Nowadays, lots of libraries link up to loan each other books. For the library user, that means if your local library doesn’t have that book, you can request it anyway. In a few days, that book will be shipped to your local library from the library that has that book in their collection. Thus, the library user now has access to books from many libraries. Big smile here! Then reality sets in. You have to wait days before you get your hands on that book to find if it actually contains the information or story that you want. If not, then more days of waiting to try again. It’s a great excuse for your local library not to have that book in the local collection since you can always request it. When you do request it, the result is sometimes “Sorry, no copies available for requests.”. That is because you are now competing for that book not with just the users of your local library, but also the users of all those other libraries. Unlike database information, that book must spend part of its time in transit, during which nobody gets to read it. The library is not likely to add more copies of that book if it is wanted mostly by users of other libraries. Seldom is there any attempt to keep the book in the library closest to most of those people that want it. The tradeoff made by libraries that do this is the resources spent to make these loans possible is cheaper than buying all those books to which access is gained. Unfortunately, sometimes that access is just to the message “Sorry, no copies available for requests.”.
Another Library has That Book…
November 26, 2009
Airplane Pilot Stories as a Library display
February 14, 2009
Captain Sully landing in the Hudson is one more story added to the lore of flying. New York Magazine 2009 February 9 had a good article about pilots. Libraries looking for a subject to display should consider flying and airline pilots.
The novel “Airport” by Arthur Hailey was made into a hit movie, and the movie spawned sequels. The movie was better than the sequels, and the book was better than the movie. The novel “The Right Stuff” by Tom Wolfe was made into a movie. In that movie, Pancho was played by Kim Stanley. The local library had a copy of the biography “The Happy Bottom Riding Club: The Life and Times of Pancho Barnes”, but it was weeded a few years back.
It was loosely adapted to a TV Movie “Pancho Barnes” starring Valerie Bertinelli. An earlier novel was “The High and the Mighty”, which was made into a movie starring John Wayne. I consider the father of this genre to be the autobiography of Ernest K. Gann titled “Fate is the Hunter”. This was loosely adapted into a couple of movies: “Fate is the Hunter” starring Glen Ford, and “Island in the Sky” starring John Wayne. The movies were average, but the book is among my favorites. Hollywood seldom makes the movie as good as the book, and script changes sometimes drastically alter the facts. Other books of interest are “Hard Air” by W. Scott Olsen and “Flying’s Strangest Moments” by John Harding.
Kids ARE allowed in Libraries after Feb 10th, BUT …
February 2, 2009
That collective sigh of relief you heard is from Libraries across the U.S. See:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6633893.html?rssid=192
While most books may be presumed safe for now, note that Libraries are still on the hook for kid books that contain plastic softeners or lead. Thus, all kid books that may contain softeners or lead should be pulled immediately. Electronics commonly uses solder that contains lead. All Kid books that play music, talk, make sounds, or have flashing lights should be pulled.
In the plumbing world, it was decided a while back that lead should no longer be allowed in contact with drinking water. Copper pipes are joined by soldering. The solder was about 60% lead. The reason lead was originally used is because it created a solder with a low melting point close to eutectic. To create a lead free solder, the lead was mostly replaced with silver. To handle the higher temperatures needed for the silver solder, instead of using propane in torches, MAP gas is usually needed now. I remember back in vacuum tube days that silver solder was used in the electronics of Tektronix Oscilloscopes. The electronic chips of today can be degraded by heat, so higher temperature soldering makes manufacuring with them more difficult and expensive. The bottom line is also that silver is a lot more expensive than lead.
With that in mind, acquisition of any kid book with electronics from now on had better include safety certifications that the book meets the present and future standards for lead in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
Eventually, ALA will promulgate some official standards, and advise what to do with the pulled books, but your liability starts February 10th.
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**Update** 2009 Feb 14 Kid books printed with lead ink before 1985 are in danger of violating the law. See article:
Big Brother Bugs Books! Libraries and RFID
January 11, 2009
Public libraries have thin budgets, so are easily tempted by cost saving promises. As a child, I concluded that automation could improve mankind, and I became a gadget guy. Here comes RFID for libraries. I think the amount of improvement gained over barcodes is minimal, and not worth the cost. One promise is that automatic checkin can save labor costs. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a safety guideline on how close workers can be to a RFID reader for a period of hours. I used to work around kilowatt radio transmitters, and know there can be hazzards. Also, a RFID reader doesn’t inspect the condition of the library material being checked in. The best way to do that is to have a human to look for damage. See my old blog:
https://thedonofpages.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/automatic-checkin/
Librarians talk about the importance of privacy, but talk is cheap and people’s privacy is a commodity worth money. Industry and Commerce will increasingly use RFID to track people (“to help with consumer preferences”), and Readers will become widespread. Readers are placed at access points such as building entrances, mass transit, retail stores, parking lots, even floor tiles and shelving. Woodward Labs has a Reader hidden in a liquid soap dispenser. Thus, if you are carrying a library book at any of those locations, you could be scanned and identified. The book will say what you are reading. The travels of the book itself from scanner to scanner can reveal your path to Big Brother. Your employee badge identifies you, or perhaps your customer loyalty card will. If you aren’t wearing your employee badge, maybe those Levi jeans you are wearing or other RFID tagged clothing you purchased will identify you. See:
http://www.nonaiswa.org/?p=1222
See patent 6,348,640 granted 2002 Febr 19.
