I know, I know – all work and no blogging makes Joy a dull girl. To make up for my long radio silence, I present you with some recent interesting links on libraries, Asian-American media, and anime. Semi-regular posting will resume eventually.

• The American Library Association has relaunched its website with a fresh new design. Check it out! It is still a work in progress, so expect to find some areas of the website still in transition.
• Darien Library has launched its new website/OPAC. Again, this is probably only of interest to the library geeks in my very small readership, but I love the idea that a library catalog’s should be fully integrated into their website rather than a separate portal. But I am biased, having worked at the AADL. :)
• Asia Pacific Arts has posted a top ten list of the best Non-Asian themes movies directed by Asian Americans. I note there’s a shoutout for my old college classmate, Lee Isaac Chung, whose movie I really will go see if it’s ever playing near me.
• Viz has announced that it is posting subtitled, uncut versions of some of its licensed anime on Joost. As many of you probably know, the US anime industry has been struggling to compete with fansubs (bootleg fan subtitled versions) of anime, which are widely distributed through BitTorrent and sites like YouTube. I think including Viz’s content on a site like Joost is a good step toward an answer, though I think any true solution will need to find a way to reduce the wait for official licensed versions, which currently is measured in months and years. (Fansubs, in contrast, are available in days and sometimes even in hours.) [Via Comics Worth Reading]

That’s all for now. Coming soon: some thoughts on my recent reading, a 50-book challenge, and a list of my favorite fictional libraries!