mind.

More than 800 British researchers have joined 22,000 others from 161
countries in a campaign to boycott publishers of scientific journals who
refuse to make research papers freely available on the internet after six
months...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,496855,00.html
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5. SRRT Newsletter No. 135

A pdf of the latest issue of the SRRT Newsletter, which is really beautiful
under Jane Ingold's editorship, is on the SRRT web site in pdf format, at
the following URL:

http://libr.org/SRRT/news/srrt135.pdf

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6. InfoRadio

Good afternoon,

Earlier this month I had the privilege of unveiling a new radio feature
called InfoRadio. Produced here at California State University, Fresno with
funds from the California State University Information Competence Project,
this series of 90-second radio features highlights specific sources,
strategies and concepts to help students with their research and writing.

While still very much a work-in-progress, the current plan is to produce a
CD with 32 features and sell them (at a moderate cost) to academic
libraries. The libraries would then donate the CD to their college radio
stations for weekly public service announcements, or as sponsored airtime.
My hope is to have the full CD available for shipping by mid-August.

Additional information, including a couple sample scripts and a list of
features is available at http://www.csuinforadio.org/.

If you have any questions, ideas for topics or would like to know more,
please contact Ross T. LaBaugh (rossl[at]csufresno.edu).
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7. About Uncle Frank's Diary

From Uncle Frank, AKA Grant Burns, AKA ?...

Dear Girls and Boys,
My column... and welcome to it! Mr. C. Hill has been kind enough to
invite me to chip in a piece from time to time on his site, and I'm
vain enough to think I might have something to say, once in a while,
that a few people will find amusing, or useful, or provocative. So I'm
here for the duration. Of what, I'm not sure. But as long as that
lasts.

I'll be writing mostly about issues in books, publishing, reading, and
ancillary areas that excite, delight, baffle, or worry me, one way or
another. It's important to keep in mind that columns are not
editorials. Whatever Uncle Frank has to say is strictly me shootin'
off my word processor, and does not represent anyone else's opinion,
sane or otherwise.

Sometimes I'll be serious, sometimes a little silly, possibly both at
the same time. Which tone prevails will depend on the day's weather,
what I've been reading, what transgressions of human decency and
intelligence have been taking place in publishing and political
circles, and whether the little gas station where I stop on my morning
commute had my favorite day-old donuts. (There's this country
crossroads place where I pick up a small coffee and a day- old for 64
cents. Is that a deal, or what?)

But enough of this preliminary do-dah. I don't really know what's
coming next. I hope that's OK with you, because it's the only way I
can proceed. If a column moves you to comment, you can e-mail me:
gfburns[at]flint.umich.edu. Be gentle with me, please: I'm just a little
petunia in an onion patch. Present company excepted, o' course. All my
readers are wildflowers.

http://www.newpages.com/weblog/UncleFrank/UncleFranksDiary.htm

#3 - Current issue: Books and Toasters: Who Ya Gonna Trust? (About
pay-per reviews at ForeWord Magazine)

#2 - To Breath Is to Judge: An Attempt to Think Calmly about Nicholson
Baker's Book, Double Fold

#1 - Says Schroeder, "We have a very serious issue with librarians."
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8. More Double Fold reviews

Baker review on alternet
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=10858

Baker interview in the Atlantic Monthly
http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2001-05-10.htm

Uncle Frank on Double Fold
http://www.newpages.com/Weblog/UncleFrank/UncleFranksDiaryNumber02.htm

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From: "Kent Slade" <kslade[at]loganutah.org>
To: "Multiple recipients of list" <publib[at]sunsite.berkeley.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2001 1:26 PM
Subject: [PUBLIB] Nicholson Baker

