University of California, Berkeley, law professor Pamela Samuelson, on behalf of more than 80 academics, sent a letter on Monday to Judge Denny Chin asserting that academic authors should not be included as part of a class authorization in the high profile Google Books case, due to fundamental disagreements between the interests of academics and other types of authors.
SOPA Is Top Story for Young People
By on January 30, 2012
Young people under 30 followed protests over SOPA more closely than news about the upcoming presidential election, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
Keep Good Searches from Going Bad
By on January 25, 2012
When students make a beeline for Google, these tips can improve their experience.
Meet the Chromebook: Is the Samsung Google OS laptop fit for school?
By on January 3, 2012
With school-friendly features, including all-day battery life and a lease-to-own option, the Samsung Series 5 holds potential for 1-1 computing. Jeff Hastings runs down the considerations for deploying Chromebooks in a K-12 setting.
Libraries, Chromebooks, and Google Apps
By on December 22, 2011
Whether Chromebooks will catch on in libraries remains to be seen, but Google Apps, the free-to-use cloud-based suite of office tools at the heart of the Chromebook, has been making inroads in libraries for years, due in part to its relatively low cost compared to Microsoft Office.
Webinar Tackles a Conundrum for Kids and Educators Alike: Research Skills
By on December 5, 2011
Librarians shared the best strategies when working with students and research in a recent webinar. The bottom line? The need to push them to think beyond the results—and instead examine how they got there.
Libraries on Google+
By on November 18, 2011
Google’s popular social networking site, Google+, was launched in June of this year, and has since built up a membership of more than 40 million users. But only earlier this month did Google begin allowing organizations, and not just individuals, to create their own pages on the site.
Charleston Conference 2011: Big Ideas, Big Challenges
By on November 8, 2011
This year at the Charleston Conference—the annual meeting of academic acquisitions librarians and library vendors held in Charleston, SC, from November 2 to 5—many of the plenary presentations shared a common theme: as libraries face new challenges, new ideas are needed. And as the main speakers and presenters touched on a wide range of issues, it became clear that there was no shortage of new ideas, and opinions, in the library world.
Espresso Print-on-Demand Book Machines Making Inroads at Public Libraries
By on November 2, 2011
Darien Library, CT, launched a new Espresso Book Machine (EBM), which can print and create a bound book in a matter of minutes, during its annual meeting on October 30. The Sacramento Public Library, CA, will soon launch its own EBM. They’re two of only three public libraries in the country currently providing the fee-based print-on-demand service to patrons—but if the service catches on, it could be the first step in establishing public libraries as a center for on-demand book printing and self-publishing.
