Misidentified photographs

I set of photographs recently published as showing the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing really represent the effects of the 1923 Kanto earthquake (an event which seems to have produced a similar number of deaths). I remember noting that the bodies in the photos didn't seem to show the burns I would expect to see, but I didn't really question the identification.

Finger pointing ensues:

Hoover contains over 5,600 collections with hundreds of thousands of individual items. The Institution’s Assistant Director Richard Sousa indicated that the size of the holdings prevented a thorough authenticity check of all archived material.

“Our goal is not to authenticate every piece of information we get,” Sousa said. “But we do document, in each case, where it came from. We do not go through and cross-reference every single piece of material.”

“I’d be surprised if the Library of Congress did that, or any big archive,” he added.

and

Le Monde correspondent Sylvain Cepel, who wrote both the newspaper’s initial report on the photographs and subsequent pieces in the wake of the correction, said that a catalog description from an institution like Hoover implied the materials had been checked for accuracy.

“If you go to the Library of Congress,” Cepel said, “and you find some letter by Eisenhower, and it’s written on the box, ‘this is a letter of Eisenhower’s,’ you would not think this is not by Eisenhower but by Adlai Stevenson!”

When we trust other people not to have made mistakes, we've just made a big one of our own ....

The photos are here and still aren't pretty. But if you really want to see ugly, dig into the comments, most of which take the line of "As long as I have a grievance to cling to, I refuse to admit that anyone else has suffered enough!"

Two causes for joy

One of the things I gave up during my SI career, for lack of both time and money, was my subscription to The New York Review of Books. A few weeks ago I renewed and yesterday my first new issue arrived in the mailbox (call me old-fashioned, but I do still love the pleasure of opening a mailbox and finding delightful surprises). I can't wait to read what Robert Darnton has to say about "The Library in the New Age."

Also, my Zotero extension is working once again. It turns out that the Download Statusbar extension I recently added causes some kind of conflict. I don't need a download status bar very badly, so out it goes and my bibliographical collection is available to me once again. Happiness abounds.

McClellan on Bush

McClellan whacks Bush, White House

Among the most explosive revelations in the 341-page book, titled “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception” (Public Affairs, $27.95):

• McClellan charges that Bush relied on “propaganda” to sell the war.

• He says the White House press corps was too easy on the administration during the run-up to the war.

• He admits that some of his own assertions from the briefing room podium turned out to be “badly misguided.”

Uh ... "revelations?" The only thing surprising here is that even the Republicans can't deny the obvious any longer. I expected more gumption out of them.

And elsewhere:

"Here's a man who owes his whole career to George W. Bush, and here he's stabbing him in the back and no one knows why," Duffy said. "He appears to be dancing on his political grave for cash."

Or maybe it's just that even toadies don't like being hung out to dry, like McClellan was over the Plame affair? George Bush seems to treat most of his associates like his Secret Service detail - they're there to take bullets for him.

Correct response to rising gas prices

As gas goes up, driving goes down

Demand goes up; supply stays level; price goes up; demand goes down - finally. What $3.00/gallon couldn't do, $4.00/gallon has. Despite the bite it puts on my own finances, I've been wanting this for years.

EPA libraries re-open ... sort of

Sigh. We are this close to being just an oversized banana republic.

CLOSED EPA LIBRARIES TO RETURN IN LAVATORY-SIZED SPACES

It takes years to build a library (not the building - the collection and the expertise to make it useful to users); even with a new President next year, this damage will not be easily repaired. Is it too far over the top that my mind generates images of Administration hacks gleefully flying airplanes into our country's knowledge structures?

[Via Library Juice]