Curmudgeonly readers who object to spoilers should put a piece of paper over their screen NOW.

For the curious, be informed that the trailer for new Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie features at least 2 seconds of Hermione in front of a stack of books.

Also revealed by the preview is the fact that Dumbledore will issue dire warnings of a vague and ambiguous type, and that Harry will face grave dangers of several types. Unfortunately for those who have already read the book, it is already too late. Readers will already know what is going to happen in the movie, even if they haven't seen the publicity previews.

Incidentally, Harry Potter author JK Rowling was granted a British High Court injunction against two men for attempting to sell printed copies of the forthcoming book Half-blood prince, so readers should be aware of the serious legal risk that WLW is taking here ...

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Two highly experienced information experts, Stuart Urwin and Gunnel Stjernvall, have joined forces to create a brand new global community for the information sector. According to Urwin, Information City helps information professionals build their contacts, develop their skills and stay informed. It provides over 30 valuable facilities and has already attracted members from 54 countries in its first 10 days.

It also provides really long headers on press releases, that greatly assists editors of online satirical library journals to fill up large amounts of space without any effort at all ...

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In an innovative move, Zohar Amihud of BookChamp recently forwarded a selection of reviews from the Amazon.com site, together with the invitation to apply for a review copy of the book.

After completing the online form by accessing the link provided, a subsequent communication announced that a copy of the book was being forwarded for further review.

At the time of writing, this threat has not yet been completed, but we're sure that the book is in transit. Really ...

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Australian ISP BigPond Broadband was "excited to announce live streaming from the prestigious Sydney Writers’ Festival, showcasing the keynote speeches from seven of the world’s most talented writers, exclusive to BigPond!"

Such luminaries as David Suzuki and Alice Sebold were broadcast, although there is no mention of Nancy Pearl on the ISP's website.

News reports also covered major US publishers seeking Australian talent to add to their stables, although (again) Nancy wasn't mentioned. Which is really a shame, since she'd come from so far away and has her own action figure . Not that we're jealous or anything ...

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With Michael Jackson's trial, Deep Throat's ID revelation, Gitmo and other stories, it's good to know that Britain's media had the gumption to stick with the really important stories.

Not only will the teaching of reading be examined, but also literacy standards and the assessment of reading will come under scrutiny.

Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that the critical role of libraries in fostering lifelong reading habits (as well as the informational stuff) will be considered. The Australian enquiry into the same literacy issues refused to broaden its terms of reference to include library-related matters. At least, so far ...

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An interesting rail commute into work this week, when a conversation was struck up with a young adult non-reader - as one does. Or should do. Although people who talk to other people on trains are always thought of as weirdos. Strange thing, that.

Anyway, to cut a long story shorter than it would be if all the dialog was detailed, Karma points zoomed when I gave a book away to the 16ish girl. But now that little voice in my head is telling me that I've just lost major Karma points by disclosing this. If you find my points, please email them back to me.

New studies have revealed that many adults have been living with Adult Attention-Deficit Disorder (Adult ADD) and don't recognize it. Why? Because its symptoms are often mistaken for a stressful life. If you've felt this type of frustration most of your life, you may have Adult ADHD; a condition your doctor can help diagnose and treat.

If you find that you’re shelving books and stop to answer a phone, or if in the middle of a reference interview and you find you are scheduled to be at a meeting, does this mean you have Adult ADD or that your library is simply understaffed? Or that someone else may have this problem?

Here is a website that could help by at least narrowing the field down a little ...

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"The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like solid, stable business."

John Steinbeck

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This week I was reading some incredible information concerning the teaching of secondary mathematics. Amongst the primary information was the fact that research has shown that there is a human tendency to overestimate acute angles and underestimate obtuse angles. This may have grave implications for some aspects of library operation, but I'm still trying to work out what they might be.

The minimal ink principle sounds good to me - there is far to much form filling in in this world, and far too much paper being wasted in libraries by people printing what they think is just 'a page from a website', then a million reams of drivel ends up in the recyling box. Unfortunately though, this principle is concerned with the construction of graphs in mathematics ....

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