TILT #62 — LIBRofcongressARY (library)
I try to be sparing in my complaints, so that when I say I don’t like something, people don’t assume I dislike everything. And yet…. I am not warming up to the Library of Congress logo and it’s been a few days now. This is one permutation:
For those of you who missed this, here are some links.
- An article about the new logo, with examples
- Blog post from the Library of Congress about the new logo
- Design firm’s logo “story”
Of note, the LoC blog (which Carla Hayden doesn’t even have her own login for!) has comments, which are worth reading. And the launch of the new logo is supposed to coincide with the Library’s new strategic plan which I am excited for. RIP old logo, I miss you already.
The #NoHateALA vote went the way most of us thought it would. Almost every ALA councilor who voted opted to jettison the new Meeting Room interpretation, the one which specifically delineated “hate groups” as people entitled to use meeting rooms. We’re now back to where we started. The system works, albeit slowly.
I am simultaneously into these Instagram Novels that NYPL is putting out (bonus article with quote from my library school pal Christopher Platt!) and also curious why they can’t exist outside of Instagram? I suspect it has something to do with copyright.
Speaking of copyright, Vodaphone, a large ISP in Germany has begun blocking access to Library Genesis (similar to SciHub) as a result of an injuction from Elsevier, Springer, and Macmillan. This is part of an ongoing back and forth which the article rightfully calls “site whac-a-mole.” If you hate Elsevier as much as I do, you absolutely MUST read Leveraging Elsevier’s Creative Commons License Requirement to Undermine Embargoes a nice little bit of license hackery.
Articles and books still in copyright are one thing. What about video game ROMs, the digital content that allows you to play old video games via newer emulator software? If you’re into the whole “it’s complicated, also I love video games” angle to this, you’ll enjoy this article from Kotaku: In Defense of ROMs, A Solution To Dying Games And Broken Copyright Laws. Just nostalgic for video games? Internet Archive has you covered.
I promised a Captain Underpants story. The Vermont Humanities Council just announced their new Executive Director, Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup. I am on the VHC board and my first “official” meeting was the phone meeting confirming him. One of the interesting topics of conversation was Captain Underpants which Christopher, a dad, had indicated was a recent book he’d read. The conversation proceeded about the way you’d expect with one exception: no one talking about the book had read it! I got to mention that not only had I read it, the book was wildly popular in libraries and gave my general support for Underpants-readers (Pantsies? Do these folks have a name)
Odds and ends:
- This twitter thread of library grabass should amuse you.
- DuoLingo teaches you to say things like “her wife is reading a book”
- Hundred year old book reviews from a Sing Sing prisoner, and a (now solved) mystery
Have a great rest of your summer, back to school, or whatever you’re up to. I am starting to celebrate the Virgo Month of Leisure (not actually leisurely) and will be celebrating my 50th birthday in a few weeks. If you’ve read this newsletter and like it, I’d love a postcard from wherever you are: Jessamyn, PO Box 345, Randolph VT 05060
Today in Librarian Tabs is written irregularly by Jessamyn West who also maintains librarian.net. It’s available in more-accessible format your inbox via TinyLetter. Thanks for reading.
