NJSLA Blog

SLA Blogs: Mega-Feed!

I've put together a combined feed of all the active (in 2008) SLA blogs I could find. This gives you the chance to see and subscribe to all these blogs in one fell swoop.

Note that the feed will take at least a few seconds to load. I welcome any suggestions for improvement.

— Eric Schwarz, NJSLA president-elect (eric AT ericthelibrarian DOT com)

Harry Potter Lexicon Copyright Lawsuit

Harry Potter Lexicon Copyright Lawsuit

You may have read recently about the lawsuit brought by Warner Brothers and J.K. Rowling  against RDR books over their plans to publish the contents of the Harry Potter Lexicon website into a book. The Lexicon was designed as a fan site by Steve Vander Ark, who had been a librarian and teacher at a school in Michigan and now lives in London  ( the lawsuit does not name him).   The Lexicon is very extensive and  basically acts as a guide to the seven published Harry Potter books. It lists character, timelines, potions, and places, etc.,  points out "mistakes" in the books, and publishes essays on them, among other things.  The Lexicon is a free site and Rowling had previously commended it, giving it a fan site award. 

Rowling's perspective changed when plans were announced to publish a book from contents of the site.  She and Warner Bros. are arguing that she had planned on  published to her own guide / encyclopedia (at some undetermined point in the future), with the proceeds going to charity, and that the book will directly compete with these profits.   They claim that Vander Ark is simply copying portions of her work and putting them into another form without the creativity of a transformative work.   

RDR Books is being represented by lawyers at the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School.   They and the publisher argue that publication of literary commentary and guides have long been accepted.   

The trial began on April 14th in New York City and will be decided by the judge--a ruling has not yet been announced.   If the trial is decided in Rowling's favor,  it would be huge blow to the publication of companion literature (think of all the Star Wars, Star Trek guides, etc.) Just because Rowling  has created these books and characters does not mean she should have absolute control over anything to do with them.   It will be interesting to see the final ruling.

Arda Agulian

The Harry Potter Lexicon

J.K. Rowling in Court Assails Harry Potter Lexicon

Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project to represent RDR books in "Harry Potter"  CopyrightLawsuit

Trial over Potter Case Ends with an Olive Branch

May 31 - Networking Event - Coping, Preparing, Adapting

From chapter member Claudia Cuca:

Dear Colleagues,

 

NJ/SLA is organizing another Networking Event, following the success of our March 29^th meeting in Westfield.  We will have time for introductions, a 30-minute presentation, group discussion, and end with some light refreshments.  At the end of this event, if you think these are useful, we can continue to schedule similar meetings around the area.

 

What:  We will continue to focus on our changing profession - coping today, preparing for tomorrow, and adapting for the future.

 

When:  Sat., May 31 from 1:30-4:30pm

 

Where:  Morris County Library, first floor conference room. The library is located in Whippany, just across from the Frelinghuysen Arboretum. Click here for directions.

 

Bonus: Margaret Bennett, president of ProLibra Associates, will give an informal presentation with observations and insights on the changes she has seen in our profession, and where it may be going.

 

Who:  To sign up, contact Claudia Cuca at (908) 233-2535 from the present through May 21; after May 21, contact Susan Katz, tel. (973) 895-1194. Email Claudia and Susan.

 

PS.  If any members are attending the annual SLA meeting, which will be held in Seattle this year, would you be willing to share your thoughts in a summer get- together?  In particular, if you are attending CE courses or sessions with specific skill set information, would you be willing to write those up for us?  (i.e.: web design hints, better presentations on search results, CI/BI ideas, speaking with mgmt…).

Claudia Cuca

Ugh! Another username and password?

Well, not for this blog.

But yes, for job postings, the membership directory, web tutorials, industry news feeds and lots of other stuff you get with your SLA membership.

Your initial username and password are probably each five digits (mine are anyway). But you can change them to something memorable. If you don't know them, just click "Forgot Your Password?" at www.sla.org and follow the instructions. (In case you can't see the light text, "Forgot Your Password" is right underneath the password entry box.)

- Eric Schwarz
NJSLA 2008 president-elect

Tied in to LinkedIn, Friends on Facebook

NJSLA members are invited to join our new group on LinkedIn. Joining will allow you to find and contact other NJSLA members on LinkedIn. We have 47 members so far, just since May 6.

The goal of this group is to help members:

   * Reach other members of NJSLA
   * Accelerate careers/business through referrals from NJSLA Group members
   * Know more than a name – view rich professional profiles from fellow NJSLA Group members

Here's the link to join:
http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/100309/54B1382F9FCA

Thank you to Nicole Engard for the suggestion!

