Everybody's Libraries Everybody's Libraries Libraries for everyone, by everyone, shared with everyone, about everything Public Domain Day 2021: Honoring a lost generation It’s Public Domain Day again. In much of Europe, and other countries with “life+70 years” copyright terms, works by authors who died in 1950, such as George Orwell, Karin Michaelis, George Bernard Shaw, and Edna St. Vincent Millay, have joined … Continue reading → Counting down to 1925 in the public domain We’re rapidly approaching another Public Domain Day, the day at the start of the year when a year’s worth of creative work joins the public domain. This will be the third year in a row that the US will have … Continue reading → From our subjects to yours (and vice versa) (TL;DR: I’m starting to implement services and publish data to support searching across library collections that use customized subject headings, such as the increasingly-adopted substitutes for LCSH terms like “Illegal aliens”. Read on for what I’m doing, why, and where … Continue reading → Everybody’s Library Questions: Finding films in the public domain Welcome to another installment of Everybody’s Library Questions, where I give answers to questions people ask me (in comments or email) that seem to be useful for general consumption. Before I start, though, I want to put in a plug … Continue reading → Build a better registry: My intended comments to the Library of Congress on the next Register of Copyrights The Library of Congress is seeking public input on abilities and priorities desired for the next Register of Copyrights, who heads the Copyright Office, a department within the Library of Congress.  The deadline for comments as I write this is … Continue reading → Welcome to everybody’s online libraries As coronavirus infections spread throughout the world, lots of people are staying home to slow down the spread and save lives.  In the US, many universities, schools, and libraries have closed their doors.  (Here’s what happening at the library where … Continue reading → Public Domain Day 2020: Coming Around Again I’m very happy for 2020 to be arriving.  As the start of the 2020s, it represents a new decade in which we can have a fresh start, and hope to make better decisions and have better outcomes than some of … Continue reading → 2020 vision #5: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin It’s only a few hours from the new year where I write this, but before I ring in the new year, and a new year’s worth of public domain material, I’d like to put in a request for what music … Continue reading → 2020 vision #4: Ding Dong Merrily on High by George Ratcliffe Woodward and others It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas everywhere I go.  The library where I work had its holiday party earlier this week, where I joined librarian colleagues singing Christmas, Hanukkah, and winter-themed songs in a pick-up chorus.  Radio stations … Continue reading → 2020 vision #3: The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell “Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes–the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters.” Sanger Rainsford speaks these words at the start of “The Most Dangerous Game”, one of the most famous short … Continue reading →