A Patron checked a book out of a Library. The self-checkout machine showed the book had the wrong title and subject, presumably because the RFID contained the wrong info. The Patron showed the error to Library staff before leaving. Some time after the book was returned to the Library, the Patron received an automatically generated overdue notice for the book. The Patron had to go to the Library to pull the returned book off the Library shelf and hand it to them. If you want to see less of a particular patron, try changing the RFID encoded subject of their book being checked out to “blowing up airplanes’ or “hostage taking”. Sorry, Homeland Security, the library can’t talk about that particular patron and the book they had. At a library, maybe you can get the book “Spychips” by Albrecht & McIntyre, published by Nelson Current, ISBN 1-5955-5020-8. But better hurry before the library replaces the barcode with RFID, or Big Brother will know.
Digital TV “Granny Box” coupons
March 2, 2008
The digital TV revolution is coming; will some of your patrons be a casualty? Who will show granny how to connect the converter? What virtual channels are available in your area? The Feds offer of $40 coupons is scheduled to end March 31. **Update: Offer extended until March 31, 2009 “while supplies last”. First batch is 22 million coupons.** Has your library scheduled a program for beginners on the granny boxes before then? The Ref Desk in the future explaining the deadline passed is of little help. Libraries should give granny a clue now.
See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12688712&postcount=16
To decide whether to buy a granny box now instead of later, check the Digital TV program guide at the website listed below. There’s likely few additional TV shows. If for example, you decide you can’t miss “Commonwealth Club Speakers” on virtual channel 7-2, then buy one granny box now.
In Silicon Valley, virtual channel 7-2 comes from Sutro Tower on channel 24. A rooftop antenna of 12dBd on Channel 24 aimed at San Francisco should work, but I haven’t found specs for 5th or 6th generation DTV chips. Retailers start their participation this week, but reviewers haven’t committed. With only 5 million coupon requests so far, looks like the added restrictions won’t kick in soon. Privately, for now try a Zenith DTT900 though it doesn’t have the smart antenna jack. Avoid the Insignia, which is a rebranded Zenith, unless LG will back the warranty. I’ll wait to decide what to buy until May, when hopefully there’s more user results posted and my coupons will still be good. **Update April 22: Hold off on the Zenith/Insignia because of even more audio problems. See: http://www.freelists.org/archives/op…/msg00211.html **
coupon elgible converter box (CECB) official Fed list:
https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm
Digital TV program guide:
http://tvlistings.zap2it.com/tvlistings/
Broadcast TV station locator tools: http://www.antennaweb.org
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=80
List of converter box product reviews:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=13059530&postcount=59
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=13258993&postcount=70
Spreadsheet of granny box products:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=13051519&postcount=49
ChannelMaster CM7000:
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=CM-7000
Digital Stream D2A1D10L:
http://www.ezdigitaltv.com/Digital_STREAM_D2A1D10.html
Magnavox TB100MW9:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12967623&postcount=1
RCA DTA800 review:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=13074735&postcount=285
Sansonic ad: http://www.sansonic.net/consumer/atsc_converter.asp
Zenith DTT900 review:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13047439#post13047439
Roof top antennas are allowed anyway:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html
Sound and Vision Magazine links with Circuit City Stores:
http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=304447
The conspiracy on Weapons Signal Destruction (WSD):
http://broadcastengineering.com/eng/fcc_announces_second_round/
For DX nerds only: http://www.geocities.com/toddemslie/UHF-TV-DX.html
http://www.broadcast.net/~sbe1/8vsb/8vsb.htm
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12688712&postcount=16
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6532079.html
San Francisco stations: http://www.choisser.com/sfonair.html
Ch 3 combiner: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=SPSC3&xzoom=Large#xview
Fines not painful enough
October 15, 2007
Some people ignore the return date on movies. After all, if you have deep pockets, the fine isn’t much, and it can just be considered a rental fee on the movie. We should raise the fines. Then again, there’s the hurt little girl with the tear in her eye trying to explain why it was late, and is the fine really that high? Maybe fines should be more reasonable. I had another thought, which some librarians will consider unpatriotic. Put up signs saying “Records of any person fined are reported to the FBI”. Don’t expect more than a yawn from the FBI. To actually back up the sign, have another field in the patron’s record which can be used as a flag. The flag would indicate all of that patron’s activity would be recorded in slow archive memory. No use in burdening a server. No fines, then no records. The flag should be set when the fine is imposed, and have an expiration date of say a couple months or a year. Of course a bluff is cheaper, but word gets out at a library. Too many times the only record is the word of mouth of what “that person” did this time. If it gets bad enough for a police report, all the previous stuff is just hearsay because there are no library records.
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