> Not to open too many wounds, but Nicholson Baker spoke at the recent
> Utah Library Association Conference.  His presentation was taped for
> C-SPAN and will be aired soon.  The following is a message Randy
> Silverman, President of ULA sent out:
>
> On Saturday, May 26 at 5:30 pm (Eastern Standard Time, Im not
> sure what this means in the Mountain Time Zone) C-SPAN Book TV
> (which airs on C-SPAN 2) will broadcast Nicholson Bakers recent
> appearance at the Utah Library Association 2001 Conference in
> Sandy, Utah.  Author of Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on
> Paper, Baker will discuss the fact that libraries across the country
> are dismantling their collections of original bound newspapers and
> books and replacing them with microfilmed copies. He asserts that
> microfilm copies are inferior in quality to originals and also
> deteriorate with age. Mr. Baker believes that because of this policy
> to copy and discard, complete editions of most of America's
> newspapers no longer exist. Mr. Baker employs a slide show to
> reinforce his argument that the documents should be preserved in
> their original form. The term 'double fold,' he explains, describes a
> method used by librarians to determine whether a book is still usable.
>
> --
> Kent Slade
> Electronic Services Librarian
> Logan Library
> kslade[at]loganutah.org
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9. New bill would block anonymous use of email in libraries

This is from http://lisnews.com

Mary Minow writes "Rep. Felix Grucci introduced a bill May 15 to amend
section 254 of the Communications Act of 1934 to require schools and
libraries receiving universal service assistance to block access to
Internet services that enable users to access the World Wide Web and
transfer electronic mail in an anonymous manner. This Act is cited as the
`Who Is E-Mailing Our Kids Act'.
A library would need to certify that it`(i) is enforcing a policy regarding
anonymous Internet connection that includes the operation of a technology
protection measure with respect to any of its computers with Internet
access that prevents use of such computers to access an online privacy
service that enables a user--
`(I) to send electronic mail anonymously; or
`(II) to access the World Wide Web anonymously; and
`(ii) is enforcing the operation of such technology protection measure
during any use of such computers.';
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query
 Look up H.R. 1846 "
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10. News stories appearing in the May 28 American Libraries Online

<http://www.ala.org/alonline/>;

American Libraries' Web site also features the latest "Internet
Librarian" columns by Karen Schneider; "Technically Speaking" by David
Dorman; AL's "Career Leads" job ads; listings of conferences,
continuing-education courses, exhibitions, and other events from AL's
"Datebook"; and Tables of Contents for the current year.

Do you have a comment to make about anything appearing in American
Libraries? The editors encourage signed e-mail letters on recent content or
matters of general interest to the library profession in the Reader Forum
section. Send 250 words or less to americanlibraries[at]ala.org
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11. Hacker tool takes on Web censorship

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2717959,00.html

"Mix a rabid love of freedom with an intense dislike of corporate or
state-sponsored censorship, fold in the wacky collective brilliance of a
group of rogue coders, and what do you get? Tyranny's worst nightmare:
an untraceable, globally distributed digital information network called
Peekabooty."
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12. What readers are reading...

thanks, & what i'm reading
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 01:40:23 -0700
From: "Bruce Jensen" <flaco[at]ucla.edu>

right now i'm reading _global ethnography_ by michael burawoy
and his students (berkeley: UC press, 2000), a collection of timely &
trenchant social research.  burawoy and his crew bring a wide-awake
perspective to their brand of 21st-century anthropology and these
examinations of homeless trash recyclers, pittsburgh union organizers, s.f.
shipyard workers read like good naturalistic fiction except it's all true
and it helps illuminate the forces at work on our worlds.  i'm also reading
_poor people and library services_, a book i think you know well.

b.

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Re: What are you reading?
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 08:50:31 -0400
From: Ben Ostrowsky <ostrowb[at]tblc.or>

I've recently started a bookblog to keep track of what I've been reading:

http://www.atlantic.net/~sylvar/bookblog/

Ben

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reading list
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 08:07:14 -0500
From: "Bratton, Phyllis" <pbratton[at]jc.edu>

Hi, Rory --

I find it quite impossible to read only one book at a time.  At the moment,
I am reading:

PCS FOR DUMMIES
FITNESS WALKING FOR DUMMIES
SELECTED POEMS OF LONGFELLOW
A HISTORY OF GOD
PRAIRY ERTH

and for a bit of levity, a book of English murder mysteries, whose name
escapes me at the moment.

