Crítica Biliotecológica (Library and Information Science Critique: Journal of the Information Sciences Recorded in Documents) is a budding publication from the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The online, open access, publication will be focusing on information sciences and critical analysis of the field. Some of the broader topics contributors are encouraged to discuss include, analysis of the “information society”, “research methodology”, “the limits of copyright”, “social injustice within the field”, and “privatization and monopolies from information providers”, among other challenging topics.

While the journal will specialize in articles by professionals, paraprofessionals and students debating various sides of issues within the library field, it also welcomes poetry, short stories, and other writings on the matter. The publishers expect to publish 4 times a year (January, April, July and October). Entries are welcome in both Spanish and English.

The first issues is already in the works, but people who wish to contribute and who already have an article that might interest the journal are encouraged to submit their work. (I didn’t find an obvious link where to submit your work, but I guess you can contact one of the organizers.)

Zapopan Martín Muela-Meza - zapopanmuela@gmail.com

José Antonio Torres Reyes - joantreyes@gmail.com

You can expect the first issues here.

A few days ago OCLC and Google Books created a partnership that will allow uses of both services to benefit, and better locate library material. OCLC member libraries who already have agreements with Google Books will now be able to make their MARC records available through Google, which will increase the visibility of material. Basically this partnership will allow users of the web to search for books and other library material be guided towards specific library catalogs, which will then provide full access to books that are already part of Google Books. Ideally this set up will drive up traffic for libraries both online and in person. Web users will be able to access full text books from home, but those who wish to borrow the books will be able to see local libraries’ holding.

You can read OCLCs press release on the matter here.

Being that we can’t go back in time to study previous climate patterns, Prof. Zerefos of the National Observatory of Athens has begun a study of old master pieces to learn more about global weather patterns.

Using impressionist pieces created mostly in the 19th century, scientists are focusing on the differences between the usage of red and green hues to create hypothesis of how much pollution was in the skies specially after the eruption of large volcanoes. The redder the sunsets, the more pollution was in the air.

Impressionist artists of the time did a great job of capturing real scenes to the extent that scientist have been able to see patters between the art and periods of high pollution after major volcanic eruptions. Such is the case when various artists created richer sunsets for three consecutive years after the eruptions of Tambora in 1815, Bubuyan (Philippines) in 1831, Consiguina (Nicaragua) in 1835, and Krakatoa in 1881. Some of the artists being used include J.M.W. Turner, Rubens, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, and Hogarth. Edvard Munch’s red skies in The Scream are thought to be the effect of Krakatoa as seen from Norway.

The scientists involved in this project are already looking into extending their research to include paintings from the 20th century.

You can read more about this from an article in the Guardian, or more specifically about the impact of major volcanic eruptions and their effects world-wide in Simon Winchester’s Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883.

Image info. here.

Earlier this week I was in NYC to witness the auction of a portion of a collection I helped inventory about two years ago. The collection was pieced together by Maury Bromsen, a rare book collector based in Boston, who passed away in 2005, bequeathing the entire collection to the John Carter Brown Library (JCB) in Providence Rhode Island. The Bromsen collection originally included material by and about Simon Bolivar, which had already been donated to the JCB, along with material mostly, but not exclusively, from the 18th, 19th and 20th century spanning the length and width of Latin America. Among the material I inventoried were original proclamations of the Mexican independence, along with entire collection by Andres Bello. There was also material on tourism, politics, novels, memoirs, cookbook, and all kinds of other literary pieces emerging from the region.

The auction, which took place at Swann Auction Galleries, included 68 lots from the original Bromsen collection, all of which were sold in about an hour. This sale was set up as a shelf sale, meaning that everything had to sell, regardless of the price; this would be in contrast to a catalog sale where the seller set a minimum price, and items will be kept if there are no buyers willing to pay this price.

Buyers in this occasion were mainly book dealers who had to buy entire book lots to get a few hidden gems, which they would later resell individually. Someone else that was there buying and whom I got to meet was the director of the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, in Bogotá, Colombia. The fact that she came all the way from Colombia to buy books on Latin America in New York was very telling of how the flow of books works these days.

There are still thousands of book from the Bromsen collection that will be auction off sometime in the future. The next sale will likely be middle prices material, and the last one will be for all the remaining treasures.

Photograph by colombianflowers.

It seems like a lot of the rich and famous spend a good amount of time and money collecting books, manuscripts and other library material, which they treasure during their life time and which later become great assets to libraries once they are bequeathed. A number of very prestigious libraries have started out by such generous donations.

Harvard’s libraries started when John Harvard donated his collection to the institution back in 1638. Later Eleanor Elkins Widener, gave another significant push when she carried out her sons wish to donate his collection to the university. Her son, Harry Elkin Widener, class of 1907, perished with the Titanic.

