Sunday, January 20, 2008

Decomposition Of Books

Detroit Public Schools once had a book depository. It's still there, but hasn't been maintained in years, and its once-educational contents have been ravaged by fire and weather, resulting in this blog post and this set of Flickr photos. It is haunting, and sad, but reminiscent of the "World Without Us" book or the Life After People show. On a small scale, without human intervention nature has started reclaiming this building from the inside out. (see also) Books, it seems, are both good for growing both smarts and nature. (via)

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Friday, January 18, 2008

Library Games

No, I'm not talking about soccer in the stacks: I'm talking about this video game. In it, you take the stack of books on the left, and drag them over to the bookshelf in the middle. The complicated part? You have to shelve them correctly, according to Library of Congress number. When I was in school, they drilled in Dewey Decimal; then I got to college, and found that smart peoples organize their books differently. This game should help any of you who stand at the front of the library, jaw resting on your chest, staring dumbfounded at how all those books got in order. If you think the game is lame, well, you have compatriots at Fark, who are very amusing in their hatred of this game.

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Thursday, January 17, 2008

Lots Said In A Simple Cover


The book at the right is a bunch of things:
  • A fine example of irony;
  • A vote of 'no confidence' regarding its contents;
  • Proof that a good cover is worth the money;
  • A reason you don't want libraries rebinding your book.
Click here to see the whole cover, and then you'll see what I'm talking about.

(via)

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Friday, January 11, 2008

Learn To Read, From Natalie Dee

More book-fun from Natalie Dee -- I don't think she thought her cunning plan through:

natalie dee

nataliedee.com

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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Looking For References

The Pew Internet & American Life Project, in conjunction with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, has performed a survey (pdf of results) to find out where people turn to for information: internet, libraries, friends, family, etc. Interesting to me: 40% of Generation Y would go to the library, as opposed to 20% of those above age 30. The survey is complex in its respondent makeup, though: I wonder if this is skewed by the number of young people's lack of home computers and internet connections -- people over 30 are probably more likely to have a computer in the house, have kids around preventing a quick run to the library, and other reasons and benefits to stick at home rather than dashing down to the bookitorium. Still, if teens and young adults still see libraries as a valuable resource -- whatever form the library has taken today or in the future -- then there's something to be said for libraries as a cornerstone of an information society. If the ALA wants to remind people that the internet is not a library, then they should embrace that their combination of internet and library is of significant value. Now, if only governments will realize the value of libraries to their public.

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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Corky Normart's Book

Julie's mom bought this book at a Fresno Flea-market, and now she's got it -- it once belonged to Corky Normart, a young lad whose family once owned a fur company. How's Julie know all this? because of Corky's artwork inside the cover, of course (click on the cover in her post to see).

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Friday, January 04, 2008

...Before It's Too Late!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Roundup: Best Books of 2007

As usual, I read very little new literature this year, opting for Vonnegut and Bester and other classics. If I do want to back up and see what I missed, plenty of places have their recommendations:
And, this list from Bostonist did the footwork of what I was planning on doing: compiling a meta-list of best books, based on those books' appearance in other lists.

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