It should be noted that these books are scattered throughout the daily stops

of my life, and are not all read in the same place.

Phyllis

Phyllis Ann K. Bratton
Director, Raugust Library
6070 College Lane
Jamestown, ND    58405
(701) 252-3467, ext.2433
pbratton[at]jc.edu

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What Steve Fesenmaier is reading....
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 09:07:57 -0400
From: Steve Fesenmaier <fesenms[at]wvlc.lib.wv.us>

I am so glad that you asked this....the NY Times does it...why not
Juice? I found a very nice new book on one of my original obsessions,
cosmology, while looking at the Random House site for DOUBLE FOLD -
which I have read of course. The books is the new one by John Barrow,
"The Book of Nothing Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas About the
Origins of the Universe".  I have also recently read "The Mystery of the
Aleph", a history of the study of infinity in mathematics and another
new book on cosmology, "Just Six Numbers : The Deep Forces That Shape
the Universe". I am also reading a new novel by WV author Keith Mallard,
"Gloria". The main periodicals I read are NY Sunday Times, Village
Voice, City Pages from hometown of Minneapolis, Scientific American, The
Atlantic, NY Review of Books. I do print out many things from the web
including Juice and other articles. I recently received two articles by
a cosmologist who also understands something about philosophy of
science, my original field of study.  - Steve

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Books we are reading
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 09:15:19 -0400
From: "Janette Ransom" <jransom1[at]mhc.net>

I just finished  The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan.  This is one of the
best books I have read in a long time!  I was not impressed with the first
few chapters but  I kept reading and it got better and better.  This would
be a great movie.  I highly recommend it.

Janette Ransom, MLS
Librarian
Health Sciences Library
Munson Medical Center
1105 Sixth Street
Traverse City, MI  49684
231-935-6764

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Top three books I've read this year
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 08:35:22 -0500
From: Liz Bryson <bryson[at]cfht.hawaii.edu>

#1.Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres, Robin Desser (Editor)
Both my husband and I read this book and think it was one of the
best-written novels we have ever read.

#2. Fast Food Nation by  Eric Schlosser
A compelling well-documented recount of the fast-food industry. After
reading this, if you eat at a fast food restaurant again, I'll be
amazed.

#3. Joe DiMaggio : The Hero's Life by Richard Ben Crame
To quote Amazon, "Scrupulously researched and elegantly written, The
Hero's Life is filled with stories and reminiscences, both on and off
the field." The texture of the words, the ebb and flow of the stories,
make this book a wonderful study of the game that is baseball.

Liz Bryson
Astronomy Librarian
Canada-France-Hawaii Tel. Corp.
Kamuela, HI.  96743

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What are you reading?
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 10:48:02 -0300
From: Aldo Barreto <aldoibct[at]ax.apc.org>

Hi,
I am reading a very good book of Loet Leydesdorff The Challenge of
Scientometrics, which deals  with the change and the development of
measurement and self-organization of science communication in the digital
era. Universal Publishers ,Usa ,2001.

2 - the Magazine of Information Sciece "DataGramaZero" which is freely
available at the internet  at <http://www.dgz.org.br>; or
<http://www.dgzero.org>;

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Books
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 09:35:38 -0700
From: "Dwyer, Jim" <JRDWYER[at]csuchico.edu>

