Bibs & Blather
What’s Not Here
An odd title, I know—but this is another one of those introductory essays that’s literally that: An informal introduction to the rest of the issue.
The rest of the issue is three big Perspectives, all of them dealing with continuing themes. That wasn’t my original plan, but it’s how things worked out:
Ø With all the hoohah about Amazon’s Kindle, I thought it was time to look at ebooks again. (I was working on a summary at PALINET Leadership Network too—and you should consider joining PLN at http://pln.palinet.org if you’re not already a member. Free, fast, open to anyone who is or thinks they might eventually be a library leader of any sort.) My first draft was way long. When I went to edit it, I didn’t find big chunks I was willing to cut.
Ø The Making it Work piece grows out of a multiway blog conversation I was involved in, one with no recriminations and a useful exchange of views—and an ongoing frustration I’d felt at some earlier lists of a very different nature. I couldn’t see making this one shorter.
Ø I originally hoped to “catch up” on Library Access to Scholarship, since the most recent one was several months back. Harvard University took care of that goal, but in a good way—the Harvard faculty’s action is one of the most promising signs I’ve seen toward progress on open access.
Ø I also planned to begin a ten-part “retrospective” on the first hundred issues of Cites & Insights in this issue. The first part is all written and edited.
Ø I finished the first half of the 50 Movie Hollywood Legends DVD box, and that’s an interesting set of mini-reviews.
Ø I was planning an essay on Citizendium with maybe some notes attached on Wikipedia.
Ø I know I’m overdue with some comments on copyright. Maybe next time. Maybe not.
When I finished editing the five essays on hand (four medium-length and one double-length), I had way too much for a plausible issue—particularly one following an overlength issue (where at least I had a good excuse). So, biting the bullet, I postponed the Retrospective and the movie reviews until next time—and there’s half an issue already written and edited.
If you think Cites & Insights is worth supporting, one great way continues to be buying one or more Cites & Insights Books at http://lulu.com/ waltcrawford. If you’re one of the 33,000+ who’ve downloaded the special Library 2.0 issue, you could consider buying it in hardcopy along with the rest of Volume 6. If you’re in a public or academic library, you might consider one of the library blog books. Balanced Libraries: Thoughts on Continuity and Change is, I believe, worthwhile.
If you really hate “dead tree books” (books represent around one-half to two-thirds of one percent of all paper usage, but never mind), no problem: Buy one of them as a PDF download. You pay $20, Lulu gets $4, I get the rest, we’re all happy—although you miss out on a really first-rate trade paperback, on real book paper no less.
Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large, Volume 8, Number 4, Whole Issue 101, ISSN 1534-0937, a journal of libraries, policy, technology and media, is written and produced by Walt Crawford, Director and Managing Editor of the PALINET Leadership Network.
Cites & Insights is sponsored by YBP Library Services, http://www.ybp.com.
Opinions herein may not represent those of PALINET or YBP Library Services.
Comments should be sent to waltcrawford@gmail.com. Cites & Insights: Crawford at Large is copyright © 2008 by Walt Crawford: Some rights reserved.
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