Government Decision

Another entry on Library stuff was an article about how Germany has put a stop to Google images being accessible to Germans on the internet because the people making the decision believe that Google images is an infringement on copyright laws.  This is something that I have wondered about myself.  We sometimes need book cover art for displays and if we can not get from amazon we get them from google images, and I have noticed that there are a lot of images on Google images that are professional pieces of photography or art and anyone can take them and copy them without paying the artist for the work they have done.  As an artist myself, I do not think that is right; however is it the governments job to decide that?  In other words, if that decision was made by the United States government, would the ALA have let them away with it?  or Google's lawyers for that point.  And if it is not the government's job to censor that part of Google, whose is it, or is it not censorable?  Are owners of personal work suppose to copyright it and take care of the problem themselves...or should we all practice more ethics?    

Open Seven days a week

Another blog I have been observing this week is called Library Stuff, and it is about exactly what the title says, library stuff.  It discussed many different thing that affected libraries not only in the states but around the world as well.  One of the things that I found somewhat sad was a blog discussion about Libraries being open seven days a week.  A librarian from a certain library was talking about how the library usually was not that important in their community and now all of a sudden the community wants the library to be open all seven days of the week and the library is going to be able to be open all seven days of the week.  In response to this wonderful news, another librarian from a different library system lamented that their community was not this way and that they were not able to be open seven days a week and no one seemed to mind.  It is sad when a community does not care about their library, but what could that library do to make it care.  In what little experience I have, I have observed that it is a two way street when it comes to public service.  If the community does not see a reason to support you, then maybe you should reevaluate why you are there and what services you are providing for the community, because if you're not providing services for your community then you shouldn't be a public service entity.    

Gaming in the Library?

One of the blogs I was observing this week was called The Shifted Librarian.  It blogged back and forth mainly about gaming in the library and the benefits of incorporating gaming into the library.  I found this very interesting since we are becoming a gaming community in out youth as well as some of the older generations, with the introduction of the Wii and more adult games.  There was one library that even constructed a mini-golf course throughout their stacks for a one day summer program to bring youth to the library.  On blog was even discussing the news article about games becoming more like books that you virtually tell the story yourself because of how in depth and involved the games are becoming with their characters and different worlds.  So, I am beginning to wonder, is this something that librarians need to be aware of and understand?  I am sure there were questions as to whether VHS/movies were something that librarians should be involved with when they stated becoming big, and now they are part of most libraries collection development policies.  So, does gaming fit in the world of libraries as something permanent or should it just be something fun to bring the youth through the doors for an occasional program/party?