+ British Library Automates Billing

+ Toronto Public Library Board Announces Appointment of New Chief Librarian

+ Libraries in D.C. Plan Cuts in Hours: Budget Shortfall Would Also Close Kiosks (via Washington Post)

+ OH: Newark Library Plans to Sell It’s VHS Tape Collection (via Newark Advocate)

Posted 29 July 2008 on DocuTicker:
+ Risk at home: privacy and security risks in telecommuting (Ernst & Young)
+ Intelligence reform at the Dept. of Energy: Policy issues and organizational alternatives (Congressional Research Service)
+ An Economic Strategy for Investing in America’s Infrastructure (The Brookings Institution)

Citizen Media Law Project Legal Guide

Knowing your legal rights and responsibilities is important for anyone who publishes online. The CMLP’s legal guide addresses the legal issues you may encounter as you gather information and publish your work. The guide is intended for use by citizen media creators with or without formal legal training, as well as others with an interest in these issues. You can search by keyword, browse by state, browse by section, or simply jump right in.

This guide is still a work in progress: not all sections are available for public viewing yet, and those sections that we have published are still undergoing revisions. We are eager to get your feedback.

Source: Citizen Media Law Project (Berkman Center for Internet & Society)

From the article:

Congress is considering a bill that would bar children who use computers in public libraries from accessing Facebook and other social networking websites without parental permission.

Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, the Illinois Republican who sponsored the measure, says the proposal would keep sexual predators from contacting minors who are using a library computer.

But the American Library Association says Kirk’s bill is yet another attempt by the federal government to interfere with library users’ privacy and free speech.

“If people in a community do not feel confident that their privacy will be protected, they cannot use the library as it was intended, for intellectual pursuit,” said Emily Sheketoff, who heads the association’s Washington office. “It will intimidate them.”

Source: USA Today

From the USA Today article:

Libraries have transformed themselves from staid, sleepy institutions into hip community centers offering Internet service, classes for kids and seniors, and even coffee and video gaming nights.

Some have classes on citizenship for recent immigrants or provide sessions on improving computer skills. Most provide wireless Internet service, and many consult teen advisory councils for guidance on how to attract young people.

At most libraries, traffic is up — in some cases, way up — fueled in part by the lure of free computer use, according to experts and a Gannett News Service analysis of state data. At the same time, budget pressures on cities and counties that provide most of the funding have forced dozens of libraries to cut back their hours or close.

From the summary:

With the economy slowing, many Americans are doing research in the public library. Boyd County, Ky., Library Director Debbie Cosper says public-use computers are always full and people a checking out books rather than buying them.

Source: National Public Radio

From the story:

People can also learn if their favorite route to work has a history of fatal road crashes. The University of Minnesota has a new Website where people can find, and view, the deadliest roads in America…Users can type in an address and discover every fatal accident within a few miles of it, or in a particular state or ZIP code. The accident information comes from Federal Highway Administration public records.

Direct to Maps

Source: MPR

From the article:

As part of efforts to improve and revive the waning reading culture in the country, the Federal Government has embarked on the construction of a multi billion naira national library complex in the Federal Capital Territory, Dr Ikpaahindi has said.

The Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Library of Nigeria, Dr. L.N Ikpaahindi said that the ongoing project is being built at the cost of N8.6 billion and is expected to be completed and commissioned by 2010.

Source: allAfrica.com

From the exec summary of a report by Sathish Menon and Michael Douma:

This report outlines key findings from surveys that explored factors that drive online experience as expressed by the three different subject groups – nonprofit organizations and cities, web designers and firms, and the general public.

The exec summary and full text (PDF) are available at no charge.

Source: Idea.org

From the article:

The National Library of Australia has launched a public beta of its ‘Australian Newspapers’ site. The site will offer access to scanned images and text from historic Australian newspapers dating from 1803 to 1954.

Source: PC World

From the article:

Cognition Technologies (www.cognition.com) has introduced SemanticMEDLINE (http://www.semanticmedline.com), a new free service that enables complex health and life science material to be rapidly and efficiently discovered with greater precision and completeness using natural language processing (NLP) technology. This marks the first time that users can employ a natural, conversational sentence structure to find the most complex studies within the MEDLINE data set…published by the National Library of Medicine.

Source: Info Today NewsBreaks

From the article:

The opinion of the Czech National Library (NK) that the baroque building of Klementinum, NK’s current seat, is not suitable for the operation of NK as a whole in the long run is still valid, NK spokeswoman Katerina Novakova told today.

Source: CeskeNoviny.cz

The full text of the Foundation Yearbook is a fee-based document but highlights are available here at no charge. (PDF)

The edition’s key findings include:
* Overall foundation giving rose 10 percent in 2007 to an estimated $42.9 billion
* Giving by the nation’s more than 72,000 grantmaking foundations increased 7.1 percent in 2006 to $39 billion
* Assets of all active U.S. foundations were up 11.6 percent to a record $614.7 billion in 2006
* The West posted the fastest rate of growth in number of foundations, total giving, and assets in 2006

Source: Foundation Center

+ Library raises $10,000, a penny at a time (via The Mining Journal)

+ Oakland, Library Tagged By Graffiti Vandals
Oops.

A graffiti vandal tagged the Carnegie Library in Oakland, but his work contained a literary mistake (via KDKA).

+ UK: ‘Sabotage’ claims over doctors site (via BBC)

+ Social Networking on Your Mobile (via CNNMoney)

Posted 28 July 2008 on DocuTicker:
+ $140 Billion Price Tag to Repair and Modernize America’s Bridges (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials)
+ Making Work Pay Enough: A Decent Standard of Living for Working Families (Urban Institute)
+ Foreign Investment and National Security: Economic Considerations (Congressional Research Service)