LACUNY Blog

A little summer reading — article by Zadie Smith you might find interesting

Posted by Lisa Finder on July 16, 2008

Reposted from CULIBS

Hello CUNY colleagues,

I don’t post very often to CULIBs but came across this article in the London Guardian by Zadie Smith on George Eliot’s Middlemarch from a couple of months ago and thought many of you bookworms out there might find it interesting if you haven’t come across it already. It’s no longer on the Guardian website, but is in Lexis Nexis.

Smith, Zadie. (2008, May 24). The Book of Revelations. The Guardian (London) [book review section], p. 2.

(There’s also a bootleg copy, in case your interested, at: http://zadiesmithnews.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/the-book-of-revelations/)

In one beautiful passage she writes: “For Eliot, in the absence of God, all our moral tests must take place on this earth and have their rewards and punishments here. We are each other’s lesson, each other’s duty.” It’s a remarkable meditation on the power of novels to communicate the kind of felt and known truths that can lead readers out of the dogmas that often seem to structure our sense of who we are and what we (think we) want out of life…the kind of truths that are all too easily overlooked and that can, with a little patience, make us more humane and, quite possibly, happily, happier. Her essay seems to share a few ideas with a commencement speech another contemporary novelist, David Foster Wallace, gave at Kenyon College a few years back, which is a great read as well. It’s at: http://www.marginalia.org/dfw_kenyon_commencement.html.

I hope this finds you all well and having a great summer,

Robert Farrell
BMCC

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MagCloud Brings Self-Publication to Magazines

Posted by Sunny Yoon on June 24, 2008

Self-publication has now expanded to magazines.  HP Labs has created a service that allows for publication on demand of magazines and journals:

“MagCloud is another project to emerge from HP Labs. Earlier this year, HP Labs launched BookPrep, a print-on-demand service for out-of-print books. Now, they’re delivering MagCloud, a project devoted to providing small independent publishers the ability to publish digitized magazines as well as economically print on demand. Using HP’s Indigo technology, the magazines are printed when ordered in full color on 80 lb paper with saddle-stitched covers.”

More at: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/self-publish_your_own_magazine_with_magcloud.php

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Call for abstracts for projects funded under PSC-CUNY 39

Posted by Anne Leonard on June 12, 2008

The LACUNY Professional Development Committee would like to continue its documentation of PSC-CUNY grants awarded to CUNY librarians.

If you are a CUNY librarian who received a PSC-CUNY grant in cycle 39, could you please send a 100-200 word abstract of your project to aleonard@citytech.cuny.edu for inclusion on the LACUNY website? Please include a title, and indicate which panel funded your project, if other than the Library panel.

Lists of grants and abstracts from past grant cycles from 2001-2007 can be found on the LACUNY website.

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NY Times Launches API to Create “Programmable Paper”

Posted by Sunny Yoon on May 27, 2008

From readwriteweb.com, “As print circulation continues its slide at most newspapers, one of the United States’ most respected newspapers, the New York Times, is taking steps to boost online readership. The paper is already the third most cited web site on Techmeme, and the first on Memeorandum, proving that bloggers at least pay attention to its reporting. Now, the Grey Lady is working on an API that aims to make the entire newspaper “programmable.”

More at: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/new_york_times_api_coming.php

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Google partnering with OCLC

Posted by Monica Berger on May 21, 2008

OCLC will share their bib records with Google Book Search and visa versa. WorldCat will also have links to Google Book Search:
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3021/nonprofit-library-group-to-share-book-records-with-google

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About Tagging

Posted by Sunny Yoon on May 21, 2008

Joseph Busch from Taxonomy Strategies did a really nice talk on metadata and tagging with an emphasis on social tagging.  The Powerpoint presentation is available as a PDF at:

http://www.taxonomystrategies.com/presentations/2008/UNCTaggingTalk.pdf

Posted in Folksonomies, Library 2.0, Metadata, Social bookmarking, Technology | Tagged: | No Comments »

XML Tutorial

Posted by Sunny Yoon on May 21, 2008

Whether you want to give this a brief glance to understand what XML is or to teach yourself more in-depth XML maneuverings, this site provides an entree into XML:

http://infomotions.com/musings/xml-in-libraries/

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Digital Preservation Management - A Tutorial

Posted by Sunny Yoon on May 20, 2008

ICPSR has a great online tutorial about digital preservation which includes an introduction to commonly used terms/concepts, a discussion on obsolescence (file formats, physical deterioration) and metadata as well as an in depth how-to on how to proceed with digital preservation for a given institution (Table of Contents is below) at:

http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/dpm/dpm-eng/contents.html

1. Setting the Stage
Introduction
Timeline
Timeline Quiz

2. Terms & Concepts
Introduction
Digital Preservation
Archive/Digital Repository
OAIS Terms
Metadata
Strategies
Other Terminology
Glossaries

3. Obsolescence
Introduction
File Formats & Software
Hardware & Media
Physical Threats
Putting It All Together
Chamber of Horrors
Media Quiz

4. Foundations
Introduction
Trusted Digital Repositories
OAIS Reference Model
Preservation Metadata
Putting it All Together

5. Challenges
Introduction
Selecting Assets
Balancing Stakeholders
Legal Issues
Avoiding Obsolescence
Balancing Access Issues
Financing the Future
Defining Compliance

6. Program Elements
Introduction
Digital Assets
Organizational Infrastructure
Technological Infrastructure
Resources Framework
Special Resources

Conclusion
Where to begin?
Additional Reading
Tutorial Evaluation
Feedback Form

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E-reserves Lawsuit in New York Times

Posted by Sunny Yoon on April 16, 2008

FYI, this is an interesting development in IP and fair use.

