“Google executives sound like they are doing the world an immense favor by digitizing books, rarely mentioning that they are in business to sell stuff, not give it away.” One early alternative group devoted to open access, the Open Content Alliance, “is morphing into the Open Knowledge Commons, now supported by the Sloan Foundation, which will hold an organizational meeting at the Library of Congress next week.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Belatedly, Boston Symphony Launches Download Service
“After waiting on the sidelines as other orchestras leapt online, the Boston Symphony Orchestra launched a download service yesterday that will allow customers to buy new and historical recordings through the organization’s website, www.bso.org.”
Visitor Center Disfigures The U.S. Capitol
“The ‘truth to power’ side of the Capitol, the East face, has been demolished by the new Visitor Center, a tragically misconceived and overscale addition, which opens today. The East face has become something entirely new, with a false and slick pomposity created by an impressive promenade over an imposing bridge, which seems to cross a kind of moat. It is a historical and aesthetic jumble, a nonsensical place and a gross disfigurement of one of this country’s most important and iconic buildings.”
At Capitol Visitor Center, (Big) Mistakes Have Been Made
“In principle, the Capitol Visitor Center — the vast underground addition to the U.S. Capitol that opens today — has something for just about everyone. … And yet the CVC, the most important addition to the Capitol in nearly 150 years, is fundamentally misconceived.”
Economic Watch: Save $$$ By Reading Your Own Books!
“My self-imposed challenge this week was to save money by reading a book that I own but have never read. … Try it yourself and see how many pitiful excuses you can find for not reading a book you own.”
It Won’t Be Business As Usual At Art Basel Miami Beach
“While the world’s flashiest art fair tries to put on a brave face, the grim financial picture worldwide has cast a pall over the festivities and sales prospects” at Art Basel Miami Beach. “The fair’s main sponsor, Swiss bank UBS AG, has recorded about $50 billion in writedowns and losses.”
Report Links Media Use With Kids’ Obesity, Smoking, Sex
“The National Institutes of Health and a nonprofit advocacy group, Common Sense Media, have another reason for President-elect Barack Obama to keep urging parents to ‘turn off the TV.’ In what researchers call the first report of its kind, a review of 173 studies about the effects of media consumption on children asserts that a strong correlation exists between greater exposure and adverse health outcomes.”
NEA: Women Artists Earn Less Than Men
“As a follow-up to its report ‘Artists in the Workforce, 1990-2005,’ released in June, the National Endowment for the Arts is releasing today the results of a closer examination of the gender pay gap between men and women artists discovered by the original study. Surprise — women artists earn less.”
Bolshoi Theatre Won’t Reopen Before 2011
“The reopening of Russia’s famed Bolshoi Theatre has been pushed back to 2011 due to delays in a costly renovation project, a spokeswoman for Russia’s culture ministry said Monday. … Located near Red Square, the theatre closed in 2005 for a 700-million-dollar renovation project that was originally expected to be finished this year, but the end date was later pushed back to 2009.”
Strike Averted, La Scala Gala Will Go On
“Milan’s La Scala opera house and a union representing about half of its orchestra agreed on a new contract, averting an additional strike that threatened the Dec. 7 gala opening night of Verdi’s ‘Don Carlo.'”