Gone by Christmas? Here’s the cunning plan, as outlined by National Librarian Rachel Esson in Point 10 of her Aide Memoire to the Minister of Internal Affairs on 26 July 2021: “It is expected that the key milestones under the control of the National Library (finalising what will be transferred, packing the collection and loading … Continue reading The Law and the Library
Misleading the Minister, misleading the public?
The National Library spin on sending its books to Manila, dissected: Part 1: poor process “Minister, have we got a deal for you!” is the general tone of the National Library’s (NL) Aide Memoire (AM) to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti, on 26 July 2021. It is entitled ‘Internet Archive digitisation of the … Continue reading Misleading the Minister, misleading the public?
The growing costs of digital libraries
On the day that the New Yorker magazine published An App Called Libby and the Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-books by Daniel A. Gross, the major New Zealand internet infrastructure provider Vocus was hit with a DDoS [Distributed Denial Of Service] attack which took its internet service down for about an hour, leaving hundreds … Continue reading The growing costs of digital libraries
Briefing to the Minister on the Internet Archive digitisation: How many government spin doctors does it take to kill a national taonga?
We have received a copy of this briefing via an Official Information Act inquiry, and we are publishing it here for all to read. The briefing is from the National Library to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Tinetti, on the library's plans to send all the overseas books to the Philippines for digitising. “Ahead … Continue reading Briefing to the Minister on the Internet Archive digitisation: How many government spin doctors does it take to kill a national taonga?
How Broken Is The Public Service?
by Brian Easton Reproduced from The Pundit with permission from Brian Easton. Geoffrey Palmer has said that the public service has been so run down since 1984 that it could not today implement changes of the magnitude that the Lange-Douglas Government did. Not that we may want to, but here are some troubling examples of bureaucratic … Continue reading How Broken Is The Public Service?
The National Library is throwing out books by New Zealand authors: and then asking for them back!
writes Christine Dann “We’re making more room for New Zealand – especially Maori and Pacific – authors” was one of the larger porkies concocted by the Department of Internal Affairs PR flakes and the firm they contracted to spin the disposal of most of the National Library’s (NL) Overseas Published Collection (OPC) (which has over … Continue reading The National Library is throwing out books by New Zealand authors: and then asking for them back!
READER OF LOVE FOR THE BOOK
The Anthology of Love for the Book brings 52 promising young poets, prominent journalists, and several time-honoured poet laureates, winners of Prime Ministers Awards and Robert Burns Fellows together for a massive Hui. All the writers share deep concern at continuing disposals of books at the National Library of NZ. Every week, thousands of books … Continue reading READER OF LOVE FOR THE BOOK
Should lunch be free on the Internet?
A ridiculous question, isn’t it? Digital lunches are not a thing, and never will be. Whatever farmers and growers and processors and cooks have created in the real world can only be eaten by consumers in the real world. Further, if you steal cherries from an orchard, or cans of beans from a supermarket, or … Continue reading Should lunch be free on the Internet?
NZ authors beware!
....the National Library is establishing a precedent for breaching your copyright. Book Guardians Executive Member and author Christine Dann is worried - very worried. On the back page of Scotty Morrison’s 2015 book Māori Made Easy (the nearest book to hand for checking purposes) it says “The right of Scotty Morrison to be identified as … Continue reading NZ authors beware!
Paper vs pixels. Why digitising the National Library’s books would be wrong in so many ways
“We are now in advanced discussions with an overseas digitisation partner” the National Librarian, Rachel Esson, told recipients of her June OPC [Overseas Published Collection] Update on 28 June 2021. She went on to say that it was her view that “...digitisation will safeguard New Zealanders’ access to the titles from the OPC now and … Continue reading Paper vs pixels. Why digitising the National Library’s books would be wrong in so many ways
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