Courting wikipedia.

Have noticed a growing reliance of wikipedia in the media over the last year. The Guardian reports on how the courts in the US have now taken to using the collaborative encyclopedia these days as well.

We're all gonna die!

Do you think that as a librarian you'll be redundant in a few years time? Well here's an article that might give you 33 reasons to hope otherwise.

Though I'm not sure: "Eliminating libraries would cut short an important process of cultural evolution" would wash with the downsizers when they hit your department . . .

What did we do before the web?

"Write a box on feral children," the editor said. Where on earth do you start with a query like that? So I put "feral children" into Google on the off chance, and voila! FeralChildren.com lists cases of children who have been raised by animals going back hundreds of years. Sometimes I love the web.

Bright eyes and books

It seems Art Garfunkel is something of a librarian at heart: he's been keeping a record of every book he's read since June 1968. Intriguing. And incredibly prolific - in February 1969 alone he got through eight books, including Catch 22, The Great Gatsby and Voltaire's Candide.

According to a profile in the Telegraph a few years ago, "his library includes hundreds of well-thumbed volumes of serious literature, each wrapped in protective plastic and arranged in the order in which he has read them".

I'm going to check Art's list for a few dodgy tomes - he's got to be editing it if there isn't at least one suspect biography and a bit of pulp fiction.

Bohemian bibliotekaries

Vice, the free glossy magazine based in New York City covering "contemporary independent arts and youth culture" this month turns its spotlight on matters of the book. The Fiction Issue continues the publication's trend of tackling controversial issues while maintaining its stance of ironic detachment. So how did this bohemian bible pay homage to our esteemed profession? A 6 page fashion spread starring some Swedish librarians. It seems the lot of a librarian in Stockholm isn't all that bad. According to Linda from the Karolinska Institutet, "The wage isn't great but if you compare it to a journalist it's ok" while Sarah tells us "Working at the library I get guys hit on me quite a lot." While I get in touch with CILIP's Swedish branch to investigate job opportunites I'll leave you with a charming sentiment from another of the Scandinavian stunners, "Libraries have a magical ambiance." In Sweden at least...