The John Carter Brown Library, affiliated with Brown University has also greatly benefited from the donation of personal libraries. John Carter Brown was an avid collector of Americana; his collection was further developed by his son John Nicholas Brown, who subsequently assigned the funds to house this collection. During more recent times whey had also received the Paul R. Dupee Jr. collection which focused on Mexican History. And in two different installment, rare book collector Maury Bromsen donated the vast majority of his collection to the John Carter Brown Library as well.

Significant library collections are also established by those who don’t specialize in books. Collections of letters, diaries, and pretty much anything else can eventually also make it into libraries, and are usually considered part of Special Collections. Morehouse College holds the larger portion of the Martin Luther King Jr. Collection. While the University of Texas at Austin, Benson Latin American Collection acquired the Gloria E. Anzaldua collection just a few years ago.

This week the NYT had an article on CEOs personal libraries, describing both some of the treasures that are to be found in them, as well as commenting on just how protective some of these people are about their books. It’s also interesting to learn that some of these collections have hardly anything in common with these people’s professions. For instance, Steven P. Jobs from Apple had a large collection on William Blake.

While as a librarian I’m initially a little uneasy with having such treasures in personal hands, I’m comforted to know that in the end many of these personal treasures do end up in libraries where they can be used and enjoyed by all.

A few weeks ago dozens upon dozens of giant red books started arriving where I work and no one knew why or if anyone had ordered them. Turns out this isn’t the only place where Adnan Oktar, also know as Harun Yahya , has been sending unsolicited copies of his latest publication, “Atlas of Creation;” they have been showing up at libraries, museums and even the USA congress.

Today the NYT had an article about just this phenomenon and it seems that where ever the book arrives it is producing the same reaction, something along the lines of “The book is gorgeously produced, but we aren’t adding it to the collection because it is full of information that just isn’t accurate.” Basically the book is a beautiful book, covered in full color photographs on heavy glossy paper, but it’s point is to argue that evolution has not occurred since there are plenty of creatures today which look just like their ancient relatives.

Apparently the book hasn’t only gotten around the USA; Earlier this year a French translation actually showed up in schools, universities and museums around France, where scientist quickly spoke out against the book, and the centralized school system facilitated the books removal.

It seems that the author’s intent to debunk Darwin has come to little effect, and mainly what he has achieved is to have everyone wondering where the money has come from to produce such a magnificent book, and then mail them all over the country, when each copy weighs about 12 pounds!

You can take a look at Harun Yahya website here.

08.30.07 - Here is some else’s comments on Yahya’s reaction to blog posts on his work. He’s apparently gotten local officials in Turkey to blog WordPress comments on his work.

Image info here.

Usually library fundraisers might involved a party, reading event or book sale, but a few libraries have come up with creative alternatives all their own. The National Library of Peru was recently renovated, and now has a functioning pool. The library offers swimming lessons and raises money this way. This method will also attract non-traditional patrons into the library, who will then, hopefully, become regular patrons.

The city library of Vienna is currently running a sex hotline to raise money for their library. Here, Austrian actress Anne Bennent reads erotica in German, both original pieces and translations. The program was organized in collaboration with the Aktionsradius Wien cultural organization. The call cost about 53 US cents a minute, and the library estimates that they already have about 660 minutes worth of calls. You can read more about this projects from the American Libraries Online, the article is here.

It’s all fair when trying to keep libraries afloat!

08.21.07 - The Montana Library Association has found another interesting way of raising money. They are putting out a 2008 calendar called “Montana Book Babes: Librarians Under the Big Sky.” The calendar features real librarians along with a brief bio of each model. Calendars are $20 and can be purchased here.

01.30.08 - Here’s another calendar trying to raise funds, “The Mildly Attractive Men of SLIS” (These funds will be used towards helping library students at USC attend the World Library and Information Congress “Libraries Without Borders: Navigating Towards Global Understanding”, which will take place in Quebec, August 2008.) Cheers to the guys who helped out with this cause!

Image info here.

Yesterday I attended a fascinating lecture on eIFL which is an independent consortium for library consortia. Basically what it does is help libraries in the developing world access online journals and other material by pooling their resources (eIFL doesn’t work with individual libraries) and in this way be able to effectively negotiate with publishers and vendors to make their products available at deeply discounted prices, i.e the consortia model.

eIFL began in 1999 as an initiative from the Open Society Institute, which in the 1990s was working in Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union to promote library development and modernization. A large absence was notices when it came to electronic resources, mostly due to the high costs of these. This is eIFL realm, and they are successful while negotiating with these vendors, because although they are asking for huge discounts on their material, in return they will deliver access to future markets and a strong library community. Some of the countries working with eIFL began with very little clout in their own countries, yet over the years have been able to receive more funding from their local governments, and thus are able to purchase more electronic subscriptions and pay some money for them.

eIFL is addressing issues of access, not only by working with vendors and publishers, but also by being active participants with organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the A2K (the global Access to Knowledge campaign), since they are equally interested in changing our perceptions of copyright laws, and how making information freely available will benefit us all.

