News

Ontario Library CEO Departs After Controversy
Brian Bell, CEO of the Windsor PL, ON, departed mysteriously after a controversy surrounding his apprenticeship at a law firm while on sick leave. The library board won’t reveal if Bell was fired or left of his own volition, saying the library’s attorney advised against commenting. » » »

EBSCO Forms Integrated Search Partnership with Newsbank
EBSCO has cut a deal with Newsbank that will see full text from the latter’s news database appear in search results generated through EBSCOhost 2.0. This integrated search service is being offered free to mutual customers of both EBSCOhost and Newsbank. » » »

B&N Cancels Obama Order over Amazon.com Exclusive Deal
Barnes and Noble has canceled its order for Robert Kuttner’s Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency because publisher Chelsea Green cut an exclusive deal with competitor Amazon.com. The publisher is giving away coupons at the Democratic Convention for free copies redeemable only through Amazon’s BookSurge POD service. » » »

Editorial: Pieces of the Future
Despite cutbacks forced by a harsh economy, it’s a good time for libraries. There is untapped support among library users and there are numerous steps librarians can take to protect their facilities from unseen threats. But librarians also need to take risks and hire for potential and not experience and must partner with other libraries to be more of a force in the marketplace. » » »

Blogs

Wyatt's World

Summer Reading—Romantic Spies

• The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne (Berkley)
• The Pretender by Celeste Bradley (St. Martin's)
• Daughter of the Game by Tracy Grant (Morrow)
• All the Queen's Men by Linda Howard (Pocket)
• The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (Dutton)

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Review

Lawrence Block

Harper. Nov. 2008. c.366p. ISBN 978-0-06-158214-1. pap.$14.95. MYS

This combo volume mates Block's 2001 short story volume One Night Stands with 1999's Lost Weekends novelettes, which collect his earliest published works (written in a single night or over a weekend, respectively). Most of the 25 shorts quite frankly are amateurish, but considering Block was still an undergrad when writing them, you have to cut the guy a break. The novelettes trio featuring Manhattan private eye Ed London are better. It's interesting to observe his skills progressing and no doubt inspiring to would-be writers to see that a mystery deity's early stuff is as bad as their's. » » »

—Mike Rogers LJX/LJ

Highlights

Digital Discrimination
Despite improvements in accessibility standards, the Internet remains an online obstacle course for those with learning/physical disabilities or visual impairments, and while library web sites have improved, they still have a long way to go. Reference Librarian Jim Blansett outlines what must be done to make library homepages easily navigable by all patrons. » » »

Amid the Fantasy, Doses of Reality
In the shadow of Disneyland, the recent American Library Association Annual Conference in Anaheim was fraught with tough issues challenging librarianship’s future. Technology, reference, privacy, copyright, black male recruitment, education, and more all came under scrutiny. » » »

E-Reference Comes of Age
LJ Reference Editor Mirela Roncevic puts the electronic offerings of many of reference’s top players to the test and comes away dazzled. She offers exclusive video of nine of the major reference outfits demoing their latest offerings, including EBSCOhost 2.0, Greenwood’s Pop Culture Universe, and Oxford Language Dictionaries online. Click to watch. » » »

Happy 40th Cinema Guild
Co-founded by an ex-furniture salesman and a former school teacher, film distributor Cinema Guild has grown from a handful of titles to over 1000, and is adapting to the digital world. LJ Media Editor Raya Kuzyk catches up with Philip and Mary-Ann Hobel. » » »

The Transparent Library: Let’s All Lighten Up
Librarians are faced with everything from budget cuts to online competition to pressures to deliver more services. Rather than getting too serious, the Michaels contend that staff can better be motivated and inspired by keeping a sense of fun to make morale strong and prevent their jobs from decaying into a despicable grind. » » »