The Memory Theatre

Today on Librarystuff.net, Steven Cohen has posted “In Defense of the Memory Theatre”, concerning the decline and expected demise of the printed book, and more importantly, the personal library.

My personal library is small in comparison to some I have enviously witnessed, and has a many figuratively empty shelves awaiting all the specific titles I wish I owned but haven’t yet had the resources to purchase. My father’s personal library contains a large number of books about Britain, his home country. These titles include glossy-paged guides to the Royals, multi-volume works by Winston Churchill, and pages upon pages of things to see and places to visit in the United Kingdom. Some of my favorite titles originated on the shelves of my father’s bookcase-The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, The Lord of The Rings. All these now have their own place in my collection, some of them prettier and newer than the copies I explored as a child, all of them respected and cherished then and now. In the personal library of my family is where I first developed my love of words, and books from that collection are the books I have read so many times I’ve lost count. If the personal library is indeed in decline, I can only hope that a faction of true believers will hold on long enough for me to expand my own collection. I cannot say there is any substitute for a printed volume with pages that contain not just words, but memories.

Nation's Largest Libraries

This week on resourceshelf.com, the “Resource of the Week” is ‘The Nation’s Largest Libraries’. Topping the list as THE largest Library: The Library of Congress, with a total of 32, 818,014 volumes held. This information is of interest to me not only because it involves libraries, but also because immersion in the holdings of the Library of Congress would be a dream come true for me. Here in the early stages of my MLS education, a career in Academic libraries feels like a good fit. An opportunity to work in the Library of Congress would be an overwhelming seal of approval on my dreams. Also interesting to note that I live not far from the #5 on the list: University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign. My chances of landing a job in Illinois are probably much higher than my chances of working at the Library of Congress, but without any research into the particulars of the UofI library, Illinois is not so much my first choice of states to live or work in. I’d rather dream big and see how things shake out at this point. Indiana University Library ranks 11th on the list, and I suppose if I decide that employment at a library on this list is important to me, I do have many to choose from.
The listing of the Nation’s Largest Libraries is published by the ALA, and the complete list can be found on their website ALA Library Fact Sheets.

I found this fantastic comic panel at the Library Stuff weblog

RFID & DRM vids

Just watched the HARNESS RFID Library Solutions video on YouTube. My first reaction was “what does RFID stand for?” followed by “the visuals and the music are a nice touch” and “this reminds me of an eSurance commercial…without the talking”. From a library user perspective, the system seems similar to the barcode system currently in place at my local county library branches, which have the self-check kiosks in place. However each item must be scanned individually, and sometimes no matter how you twist, tilt or scoot the materiel, the laser beam doesn’t register. The RFID system appears to read multiple tags simultaneously, which is a definite plus for those of us who have trouble leaving the library with less than 10 items. I am of course a bit skeptical that the system is as easy to use and fluid as the video suggests, but isn’t it the job of advertising to show us the good while glossing over the flaws?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaArv8fdXaI

The Digital Rights Management video really clicks for me. I very much understand what Dr. Agnew is saying, and I agree with her opinions about where society is being “herded” with the use of embedded watermarks and digital communication capabilities. Interesting how the management of the rights belonging to the creator of digital media is now attached to the way we experience the same media, and the way that companies and corporations are able to track how and when we use and experience the media.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRfX2gPwXMo