
Never Write Your Own Date Parsing Library, by @zachleat:
Never Write Your Own Date Parsing Library, by @zachleat:
Kudos to the #Connecticut legislature for passing a new law on digital books and following the 2020 model legislation from #LibraryFutures.( @libraryfutures).
https://www.libraryfutures.net/post/connecticut-ebook-bill
"After the governor signs, #publishers will no longer be able to
* Prohibit #libraries from #lending #ebooks on their own terms,, including via interlibrary loan (#ILL)
* Restrict #license terms or checkout limits during the term of a license without offering agreements on “commercially reasonable terms” that align with the library mission
* Limit when libraries can buy an ebook license or how many licenses they can buy
* Prohibit libraries from making #preservation #copies
* Require libraries to violate patron confidentiality."
Why has 69-year-old Takuji Yasunaka devoted several decades of his life to running a Tokyo complex featuring Middle Eastern and Central Asian culture? “In a way, I guess I am hoping to create a kind of utopia.” https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2025/07/19/lifestyle/pao-compound-central-asia-higashi-nakano/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #life #lifestyle #shopping #travel #libraries
Update. Laws like the one in #Connecticut are under consideration in #Hawaii, #Massachusetts, and #NewJersey. Big #publishers and the #AuthorsGuild are lobbying against them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/16/books/libraries-e-books-licensing.html
From Alan Inouye (@alansinouye), former director of public policy for the American Library Association (@alalibrary): “It’s really sad [that opposition limits libraries] to what we had [in the age of print]. In effect, we’re excluding the possibility of being better in the digital world.”
stdio(3) change: FILE is now opaque https://www.undeadly.org/cgi?action=article;sid=20250717103345 #openbsd #stdio #file #libraries #libtls #libtls #libcrypto #development #current #freesoftware #libresoftware
Do I know a web designer/WP developer with a library or two in their portfolio? If so, and you are interested in pursuing a library website redesign project, speak up. This is an experiment to see if I can find someone here instead of on LinkedIn.
A reminder that @deichman library acts as a Hot Spot for #PressReader, so if you want free access to around 7000 daily newspaper and magazine publications, you can follow the instructions on this page to get started:
https://deichman.no/vi-tilbyr/pressreader_49583625-0e3a-4510-9a3d-3e161adfa313
This is a really excellent talk at #openrepos2025 by Ben Zhao about the limits of and misconceptions about LLMs, that is tailored for the #libraries #archives and #digitalpreservation crowd. He focuses in on how they work, and don't work -- and bridges that to a discussion of the impacts that the technology is having on the larger web (bots).
It gives me no measure of good vibes to know that a big crowd of people in my profession got to hear this for a keynote about AI.
Practical Considerations for Adopting Generative AI Tools in Academic Libraries https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01930826.2025.2506151 #AI #libraries
Just had a random thought about building a decentralised online library using the #Murmurations protocol.
Many authors make e-versions of their books available for reading or download on their website, like David Holmgren's RetroSuburbia;
What if they could put a simple JSON file on that website, containing info about the book and where to find it, using a standard format. Then anyone could build a catalogue website to make them more discoverable.
Nothing beats a hot day better then some air-conditioned museums or -for the heck of it- libraries. 😊
Find them all at once on https://lokjo.com
#heat #libraries #museums #map#europe #heatwave #summer #cooldowntips
You might be like "but Mark, why are you starting a journal called Humanities Methods in Librarianship when your publications are mostly from social science perspectives?"
That, my friend, is the point. There are few options for humanities papers in librarianship, so many librarians with humanities backgrounds find uncomfortable homes for their ideas in social science-focused journals. It doesn't have to be that way; we're starting an alternative: https://www.humanitiesmethods.org
You might be like "but Mark, why are you starting a journal called Humanities Methods in Librarianship when your publications are mostly from social science perspectives?"
That, my friend, is the point. There are few options for humanities papers in librarianship, so many librarians with humanities backgrounds find uncomfortable homes for their ideas in social science-focused journals. It doesn't have to be that way; we're starting an alternative: https://www.humanitiesmethods.org
A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate