I'd like to think this is true

News about Google's $125 million settlement over Google Book Search can be found here:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10076948-2.html

The money information is interesting, but what I really loved was the last paragraph of the article:

"All public libraries in the United States will be offered a free online portal to Google's digitized collection, said Aiken, and patrons will be able to print an unlimited number of pages for a per page fee. Google will also be offering institutional subscriptions to colleges and universities. Google Book Search services available outside the United States will remain the same, Drummond said."

I hope it's true.

And I wonder if land grant institutions like mine couldn't get in there with the public libraries somehow...

CFP for graduate students

This call for papers was sent to one of my many library listservs today, and I thought it might be of interest to graduate students in Anthropology.

October 16, 2008

CALL FOR PAPERS

Public Writing: A Cultural Studies Journal for Undergraduate Writers provides a lively and provocative online forum for undergraduate writers who are engaged in critique of contemporary, historical, public ideas.

Student writers from across the humanities and social sciences and around the world are invited to submit to Public Writing. A Public Writing submission may combine any of the following fields in an interdisciplinary manner: cultural theory, social theory, literary theory, cultural anthropology, linguistics, rhetoric studies, historical analysis, sociology, queer studies, disability studies, gender studies, philosophy or any other applicable field.

Public Writing’s open-access format allows writers to be exposed to a larger readership. The open-access movement in scholarly publishing provides a model whose essence is unlimited availability and use. As such, authors themselves—not publishers—retain copyright. Work published in Public Writing will be freely available on the Internet.

Submissions to this journal should be approximately 15-25 double-spaced pages in length. Please use MLA format only.

Please submit an electronic copy at http://scholarlyexchange.org/ojs/index.php/PW/index, or e-mail to public.writing@gmail.com. E-mailed submissions should also contain a separate document containing:

• Author’s name
• Title of manuscript
• Mailing address
• Affiliated institution
• E-mail address
• Phone number

All manuscripts that wish to be considered for Volume 1 must be submitted no later than January 1, 2009. Any manuscript received after this date will be considered for later volumes.

Public Writing is being published with the support of both the George Washington University and Gelman Library. The editorial group consists of students, faculty, and librarians from a number of universities and colleges. It is lead by Andrew Noel, junior major in American Studies from GWU, and Rachel Riedner, Assistant Professor of University Writing at GWU with the assistance of Cathy Eisenhower and Dolsy Smith from GW’s Gelman Library.

If Peeps can do it, so can we.

You've seen them use the library, now see them vote!

Go look at Real Peeps Vote. You have to scroll down a bit to get to the images, but it's brilliant.

I am thinking of setting up tiny little Peeps polling places on my kitchen table this November and wondering about issues important to Peeps (anti-torture laws that include the prohibition of microwaving?). Also, who handles Peep voter registration...

And if Peeps can vote, you can, too.

A bit of Colbert for you

Blatantly stolen from The Shifted Librarian because it is very funny.

Spin doctors

As we approach November, politics are everywhere. I try not to use this site to espouse my own political views, but I believe strongly that voting is important, and informed voting is very important. So here is a brief post on some sites and resources that I use to keep informed during this season of spin.

LexisNexis Congressional: available to WSU students, staff, and faculty. This is a fantastically useful database for finding information on government information of all kinds. It will let you look up the history of bills and check voting records of individual members of congress.

FactCheck.org: A nonpartisan group that keeps an eye on what the major political figures are saying. They point out when candidates (Democrats and Republicans) provide inaccurate or misleading information. A handy resource if you are trying to process and understand candidate debates or if you're wondering about the truthfulness of a campaign ad.

Project Vote Smart: A group devoted to providing impartial information to voters. They provide a plethora of information on issues and candidates including voting records, interest group ratings, campaign finance information, and "political courage tests" where candidates share (or decide not to share) their positions on important issues. Also available is information by state.

Smart Voter: Provided by the League of Women Voters, this site offers nonpartisan information on federal, state, and local elections and contests. The site allows you to find information relevant to you by zip code or state, can help you find your polling place and provides information on how to register to vote. And it's not just for women, though more women should vote. Seriously.

Loss

Since I wrote here about the beginning, I'll write a bit about the end, too. Our little boy was born on Friday, August 15th and died on Saturday, August 16th. We've never seen anything so beautiful. He had my nose and his father's chin, and will be missed to the end of our days.