Upgrading overdue notices?

I was looking for a novel way to present overdue notices; but could only produce a novella. (It's OK to laugh here ... I did.)

Anyways, it occurred to me that one problem with the effectiveness of such reminders is that being generally small and flat, they tend to get lost. OK, they get thrown away in many cases, particularly by recurrent recalcitrants. Making them bigger would only lead to the backs being used for shopping lists, or plot outlines - dependent of course on the identity of the defaulter.



That left only the option to change the shape - but into something that might be considered "fun" for the sender as well as the recipient. I have not patented this idea, nor do I intend to do so. You have my blessing to use as-is, adapt, modify or otherwise alter in any way to suit your purpose.

However, given the recent past history of my more creative innovations, it may be best to check with the NSW government to see if they want to claim copyright on this, me being an employee and all ...

You can find one set of instructions for making a Creative Overdue Teller here, but please note I have no affiliation with that website and do not receive any pecuniary rewards from same. It was the first one to come up on a Google search for "fold fortune teller".

Disclaimer: I am not cognisant of my employer's relationship with the above linked website, although I am given to understand there is a financial relationship between them and Google.

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So everyone now wants my copyright?

Still being in "discussion" with the NSW Department of Education and Training regarding "ownership" of educational material hosted on Warrior Librarian (and written by me), it seems now that the Victorian Department of Education is also claiming copyright ... not just of the Information Literacy Online resource, but apparently the whole Warrior Librarian website!!!

Google Digitization Project

For those of you with an interest in copyright matters, and published works, the deadline has now passed for opting out of the Google Digitization. But you do have until 5 January 2010 to claim the Cash Payment on offer from Google, and by extension obtain the percentage of the profit Google will be making from your work.

Careful with filling out the online form, though. Or you may find yourself in ongoing correspondence with the process administrators, such as:

Dear [name removed for obvious reasons],

I'm not sure if you noticed that my email address ends in the country code "au" ... I am resident in Australia. Unfortunately your toll-free number is not available through overseas directories, so it is of little help for you to continue to refer me to that number.

I do thank you though for your explaination that you require that "rights holders who wish to have changes made to their book listings send said corrections in the form of a signed request". We do indeed live in Strange Times! Is it not absurd that the "signed request" that you require - presumably for security purposes - is so much more easily "forged" than a digitally traceable email?

However, if you check the Google Settlement Entry for the rights holder details for the book that I wrote you will see that I have actually been able to correct the error (that I have been asking for your assistance in correcting for some months) myself, through my secure password-encoded log in.

Sigh.

I am certain that you will understand that the above does not inspire confidence, in regard to appropriate administration of the processes with which your company has been engaged in the matter of Google's digitization of copyright protected publications.


Regards,
Amanda Credaro


Too narky? Perhaps. But it is now on its way through the ether, regardless.