 

Hope to see you in the group,

— Eric Schwarz
http://www.linkedin.com/in/ericcschwarz
 

P.S. Also join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7513252791
(We have 11 members of that group after a few months. LinkedIn is geared more to professionals, so the difference in uptake isn't surprising.)

The NJSLA Calendar ... in Full

To see the entire NJSLA Calendar (powered by Google), please click here. The TypePad blog structure squeezes the calendar into the narrow column on the right side of the page. We're working on making the calendar more visible, but until we come up with a solution, the link above is your best bet.

-- Eric Schwarz - NJSLA president-elect

Email us!

More Reality, More Credit ... and More Stephen Abram

Stephen Abram made a great presentation to the NJSLA membership on Monday, May 5. He's already posted the slides at Stephen's Lighthouse.

You can read more in Beth Kaminski's post immediately below. (I haven't figured out how to get the blog to post the author's name as it should, but I'm working on it.) Our friend Nicole Engard in the SLA Blogging Division has also posted on the event.

More credit where it's due: Photos of the event have been posted by NJSLA Director of Communications Arda Agulian and also by Nicole E. Also, Annette Feldman (NJSLA Membership Chair) made sure Stephen had a wonderful welcome to New Jersey, Treasurer Sonal Shukla handled the reservation with Rutgers, and Beth K. handled registration. Chapter President Barbara Burton came up with the idea of inviting Stephen, and also spent the day with him and me as we visited faculty and students at Rutgers earlier in the day. Kate Creegan made sure the registration information was prominently posted on our main Web site.

And for those who don't know, Dow Jones generously sponsored much of the cost of the program. Disclaimer: I work at Dow Jones, but I had absolutely nothing to do with the sponsorship.

Eric Schwarz

2008 President-elect, NJSLA

[email protected]

www.ericthelibrarian.com

2008 Alice Rankin Lecture: Stephen Abram

Stephen Abram was NJSLA's guest speaker at this year's Alice Rankin Distinguished Lecture event, held on May 5 at the Rutgers University Conference Center in New Brunswick.

Stephen, the 2008 President of SLA, presented an inspiring talk on Reality 2.0: Transforming Ourselves and Our Organizations.

He covered the "new world order" that special librarians face, where change will accelerate.  SLA is stepping up to the challenge, offering resources to adapt to the changes in the digital landscape. These resources include the Innovation Laboratory, launching this month.  This lab will include licensed software and information about freeware and will enable users to play with all the newest digital "stuff." Also coming up is Atomic Learning, with software training videos.

Stephen emphasized the connections available on the SLA web site -- don't forget your user name and password, folks -- and talked about the resources available through the Professional Development area, from Click U courses to Gary Price's Research Tool Box.

He also discussed the Strategic Alignment Project, a research project that SLA is undertaking to find how to best embrace new technology and to best serve its members and re-energize the organization.

Intergenerational mentoring, anyone?  This is another area that Stephen likes -- using the digital savvy of newer librarians and combining it with the life experience of those who've been around the profession for a while.

This makes a lot of sense to me, since I need to consult my sons to figure out how to use the features on my cell phone and other assorted electronic gadgetry. And occasionally they need to consult me about things such as career decisions...if it works in a family, it should work for our professional family!

Speaking of consultation and conversation, the group enjoyed some great networking time before the lecture. See Arda Agulian's photos here

For more on Stephen's talk, see the SLA IT blog

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the next event!

Beth Kaminski

Not Blogs; Copyright

Well, this isn't about blogs but it is pretty useful and entertaining.  So I'm going to send you to the Disney Copyright video "A Fair(y) Use Tale".  This video was put together by Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University.  It's posted on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo and at the Stanford Cyber Law site (http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/documentary-film-program/film/a-fair-y-use-tale).  It reviews copyright.  it entertains and engages everyone I know who's viewed it.  And I think if you are not aware of it you should be! 

A review for this video, with more details, is available at Wired. 
http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/05/hijacked_disney.html
It starts out with . . .
"Disney lawyers' heads must be spinning over this one. A movie posted on Stanford University's site called "A Fair(y) Use Tale" mashes up all your Disney favorites to humorously and effectively explain copyright law. The ten minute movie, directed by Eric Faden, came out of Stanford University's Fair Use Project Documentary Film Program. . . "

Anyway,  this is well worth 10 minutes of you time.  I've seen it 3 times so far and still found it entertaining and interesting.

Kate Creegan