tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-335966092024-03-17T14:11:24.813-05:00Digital EccentricWhat I'm thinking about digital libraries and other thingsLeslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.comBlogger395125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-14055211139180432132011-03-12T13:52:00.006-05:002011-03-12T15:47:35.214-05:00on ebooks and ownershipHere's a philosophical question - Do I <span style="font-style: italic;">own</span> the ebooks that I have purchased?<br /><br />This question came to me after performing a mundane task - compiling my annual "What I Read This Year List." I was performing my recordkeeping in a Facebook service. The Facebook service included a datapoint whether the book was owned or borrowed. This was easy, as I bought books or borrowed them from a library. I didn't track this in my LibraryThing account because I felt strongly that LT was where I managed my personal library, and never made any notations about books that I'd borrowed. <br /><br />Then, in fall 2010, I bought a Nook. I travel a lot, and I an a pretty speedy reader, so my trips often require that 3-6 books accompany me. As I was due to make a trip that would require 10 hour of travel time each way, bracketing a 5-day stay, I was looking at taking 8 books. This would have been at least 1/4 of my suitcase. So I researched and decided on a Nook because I could expand its memory, swap out batteries, load my own pdbs, epubs and pdfs, and use the cool "loan" feature to trade some title with other Nook owners (even though I only knew 1 such person at the time). Its eInk screen is very easy to read. I got to travel with clothes and leave room for souvenirs.<br /><br />I still buy books. I love books. I still frequent public libraries. I cannot say enough about the quality of the Alexandria Public Library. But I cannot deny that I have bought more ebooks that print books over the past 8 months. At least one a week.<br /><br />I first considered the concept of ownership when I attended a reading by William Gibson. I loved his most recent book, <span style="font-style: italic;">Zero History</span>. I took a number of my older Gibson paperbacks with me for him to sign, as I hadn't been to one of his signings since 1984. <br /><br />But not <span style="font-style: italic;">Zero History</span>, because you can't get an ebook inscribed. That saddened me.<br /><br />I had a related moment when I bought ebooks that the latest n two different series. I owned the others in paperback. This felt wrong, like I really owned the earlier ones but not these. I couldn't see them next to each other on my shelves. No one perusing my shelves would know I had them. But when I was reading the ebook I wanted to refer back to something in an earlier volume, which I did not have on the reader. Might I buy physical copies out of a sense of completeness and the ebook for mobile access and searchability?<br /><br />Then, when I was updating my year-end reading list in Facebook, I found myself puzzling over the "owned" or "borrowed" column. Did I really own my ebooks?<br /><br />In one sense I do. I have files on my Nook. I can access them using Adobe Digital Editions or the Nook PC App. I can preserve them to some extent. I have some sense of control over the files. <br /><br />In the legal sense I do not. I have actually licensed the use of that file for use on one or more devices. The Nook legal notice says that I cannot "copy, transfer, sublicense, assign, rent, lease, lend, resell or in any way transfer any rights to, all or any portion of the Digital Content to any third party, except in connection with the normal use of the lending feature available through the Service, or as expressly permitted by the <em>Terms of Use</em> or applicable third-party license agreement." So, I can only lend using the Lend feature, and I can' resell my ebooks like I could sell my paperbacks.<br /><br />I don't really own them. How confortable am I with that? Moderately, but not entirely. How much do I miss the physicality? It depends on the time of day. When I'm on the Metro hauling things to and from work, or rushing through an airport, I do not miss books at all. When I'm standing in front of my bookcases, I want to see all my books on those shelves, not on a device charging in my living room.<br /><br />So, I'm conflicted. I suspect I will sometimes end up buying both.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-19992478477546898662011-01-02T15:03:00.005-05:002011-01-02T21:00:42.178-05:00My year in readingI pulled together my list of books read in 2010, which comes to 84 books. It's not actually all the books that I read, but all the new books I read, not the re-reads. There were at least a dozen of those. I have a lot of time on my Metro ride to and from work. Also - no judging, please. As a colleague noted this year, I have "unexpected depths of shallowness" in some of my reading. I read horror and science fiction and mysteries. Live with it.<br /><br />I need a new way to do this. I was using Visual Bookshelf in Facebook, but its export does not include the data from lists, as in "Read in 2010." I also had a custom filed if I own or borrowed the book -- also lost. I don't do this in LibraryThing because I borrow so many of my books and don't want to include them there. 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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Yellow Blue Tibia” by Adam Roberts</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Polystom” by Adam Roberts</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Gradisil” by Adam Roberts</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“God of Clocks” by Alan Campbell</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span 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>“Dreadnought” by Cherie Priest</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Boneshaker” by Cherie Priest</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Kraken” by China Mieville</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Love We Share Without Knowing” by Christopher Barzak</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Bryant & May off the Rails” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Bryant and May on the Loose” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Seventy-Seven Clocks” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Ten Second Staircase” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Full Dark House” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“White Corridor” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Victoria Vanishes” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Rune” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Seventy-Seven Clocks” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Water Room” by Christopher Fowler</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Tears of the Furies” by Christopher Golden</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Bite Me: A Love Story” by Christopher Moore</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa” by Dambisa Moyo</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York” by Deborah Blum</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Alchemy Of Stone” by Ekaterina Sedia</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Half-Made World” by Felix Gilman</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Blameless” by Gail Carriger</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Changeless” by Gail Carriger</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Soulless” by Gail Carriger</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Andy Warhol and the Can That Sold the World” by Gary Indiana</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >"House of Fallen Trees" by Gina Ranalli<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Basilisk” by Graham Masterton</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Fall” by Guillermo del Toro</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Man from Beijing” by Henning Mankell</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Parasite Eve” by Hideaki Sena</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Stone's Fall: A Novel” by Iain Pears</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Secret of Crickley Hall” by James Herbert</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“O Gentle Death” by Janet Neel</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto” by Jaron Lanier</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Bellini Card” by Jason Goodwin</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Snake Stone: A Novel” by Jason Goodwin</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Janissary Tree: A Novel” by Jason Goodwin</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Shades of Grey: A Novel” by Jasper Fforde</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Aurorarama” by Jean-Christophe Valtat</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Burning Wire” by Jeffery Deaver</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Changes: A Novel of the Dresden Files” by Jim Butcher</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Johannes Cabal the Detective” by Jonathan