Don't Worry About the City Council, Google Might Close Your Library Down

Businesses across the nation have found themselves permanently closed due to misinformation on Google Places, Google's answer to the Yellow Pages.  Due to a "report a problem" bug, anyone can label any business found on Google Places as "closed."  If the information is not corrected, Google will place a "permanently closed" mark on the business, effectively taking the business off Google's local search. NYTimes

With all the news about libraries closing, I did not think we needed help.  This scares the crap out of me.  Think if your disgruntled patrons found out about this.  One fine on a book the "mysteriously" vanished under a car seat and you get wiped off the information super highway.  Of course, I guess it beats the tips on the Banned Library Places page: "Nonfiction is a great place to spy on chicks" and "Tell Nicki in stall #3 that you saw this tip and get $5 off a dime bag."

Call of Dewey: Modern Librarians Create Video Game

shudder

Librarians at Fairfield University in Connecticut have created a video game to help with freshman orientation at their school library.  The video game was inspired by Scene It (hopefully not the Twilight edition) as a point and click question and answer type game to familiarize students with basic library functions. [Library Journal]

This is a cool step in teaching the young'ins about libraries, but how about we go further.  Video games were doing 3D animation nearly twenty years ago with titles like Doom and Duke Nukem.  Why can't there be a tool like that in libraries?  With lower graphic standards on extremely popular Internet games (Minecraft, how I love thee), someone out there could create a virtual library that users could run around in, click on switches and items and be led to real time catalog searches and eBooks.  Think that's a weird idea?  Ask anyone who played the first Dragon Age or Mass Effect games how much crap there was to read in those games.  A 3D virtual library could revolutionize catalogs as you could look at a library shelf in real time, see what's there, pick out an ebook version, or just find something interesting by browsing.

Looks like a library to me.

If any programmer out there wants to start programming this library "game" I have presented, be my guest.  If you make money on it though, I want a kick back and a mention in the credits.  And you better follow me on Twitter.