The Librarian: Accomplice to Fraud

Kenyan track student comes to the ref desk and asks for whiteout. He paints over some lines on what looks to be an unofficial transcript. Then he asks if we have a scanner. I take him to the media room. "Can you show me how to use this?" I help him make a scan of the document; the whiteout smudge is less evident. "How can I send this by email?" I show him how to attach the file to a Yahoo email message. The "to" address seems to be the track department at a major state university.

So my hypothesis: the kid had a bad semester and is trying to transfer. Oh well, I don't feel too bad since the scheme is half-baked. The state u. will undoubtedly request an official transcript to be sent directly from our registrar's office, so he won't get away with anything.

Has anyone sold books through amazon.com? I'd like to convert some of my review copies into cash.

Read: Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic; Charles McDaniel, God and Money: The Moral Challenge of Capitalism.

Saw: Read or Die, anime about a cute bookworm with telekinetic powers over paper who saves the world from a Bond-style villain. Pretty run-of-the-mill aside from the bibliophilic motif.

The NYT likes Lynch's latest.