Rory,
I've been reading tons of ecofiction, 3 or 4 novels per week, while on
sabbatical. So far I've finished chapters about Rick Bass, B. Traven, Sarah
Orne Jewett, Ed Abbey, Frank Waters, and Octavia Butler. While I highly
recommend all of these authors, I think Octavia Butler would be of greatest
interest to Library Juice.
Butler is considered primarily a sci-fi author and is so complex that she
might be considered either utopian or dystopian depending on your
perspective. Her novels deal with issues of control vs. freedom, racism,
sexism, the environment, and what it means to be human. She is a cautionary
author considering "What are the consequences of continuing down a path of
corporate greed, technology in the hands of the elite, right wing
'Christianity,' militarism, and environmental destruction?" She is strongly
supportive of the space program which she considers one of few 20th century
technologies that have done more good than harm, but most of her novels take
place on Earth. Very compelling. Her two latest, Parable of the Talents, and
Parable of the Sower are her best work to date. Don't be surprised if this
becomes a trilogy. (She's written a 5 part series, a trilogy, a book of
short stories, an historical fantasy, and the Parable books.)
On the book review issue, no I would not trust what is essentially a paid PR
firm to do reviews, but it would be nice for librarian-reviewers to get some
credit. You'll notice that when another author provides a blurb, s/he is
always credited. "More depressing and neurotic than even my brilliant
brain!-Joyce Carol Gloats" Others are simply tagged "Library Review,"
"Choice," etc. No respect!
Jim Dwyer
aka, The Rev. Junkyard Moondog
530-893-0779
"I must say I like variety myself; some folks washes Monday an' irons
Tuesday the whole year round, even when the circus is goin' by!"
Mrs. Almira Todd, from Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett
(1896)

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RE: Library Juice 4:19
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 12:45:32 -0400
From: "KEITH, LINDA" <LINDA.KEITH[at]DFAS.MIL>

What are we reading?

Carl Hiaasen  novels and columns
Books on Buddhism
An occasional Stephen King novel
Spirituality, Self confidence, and mental health
Leadership, Management, Diet, Health, and Self improvement
Cat Who books

Periodicals

Many book review and professional periodicals
UUA World
AKWA (for water aerobics)

Linda Keith

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

what am I reading?
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 12:29:37 -0600 (CST)
From: Joseph Bongers <bongers[at]AXP.WINNEFOX.ORG>

Hello,

I just finished Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, a very enjoyable,
but thoroughly disturbing book.  The writing is very sharp and
entertaining.  I highly recommend it.

Thanks,
Joe Bongers

Joseph Bongers                  |       http://www.neenahlibrary.org
Neenah Public Library            |       Email:  bongers[at]winnefox.org
240 E. Wisconsin Ave.           |       Phone:  (920)751-4722 ext.204
Neenah, WI 54956                |       Fax:     (920)751-4931

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Reading
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 18:43:33 -0000
From: "Jody Moser Brewster" <jody47[at]hotmail.com>
To: Rory[at]libr.org

Just finished "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio"  written by my former
classmate, Terry Ryan, about her mother and growing up in a small town in
Northwest Ohio.  Very inspiring.

Now am reading "Back When We Were Grownups" by Anne Tyler. Pretty
interesting concept and probably true for a lot of us boomers.

Jody Brewster
Garden Grove Regional Library

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What I'm reading...
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 15:30:58 -0400
From: "Shirl Kennedy" <sdk[at]tampabay.rr.com>

Books:

The Sheltering Sky
Paul Bowles
Just started this.  Read a biographical article about Bowles someplace
recently and was intrigued enough to pick up this novel.

Becoming Madame Mao
Anchee Min
Fictionalized biography of Jiang Ching by a woman who spent some formative
years at Madame Mao's Shanghai Film Studio. Absorbing read; although
worthwhile is author's memoir, Red Azalea.

The Half Jewish Book: A Celebration
Daniel Klein and Freke Vuijst
As one to whom it applies, can't argue with the book's premise, which is
that "being half-Jewish in a quality unto itself, sui generis."  A little
too much emphasis on half-Jewish celebrities for my taste (like, who cares?)
but worth a look-through for the humor if this is a subject of interest to
you.

As for magazines, my work requires that I read just about every business and
tech journal there is. DUe to overload, I've lost the ability to
differentiate among most of them.  My escapist fare: The New Yorker,
Harper's, The Atlantic Monthly, Vanity Fair, Allure, and whatever looks good
at the supermarket checkout.

Shirl Kennedy
Web Guide Topic Manager
eCompany Now
http://www.ecompany.com

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

book review
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 14:03:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: Andrew Wickens <awickens[at]kcls.org>

Jose Saramago
Blindness

An unknown epidemic strikes a city (in Saramago's Portugal, maybe?) and
when the government forces infected citizens into an old unused prison,
they struggle to survive against hopelessness, starvation, and a sadistic
band of bullies.  I liked this book because it seemed like something that
really could happen, and the gamut of human emotion is represented along
the way.