L. Howard</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Something to Declare: Essays on France and French Culture” by Julian Barnes</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Passage” by Justin Cronin</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Beautiful Creatures” by Kami Garcia</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Indian Bride” by Karin Fossum</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“He Who Fears the Wolf ” by Karin Fossum</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“When the Devil Holds the Candle” by Karin Fossum</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Black Magic Sanction” by Kim Harrison</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Monument Wars: Washington, D.C.,<span style=""> </span>the National Mall, and the Transformation of the Memorial Landscape” by Kirk Savage</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Paradise” by Koji Suzuki</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Betrayal of the Blood Lily” by Lauren Willig</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Fever Dream” by Lincoln Child</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Far North: A Novel” by Marcel Theroux</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Bad Monkeys” by Matt Ruff</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Critique of Criminal Reason” by Michael Gregorio</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable” by Nassim Nicholas Taleb</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“In Light of India” by Octavio Paz</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Windup Girl” by Paolo Bacigalupi</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Skippy Dies” by Paul Murray</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Mao Case” by Qiu Xiaolong</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Kill the Dead” by Richard Kadrey</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“2666: A Novel” by Roberto Bolano</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Whitechapel Gods” by S.M. Peters</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements” by Sam Kean</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Little Stranger” by Sarah Waters</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Daemons Are Forever” by Simon R. Green</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Kingdom Beyond the Waves” by Stephen Hunt</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest” by Stieg Larsson</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Slynx: A Novel” by Tatyana Tolstaya</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Better Mousetrap” by Tom Holt</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“You Don't Have to Be Evil to Work Here, But it Helps” by Tom Holt</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“In Your Dreams” by Tom Holt</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“The Portable Door” by Tom Holt</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Earth, Air, Fire and Custard” by Tom Holt</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Big Machine: A Novel” by Victor LaValle</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 4.65pt; line-height: normal;"><span style=";font-family:";color:black;" >“Zero History” by William Gibson</span></p><br />My favorites:<br /><br />"Zero History." I love the story arc of the characters through his recent books, and his take on international marketing culture.<br /><br />"The Kraken." I am a fan of novels where someone discovers a destiny that they were unaware of, and unknown societies just hidden from our own. Of course, I also love everything that China Mieville writes.<br /><br />"Monument Wars." I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of urban planning, or the history of Washington D.C.<br /><br />"The Alchemy of Stone." I loved this lyrical novel about what it means to wish to be human.<br /><br />"Kill the Dead." I cannot recommend the Sandman Slim books enough for their gritty portrayal of Los Angeles, by way of Hell. That said, these books are not for everyone, as there is some extreme violence. Not gratuitous violence in my estimation, but more than some might be able to handle.<br /><br />"Bad Monkeys." I am still not sure I know what the truth is.<br /><br />Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century novels. Novels that make the steampunk aesthetic make sense, and feature the south and the pioneer west. I also had the pleasure of meeting her this year, and she's a gracious woman with a fabulous sense of humor.<br /><br />"The Half-Made World." A steampunk western. I was extremely annoyed when it ended and it seems that there will be another book, because I wanted to find out what happened right away. But hooray, there will be another book.<br /><br />"The Windup Girl." One of the most lauded SF novels of the year, which was highly deserved.<br /><br />"The Disappearing Spoon." Fascinating personal stories from the history of science, framed through the discovery of elements.<br /><br />"Aurorarama." I keep having to add that word to spellcheck dictionaries. An amazing concept where a decadent utopia in the arctic is poised for cultural revolution.<br /><br />Alan Campbell's Deepgate Codex books. I don't know how I missed these intriguing books about a city chained in the sky over a gateway to Hell, and the wars between the gods when Hell opens up.<br /><br />"Bright-Sided." I am not a fan of the self-esteem movement, especially in education. This book discusses the positive thinking movement, which I find equally fuzzy-headed.<br /><br />Some of my surprises:<br /><br />The Christopher Fowler Bryant and May books. I love quirky, and these English mysteries are full of that. I was particularly amused to read "Rune," one of Fowler's horror novels, to find that an earlier version of the characters were featured.<br /><br />Tom Holt's J.W. Wells & Co books. I read a Tom Holt book some years ago and just didn't like it, even with its quirkiness. For some reason I picked up one of the Wells, book, and it struck the right note with me. The concept of taking the firm from Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Sorcerer" and bringing it into present day with clueless employees is a lot of fun.<br /><br />Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate books. Supernatural historical romance-y fantasies. Silly, yes, but fun.<br /><br />"2666." This book seems right up my alley -- academics, missing scholars, serial killers. And yet, I just could not finish it. If my friend Mike -- who is in the same boat -- ever finishes it, I have sworn to try it again.<br /><br />"You are Not a Gadget." I agreed with some of its positions, but vehemently disagreed with others.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-67897470319130699622010-12-31T22:53:00.009-05:002011-01-01T00:20:38.456-05:002010 in ReviewI am mortified to find that I only posted three times in 2010. I'd like to be able to say that it was for some glorious reason, but, to be honest, I just haven't made time. I've tweeted (and re-tweeted) quite a bit. I went out on the road and spoke at a number of conferences. I had one article come out that I wrote in 2009. But in 2010, I just didn't make much time to write.<br /><br />I could make a public resolution, but that's risky...since the proof of failure or success would be right here. So no resolution.<br /><br />There were a number of topics that caught my attention this year.<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2010/04/how-tweet-it-is-library-acquires-entire-twitter-archive/">Twitter donated their archive to the Library of Congress this year.</a> It has been startling to me just how much public outcry there was. It's not unlike a journal -- a very public journal, aggregated from millions of people. Given the Library's collections of personal papers and man-on-the-street collections, Twitter seems perfectly in keeping with the Library's other analog and digitial collections. And, the Library archives web sites. In one sense, archiving Twitter is archiving another part of the web.<br /><br />I got more involved in web archiving this year. I've been involved in web archiving before - I started up an initiative to archive course web sites in 2000. It's been gratifying to become involved again, and see how much has been saved and will be saved. Not just at institutions like the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/webarchiving/index.html">Library of Congress</a> or other national libraries or research universities (check out the institutions that are part of the <a href="http://netpreserve.org/about/index.php">IIPC</a>), but through personal, volunteer efforts. I'm looking at you, <a href="http://www.archiveteam.org/index.php?title=Main_Page">Archive Team</a>.<br /><br />Archives are acquiring increasing numbers of born-digital collections. I've been thrilled to see the increased interest in the use of digital forensics tools in the appraisal and processing and accessing of such collections. But there are challenges. Archives are looking at vintage media, which often requires vintage hardware and software. The collection at the Library's Package Campus is something to behold, but I shudder at what it will take to keep the equipment operational. To understand some of the challenges, a couple of key reports came out this year, on <a href="https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/17097">Preserving Virtual Worlds</a> and <a href="http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub149abst.html">Digital Forensics in Cultural Heritage</a>.