****

April 16, 2008

Publishers Sue Georgia State on Digital Reading Matter

By KATIE HAFNER

Three prominent academic publishers are suing Georgia State
University, contending that the school is violating copyright
laws by providing course reading material to students in digital
format without seeking permission from the publishers or paying
licensing fees.

In a complaint filed Tuesday in United States District Court in
Atlanta, the publishers — Cambridge University Press, Oxford
University Press and Sage Publications — sued four university
officials, asserting ’systematic, widespread and unauthorized
copying and distribution of a vast amount of copyrighted works’
by Georgia State, which the university distributes through its
Web site.

The lawsuit, which may be the first of its kind, raises questions
about digital rights, which are confronting many media companies,
but also about core issues like the future of the business model
for academic publishers.

Indeed, as the printed word is put in digital form, holding onto
rights seems to many like climbing up the slippery sides of a
glass. The case centers on so-called course packs, compilations
of reading materials from various books and journals. The lawsuit
contends that in many cases, professors are providing students
with multiple chapters of a given work, in violation of the ‘fair
use’ provision of copyright law. The publishers are seeking an
order that the defendants secure permissions and pay licensing
fees to the copyright owners.

Officials at Georgia State, in Atlanta, declined to comment on
the lawsuit. ‘We have been informed that a lawsuit is being
filed,’ a spokeswoman, DeAnna Hines, said. ‘However, we have not
received it, and therefore we won’t be able to comment, pending
potential litigation.’

Over the years, electronic course packs have become increasingly
common, supplanting their physical counterparts. They consist of
reading material taken from a variety of printed sources, which
is then scanned, compiled and posted on a university’s Web site.
By some estimates, electronic course packs now constitute half of
all syllabus reading at American colleges and universities.

‘Digitally delivered course content is probably more widespread
than we’d like to think,’ said Patricia S. Schroeder, president
of the Association of American Publishers, which supports the
lawsuit.

R. Bruce Rich, a partner in the law firm of Weil, Gotshal &
Manges, which is representing the plaintiffs, said that in spite
of repeated attempts to work with Georgia State, ‘they indicated
that they had no interest in having a discussion.’

Mr. Rich said that in a letter his firm received last summer,
Georgia State officials ‘indicated their view that all of their
practices are covered under the fair use doctrine.’

He said that over the last year or so, half a dozen or so other
universities had been contacted about copyright violations. Those
institutions, he said, showed more willingness to work with the
copyright holders and establish stricter university policies
around licensing the material.

Legal precedents exist for cases involving course packs from
photocopied material, but experts say the lawsuit against Georgia
State is the first to be filed over electronic course packs.

In 1991, Basic Books and others won a suit again Kinko’s, which
was selling course packs it had photocopied.

And in 1992, Princeton University Press and others sued Michigan
Document Services, a photocopying service, which was producing
course packs for University of Michigan students without
permission from the copyright holders. The business was
eventually found to be in copyright infringement.

‘Georgia State’s activity seems identical with Michigan Document
Services’ activity,’ said Susan P. Crawford, a visiting professor
at Yale Law School.

But she pointed out that unlike Kinko’s and Michigan Document
Services, Georgia State was not making money from the electronic
course packs.

Yet, she added: ‘It’s difficult to argue that this is a truly
noncommercial use. Georgia State may be a nonprofit institution,
but its students pay a lot of money for course materials, and
would presumably pay money for the materials being provided to
them by the university.’

Frank Smith, editorial director for academic books at Cambridge
University Press, said that for electronic use in a course,
Cambridge typically charges 17 cents a page for each student, and
generally grants permission for use of as much as 20 percent of a
book.

‘Publishers have created a market for course materials that is
very similar to the market for luxury goods,’ Professor Crawford
said. ‘There is only one version available, and at a very high
price.’

The dispute recalls problems the music industry had in protecting
the format of an album on a CD. ‘What publishers don’t understand
is they could disaggregate,’ Professor Crawford said. ‘They could
electronically rip apart their books and sell them chapter by
chapter, and everyone would be happier.’

The publishing industry’s reluctance to do so , she said, stemmed
from ‘a fear that they would cannibalize the market for the
printed object, and they’re reluctant to let go of that model.’

Other experts wonder if such a lawsuit might be premature,
emphasizing that in many ways it is too early to settle on a
business model for the distribution of digital materials.

‘In academic publishing, we need to find the digital services
people really want,’ said Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet
Archive, a nonprofit digital library based in San Francisco. ‘I
wonder if this will turn out to be an ‘attack the innovator’ suit
like the peer-to-peer suits for the music industry. Sometimes a
bit of slack can help us all discover a winning formula.’

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LACUNY Institute - Spring, 2008 - “The World in Your Library”

Posted by Beth Evans on April 13, 2008

Missed the program or want to hear it again? Catch up now:

Listen to a moderated panel of international academic librarians who share their experiences on key issues including intellectual freedom, user services and professional development.

Panelists include:

Julia Bock, Acquisitions Librarian at Long Island University, discusses library services in Hungary | bio | audio

Sergio Chaparro, Assistant Professor, Simmons College, discusses international librarianship as a discipline | bio | audio

Mumtaz Memon, Fulbright Scholar and Mortenson Center Associate from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan | bio | audio

Judith Mavodza, Information Specialist at Metropolitan College of New York, formerly of Masvingo State University in Zimbabwe | bio| audio

Also, hear Diana Bartelli Carlin, Dean-in Residence and Director of International Outreach at the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C. and Chair of the Bologna Process task Force of the NAFSA: Association of International Educators, discuss “The Bologna Accord and Its Impact on Higher Education in the United States” | bio | audio

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