Cites & Insights 12:1 (January-February 2012) available

I won't say Cites & Insights is really back from hiatus, but for now let's say "irregularly published."

Cites & Insights Volume 12, Issue 1 (January-February 2012) is now available for downloading at http://citesandinsights.info/civ12i1.pdf

The 20-page issue, PDF as usual, contains three sections, each separately available in HTML form (the subheadings are links):

Bibs & Blather pp. 1-7

Announcing The Librarian's Guide to Micropublishing and why (almost) every public library and (many) academic libraries need it--and some notes on the virtues of professional editing. Also announcing the availability of Cites & Insights 11 (2011) in book form and offering some numbers for Cites & Insights readership in 2011, some not-very-meaningful notes about most-read posts in Walt at Random (which increasingly seems to be "read" mostly by spiders and spammers), and repeating my Prospectus: An Ongoing Public Library Social Network Scan.

Making it Work: It's Academic (or Not) pp. 7-12

Why I don't plan to write much about academic libraries in future Cites & Insights issues and some of my beliefs about academic libraries. Also some notes on "Academic Libraries in Facebook: An Analysis of Users' Comments," an article I had lots of trouble with, after finding that the only discussion of that article I could find was by a certain pseudonymous blogger (who increasingly appears to be named Spencer, unless that's the snarky-comment-responder lackey).

Offtopic Perspective: 50 Movie Box Office Gold, Part 1 pp. 13-20

I did pay attention to the handful of people who expressed sadness about the hiatus and possible termination of this ejournal--and the parts they liked. So if you were hoping that Offtopic Perspectives and My Back Pages would go away, well, guess again. Not quite the first half of a 50-pack of all-color, mostly recent, movies, all with fairly big stars: A combination of TV movies, movies with no real US distribution, and other oddities. (Not quite the first half because it's discs 1-6 of a 13-disc set.)

 

 

Cites & Insights special issue now available

A special issue of Cites & Insights is now available for downloading (or reading in your browser) at http://citesandinsights.info/hiatus.pdf

This two-page unnumbered issue consists of one brief essay:

Not With a Bang ... (pp. 1-2)

Going on hiatus.

There will be no more issues in Volume 11. If and when there is an index, it will only be part of the annual volume available at Lulu, if and when that volume is available.

Cites & Insights October 2011 available

Cites & Insights 11:9 (October 2011) is now available for downloading at http://citesandinsights.info/civ11i9.pdf

The 28-page issue (PDF as usual, with HTML versions of each essay available, either from the C&I home page--which will, incidentally, remind you that contributions or sponsorship are both welcome and might help keep this nonsense going--or from the title links below) includes:

Making it Work: Websites and Social Networks pp. 1-17

Some notes on sampling public library websites (2,406 of them in 25 U.S. states) as part of the research for my 2012 book, a few idle thoughts on public library websites, and a Making it Work roundup and commentary on librarians and social networks.

T&QT Retrospective: Far-Away Services with Strange Sounding Names pp. 17-22

Remember Cuil? Remember Knol? Oddly enough, the latter's still around--but the former may have been a Bigger Deal as a one-week web wonder. Looking back and sideways with a little bemusement.

Offtopic Perspective: 50 Movie Comedy Kings, Part 1 pp. 22-28

Better than the Legends of Horror multipack, with occasional flashes of brilliance (and occasional flashes of stereotyping and schtick).

Now, back to the research and book writing...

 

 

Cites & Insights 11:8 (September 2011) available

Cites & Insights 11: 8 (September 2011) is now available for downloading at http://citesandinsights.info/civ11i8.pdf

The 32-page issue (PDF as usual, but each essay is available as an HTML separate) includes:

Bibs & Blather (pp. 1-2)

Requests for help if your public library uses Facebook, Twitter or both, and a quick note about another tweak to C&I.

Writing about Reading: A Future of Books and Publishing (pp. 2-32)

The Diigo tag for the items discussed here was "eb-vs.-pb," but that's not quite right. The bulk of this lengthy Perspective considers items that, to one extent or another, either favor ebooks over print books, vice-versa, or--better yet--compare the two complementary textual forms of book (not that there aren't others, e.g., audiobooks).

As lagniappe, the first 3.3 pages offer a future of books and publishing (not the future, but a future)--one set of possibilities that I might personally find desirable, looking ten years out and "while I'm still alive"--say 35 years out.

Cites & Insights August 2011 available

Cites & Insights 11:7 (August 2011) is now available.

The 18-page issue, PDF as usual, includes three sections, each also available in HTML form (and, for two of them, with live links as appropriate):

Bibs & Blather pp. 1-2

The state of the ejournal, such as it is.

Copyright Comments: Talking About the Public Domain pp. 2-10

A mixed bag of notes on relatively recent items related to the growth (or non-growth) of the public domain.

Offtopic Perspective: Mystery Collection Part 4 pp. 10-18

Notes on movies (and early TV shows) on discs 18-24 of the 60-disc, 250-movie Mystery Collection.

Cites & Insights 11:6 available

Cites & Insights 11:6, June/July 2011, is now available for downloading at http://citesandinsights.info/civ11i6.pdf

Barring a pleasant surprise, this is the final issue before ALA. The first essay in the 28-page issue (PDF as usual, but all essays except the last are also available in HTML form from http://citesandinsights.info/) may help explain why that is.

Contents

Bibs & Blather (pp. 1-2)

Where do we go from here?

Trends & Quick Takes (pp. 2-9)

Eight mini-commentaries and three quick takes.

disContent (pp. 9-12)

A twofer: Two of my favorite "disContent" columns.

Interesting & Peculiar Products (pp. 12-20)

Twentyone product discussions (where "product" is interpreted loosely) and two editor's choice/roundups.

The CD-ROM Project (pp. 20-23)

The subtitle says it (almost) all: Some Work, Many Don't. The two that worked are both excellent--but so were some of the eight that didn't.

My Back Pages (pp. 23-28)

One essay that's way too long for MBP and five other chunks of snark.

Begging your indulgence...

This blog exists to publicize new issues of Cites & Insights. Period.

I've been consistent about that, with only one or two exceptions. New books: Not publicized here, for example.

Today, I'm making an exception--linking to a post on Walt at Random that may relate to the future of C&I.

Please read the post and offer comments--not here, but either on that post or as email to me (waltcrawford at gmail dot com).