<br /><br />In that same vein, I've always been interested in computing history. I am going to resolve to return to reading more on that subject.<br /><br />I've been thinking a lot about documenting computing history in aid of digital preservation. There are multiple initiatives to document and verify file formats. There is at least one initiative to document carrier media. There are archives of manuals and media. I am thinking a lot about what other sorts of documentation are needed - operating systems, application software, hardware of all types... I heard these challenges subtly woven through many presentations and discussions at our <a href="http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/news/events/other_meetings/storage10/">storage architecture meeting this year</a>.<br /><br />I've been thinking a lot about standards this year. That comes from working with an initiative to collect content from the wild, as published. How do we collect things as they are, but minimize the grief required to deal with variety when ingesting them into a managed environment? That I wish I had a great answer for. But that's what 2011 will in part be about.<br /><br />I almost forgot about personal digital archiving! <a href="http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/you/">We started an initiative at the Library in 2010</a>, with Personal Archiving Day and a Personal Digital Archiving booth at the National Book Festival. I loved working at both events. There's a lot more to be done about public awareness and promoting best practices.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-59373016492007656902010-05-24T14:34:00.001-05:002010-05-24T14:37:00.738-05:00writing more very soonSince switching jobs on March 1 (I moved from the Repository Development Center at the Library of Congress to the <a href="http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/">National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program</a> at the Library) I have had much less time to write. I have a couple of long posts on a couple of topics waiting to come out - more very soon.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-2115576549789033642010-03-24T19:35:00.010-05:002010-03-25T11:43:14.970-05:00Ada Lovelace Day 2010I find it incredibly challenging to identify a single individual to write about on <a href="http://findingada.com/">Ada Lovelace Day</a>. I have a number of colleagues that I admire more than I can say, and what I really want to do is give a shout out to everyone I can think of (being sure that I am forgetting many women to whom I apologize profusely):<br /><br />Grace Agnew, Rachel Allen, Ivy Anderson, Martha Anderson, Caroline Arms, Murtha Baca, Carol Bartels, Maria Bernier, Liz Bishoff, Suzanne Bonefas, Sandy Bostian, Cristine Bostick, Kristine Brancolini, Lois Brooks, Colleen Cahill, Laura Campbell, Lisa Chan, Robin Chandler, Patricia Cruse, Robin Dale, Ann Della Porta, Christina Deane, Robin Dowden, Laine Farley, Eleanor Fink, Daisy Flemming, Rachel Frick, Michelle Gallinger, Wendy Gogel, Cathryn Goodwin, Trisha Gordon, Emily Gore, Beth Gould, Laura Graham, Ronda Grizzle, Abbie Grotke, Kat Hagedorn, Susan Hazan, Geneva Henry, Nancy Hoebelheinrich, Gina Jones, Katherine Jones, Anne Kenney, Stacey Kowalczyk, Elisa Lanzi, Cindy Maisannes, Martha Mahard, Maura Marx, Amalyah Keshet, Michelle Kimpton, Katherine Kott, Liz Madden, Jane Mandelbaum, Cathy Marshall, Kathleen McDonnell, Bethany Mendenhall, Marla Misunas, Bethany Nowviskie, Susan Patterson, Sandy Payette, Toni Peterson, Cecilia Preston, Abbey Potter, Merrilee Proffitt, Suzanne Quigley, Michelle Rago, Vicky Reich, Oya Rieger, Jenn Riley, Chris Ruotolo, Bess Sadler, Dorothea Salo, Beth Sandore, Lenore Sarasan, Jodi Schneider, Candy Schwartz, Sarah Shreeves, Katherine Skinner, MacKenzie Smith, Erin Stalberg, Deb Thomas, Jennifer Trant, Jennifer Vinopal, Jewel Ward, Susanne Warren, Amanda Watson, Robin Wendler, Olivia Williamson, Debra Weiss, Holly Witchey, Ann Whiteside, and Diane Zorich.<br /><br />I want them all to know that they have influenced and inspired me again and again over the years and today.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-89307930301983365352010-03-17T08:28:00.006-05:002010-03-17T20:41:20.272-05:00obsolescenceI think a lot about obsolescence in my work: hardware, software, and file formats. I encounter a lot of obsolescence in my personal life as well: I own a Saturn (I am currently looking for a place to get it repaired since the Saturn and GM dealerships near me both closed -- I haven't needed to drive it since it developed a coolant leak late last year, but I need it again soon); I can't seem to find the dish washing liquid I prefer except at one store; and the body wash I used for years was discontinued, as was the product I choose to replace it soon after. My liking a TV show seems to be the kiss of death, an assurance that it will soon be canceled.<br /><br />It's the anniversary of my mother's death today, and for some reason I've been experiencing a strange sense memory of a beauty product my mother used, a cosmetics counter lotion that I could not for the life of me remember the name of, but I remembered the black art deco packaging and its scent vividly (and that I used to sometimes buy it for her at Hart's department store in San Jose, California, also defunct). Last night I found some web sites with images of vintage cosmetics ads and, after some extensive browsing, found an ad that jogged my memory (thanks, <a href="http://pzrservices.typepad.com/vintageadvertising/2008/07/1946-ad-for-cha.html">Found in Mom's Basement</a>). It was a Charles of the Ritz product called Revenescence. Not surprisingly, the product and brand no longer exists.<br /><br />Circling back to obsolescence, this product was apparently beloved by generations of women who continue to seek it out. I found a 6oz bottle on eBay priced, optimistically one hopes, at $395, and smaller bottles for $150. There are warnings about pirate versions! And someone has attempted to recreate it, emulate it if you will, with some success. In other words someone so valued this that a market re-emerged, and it became worth someone's while to bring back a product that was made obsolete.<br /><br />How often does that happen with software? I have seen innumerable games and applications brought back through emulation, and translation and transformation tools created for file formats. But how often is a market recreated, and market value reestablished at a higher rate? Should it ever happen, as an incentive to keep a application or format alive?Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-11294366758566670302009-12-31T10:39:00.007-05:002009-12-31T11:41:02.423-05:002009 in reviewAs is always the case for me at the end of the year, I find myself waxing nostalgic.<br /><br />What were my favorite books of the year? <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Finch</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">The City and the City</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Sandman Slim</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">The Chalk Circle Man</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Chronic City</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">The Year of the Flood<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">The Girl who Played with Fire</span></li><li><em><em>The Public Domain: Enclosing the Commons of the Mind</em></em></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Free: The Future of a Radical Price</span></li></ul> My favorite movies? <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;">District 9</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Food, Inc</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Julie and Julia</span> (the Julia parts)</li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Coraline</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Star Trek</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Coco Before Chanel</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Up </span>(I know, I don't usually like sentimental things, but this was just so darned likable)<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></li></ul>There's a longer list of movies I haven't seen but want to: <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><ul><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Avatar</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Sherlock Holmes</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Up in the Air</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">A Single Man</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">A Serious Man</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">The Young Victoria</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Bright Star</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Inglorious Basterds</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">9</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Fantastic Mr. Fox<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">The September Issue</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">The White Ribbon</span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Bad Lieutenant<br /></span></li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Creation</span> was never released in the U.S., but it looks like I'll get to see it at a screening in January<br /></li></ul> My favorite conferences?