Not exactly the first time one of these has been tried, but very close to it. The success or failure ultimately isn't how much access it provides but how much it will serve the needs of the user public.

A video that explains some concepts about open access; some concepts are a little too idealized, some research involving material that is patented or financed by commercial interests may not be free. However, some other points, such as the extreme cost of journals, or that patrons may not know if materials are suitable until they've already paid for them is spot on.

A short article about Aaron Swartz, one of the founders of Reddit who committed suicide recently. At issue is not that he was accessing an archive of unauthorized articles from Jstor, but if the prosecution and potential sentence fit the the crime and if overall more information should be free

I was a little surprised the number of tweets is at 170 billion , with 400 million a day, but the Library of Congress has been archiving them. Part of the problem in displaying them is simply how; the size and continual growth of the collection would make a massive indexing collection. But also, I wonder about tweets that have been deleted for legal reasons or because of privacy, and whether those would appear in the database.

An article I have some mixed feelings about, seeming a little too much of a cheering section for print books. However, some good points have been made, that eBooks have begin some declines in sales and e-readers and tablets may not be well suited for all reading applications, ultimately complementing print books the same as audio books rather than replacing them.

An interesting article about some of the diverse offerings the Overland Park county library has begun to offer, including classes and seminars on Wii bowling and hog butchering, which has helped raise attendance 29% from 2004-2010. One comment does ring true, from Michael Gorman, former president of the ALA: "I hope the library doesn't turn into something that is a type of cooking-class meeting place with computers attached and no books."

The fourth New York Times article, this time looking at libraries both as gather places and as for solitude. Two of his comments stood out to me: "....we tend to subscribe to a set of norms: studiousness, solitude and quiet above all. These connect the sense that all these disparate places really are one place, consistent across times and cultures." And: "In their long history, libraries have been models for the world and models of the world...."

The third of four New York Times articles; written by a school librarian and focusing on how libraries are a participatory culture.

One of four articles from the New York Times about the debate if we still need libraries--focusing mostly on Internet access rather than other services.

The second of four New York Times articles, written by a librarian and therefore supportive, but he made several good points. Most learning centers offer computer skills in only English, but to offer those in four foreign languages is impressive, along with the move to circulating digital media and devices.

A video about the EDUCE project to scan and read the scrolls from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Herculaneum was the second and lesser known city that was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. The scrolls were in what is probably the only library from antiquity to survive "intact," but the volcanic ash carbonized the scrolls so they are essentially charcoal. Some have been "read" by unwrapping the scroll in segments and scanning in ultraviolet light detect the ink, this is the first time the scanning has been done non-invasively to read the scroll without destroying it.

A related concept to T-Pen, but focused more on collecting together references, summary, bibliography, and related information from manuscripts in the Parker Library at Corpus Christi Cambridge. It allows material that ordinarily would have to be handled with care or viewed from a microfilm or facsimile copy to be used with no fear of damage and considerably enhanced by the additional reference material.

An interesting online tool that allows transcription of scanned images of manuscripts, working entirely online and copying line by line from the image. The software is open source but the primary instance is maintained by the Center for Digital Theology at SLU.

Predicted for a long time, this may be either good or bad for libraries. Good as it may drive some traffic back to libraries, bad as it may end up shutting off the archiving of online news articles and aggregation services that allow a quick overview of what the media is talking about. If news articles continue to be archived in services libraries have access to then it would be a win-win.

Library Technology Guide's list of Discovery Interfaces, which shows the ILS's integrated with them and the libraries that use them.

The article is interesting for what it gets wrong and for what it brings up. The phrase "Boise Public Library's new Enterprise Discover System, which was funded by a consortium of more than 15 Idaho libraries" makes it sound like this was a home grown discovery system, but it's actually Sirsi-Dynix's Enterprise system. It's interesting because it's one of the first general news articles I've seen showing awareness of a discovery service, which means they are gradually filtering their way into the public realm of what libraries are supposed to be about.

The author talks about how using electronic devices can alter our accustomed behaviors, such as mistakenly swiping a finger when reading a printed newspaper expecting it to turn the page the same as if it were on a tablet. He then carries this over into an argument that the brain changes that cause this hasten the adoption rate for new technologies. Ultimately I disagree with this as it's only becoming habituated to an interface, and not something intrinsic with the medium itself.

An article that addresses a problem which has come up before, namely "junk" books made from electronic files, in this case physical copies as opposed to eBooks, but with the same problems. Material in the text is missing, as well as the publisher and print date, edition, the notation about original language or any information about the author. Such information, separated from the original work, means that the context and in some cases documentation for the book are lost, which could harm research and preservation in the long run.

Newer 3D printers coming on the market are much larger in size, able to "print" objects 2-3 feet in dimension, or about the size of a bicycle frame. Printers of these size would be something to consider for a Maker Space as they would unlikely be affordable to an individual and would require a community use to justify the cost.

A different concept that is part of a concept (and Facebook app) called a "Social Book," Thomas More's "Utopia" is put online with all the versions, notes, and commentary, and users are encouraged to write--whether to add commentary, notes, or rewrite the book in portions. I see this being a good utility for "deep thinking" or classic works (War and Peace, The Republic, etc.) but I note there doesn't seem to be a versioning system or method to track edits, and ultimately no way to lead a discussion or system of debate, and in some ways it's like a repackaged wiki. Lastly, outside of scholarly works I could imagine it devolving into a sort of fan fiction or endless rewriting to suit people's tastes.