Vast Active Library and Information Science blog. From a recent library science graduate in Wellington, New Zealand. A focus on reference and current awareness tools and issues, especially free, web-based resources.

 
Article from the Denver Post discussing the increasing prominence of non-book material in libraries. Nothing really new here, although I was surprised to find that " In Denver, 53 percent of all circulation now comes from the audio-visual collections, led by pop music on CDs, Hollywood hits on DVD, and bestselling books on tape" and "Buying DVDs will take nearly 20 percent of the total acquisition budget at Arapahoe Library District next year".

While it's obviously the place of the library to serve its customers needs, 20% of the budget purely on DVDs seems excessive. The article begins "There are 53 DVD copies of "Pirates of the Caribbean' on the shelf", and while it doesn't say which library this refers to, or their user population, 53 seems excessive. I liked Pirates of the Caribbean a lot, but really, how much demand will there be for it in two years? Doesn't seem like a great use of money.

Also somewhat chilling: "Most librarians say they aren't inclined to waste time waxing nostalgic about books. Library credos, local and national, proclaim the goal of providing information to all, with no bias in favor of the book." - which is fine. but we all know how much information is still [b]only[/b] available in books.



The Denver Post, 28 December 2003.

| posted by Simon at 10:30 am

 
Florida Secretary of State Glenda Hood has launched the Florida Electronic Library, a collection of free databases and live reference services available to all Florida residents.

"Through the Florida Electronic Library, all Florida residents can have access to an array of library services that no single community in Florida could afford independently," said Hood through a press release. "It represents a partnership with local communities and assures equity of information services for all Florida's residents, no matter where they live."

The Florida Electronic Library is a Web site offering databases that provide access to electronic magazines, newspapers, almanacs, encyclopedias, books and documents as well as one-on-one online assistance from professional librarians.

The Venice Gondolier, 27 December.

Nice. Sounds very similar to what we've been working on in New Zealand, with the PER:NA project (which incidentally is all systems go as of late December, which, as I mentioned previously, will save me a non-trivial amount of my yearly budget - something like 3%).

| posted by Simon at 10:18 am