This organization also promote the use of opensource software which has allowed numerable libraries with financial difficulties make use of old computers for which they could no longer afford licensing. Such was the case when the helped Birzeit University in Palestine make a number of old computers, usable once more. They also are also developing “Library -in-a-Box” project, which helps libraries create digital libraries with little or no programming.

Other issues that are gradually being address are the lack of library training in certain countries, poor connectivity and bandwidth, lack of coordination from donors, and finding resources to enable some of the librarians in developing countries to travel to the various international library associations meetings to personally voice their case.

Currently eIFL works in 50 countries in three continents, although there is a big absence in all of the Americas. This is partially due because they want follow through with the commitments they already have, before making new ones. Yet in the mean time they are trying to encourage mentor relationships between the countries already participating in the program, and those who want to become new members.

Note: The eIFL website is currently under constructions, so you might want to look at their old website.

Earlier this week I attended a lecture that addressed social tagging and its use to libraries. Today more and more libraries and archives are trying to make themselves more visible by creating engaging websites, starting blog and posting photographs on flickr. While many of these are started to attract people to the library, it was fascinating to see the information that is coming out of these open spaces.

Take for example the Beyond Brown Paper site. This is a project based out of Plymouth State University, and it aims to digitize and preserve a photography collection about the paper mills that used to function in the area. The collection contains about 11,000 photographs that are gradually making their way on to their site. The fascinating thing is that the site allows for comments and collaboration, and this has brought new information to the project. Locals who used to work at these mills have seen some of the photographs, and through their comments have started to fill in the information gaps.

Item # 718 is an image of two men working on some equipment. The subject headings that were initially allocated are “Tightening, Securing lid on digester, Wrenches, Digester, and Burgess Mill.” In early March someone posted a comment giving us more information on what the digester does. Later in the month someone else identified one of the men in the photograph.

In cataloging, usually the more information we provide the better since it provides more access points to the item. But librarians, archivers and the like don’t know everything, so it’s fascinating that we can get help from the people who lived and experienced the history and documents we are trying to help manage. And while there can be a concern of people volunteering inaccurate information, I think the risk isn’t a serious one. Besides we can always acknowledge where the information came from.

A similar case was seen on flickr. Here someone posted their pictures of vacation in Newfoundland, which included a close up of a Humpback Whale’s tail. Another person who knew about whales was later able to identify this particular whale as one that scientist had been following under the “name” of HWC#2943, last seen in 1984!

You can learn more about this project and how it came about at maisonbisson. Bisson is also behind the Cook Memorial Library project which is also based on WordPress.

- Photograph used with permission-

I just finished reading an article by Chip Ward, former assistant director to the Salt Lake City Public Library which tries to make sense of the public library’s role in relation to homeless people. The article begins by pointing out what is obvious to anyone who spends a significant amount of time at the public library, that there are lots of homeless people there every day. This is to be expected when shelters push people out in the early morning, and other “public” places such as restaurants, and malls, have little tolerance for the homeless.

The article discusses how libraries are caught in a precarious situation, not really being able to do much for the homeless people who arrive on a daily basis needing help. Often the paramedics are called for medical attention, other times it is the police. Both options are incredibly expensive to the local government, and neither one fixes the problem. Some of the homeless people who arrive at the library every day have alcohol problems, others are mentally ill, others just have an unpleasant appearance, and the librarian who is trained to do reference, cataloging, or some other library related task, is forced to becomes a social worker as well.

The article mentioned a particular case in New Jersey where a homeless patron successfully sued the local public library for banning him because of his body odor; this apparently has motivated public libraries to create policies covering the homeless, creating a complicated space between the various patrons using the library and the library’s role in the community. I understand that my local public library has one of these “odor policies” which says that a person can be asked to leave if their smell is offensive. But who is to say what is offensive? Besides this probably only gets enforced with homeless people, while too much perfume, or heaving smoking can produce smells that are just as unpleasant.

This article also covers issues about mental and physical illness in the homeless community, and how librarians must respond to these. Apparently at the public library in Salt Lake City, sanitizing gel and latex gloves are part of the regular work equipment.

I encourage you to read the article and learn more about the situation; the article is here.

On a related note, here is a blog by a homeless man in Nashville, TN, and a homeless woman in the UK.