<br /><ul><li>OR09</li><li>DigCCurr 2009<br /></li><li>2009 NDIIPP partners' meeting</li></ul>Accomplishments?<br /><ul><li>We released our BIL Java library on SourceForge to support the BagIt standard. Kudos to Justin Littman and Brian Vargas.<br /></li><li>We moved a number of our tools into supported LoC production, and opened up some of our in-development tools for limited external partner testing. Kudos to Justin Littman, Dan Chudnov, Dan Krech, Paul Petty, Jon Steinbach, Chun Yi, Praveen Bokka, Sohail Aslam, and Brian Vargas.</li><li>We launched an expanded internal LoC transfer and workflow service with a greatly improved UI (and more features and improvements to come). Kudos to Justin Littman, Dan Chudnov, Paul Petty, Chun Yi, and Brian Vargas.</li><li>The National Digital Newspaper Program hit a million page milestone and updated their entire underlying infrastructure. Congratulations to David Brunton, Deb Thomas, Ray Murray, Ivey Glendon, Henry Carter, Tonijala Penn, Dory Bower, Ed Summers, Dan Krech, Dan Chudnov, Curt Harvey, Justin Littman, and Brian Vargas.<br /></li><li>The World Digital Library launched. Congratulations to Dave Hafken, Michelle Rago, Sandy Bostian, Kapil Thangavelu, Risa Ohara, Mike Giarlo, Sohail Aslam, Paul Petty, Chun Yi, and Laura Keen.</li><li>Thanks to our QA testing team for all their hard work on all the group's projects during the year: JoKeeta Joyner, La Tonya Freeman, Tasmin McDonald, and Preethi Mothkupally.<br /></li><li>Thanks to our Ops team - Scott Phelps, Salim Malik, Ken Stailey, and Kurt Yoder - for all their support on all our group's projects this year.</li></ul>Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-59124218758225535232009-12-31T09:22:00.015-05:002009-12-31T19:11:04.847-05:00stories from a maker childhoodA TV show about vintage toys brought on a discussion in our house of toys we had when we were kids. Not too surprisingly to anyone that knows me, my favorite activities were making things and reading.<br /><br />My love of all things spooky, supernatural was inborn in me. My earliest comic books at 5 years old were <span style="font-style: italic;">Casper the Friendly Ghost</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Wendy the Little Witch</span>. I attended church preschool at The Falls Church, and I was often found wandering the small cemetery that is there. I still have a glow-in-the-dark ghost family that I know we bought one figure at a time on visits to the drug store in Falls Church. It should be no surprise, then, that my absolutely favorite toy from my childhood was the Thingmaker. I have a photo from either Christmas 1968 or my birthday in 1969 where I am joyfully displaying my favorite present - a mold with which to make my own little skeletons.<br /><br />Don't remember the Thingmaker? It was later re-branded as "Creepy Crawlies." It was basically a hot plate, accompanied by metal molds, into which you poured colored "Goop." The heat set up the goop in the mold, and once the mold was cooled you had soft rubbery things. There were molds for bugs, but there were also molds with which you cast parts to make larger items (skeletons) or 3D objects (so-called "Dragons," which were THE hot trading item when I was in the 2nd grade after clackers, those glassy resin balls on thin rope that you clacked together to make really loud noises and sort of perform tricks). You could mix the colors of goop and create some really startling color combinations. It later years they also had "jewel" molds with jewel powder to cast hard plastic jewels. I am sure the company that manufactured these made quite a bit off the goop and jewel powder consumables. The product disappeared and came back in the 1990s in a safer version but it just didn't look as good to me. OK, I guess it's not acceptable anymore to give 5 year-olds a toy that consisted of an open hot plate, metal molds, and some flimsy tongs with which to extract the hot molds, but I really loved that toy.<br /><br />I did not have an Easy Bake Oven. Mom would give me a toy that was an open hot plate but not one with an enclosed light bulb? I once enacted the roasting of my talking Bugs Bunny puppet with a neighbor girl with a roasting pan in a dresser drawer. I spent a lot of time at her house because they had a color TV and her mother would let us watch "Dark Shadows" after school.<br /><br />I was not one for playing much with dolls. I had a large baby doll and baby furniture - I cherished and still have the doll blankets that my mother knitted but can barely remember the doll. I had Barbie dolls (the rotating electric kitchen of the future was my favorite accessory), a Chrissy doll with hair that grew and retracted again (that fascinated me), and Dawn dolls (I loved her dress with the crystal-pleated organza skirt, and her beach house with the inflatable pool). I later transformed some of those dolls into superheroes by making them little costumes. Then there was the one I turned into an Andorian by painting her skin blue with permanent marker and coating her hair with liquid paper. I gave all those dolls away to the daughter of a friend in the late 1980s.<br /><br />I did have a dollhouse, my most desired gift for Christmas 1969. That was the Imagination dollhouse, an amazing reconfigurable mid-century modern style plastic dollhouse that consisted of three movable transparent colored plastic structures. The figures and furnishings were all sleek and modern. I know they sometimes appear on Ebay. In a future where nostalgia overwhelms me and I am flush with cash and storage space, I may buy one.<br /><br />I never had Legos, but I did have Lincoln Logs. I have no idea if Mom knew they were developed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's sons, but she had a Frank Lloyd Wright obsession (she lived in the FLW Imperial Hotel in Tokyo in the 1950s) that she passed along to me.<br /><br />Mom was a maker at heart. She knit and crocheted, and had a fondness for paper crafts. Somewhere I have a picture from Easter 1970 where you can see on a table an astonishing tableaux of two stylized rabbits, where the clothing/bodies were constructed of a number of different coordinated patterned and plain colored glossy stiff paper (why do I remember that the paper came in folded squares from a Hallmark store?), the heads were decorated blown eggs made to look like bunnies, and they had as Easter hat and an Easter bonnet perched over their ears. I know the templates came from a magazine. Mom kept them for years, but I did not find them when I cleaned out her house after her death.<br /><br />We crafted a lot together. Some time around 1970 Mom bought <span style="font-style: italic;">The McCalls Giant Golden Make-It Book</span> for us. It was full of templates and instructions to make dozens of projects. Mom was annoyed by my lack of patience in waiting for glue to dry and my insistence in using scotch tape for every paper project instead. She despaired of my seemingly profligate use of tape. Yes, I still have that book.<br /><br />Mom was an excellent cook but a so-so baker. At Christmas she obsessed about making cookies. Her attempts at bread were disastrous, so she resorted to frozen bread dough. Her Pfeffernusse were like dog kibble. When I was in elementary school I bought <span style="font-style: italic;">The Cookie Book </span>by Eva Moore through one of my Scholastic book orders. It had one recipe for each month of the year, and we made its December sugar cookie recipe with "Peanuts" Christmas cookie cutters which we decorated in glorious detail. (I still have the book, too, and think it has the best Snickerdoodle recipe.) Mom also had a cookie press and made butter cookies that she dyed in batches of red and green. Some years they were very pale tints and some years they were very vivid. Both were unappetizing to look at but yummy. I have that cookie press in its original box with all its dies, and I use it almost every Christmas. I do NOT dye my dough.<br /><br />I never picked up knitting. I was OK at crocheting. I loved embroidery, needlepoint, and sewing. Mom taught me to sew, I had classes as part of my Girl Scout sewing badge, and I took a summer school needlearts class (we will not speak of my knitting attempts in that class). I still sew but I haven't tried anything else in decades. I am daunted by my expert knitting friends.