Andy Wickens
Librarian

If I could put a plug in for a fantastic young adult book; so far, loved
by everyone I've talked to:  Holes by Louis Sachar (fun and quick read)

***************
King County Library System
Kent Regional Library
212 2nd Ave. N
Kent, WA 98032
(253) 859-3330

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What I'm reading
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 22:55:26
From: "susan simovich" <henbird[at]hotmail.com>

I just finished reading Gene Kranz' "Failure is not an option".  while he
can be technical I found myself crying many times because his life and mine
growing up were so entwined in the race for space.  Apollo I, Apollo 11,
Apollo 13- I can tell you where I was when all those were happening, as well
as the first shuttle landing and sputnik.

I also just finished Dr. David Bird's "Bird's Eye View".  good sense of
humor shows in short essays on birding, backyard birds, bird biology and
birds we love and hate.

I just got "flying Cloud" by David Shaw.  since my great great grandfather
was on the ship when it set the speed record i'm looking forward to it.

and... since i just got back from a week at the jersey shore i'm trying to
read all my email and find out what web sites i should be adding to the
library's bookmarks.

susan simovich

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What are you reading?
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 19:48:00 -0400
From: "Wayne Daniels" <w.r.daniels[at]home.com>

"What are you reading?"

Too many things at present. I'm reading, prior to reviewing, science
fiction novels by Brian Stableford and Pat Cadigan, et al., and a
collection of essays titled Speaking Science Fiction. These reviews are to
appear in, variously, The New York Review of Science Fiction, Nova Express,
and Foundation. But I'm first doing a review of Gore Vidal's essay
collection, The Last Empire, for The Globe and Mail, one of two national
papers in Canada. A total of seven books in total, all begun, not all
finished.

Lastly, I owe a couple of articles to Philosophy Now and The Philosopher's
Magazine, but the reading for them is -- thank god -- done.

Why am I doing all this? Well, I recently spent over six months in hospital
fighting cancer. My ability to carry on as a librarian is frankly in doubt
-- unless my employer gets creativeand allows me to work at home, which
could be done. I was formerly responsible for creating web sites such as

http://sciencenet.tpl.toronto.on.ca/

and that sort of thing I could carry on with from home.

When I got out of hospital, faced with a good deal of isolation and
enforced idleness, I contacted every editor I knew, asking for work to,
well, keep the mind alive. As it happened,they all had something for me, so
my plate is a tad full.  But I don't recommend this to colleagues who enjoy
a leisurely read. Cheers, Wayne Daniels

790 Ashley Avenue
Burlington, ON
Canada  L7R 2Z6 tel: (905) 639-0173
e-mail: w.r.daniels[at]home.com

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I'm so glad you asked!!
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 20:56:50 -0400
From: kmccook[at]chuma.cas.usf.edu

Rory,
Who can resist THAT query!
  My books this last 2 weeks...
As to recommending them? Well, reading is a river with a lot of tributaries
and creeks and rivulets and my stream might not be anyone else's stream
and the streams even below are different sea-seeking. Maybe the reason
they are being read will help them be recommended if a particular voyage
to the sea is on someone's itinerary....
   Oneself as Another- Paul Ricoeur (Kathleen Blamey translation, 1992,
University of Chicago Press)--reason (continuing involvement in Catholic
Workers);
   Native Libraries: Cross-Cultural Conditions in the Circumpolar North--
Gordon H. Hills (Scarecrow Press, 1997)--reason (community-based library
interest);
   The Romantics: A Novel- Pankaj Mishra (Random House, 2000)-reason
(think this stream began with wondering about Taliban bombing of
religious statues but can't quite retell how that got me to Mishra except for
his time in the Tibetan communities);
   Bayard Rustin and the Civil Rights Movement--Daniel Levine (Rutgers
Univ. Press, 2000) reason-(he worked with M.Harrington, a personal hero);
   Baby, I Don't Give a Damn (Robert Mitchum's bio)--Lee Server
(St.Martin'sPress, 2001). reason (oh c'mon...look at the pictures. Noir is my
basic background).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What are you reading?
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 22:03:28 -0700
From: Lynn <lschnitz[at]iscweb.com>

