j's scratchpad

Jessamyn’s Librarian.net is the Guardian Unlimited’s Pick of the Day!

Harvard in the News is probably the publication my office is best known for, but we don’t do a very good job of publicizing its existence and that we do it. I’ve never really understood why; it’s just one of those battles I decided isn’t worth fighting. I also think it would be very easy [...]

John H. Ewing, executive director of the American Mathematical Society, compares and contrasts several models of scholarly publishing in this Chronicle of Higher Education opinion piece in order to explore where scholarly publishing has gone wrong and how to fix it.

Matthew Klam takes a look at blogging on the campaign trail in this New York Times Magazine piece. He discusses the potential influence of blogs during the upcoming election and what it’s like to cover the political conventions.

The news about the fire that destroyed many key works in and damaged much of the Duchess Anna Amalia Library is old, but I first learned of it yesterday and feel like I should point to it. As with many fires, officials report the losses are actually greater than intitally thought. The American Library Association [...]

The Chinese government has arrested a Chinese New York Times researcher working in a bureau in China and accused him of leaking state secrets. The U.S. Department of State expressed its concern to China.

I’m particularly proud of this work because no one asked me to do it. I just voluntarily sent around the numbers of MacArthur winners at Harvard in case they’d need it. And they used it! Go me! ::pats self on back::
This article is going in my portfolio.

I checked out books from the American Libraries Association’s various lists of challenged and banned books.

Lois Lowry’s The Giver
A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa
Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland’s King & King and King & King [...]

Banned Books Week begins today. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on our freedom to read. After I get off work today, I plan to visit my local library to check out some of the banned and challenged books on the lists I pointed to last week. I think I might have some time [...]

but not quite. Actually, it’s almost making me want to see the film.
(What was it someone was saying to me about Noah Wyle the other day? Someone’s brother going through med school on the same timeline Carter was on ER?)
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