<br /><br />Mom had excellent copyist drawing skills. She never created any original works that I remember, but she could copy anything. She was astonishingly skilled with charcoal and pastels. She and I took an oil painting class together when I was a child - the instructor must have been extraodinarily understanding that she let a single mother bring her elementary-aged daughter to class with her. Luckily I was a good painter. My drawing skills were never great. I took lessons in Chinese ink painting in middle school, and I somehow talked my way into a life-drawing class when I was 17 (in post-Proposition 13 California most high school art classes were canceled, so I took adult education and community college classes). My high school classmates just could not deal that I was drawing nude models. I also took a print-making class. I was working with oversize printing plates and had to work with them in the acid with my bare hands. The yellow and black chemical discoloration of my hands freaked out my high school chemistry teacher, who was afraid I'd done it in her class. She was relieved and horrified when I told her what I was doing.<br /><br />My early childhood room in a number of houses was decorated with little paint-by-numbers paintings. Mom loved the precision of those little kits and pots of paint. I hated the clowns and strange, stylized dogs. I still have the ocean scenes she painted for me. I don't remember doing this myself. I preferred playing with Colorforms when I was 4 and 5. And my Etch-a-Sketch. And my favorite toy before my getting my Thingmaker - a Lite Brite. I always used up the black sheets of construction paper out of the mixed-color pads first as Lite Brite refills. The sensation of pushing the light pin through the paper and through the round mesh and seeing the pin light up was just so cool.<br /><br />I may have had a couple of tiny Liddle Kiddle dolls, but what I loved was my Liddle Kiddle branded tracing light box. I used that light box - its body was lavender plastic - at least 15 years through the mid-80s when it finally died. I also had a Barbie branded "fashion plate" set that consisted of a series of outline templates that you used to draw Barbie figures that you could color in. There were patterned rubbing plates you could use to create textures. I loved the fashion design aspect of it.<br /><br />Didn't every kid in the 1970s have a Spirograph? I could create intricate patterns for hours, and I kept a stash of colored ballpoint pens. Actually, I know not every kid had one because I always took it with me to my cousins' house, along with the Barbie fashion plates. My cousin Sandy may have had the Mousetrap and Green Ghost games, but I had those.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-52629433697263874372009-08-13T11:44:00.011-05:002009-08-13T15:24:34.861-05:00metaphorsMy colleague Thorny Staples often uses the metaphor that digital humanities projects are, at their most basic level, online exhibitions. Curated content is presented with key descriptive information not unlike exhibition tombstone labels and contextualized through categorization and by scholarly essays of varying lengths as well as site information architecture (not unlike rooms of an exhibition with wall texts). The end results include the identification and explication of relationships and the presentation of deep readings of objects. That metaphor always resonated with me.<br /><br />In a recent discussion a small group was trying to work out some generalized models to for the processes we follow from the receipt/creation of digital files through to providing access. We were having a particularly lengthy discussion about description and contextualization -- at what point in a digital file's life cycle is it related to other files and identified as a digital object, and at what point is some sort of intellectual meaning overlaid onto that digital object?<br /><br />My new colleague Terry Harrison -- a big fan of using metaphors -- commented that when museums acquire objects they cannot know every context in which the object will be exhibited or published in the future, but they acquire it and put effort into description and conservation to prepare for future display/publication when the object will be contextualized many times over. <br /><br />This sent me down the road to a metaphor that's still developing in my head which may not yet translate to something that anyone beside me thinks is sensible. Or it may not be sensible at all.<br /><br />First, I'm starting with an assumption that there are four very broad categories of activities that we need to describe (leaving out "preservation" for now). On the museum side, it's these:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Acquisition</span>: Items are proposed, selected, and acquired<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Accessioning</span>: Items have accession numbers assigned, are assigned storage locations, relationships between parts are identified (a tea set is made up of individual components), and basic descriptive information is recorded in a registration system<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Preparation</span>: Items are cleaned, repaired, mounted, framed, or otherwise stabilized and made ready for research use and public viewing<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Exhibition</span>: Items are further described and presented in the context identified by a collection or exhibition curator; an object will be exhibited many times and assigned to multiple contexts<br /><br />This roughly translates to this in the digital realm:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Creation/Transfer</span>: Selection and digitization or transfer of digital (master?) files to an institution<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Inventory</span>: Files are assigned identifiers/names, placed into some sort of meaningful (or not) storage location in a server environment<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Processing</span>: QA, manipulation, derivative creation<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Access</span>: Making content discoverable and usable, which can include a curator providing context and intellectual overlays for objects (not files)<br /><br />I'm having one real issue in making this metaphor work for me and for others, and that's around the creation of metadata and recording of file relationships. At what point is the relationship of files to each other recorded? Is the creation of metadata identifying/describing an intellectual object part of inventory, processing, or access? When is the relationship of files to that intellectual object recorded? <br /><br />I think that inventorying should include a step whereby the relationships between files are recorded so it is recognizable that some set of 300 files go together. There wasn't a lot of push back on this in our discussion. When descriptive metadata for an intellectual object is created and when the relationship of files to an intellectual object are recorded engendered a lot of discussion. I personally think that descriptive metadata for intellectual objects represented by those files is also created during the inventory stage, and that files in hand at that stage should in some way be associated with the intellectual objects at that time.<br /><br />This is complicated because the recording of all the relationship of files to intellectual objects is not fully possible until objects are prepared and added to an access application. That's where the contextualization happens, so one can argue that that is where intellectual objects are truly defined and the process of associating files to objects takes place. Preparation is driven by access. If access applications are siloed at all, each might use different derivative files, and there has to be some association of those derivatives to the master and to the intellectual objects. <br /><br />So, we have master files, derivative files (possibly multiple sets over time per access point), intellectual object metadata, relationships of all files to each other and to that intellectual object, and the need to inventory and manage all of the above. Which may be separate from an access application or multiple access points. Where is this recorded, in what order, where, and how do we describe these activities? I'm struggling with that part of the metaphor/model.<br /><br />How did this conversation arise? Well, we're trying to scope out some future directions and activities, and a shared understanding of the model for the activities we support is vital. Mine is not the only model proposed and it just may not be right. I'm sharing this as much for my own process as anything else.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-55616560126149133682009-06-30T14:35:00.003-05:002009-06-30T14:51:00.947-05:00LoC on iTunes<a href="http://www.loc.gov/blog/2009/06/hey-u-tune-in-the-library-is-now-on-itunes-u/">The Library of Congress now has content on iTunes U</a>. iTunes U is the area of the iTunes Store which offers open educational audio and video content from universities and other educational institutions. The Library’s initial iTunes U content includes historical videos such as original Edison films and a series of 1904 films from the Westinghouse Works, as well as event videos such as author talks from the National Book Festival, the "Books and Beyond" series, discussions with curators, and lectures from the Kluge Center. The audio content includes Library podcast series such as "Music and the Brain," slave narratives from the American Folklife Center, and interviews with authors from the National Book Festival. The collection also includes Library-produced classroom and educational materials, such as courses from the Catalogers’ Learning Workshop.