I am a high school librarian in Marin County, California. My husband and I
are ripping through Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, hilarious SF - not
an oxymoron! Also in my bedside stack: the new Marion Zimmer Bradley,
Priestess of Avalon, Probability Moon by Nancy Kress and Fortress of
Dragons by C.J. Cherryh. Periodicals: Time, Newsweek, Glamour, PCWorld,
Consumer Reports, and 6 local newspapers, which are the San Francisco
Chronicle, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, the Petaluma Argus-Courier, the
Marin Independent-Journal, the Point Reyes Light and the Bodega Bay
Navigator.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

what I'm reading
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 09:28:36 -0700
From: "Keeney, Scott" <SKEENEY[at]ci.albany.or.us>

Nation, Utne Reader, Sports Illustrated, Mother Earth, Fine Gardening,
Harpers, Consumers Reports cover to cover every issue

Adventures of Kavalier and Clay--y'gotta read at least one >500 page novel
annually to keep your English B.A. current, right?

More and more nonfiction--hobbies, local natural and human history,
travel--as I grow older.

I'm a children's librarian...so:hundreds of picture books annually,
professional mags in toto, scores of kids novels annually; Spinelli's triad
of Maniac Magee/Crash/Wringer unmatched, I think, for true to kid life
eyeopening greatness, especially about boys' life as a metaphor for power
and politics and resistance. Sachar's Holes a modern classic; Creech
gigantic; the influence and controversy of Harry Potter wonderful; simply,
the art and language of children's literature fluorishes.

Thanks,
_______________________________________
Scott Keeney
Children's Librarian              work     541-917-7591
Albany Public Library             fax      541-917-7586
1390 Waverly Dr SE
Albany OR 97321               skeeney[at]ci.albany.or.us

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What we are reading...
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 13:48:36 -0400
From: "Brown, Irmgarde" <brown[at]harf.lib.md.us>

Hi,
I'm reading (along with two fantasy books, 2 web site books, and a book on
information architecture)  Hamlet on the Holodeck by Janet Murray. I highly
recommend this book for its insights and overview of digital literature,
cyberdrama, dramatic storytelling, and much much more. I am intrigued by
the concept of the Internet being compared to primitive versions of printed
texts prior to their evolution into actual "books." I have not even
finished this book, but find each chapter so much food for thought that I
am already encouraging my friends to read it so that we can dialogue. There
is also a web site:  http://web.mit.edu/jhmurray/www/HOH.html for those who
are interested.  Thanks. Irmgarde BrownHarford County Public Library
Belcamp, Maryland

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

reading
Date: Fri, 25 May 2001 20:08:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jessamyn West http://www.jessamyn.com/mailme.html

me? i am reading nothing right now because I had to go to the library and
when i am en roue to or from the library I can not read. well, now I am
not reading because I am typing.

more importantly is how i am reading, all at once for 4-5 hours at a
stetch, until dawn, that's how I like to read.

I got a book about the istory od garbage in NYC. I just finished a weird
book about kids and their drugs called Like Being Killed, I have forgotten
the two books i got out of the library already but one of them is about
map stealing and the other is by Raymond Carver, even though he is dead.

I eat books for breakfast. Then I wash them down with magazines.

jessamyn

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

what librarians are reading ...
Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 16:32:58 -0400
From: "David Pimentel" <davidmp[at]mime.housing.umich.edu>

Rory,

I can only imagine that you've been swamped with responses to your 23 May
(LJ 4:19) request.  I'm only just back from a vacation in the Azores, so I
was doing my best to read anything in Portuguese -- I picked up a
Portuguese etiquette title and a bilingual coffeetable/photo/landscape book
of the islands.

Otherwise: for about a year now, I try never to miss the Utne Reader; the
current (May/June) issue includes an interesting (albeit brief) recipe for
"The Good Life" as well as the second installment from the UR Street
Librarian.  I'm also a fan of the Atlantic Monthly.  I frequently surf over
to librarian.net, and I actually do read American Libraries when it arrives
in my mailbox.

