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May 5, 2009 | Vol. 2, No. 14 | ISSN: 1943-1457
Above the Fold
A weekly newsletter for the changing world of libraries, archives and museums

In this issue:

- From Pages to Pixels: The Evolution of Online Journals
- Five Quick Tips for Enterprise Adoption
- Notes on Conceptual Fiction
- Buying, Selling, Owning the Past
- Let Them Eat Tweets
- Longing for Great Lost Works

## From Pages to Pixels: The Evolution of Online Journals

Poets & Writers • April 28, 2009

Online journals grow up. The combination of online publishing and social networking offers writers a new way to reach a vast pool of new readers who have never even considered buying a literary journal. As online publications gain legitimacy, the network of connections they offer can open doors for authors and provide a wealth of new resources for our patrons.

Much of our "professional" literature has migrated to online journals—it was only a matter of time until literary writing of various kinds found a congenial home online, as well. As the author says "online journals were where you sent the misfits, the work that couldn't quite make it into print." Not necessarily and not any longer. (Michalko)

## Five Quick Tips for Enterprise Adoption

The Buzz Bin • April 15, 2009

Integrating social media into your work style. Here are more tips on how to encourage employees to take advantage of social media opportunities. The point is not to add to their workload, but to supplant work that is now performed via e-mail with blogs, wikis and social networks.

Another blessedly brief apologia for social media fitting with the workplace. The comments to the article are as helpful as the article. Consider "one concrete way to convince company execs, or at least to get their attention about social media, is to create a couple of searches on various social networks for the company name and another that would target the conversation that is occurring around their business niche. Right now, the conversation is going on without them, and their competitors might be out there already." (Michalko)

## Notes on Conceptual Fiction

Conceptual Fiction • April 13, 2009

Rethinking pulp fiction. There's a fine line between highbrow "literary fiction" and the mass-appeal sci fi and fantasy genres. What's the difference between the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the fantasy world of J.K. Rowling's Hogwarts or Frank Herbert's Dune?

This essay is a bit of an outlier for ATF but it's a fun, thoughtful read naming lots of my favorite authors. This from a guy who borrowed the latest paper version of Asimov's Science Fiction from the cafeteria table to take on the airplane. ; ) (Michalko)

## Buying, Selling, Owning the Past

Stanford KnowledgeBase • April 2009

Who owns the past? An examination of the ongoing debate over ownership vs. heritage, particularly in the light of the museum looting during the invasion of Iraq and the Taliban's destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. Does good stewardship trump geography?

This is a debate that returns again and again and this article is a good summary of current thinking. As one of the quoted experts observes, "I don't have an answer. But at least let's think about it. There are hard-liners on both sides." (Michalko)

## Let Them Eat Tweets

The New York Times • April 19, 2009

Food for thought. Cyberpunk writer Bruce Sterling recently opined that all this electronic connectivity is a poor person's substitute for real friendships and the joys of time spent with non-electronic media: "Poor folks love their cellphones!" Which prompts Times blogger Virginia Heffernan to suggest that "connections are liabilities that we pretend are assets." Read any good books lately?

In an earlier ATF commentary I referred to Bruce Sterling's wonderful rant. This is a further riff on the growing uneasiness with the "ambient intimacy" offered up by some of the most popular social technologies. (Michalko)

## Longing for Great Lost Works

The Wall Street Journal • April 18, 2009

The lure of "loss." Journalist Stephen Marche contemplates the power of lost books to capture the imagination and haunt the psyche: "It's the infinite possibility of missing volumes that makes them so desirable." Read more about lost works and the people who fixate on them.

From the pop culture columnist at Esquire magazine, a different sort of argument for the fascination of the artifact. (Michalko)

News and Views

- RLG Partnership Dues Reduced, Effective 1 July 2009
- Networking Names Report Now Available
- Analysis Methodology for Museum Data
- Grant Projects: Achieving Sustainability and Maximizing Impact
- The Controversy Surrounding the Sharing of Special Collections
- Measuring Web Audiences

More news ››

Events

- 2009 WorldCat Mashathon, 13–14 May in Amsterdam
- 2009 Annual RLG Partnership Meeting, 1–3 June in Boston, MA
- RLG Partnership Meetings at ALA Annual, 10–13 July in Chicago, IL
- 2009 RLG Partnership LAM Panels
  2 May at AAM in Philadelphia, PA
  11 July at ALA in Chicago, IL
  15 August at SAA in Austin, TX

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Above the Fold is a Web-based newsletter published by OCLC Programs and Research. It has been developed to serve a broad international readership from libraries, archives and museums. News items are supplied weekly under contract by Suzanne Douglas, Ibis Communications Inc. Programs and Research items are supplied by staff in RLG Programs and OCLC Research. Please send comments and questions about this or other issues to rlg@oclc.org.

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