<p></p>You must be running iTunes to be able to view <a href="http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/loc.gov">the LoC content</a>.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-14487107640105332682009-06-27T15:56:00.004-05:002009-06-30T14:52:01.351-05:00new BIL on SourceForge and update to BagIt specThis week saw a couple of events around the BagIt specification and tools.<br /><br /><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-kunze-bagit-04">A revision of the BagIt specification went out this week</a>. You will note that it is still 0.96 -- the revisions were only in language to clarify some questions that had been received. There are some discussions going on about 0.97 - join the <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/digital-curation">Digital Curation Google group</a>. I'd like to see some more activity there!<br /><br />Version 3.0 of BIL, the BagIt Library for Java, <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/loc-xferutils/">was released on SourceForge this week</a>. It's available as binary and source code.<br /><br />Plus, there was the <a href="http://digitaleccentric.blogspot.com/2009/06/bagit-video.html">BagIt video</a> ...Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-84090376758104700512009-06-27T15:45:00.004-05:002009-06-30T14:52:18.895-05:00BagIt videoThe first in a planned series of digital preservation videos is available on the <a href="http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/">digitalpreservation.gov</a> site -- an <a href="http://digitalpreservation.gov/videos/bagit0609.html">introduction to BagIt</a>! Brian Vargas did a great job as "the talent" -- e.g., the narrator -- but folks should know that Brian was not selected just for his acting experience: he wrote many of our transfer tools (like the transfer scripts on <a href="http://sourceforge.net/projects/loc-xferutils/">SourceForge</a>) and is a co-author of the <a href="http://www.cdlib.org/inside/diglib/bagit/bagitspec.html">BagIt specification</a>.<br /><br />The video premiered this week at the annual NDIIPP Partner's Meeting to great acclaim. It's aimed at a general audience.<br /><br />EDIT: The NDIIPP site has added <a href="http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/library/challenge/data-transfer.html">a great new page on the Transfer Tools with a link to the video</a>.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-85164914031868364112009-06-26T13:04:00.004-05:002009-06-26T13:24:08.239-05:00Chesapeake Project Legal Information ArchiveI came across a very interesting resource today -- the Chesapeake Project Legal Information Archive -- and the just-released results of a study they did on archiving legal resources on the web:<br /><blockquote><p>The Chesapeake Project Legal Information Archive has released a comprehensive report evaluating its digital preservation efforts during the project's two-year pilot phase. </p><p>The project evaluation reveals that nearly 14 percent — or approximately one in seven — of the online publications archived between March 2007 and March 2009 have already disappeared from their original locations on the Web but, due to the project's efforts, remain accessible via permanent archive URLs. A similar analysis in 2008 showed that slightly more than 8 percent of archived titles had disappeared from their original URLs, demonstrating a dramatic increase in "link rot," or inactive URLs, among archived content over the past year.</p><p>During the two-year pilot phase, the libraries participating in the project archived more than 4,300 digital objects and tracked more than 177,000 visits to <a href="http://www.legalinfoarchive.org/">www.legalinfoarchive.org</a>, the home of The Chesapeake Project's digital archive collections. Users of the project's Web site visited from educational, government, and military institutions in the United States, as well as from countries abroad throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Pacific Islands.</p></blockquote>Not too surprisingly, the second highest class of domain to where resource loss is found is .edu, after .info. Academic institutions are not always very conscientious about preserving access to their content, and with their academic term structure and the movement of faculty between institutions, web content on .edu sites is highly variable in its longevity. I don't see a characterization of how old the resources are that they harvested -- that can be very difficult to identify -- but it is a high percentage of bitrot, and there was quite an increase from the end of the first year to the end of the second year. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.blogger.com/Chesapeake%20Project%20Legal%20Information%20Archive">Download the PDF of their report</a>.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-16321216087929200162009-06-16T19:55:00.007-05:002009-06-30T14:52:39.722-05:00milestones for the National Digital Newspaper ProgramToday there was an exciting press event at the Newseum for the National Digital Newspaper Program, sponsored by the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities. There was a great live demo, a video on digital production for the project from the University of Kentucky, and some nice speechmaking. The event promoted the milestone where the project surpassed 1,000,000 pages available at the <a href="http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/">Chronicling America</a> site, the addition of seven new state partners, and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/sets/72157619452486566/">the addition of images of illustrated newspaper supplements to the LoC Flickr Commons set</a> (with more to come every month).<br /><br />So far the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=226299225264&h=nCJS_&u=9ny6-&ref=nf">AP has an article available</a>, and there were representatives of other news outlets at the event. Check out the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2009/09-123.html">press release</a>. Roy Tennant has <a href="http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/1090000309/post/650045665.html">a post that includes some of the technical specs supplied by my colleague Ed Summers</a>. Ed and Dan Krech have done some great work to update the underlying application, improving the ingest and search functionality, adding the functionality that allows the site to be crawled, and exposing the data as RDF for a multitude of possibilities.<br /><br />Edit: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061603156.html">Here's the Washington Post article</a>, and the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/blog/?p=556">official LoC blog posting</a>.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-54729105659618754302009-06-13T15:48:00.003-05:002009-06-13T16:04:08.637-05:00something odd happened todayLast weekend I went to my local public library (which I love), where I spotted a book that was on my to-be-read list. I keep a list of books I want to read, and periodically search the library's catalog to see if they have it at any of their branches. I had this book noted on my list as being held in the collection of my local branch. Depending upon how much I want to read the book, I'll put a hold onto the book if they have it in the collection but it isn't checked in. This is a book that held a middling position on my list for a while, a 2007 sequel to a science fiction novel by a newish but award-winning author which I liked but didn't love, but thought might be interesting. I grabbed the book off the shelf, but, in the process of wandering around and gathering up other books, I must have set it down and it didn't make it to the self-checkout with me, something I didn't discover until I got home. Ah well, I knew I'd be back this weekend, and maybe it would still be available.<br /><br />I returned today and wandered over to the shelf. It wasn't there. I decided to look the book up and see when it was due and put a hold on it this time.<br /><br />It wasn't there any more. It wasn't in the catalog, and the author wasn't in the catalog either. <br /><br />I left with the books I found and one that was on hold for me. I considered asking about the missing book/author, but there was quite a line and I didn't want to hold people up while I asked my crazy-conspiracy-sounding questions -- how did this author and his books disappear in the last week? And why?Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-84514848171548300352009-05-26T20:55:00.003-05:002009-05-26T21:29:40.572-05:00how did a month go by?In re-writing the opening sentence to this post about seventeen times, I have alternated between apologizing, rationalizing, making excuses for, and outright ignoring that I haven't posted here in a month.