I started the third Harry Potter book (Prisoner of Azkaban) last night,
it's far more absorbing than the other book -- which I should be reading
-- on my nightstand: The Library Administrator's Automation Handbook, by
R.W. Boss, 1997.  I just read Who Moved My Cheese?, but was thoroughly
not-impressed -- and am thankful only that the book was short.

Regards,

David ~

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Current reading :)
Date: Mon, 28 May 2001 12:25:23 -0400
From: "leo j. deveau" <ljdeveau[at]chebucto.ns.ca>
To: Rory[at]libr.org

Hi Rory,

Great question ! Look forward to people's responses. At the moment I'm reading:

-A lovely novel by Jose Saramago called 'Baltasar and Blimunda.'
It puts you on the ground in Portgual and Spain in early 1700's and also
into a wonderful imaginative flight, both literally and figuratively.

-John McPhee's 1997 story collection:  'Irons in the Fire.'
McPhee captures real people in real places, but from a revealing
journalistic/literary perspective.

-William J. Bouwsma's 'The Waning of the Renaissance - 1550-1640.'
I'm just starting it, but I'm looking for clues to the current waning
of Western civilization.

-David Elkin's 'Beyond Sovereignty: Territory and Political Economy
in the 21st Century.'
Another look at what's becoming all of us in our race towards globalization.

-Bill Johnson's 'A Story is A Promise.'
A very simple, yet challenging way to think about literary writing
technique and story-telling.

-And far too much academic stuff related to information access and
citizen participation.
In this regard, a recent book profiling the Canadian experience is called:
'E-Commerce vs E-Commons: Communications in the Public Interest,'
edited by Marita Moll and Leslie Regan Shade. Published by the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alterntives,
(see. www.policyalternatives.ca)

Cheers,
Leo
________________________________________________________________________top


13. A short list of resources about (certain) drugs

from Chris Mays


a. Favorite site for in-print books about drugs:

Mind Books
http://www.promind.com

b. Favorite site for rare and out-of-print books about drugs:

Flashback Books
http://www.flashbackbooks.com/

c. Favorite bibliographic site on drugs and spirituality:

Council on Spiritual Practices' Entheogen Project, including
their bibliography
"Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy"
http://www.csp.org/practices/entheogens/entheogens.html

d. Favorite site for drug information:

The Vaults of Erowid
http://www.erowid.org

e. Favorite "if you could only have one book about drugs":

McKenna, Terence K. (1991): The archaic revival :
speculations on psychedelic
mushrooms, the Amazon, virtual reality, UFOs, evolution,
shamanism, the rebirth of the goddess, and the end of history.
http://www.promind.com/bk_arc.htm

Chris Mays <chrism[at]sfsu.edu>
http://www.cmays.net/tmbib.shtml
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~chrism/
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14. Seven-Plus Wonders of Sustainability

The Public Library is one of the Seven Wonders of Sustainability,
according to Alan Durning, the director of Seattle's Northwest
Environment Watch.

An article about the Seven Wonders:
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=1187

Information on the Sierra Club book on the concept:
http://www.sierraclub.org/books/catalog/1578050383.asp
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15. Funny Searches in May

The following are internet searches that led, for one reason or another,
to pages on libr.org:

hairygirl.com
pirate clothing
gospel space juice
sex instruction advice
how to remain calm and collected in a leadership position
girl elevator operators
wholesale antlers
asparagus picker
southbeach booty
________________________________________________________________________top


16. Reaction Time

As he steps off the curb a car comes screaming around the corner and heads
straight for him.

The man walks faster, trying to hurry across the street,  but the car
changes lanes and is still coming at him.

So the guy turns around to go back, but the car changes lanes again and is
still coming at him.

By now, the car is so close and the man so scared that he just freezes and
stops in the middle of the road.

The car gets real close, then swerves at the last possible moment and
stops next to the man.

The driver rolls down the window. It's a squirrel. It says, "See, it's not
as easy as it looks, is it?"
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