Comments on: Seen Online

By: Mr. Kat

Mr. Kat — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 07:46:43 +0000

Since moving your blog and selling out [it was a very wise move, btw!], how do you feel you have faired in the blogosphere?

I found this map online and could not help but think about how Librarians want to make so much of this part of libraries…

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/online_communities_2_large.png

By: NYT

NYT — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:22:24 +0000

Can’t most people read the NYT for free through their public library e-journals subscriptions?

By: Annoyed Librarian

Annoyed Librarian — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:38:44 +0000

I guess I’m sort of tired of the Google Books soap opera and the authors’ concern over orphan works, but I should probably have mentioned it. Now that tech shops piece, maybe I’ll write about it next week.

By: Sarah Clark

Sarah Clark — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:53:04 +0000

Not interested in As the Google Book Settlement Turns? I’m kind of surprised. (and ditto Spekkio on the Make magazine article–I was actually looking forward to you sinking your teeth into that one)

By: Spekkio

Spekkio — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:01:08 +0000

It sounds like you’re bored, AL. I found a piece that I was sure you would’ve seen and responded to – in fact, I fully expected it to set Libraryland on fire and I was rather surprised that it didn’t. Maybe you’d like to read and respond to it….

Torrone, Phillip. “Is It Time To Rebuild & Retool Public Libraries And Make “TechShops”?” MAKE Magazine, 10 March 2011.
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/03/is-it-time-to-rebuild-retool-public-libraries-and-make-techshops.html

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 19:52:41 +0000

Will, I’m not so sure that the tax base will be permanently eroded. A lot of state legislatures have realized that there’s gold in them thar hills at Amazon and are starting to draft laws to get their chunk. Of course Amazon’s strategy is to just pull their referral business out of states implementing such policies, but they won’t be able to stop doing business in the entire continental U.S. if enough states start following suit.

By: TD

TD — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:24:19 +0000

My state (IN) funds libraries through property taxes, but recently put property tax caps into the state consititution, thus permanently de-funding libraries.

By: will manley

will manley — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 13:17:44 +0000

AL…The NYT is deep in debt. The convoluted online pricing scheme is a harbinger of their demise. Just as online retailers like Amazon are killing bookstores and other walk-in retail outlets, free on-line news sources will kill the NYT and other newspapers. Will Amazon also help kill public libraries? Many public libraries are sales tax dependent and Amazon only returns sales tax in 5 states. This is a huge problem for the financial foundation of local and state governments. Even when the economy gets better, the sales tax base will have permanently eroded in a very significant way and libraries (public) will probably never fully recover. It’s a big issue that has largely been ignored by the library profession.