Library Confidential

Library Confidential
Author: Don Borchert
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2012-05-31
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1448132835

The public library - a haven of calm, source of information, home to the student, the geek and the aging librarian. Or so you might think. Don Borchert's ten years as assistant librarian have taught him that a library is more than just a place to borrow books, it's also a place where people hide from the law, fall in love, fight, deal drugs, introduce their children to reading, look up porn and pursue their dreams. Borchett's hilarious memoir delves behind the bookshelves as he discovers the weird, dangerous and downright dirty world of a public library and the fearless civil servants who patrol its aisles.

Annual Report

Annual Report
Author: New York (State). Department of Audit and Control
Publisher:
Total Pages: 344
Release: 1913
Genre: Finance
ISBN:

The End of Ownership

The End of Ownership
Author: Aaron Perzanowski
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2018-03-16
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0262535246

An argument for retaining the notion of personal property in the products we “buy” in the digital marketplace. If you buy a book at the bookstore, you own it. You can take it home, scribble in the margins, put in on the shelf, lend it to a friend, sell it at a garage sale. But is the same thing true for the ebooks or other digital goods you buy? Retailers and copyright holders argue that you don't own those purchases, you merely license them. That means your ebook vendor can delete the book from your device without warning or explanation—as Amazon deleted Orwell's 1984 from the Kindles of surprised readers several years ago. These readers thought they owned their copies of 1984. Until, it turned out, they didn't. In The End of Ownership, Aaron Perzanowski and Jason Schultz explore how notions of ownership have shifted in the digital marketplace, and make an argument for the benefits of personal property. Of course, ebooks, cloud storage, streaming, and other digital goods offer users convenience and flexibility. But, Perzanowski and Schultz warn, consumers should be aware of the tradeoffs involving user constraints, permanence, and privacy. The rights of private property are clear, but few people manage to read their end user agreements. Perzanowski and Schultz argue that introducing aspects of private property and ownership into the digital marketplace would offer both legal and economic benefits. But, most important, it would affirm our sense of self-direction and autonomy. If we own our purchases, we are free to make whatever lawful use of them we please. Technology need not constrain our freedom; it can also empower us.

Intellectual Freedom Manual

Intellectual Freedom Manual
Author: Office for Intellectual Freedom
Publisher: American Library Association
Total Pages: 489
Release: 2015-04-20
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0838913377

This must-have tool will help librarians ensure that institutions of all kinds remain beacons of intellectual freedom.