<br /><br />I've been attending conferences and traveling a lot. Four meetings/trips in three weeks, and four states (yes, one state was Virginia, but I was off site for three days, followed the next day by a trip over two hours away and overnight for two nights, so that counts). That doesn't stop most folks from continuing to reach out and share, but I find travel very draining. I can happily spend my days chatting with colleagues, taking notes and tweeting, and talking about what excites me about my job. By the time I collapse in my room at the end of the day, I sometimes feel like I hope to never discuss the BagIt specification again (But I will, you know I will, and with great enthusiasm). And when I get home, I hole up and do not feel social for a good 24 hours. Yes, I might be the most outgoing Myers-Briggs "I" out there, but I'm still an I who just wants to sit quietly and think for a while.<br /><br />And, if I also want to make some semi-valid excuses, my work PC died again and it was out of my possession for 3 weeks, one of my projects had a major deadline that was almost fully met on time and required some last minute scrambling on my part so I didn't blow the deadline too badly, and we had to pack up and move out of our office suite so some duct repairs could take place. I should not even admit how far behind I am in studying for my Japanese class. <br /><br />I hope to resume normal blogging this week. The coming attractions: the IS&T Arching 2009 conference, Open Repositories 2009, and a visit to Scola, the Library's international newscast preservation partner.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-85771141578670424002009-04-27T15:09:00.004-05:002009-04-27T15:26:07.417-05:00Digital KarnakI am a huge fan of 3-D visualizations of archaeological sites, and there's a new one developed by a team under Diane Favro and Willeke Wendrich at UCLA. <a href="http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Karnak/">Digital Karnak</a> provides a Google Earth visualization of the site of Karnak, a massive temple complex in Egypt that was in use for some 1,500 years. There's a nice interactive timeline through which you can view the development of the site over time. Start with the <a href="http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Karnak/experience/IntroductionToTheTempleOfKarnak">overview</a> if you're unfamiliar with Karnak.<br /><br />The web site includes an amazing archive consisting of stills from the 3-D model and photographs from the archaeological site. I'd like to see that expanded some day to include any smaller objects from Karnak that are in various cultural heritage collections. Historical renderings (there are known drawings from the early 18th century onwards) would also be a nice addition.<br /><br />There's a nice article in the <a href="http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3733/ucla-professors-use-virtual-reality-to-explore-ancient-egypt">Chronicle of Higher Education</a>.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-50139743888464405842009-04-21T04:00:00.005-05:002009-06-30T14:53:01.269-05:00World Digital Library LaunchThe <a href="http://www.wdl.org/">World Digital Library</a> is now available.<br /><br />The site is launching with 1,170 objects from 26 partner institutions. WDL focuses on significant primary materials reflecting the cultural heritage of all UNESCO member countries, including manuscripts, maps, rare books, recordings, films, prints, photographs, architectural drawings, and other types of primary sources from varying time periods. The project will continue to add content to the site, and will enlist new partners from the widest possible range of institutions and countries.<br /><br />The site is available in seven different languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish, and Portuguese. The content is not translated -- the items appear in their original language. The metadata and all the site navigation is translated to make it possible to search and browse the site in any of the languages. The metadata came from partner institutions or was created by catalogers at the Library of Congress, and much of the translation was provided by Lingotek.<br /><br />The site was built using the Django Python framework, nginx, Lucene/Solr, and a mySQL database. The zooming in the imageviewer and pageturner is Seadragon Ajax. There is heavy use of Javascript, jquery, JSON and underlying XML. Check out the image carousels and timeline tool! The project also developed a cataloging tool to manage the metadata and cataloging process and interact with the Lingotek translation system via their API.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-59354955952341388072009-04-12T07:48:00.006-05:002009-04-20T19:35:38.890-05:00museum data exchange softwareOCLC, funded by the Mellon Foundation and working with the software company Cognitive Applications, Inc, <a href="http://www.oclc.org/research/announcements/2009-04-10.htm">has released COBOAT and OAICat Museum to support data interchange between museums</a>. This work is happening under the auspices of their <a href="http://www.oclc.org/programs/ourwork/collectivecoll/sharecoll/museumdata.htm">Museum Data Exchange Project</a>.<br /><br />So what, many people will say? It should already be easy to share museums data, right?<br /><br />Not so much.<br /><br />The museum collection management system arena has some major vendors (Gallery Systems, Willoughby, Minisis, Cuadra, etc) and some smaller vendors (<span style="letter-spacing: 0.5pt;">Re:discovery, PastPerfect</span>, etc.), and countless (and I really mean countless) home-grown systems running on FileMaker, Access, and MS-SQL. I know, because I spent many years working for museums and I was on the board of the Museum Computer Network, a group that dilligently worked on many interchange initiatives. I worked with software from 3 vendors and managed a FileMaker-based system. Getting data in was easy. Getting data out was often hard. Participation in data aggregation projects took a lot of effort. And most small- or medium-sized museums (and there are many, many more of them than large museums) have little or no technology staff to enable data sharing. And there is no common data schema in the community.<br /><br />The museum community itself has sometimes slowed progress. When discussion of relevant library community standards were mentioned, some said "We're nothing like libaries! Our collections are unique! Their standards are not for us!" That attitude seems to have adapted in the last 10 years.<br /><br />I am glad to see something like this going forward. A fee-free tool that can help museums extract data from black-box vendor systems and enable sharing? Bring it on.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-18226654093533046432009-04-10T09:34:00.003-05:002009-04-10T09:36:03.504-05:00open repositories 2009The <a href="http://conferences.library.gatech.edu/or/or09/schedConf/presentations">abstracts are now available for the presentation and poster sessions at OR09</a>. This is one of my favorite conferences to attend and present at.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-5630122100933815012009-04-05T10:03:00.006-05:002009-04-10T10:34:05.918-05:00DigCCurr 2009I was in Chapel Hill the first week of April for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">DigCCurr</span> 2009 conference and to attend a meeting to brainstorm about personal digital collection preservation. I thought the conference was very good, better than the first one in 2007. I saw many excellent presentations, had some great conversations, and got a good response to my presentation on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">LC's</span> work with file transfer and inventory tools. As with the last conference, I walked out thinking that I should have been an archivist.<br /><br />I strongly recommend the proceeding form <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">DigCCurr</span> 2009. <a href="http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/proceedings-of-digccurr2009-digital-curation-practice-promise-and-prospects/6482253">They're available as a free download</a> from Lulu, or you can buy a POD version. You can also look up the very active twittering history at <a href="http://search.twitter.com/search?q=digccurr">#<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">digccurr</span></a>.<br /><br />I found it strangely hard to write up my notes from this meeting. I think it's because I'm still struggling with some aspects of the digital preservation problem space.<br /><br />I absolutely agree that the activities of traditional archival practice have a place in the preservation of digital records. Where I found myself disagreeing with some presenters is in the balance between collecting and saving what we can versus an appraisal process to select what we will collect/save. In collection development practices for general collections, there is the often-held discussion about never knowing what might prove useful in the future, so it is a disservice to be too selective now. I guess that I have taken that point of view to heart, and I want to see our institutions cast as open a net as possible for digital collections. If we don't grab it when we can, there will be nothing to select.