each month, RCCS Reviews pumps out free, full-length reviews of books about contemporary media and culture. this month, RCCS Reviews features 14 reviews of 7 books with 5 author responses!

books of the month for september 2009 are:


Digital Citizenship: The Internet, Society, and Participation
Authors: Karen Mossberger, Caroline J. Tolbert, Ramona S. McNeal
Publisher: MIT Press, 2008
Review 1: Carlos Nunes Silva

Digital Culture, Play and Identity: A World of Warcraft Reader
Editors: Hilde G Corneliussen, Jill Walker Rettberg
Publisher: MIT Press, 2008
Review 1: Shira Chess
Review 2: Jordan Patrick Lieser
Review 3: Christopher A. Paul
Author Response: Hilde G. Corneliussen and Jill Walker Rettberg

Ham Radio's Technical Culture
Author: Kristen Haring
Publisher: MIT Press, 2006
Review 1: Mark D. Johns
Review 2: Amanda R. Keeler
Author Response: Kristen Haring

iSpy: Surveillance and Power in the Interactive Era
Author: Mark Andrejevic
Publisher: University Press of Kansas, 2007
Review 1: Jacob Kramer-Duffield
Review 2: W. Benjamin Myers
Review 3: Hiesun Cecilia Suhr
Review 4: A. Freya Thimsen
Author Response: Mark Andrejevic

Online Social Support: The Interplay of Social Networks and Computer-Mediated Communication
Author: Antonina Bambina
Publisher: Cambria Press, 2007
Review 1: Willem de Koster
Review 2: Fred Stutzman
Author Response: Antonina Bambina

Surviving the New Economy
Editors: John Amman, Tris Carpenter, Gina Neff
Publisher: Paradigm Publishers, 2007
Review 1: Maria Rosales-Sequeiros
Author Response: John Amman, Tris Carpenter, and Gina Neff

Theorizing Digital Cultural Heritage: A Critical Discourse
Editors: Fiona Cameron, Sarah Kenderdine
Publisher: MIT Press, 2007
Review 1: Jennifer Way

enjoy. there's a wee bit more where that came from.

The Library Association of the United Kingdom met in Paris, France from September 12 to September 17, 1892. This unusual out-of-the-country meeting was an indicator of the interest in sharing library knowledge and developments internationally. The Library Association was founded in 1877 in London following the formation of the American Library Association in 1876. A number of prominent American librarians attended the the 1877 meeting of the Library Association and were made honorary members of the Association. The members of the Library Association of the United Kingdom received a warm welcome in Paris in 1892. The meeting took place at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, and the state and municipal libraries of Paris were available to attendees "for the study and inspection of the methods and systems in use". A reception was hosted by the Cercle de la Librarie at the Bibliotheque Nationale and the Duc d'Aumale held a reception at Chantilly. The Report of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting of the Library Association of the United Kingdom can be found here. In 2002 the Library Association merged with the Institute of Information Scientists to form the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). The cover (envelope) above was mailed from Paris on September 18, 1892 and was received in London on September 19, 1892. Holloway is a district in north London. Twenty five one franc postage stamps were used to pay the postal rate from Paris to London. This post was the Library Cover Story for August on the Library History Buff website.

Today is the 125th anniversary of the birth of May Hill Arbuthnot (1884-1969). Arbuthnot is best known in the library community for her contributions to the field of children's literature. Her legacy is remembered annually by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) through its May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture Award. Students in children's literature courses in library schools are well acquainted with her book Children and Books which has been published in several editions. This is what Arbuthnot wrote in the Preface to the Third Edition (1964): "Children and Books grew in the first place out of the tantalizing questions adults are always asking: 'What kind of books do children like?' 'How can we get our children to read more and better books?' It grew also out of many observations of children choosing or rejecting books in their homes, nursery schools, libraries and classrooms. It grew from watching artist-teachers using books in such happy and meaningful ways that the children reached new heights of appreciation and taste. It grew from the eager response of college students to the beauty and fun of children's books. It grew from watching parents share their joy in books with their children, making book lovers of them by sheer contagion. And it grew primarily from liking children and books." Wisconsin librarians are very proud of the fact that our own Kathleen (Katie) T. Horning has been chosen to give the 2010 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture.