Looks like there's a counter-revolt of sorts going on in the world of education, as librarians and educators - tired of being marginalized by technology (i.e. Google) - are fighting back. In Ohio, for example, librarians and educators are banding together to come up with a comprehensive strategy of disruptive innovation. The Disruptive Library Technology Jester has even posted an open letter to disruptive innovation guru Clayton Christensen in the hopes of sparking debate. The letter is noteworthy for another reason - it includes a generous helping of Internet jargon like "truly disruptive innovations" and "loosely coupled organizations." The Disruptive Library Technology Jester is a young blog (established in December 2005), but it looks like there's a lot of energy here. The tagline for the blog is "We’re Disrupted, We’re Libraries, and We’re Not Going to Take It Anymore..."
Then, over at The Shifted Librarian, there's extensive commentary about an extreme makeover for libraries. There are a lot of interesting ideas here, including the notion from Omar Wasow ("Library 2.0") that "technology hollows out real estate." As an example, consider what ATMs did to bank branches. Does anybody actually go inside a bank anymore, unless they have to? The same thing, apparently, has happened to libraries. With Google available 24/7, does anybody actually go inside libraries anymore - unless they have to? The answer is: yes. But only if libraries focus on what has made them so important for hundreds of years: they are "temples of thought" and "public parks for the brain" that transform as much as educate.
Thanks to http://www.businessinnovationinsider.com for this one
The Oddfellows refers to a number of friendly societies operating in the UK. It also refers to a number of Lodges with histories dating back to the 1700s, and origins dating back to Biblical times.
These various organizations were set up to protect and care for their members at times when there was no welfare state, trade unions or National Health Service. The aim was (and still is) to provide help to members when they need it.
The friendly societies are non-profit organizations "owned" by their members, not by shareholders. All income is passed back to the members in the form of services and benefits.
The Oddfellows are fund raisers for both local and national charities. Branches raise money for local good causes and the Societies as a whole raise large amounts for charities.
Bookworm is a popular generalization for any insect which supposedly bores through books.
Actual book-borers are uncommon. Both the larvae of the death watch beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum) and the common furniture beetle (Anobium punctatum) will tunnel through wood and if paper is nearby they will pass into that.
A major book-feeding insect is the booklouse (or book louse). A tiny (under 1 mm), soft-bodied wingless psocoptera (usually Trogium pulsatorium), that actually feeds on molds and other organic matter found in ill-maintained works, although they will also attack bindings and other parts. It is not actually a true louse.
Many other insects, like the silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) or cockroach (various Blattodea), will consume these molds and also degraded paper or the starch-based binding pastes – warmth and moisture or high humidity are prerequisites, so damage is more common in the tropics. Modern glues and paper are less attractive to insects.
Tineola bisselliella and Hofmannophila pseudospretella will attack cloth bindings. Leather bound books attract various consumers, such as Dermestes lardarius and the larvae of Attagenus unicolor and Stegobium paniceum.
The bookworm moth (Heliothis zea or H. virescens) and its larvae are not interested in books. The larvae are pests for cotton or tobacco growers as the cotton bollworm or tobacco budworm.
