Phil the Web Crawler – VPL thriving in digital age, 2012 year of the e-single, Twitter opens your archive and dine out on words at Bookateria.

– Nothing disturbs print-centric researchers like the idea of kicking books out of a library to make room for computers. The New York Public Library set off a fierce debate recently with its plans for a major reorganization.

– OverDrive Data Shows Majority Still Like To Browse the Virtual Shelves.

– April 20, 1964: Picturephone Dials Up First Transcontinental Video Call.

– Introducing the Journal of Digital Humanities.

– Distance-Learning Survey Shows Growing Concern for Student Services.

– Robots Are Grading Your Papers!

– ‘Free-Range Learners’: Study Opens Window Into How Students Hunt for Educational Content Online

– Dead Media Beat: Lignin, a website for extinct, important magazines.

– It is easy in the age of the Internet to think things like social media giant Facebook just appear out of thin air. The new data centre for Facebook makes one think again.

– App Roundup: Virtual Assistants for Your Smartphone.

– Be careful when sending mass e-mails. Be very careful.

– And now boys and girls it is time for Storytime with Terry Gilliam.

Phil the Web Crawler – eBook sticker shock, more clouds in your coffee, preparing for the flood and the future (is it Boxie?)

– Librarians Feel Sticker Shock as Price for Random House Ebooks Rises as Much as 300 Percent.

– The Library Cloud Pros and Cons.

– Libraries of the Future is an article in The Tyee that pulls together a number of issues facing libraries today with an emphasis on VPL’s latest initiative.

– But what about the flood? In a Flood Tide of Digital Data, an Ark Full of Books.

– “In March, Read the Books You’ve Always Meant to Read”: Gorgeous Vintage PSA Posters, 1939-1941.

– College and university librarians are concerned about students’ search skills, and no wonder.

– Terrific new extensions for Firefox and Google (Beta) to protect privacy. HTTPS and Tor: Working Together to Protect Your Privacy and Security Online.

– Grounding Tomorrow’s Digital Library in Traditional Values.

– Fun Time: Boxie the Robot needs your help. Click here for more info.

‘Public Libraries: We need them more than ever’

I admit I still struggle with the changes in libraries caused by technology. Sometimes I want the old library I remember from my childhood; the one where time was spent turning pages in books, not conquering games on screens. However, in light of advancement and growth, I am grateful that we have so many people still visiting libraries day after day whether or not they are there to read books. Continue reading “‘Public Libraries: We need them more than ever’” →

Fall book sale at the Vancouver Public Library

It’s book sale time at the Vancouver Public Library and with the first day of sales already finished, you better go quick before it’s over: the next one won’t be held till spring 2012.

Where: The Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street

When: Thursday,October 27 10am to 9pm
Friday, October 28 10am to 6pm
Saturday, October 29 10am to 6pm
Sunday, October 30 10am to 6pm

For more information, see the VPL Book Sale page here.

Items of Interest

Welcome to the latest installment of Items of Interest.

This week we have news about the upcoming LTAIG General Meeting and the Vancouver Public Library’s Annual Fall Book Sale. We’ve also discovered a new web tool that will display the latest library technician and assistant job postings right on your desktop — provided that you’re a Windows user.

LTAIG General Meeting

LTAIG will be hosting our upcoming General Meeting on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held at the BCLA offices at 900 Howe Street (entrance to the offices is on Smithe.)

Please feel free to come by to meet your new LTAIG committee and learn more about how you can become involved in this recently revitalized organization. For more information, visit our website or find us on Facebook, and if you have any questions, or would like more information on teleconference opportunities, please contact our LTAIG Chair, Mary Afonso a maryafonso@hotmail.com.

VPL Annual Fall Book Sale

Book lovers rejoice! Starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 15, the Vancouver Public Library will be launching its annual fall book sale. Head down to the library’s main branch to browse through thousands of items, including adult and children’s novels, large print books, magazines and more. Prices range from $.55 to $2.55 per item, and the sale ends at 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 18. For more information visit the Booksale page on the library’s website.

Canadian Library Technician Jobs Mashup

Developed by the host of Library Playground, the Canadian Library Technician Jobs mashup is an RSS feed aggregator, similar to Bloglines or Google Reader, which collects the latest online library technician and assistant job postings from a variety of resources across the country.

However, for those lucky Windows users out there, not only will this aggregator automatically collect the job postings for you, but if you download the corresponding widget, it will send the postings right to your desktop. No need to open a web browser, and no logging in required.

Even better, every posting links to the corresponding employer’s website — simply click on the posting of your choice and the site will automatically launch in your default browser.

Here’s hoping that a fully functional version of the widget is developed for Mac OSX someday soon.

TTFN

That’s it for this installment, thanks for stopping by.

*Remember: If you have an item you would like to see included in this column, please send an email to ltaigblog@gmail.com with the subject: Item of Interest.