… as we are unofficially dubbing “The Google Books Settlement and the Future of Information Access” conference, rather boringly titled if we do say so ourselves.

But despite the mouthful, the conference name doesn’t give a whole lot of info: It’s basically a bunch of people who have a stake in how libraries are currently run getting together and talking about Google making an online library of sorts.

And like all things related to information and the internet, one of the foremost concerns is privacy. Because you don’t want some dude a hundred miles away to know you’re actually reading Derrida instead of Foucault, or something.

And as Berkeley prof Geoffrey Nunberg (probably known to your parents for showing up on NPR every now and then) put it, “this is the last library.” Wow, way to go all po-mo on the library scene.

Sounds riveting.

Image Source: circulating under Creative Commons
Google Book Search? Try Google Library [CNET]
The Google Books Settlement and the Future of Information Access [Schedule]

Oh, harsh realities of budget cuts! First you went for our classes, then our student fees and now, our time-honored final season all-night Anoncon … er, we mean study sessions.

You heard right, the UC Regents voted Chancellor Birgeneau announced last week at the UC Regents meeting to that the 24-hour study halls in university campus libraries during finals will end due to budget cuts. This in addition to the usual, cutting student jobs, GSIs and, now, instating furloughs for UC employees.

So, consider this your fair warning—so you can spend the next semester trying to scout out a suitable location for late night studying during the next set of finals. That is, assuming that your dorm, apartment or other residence location has already been deemed inappropriate for such pursuits.

Also, if you put off checking out books until 4 a.m. the day before that paper is due again … the Main Stacks can no longer save you. (Note: post edited for accuracy)

Image Source: Eddie Rosenbaum, Daily Cal
UC Regents vote on furloughs to close budget gap [Mercury News]

The $46 million library is the only one in the country built explicitly for housing East Asian collections and artifacts. And the weird fracture pattern you see on the Memorial Glade-facing side of the building?

Those are “cracked ice” bronze screens. According to one of the leading architects, the screens “act as a golden veil and a symbol of the East Asian legacy, adding a near-dazzling presence to the heart of the campus, placing the East in dynamic relationship with the West.” Oh, lord. We lol’d. Respectfully, of course.

The colossal front door takes a Herculean amount of shoving and grunting to inch open, the library’s walls are hung with what appears to be carpet art, and everything inside gleams. That’s it, pretty much.

There’re some nice nooks to nestle in, we must say.

Because nothing makes people want to study more than a nose-to-glass view of the gorgeously sunny day they’re missing out on.

There’re some nifty blue-purple light fixtures down on the basement floor.

Say hello to your newest study buddy.

Image Source: Danica Li
C.V. Starr East Asian Library to Open March 17th [Berkeley News]