Barack Obama may still have three years left in his presidency, but the debate over his presidential library is already reaching fever pitch. Planning the outgoing POTUS’ library is an extremely sweet gig, and it’s already been assigned to one of Obama’s advisors. Still up in the air, though, is where it will be built—and who should design it.
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The Public Library of Brookline, Massachusetts recently built themselves an Awesome Box. The box is called the Awesome Box because it is full of awesome book suggestions.
All the book titles dropped off inside the Awesome Box are compiled and posted online to help other readers who are looking for some great books to read. To make the Awesome Box a bit more awesome, the library peeps painted it to look like Doctor Who’s TARDIS. The library workers were inspired by the 50th anniversary of the classic BBC sci-fi series.
The box also has a quote from The Doctor on the side that is very fitting for a library: “You want weapons? We’re in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world!… The Greatest arsenal we could have. Arm Yourselves!”
[via Nerd Approved]
When a study gets published and its results enter our collective body of scientific knowledge it feels like it’s there to stay. But without the raw data behind the study, it’s hard to revisit the research and use it to take new ideas to the next level. Which is why it’s such a problem that old data is disappearing.
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Well, well, what do we have here? Apparently, a major archive of British websites is now live and kicking, but it has yet to be online. This particular project can be accessed only in person assuming you plant your backside in one of the British Isles’ six biggest libraries, where there will be corresponding terminals in those libraries to help you out. This particular effort is made possible after 10 years of legal wrangling between the British Library and publishers. No thanks to the restrictions which were imposed by the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, this translates to the fact that the archive can only be accessed as long as you are physically in library reading rooms.
The British Library, however, offers a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel, touting that there has been some “discussions into the possibility that the Act might be changed in future so that the archived copies of websites might be made available via the web. Making archived copies of material available online, and also allowing it to be indexed by search engines, could potentially affect the volume of web user traffic to the rights owner’s live website and harm their business model.” This project, first launched in April this year, will comprise of the whole UK web domain, and this includes blogs, public tweets and Facebook pages.
UK Web Archive Is Now Live original content from Ubergizmo. 
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If you’re filthy rich and happen to have a huge expansive library in your very own home, then you might have some use for this reading net. Otherwise, all you can do is stare at it longingly like the rest of us. Because while the net itself probably isn’t expensive, what’s the use if you don’t have a library to hang it in and complete the concept?
As you can see, the reading net is exactly what its name implies it is: it’s a net where kids can lie on while they do some reading. What makes it extra special is the fact that it’s meant to be hung over the first floor of the library.
[The Reading Net is] a meshed fabric suspended from the architecture of a family library, that acts as a second-level reading range. the hanging web is tautly attached to the railings of a lofted path, and — as both children and adults climb onto the woven expanse — they can both lounge and learn on the buoyant surface.
The reading net was designed by Playoffice.
[via Boing Boing via designboom via Geekologie]
Do you think that computers are getting way too smart for us these days? After all, a man who was at the the British Library recently tried to access the library’s Wi-Fi network, but he was denied access when he tried to check out an online version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet for one very basic reason – the text within contained “violent content”, or at least according to the filter. Author Mark Forsyth was busy trying to write his book in the library, where he then felt a need to look up a line from the Bard’s famous play, but hit a roadblock.
According to British Library, the fault did not lie with the library itself, but rather, the blame was shifted to a newly installed Wi-Fi service from a third-party provider. A security expert weighed in on the incident, touting that it showed off the “dysfunction” of internet filters. Of course, this is most probably an oversight, and according to spokesperson for the British Library, Hamlet had been made accessible ever since the complaint was lodged, and the new upgraded service comes with a web filter to ensure that inappropriate content such as smut and gambling sites cannot be viewed or accessed. A double edged sword, this is.
Hamlet Filtered At Library For Containing “Violent Content” original content from Ubergizmo. 
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Is it me, or is the world of commercial 3D printing picking up the popularity stakes among the masses? After all, we did read that select UPS Stores will be offering 3D printing services, and a certain 3Dörtgen happens to be the first 3D printer store in Turkey for the general public to get their 3D printing kicks in. Well, for those who want to drop by the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C., will have something else other than books to look forward to – with the presence of a new 3D printer there.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library has been on a path to build its Digital Commons, which was opened to the public last month, and since July 17th, it managed to receive a $3.4 million grant in order to modernize the library while improving its patron satisfaction. The 3D printer is its most recent addition, in addition to other tech amenities like a Skype station and an Espresso Book Machine, although I do wonder why a Skype station is there when a library is supposed to be quiet – perhaps only Skype messages can be sent? To use the 3D printer in the Digital Commons, one will need to fork out a $1 base fee as well as an additional $0.05 per gram, depending on the weight of the item that you want to print. Pretty neat, no?
D.C. Library Offers 3D Printing Services original content from Ubergizmo. 
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I hear parents complaining about how technology distracts kids and how some games and gizmos effectively make their kids dumber. I often tell them that the solution lies in their hands: replace those apparently useless gadgets with more educational stuff that their kids will still enjoy.
If you feel like you’re in the same rut, then you can get started by getting the 3000 Books in One Flash Drive.
It’s literally a library that fits in the palm of your hand. You can take it anywhere and plug it into your laptop or desktop whenever you feel like checking out a book. It saves time and effort from having to make frequent trips to the local library, so you should definitely consider getting one if you’re a huge book worm.
The books include classic renowned titles from Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Oscar Wilde. The 3000 Classic Books flash drive is available online for $29.95(AUD) (~$28 USD). If the cutesy book design or the price tag doesn’t appeal to you, then you could just hit up Project Gutenburg and save the 42,000 titles they have onto your own USB drive for the price of nil.
[via Incredible Things]
The Little Free Library isn’t a new movement, although it’s definitely still a novel one. We covered this neat project almost a year ago, where we saw participants build mini “libraries” that looked like they were converted from old mailboxes and birdhouses.
The new Little Libraries in Manhattan, however, take the movement to the next level.
Ten designers were chosen to create Little Libraries for the borough and the one you see above was created by Stereotank. It’s a pretty apt creation given the name of the group, as the Little Library looks like it was fashioned from an old water tank.
It’s spacious and offers temporary rain shelter while housing a rich selection of books that’ll satisfy curious passersby.
Those who have books to share can also drop their old volumes into the library, adding to its selection so that there’s more choices and more stories to pass along.
Stereotank’s Free Little Library is located at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral School in Nolita and it will be there until September of this year.
[designboom via Colossal via Beautiful Decay]
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