2010 Olympics Impose Logo Rules on Public Libraries?

Here's some odd news: a memo circulated around the public library system in Vancouver that all non-sponsor logos were to be covered up during the Olympics.

The reasoning:

"As we all know, the sponsors have paid a lot of money to sponsor these Games. The library is a department of the City of Vancouver and I didn't want any of our staff to be in potentially embarrassing situations," Ms. Kavanagh said.

But really:

VANOC spokesman Greg Alexis said the only time that VANOC would be concerned would be a case in which non-sponsor brands were used at an official Vancouver 2010 Winter Games event where the city's Olympic logo was used.

Bizarre.

Gates Foundation Helps Libraries Worldwide

Say what you will about Bill Gates, he does some good charity work. The Foundation will be training librarians from different countries.

Training includes a three-week program in the United States, then a one-week visit to another country with exemplary libraries.

Then [the] librarians travel to the assigned country, often working through interpreters.

The libraries are sometimes well-equipped, but staff members are not always fully trained in making the best use of the facilities, Ford and Schnuer said. The trainers work to help library officials learn how to implement new techniques, including use of the Internet.

I appreciate the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's effort to improve libraries worldwide instead of just in the United States. There are countries far worse off than North America even in our times of 'economic crisis'.

Bought or Licensed?

More on Amazon and the Kindle, this time from Cory Doctorow on BoingBoing: even Amazon can't keep it's EULA story straight.

EULA stands for 'End User License Agreement'. It's the bunch of text above the 'accept' button that you never read when you use a program for the first time. Or maybe you do read it!

Cats and Books

Nancy Mattoon writes about cats and books, specifically cats that live in libraries or book stores. I like cats and I like books. So does my brother, except he has allergies and I can't imagine him being too comfortable in a book store or library with a resident cat. I like the idea, but I also like trying to make everyone as comfortable as they can be in a public area.

Book Burning in Wales

Due to a shortage of fuel and lower temperatures, people in Wales are buying cheap books at second hand stores and burning them for fuel. Am I a bad proto-librarian if I'm more concerned about the toxic fumes from the books and their covers than the actual burning of the books themselves? I consider second hand stores (not used book stores) the last stop for books. Is it really going to hurt if some people burn a bunch of Maeve Binchy books? Okay, maybe some. Burning books does nothing to help literacy. The article provides some alternative fuels. What about old encyclopedias, though? Are they really going to get another use other than rotting in some landfill later on? Is burning for fuel to survive a better use for them?

Scribble in Your E-Book

Maybe I spend a lot of time on e-readers, particularly for someone who says she doesn't even particularly like them. They marry two of my favourite things in the world, though: books and technology, and so I cheerfully read up on their progress.

Samsung e-readers (and the author of the article seems to mix up 'e-book' and 'e-reader') are thus far alone in the capability to write on e-texts, scribbling notes in margins and such. Useful? Maybe kind of, when you consider textbooks. I just stuff bits of paper in between pages with notes myself, so a physical format is still better for me, but... hey, you can write on this reader! And maybe draw little pictures!

The Skiff Reader

Hands down, no contest, I think the Skiff Reader is the niftiest looking e-reader out there. It's a little bendy and uses stainless steel foil instead of glass; it's also got the largest reading area at 11.5 inches. The technical aspects look pretty neat as well. Very sci-fi looking, though I wouldn't want to ride the bus with it out. Notice there's no price listed; never a good sign.