<br /><br />I also found myself bristling occasionally over the implied scope of the term "digital collections" as I most often heard that phrase used at the meeting. There was very much a focus on electronic records and the digital realm of personal papers. Of course there were some great discussions around multimedia, web sites, audio/video, and image collections, but what I pretty much never heard anybody mention was born-digital scholarship and teaching and learning materials.<br /><br />My first web site preservation project was at the Harvard Design School in the late 1990s, where, while developing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">courseware</span> software, I realized that we were losing the history of what we taught and the products of the courses as we overwrote sites every term. Part of an institution's records are its lists of course offerings, course <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">syllabi</span> and reading lists, and, for some courses, the projects that the students created and put online in the course site. This was particularly true at at graduate school with programs in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning where the studio courses produced important site-specific work and case studies that was often lost after every term. I felt so strongly about this that I launched a course site preservation project that would have involved retrieving sites off server archives. We were looking at using <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">METS</span> (in its early days) to map the sites. But, as often happens, I ended up leaving before the project got very far along and no one felt nearly as devoted to the project as I did and it didn't go very far.<br /><br />At <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">UVA</span> we launched a project called "Sustaining Digital Scholarship" to preserve born-digital scholarship, primarily in the humanities and social sciences. We instituted a technical assessment process and were working on documenting and migrating some major digital scholarly resources with varying strategies. That project is still going on in a limited way. It can take a lot of resources to assess and document a large digital archive.<br /><br />That said, I was excited by some of the tools that I saw. ACE from the University of Maryland. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">MOPSEUS</span> from Greece. The <span id="msgtxt1447302050" class="msgtxt sv">PARSE.Insight draft preservation <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">roadmap</span>. CASPAR for representation information. PLATO and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Hoppla</span> from Austria. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">LANL's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">ReMember</span> Framework for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">OAI</span>-ORE. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">CDL's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Pairtree</span> directory structure. Prometheus and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">MediaPedia</span> from Australia. All very much worth looking into.<br /><br />There was also a thread in this meeting on the use of digital forensics, transitioning some tools and practices from legal digital forensics into archival digital forensics. This interested me very much and I intend to read up in this area.<br /></span>Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-28787747992312208122009-04-02T06:43:00.001-05:002009-04-02T06:45:56.509-05:00new flip book beta<a href="http://www.opencontentalliance.org/2009/04/01/new-book-reader/">From Peter Brantley on the OCA blog</a> -- A new beta version of the Flipbook bookreader has been released open source under GNU license. <a href="http://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/bookreader">The source code is available from the Open Library site</a>.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-54136992799452975142009-04-01T21:40:00.002-05:002009-04-01T21:43:04.656-05:00LC/CLIR report on pre-1972 sound recording copyrightExcerpted from the <a href="http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2009/09-060.html">press release</a>:<br /><blockquote><p>Sound recordings were not protected by federal copyright law until 1972. A Library of Congress report indicates that the miscellany of state laws protecting pre-1972 sound recordings will extend copyright protection until 2067, creating a situation where some recordings dating to the 19th century are not available in public domain. </p> <p>The Library announced today the completion of a commissioned report that examines copyright issues associated with unpublished sound recordings. This new report from the Library of Congress and the Council on Library and Information Resources addresses the question of what libraries and archives are legally empowered to do, under current laws, to preserve and make accessible for research their holdings of unpublished sound recordings made before 1972. </p> <p>The report, "Copyright and Related Issues Relevant to Digital Preservation and Dissemination of Unpublished Pre-1972 Sound Recordings by Libraries and Archives’ is one of a series of studies undertaken by the National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB), under the auspices of the Library of Congress. It was written by June Besek, executive director of the Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts at Columbia University. The report is available free of charge at <a href="http://www.loc.gov/global/disclaimer.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.clir.org%2Fpubs%2Fabstract%2Fpub144abst.html">www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub144abst.html</a>.</p></blockquote>Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-63723831618135086382009-03-27T10:37:00.004-05:002009-06-30T14:51:36.445-05:00New LC multimedia collection sharing initiativesThis is news ... The Library of Congress will begin sharing content from its vast video and audio collections on the YouTube and Apple iTunes web services as part of a continuing initiative to make its incomparable treasures more widely accessible to a broad audience. The new Library of Congress channels on each of the popular services will launch within the next few weeks.<br /><br />...<br /><br />The General Services Administration today also announced agreements with Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo and blip.tv that will allow other federal agencies to participate in new media while meeting legal requirements and the unique needs of government. GSA plans to negotiate agreements with other providers, and the Library will explore these new media services when they are appropriate to its mission and as resources permit.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2009/09-055.html">Read the Press Release</a>.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33596609.post-10327749184895263922009-03-24T18:39:00.006-05:002009-03-24T19:23:24.087-05:00Jenny HolzerEven though I have already posted for <a href="http://findingada.com/">Ada Lovelace Day</a>, an exchange I had with a colleague earlier today led me to want to post about someone else. I accidentally printed the entirety of a lengthy PowerPoint presentation. After the pages I actually needed printed, I canceled the print job and went to my meeting. When I got back there was a stack of messed up printouts from the failure of the print job to, well, fail gracefully. There were pages of random letters in random length rows. A colleague saw me staring at one of the pages and exclaimed "text art!" I immediately thought of <a href="http://www.jennyholzer.com/">Jenny Holzer</a>.<br /><br />Jenny Holzer is famous for her text-based art featuring short statements, or "truisms." Some are well known cliches while others are random phrases or slogans or exerpted phrases from larger texts or documents. Her work explores the use of words and ideas in public spaces. She works in a variety of media, including large scale xenon projections, LED signs, the Internet, plaques, benches, stickers, T-shirts, and street posters. I cannot begin to describe how mesmerizing her work is, whether a large-scale projection or an immersive gallery space. For over thirty years she has joined ideology with space through text using technology. I just found out that she is <a href="http://twitter.com/jennyholzer">on twitter</a>.<br /><br />I cannot remember where I first encountered her work. It may have been at <a href="http://www.sfmoma.org/">SFMoMA</a>. It may have been at the <a href="http://www.decordova.org/">DeCordova Museum</a> in Lincoln, Massachusetts (one of my absolute favorite museums that not enough people know about). Or it might have been at <a href="http://www.massmoca.org/">Mass MoCA</a>. I very much want to see <a href="http://whitney.org/www/holzer/index.jsp">the exhibition of her work at the Whitney</a>, on display through May 31, 2009. There's a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/13/arts/design/13holz.html">detailed review in the <span style="font-style: italic;">New York Times</span></a>.Leslie Johnstonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02214388320207490977noreply@blogger.com0