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The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | August 31, 2011
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American Libraries Online
East
Coast libraries endure Hurricane Irene
The week of August 22 was anything but your typical end-of-summer week on the
East Coast. First, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Virginia on August 23 set a startling
tone, shutting down numerous buildings, including libraries, all along the coast.
Then, on August 26 Hurricane Irene came ashore in North Carolina and moved relentlessly
northward through Vermont and into Quebec. As of August 31, it was responsible
for 54 deaths and about $10.1 billion in damage. The old building housing the
Center for Cartoon Studies’ Charles
Schulz Library in White River Junction, Vermont, may have suffered irreparable
damage from floodwaters, but the entire collection was saved by intrepid volunteers
and staff (above) and moved to a secure location a few blocks away....
American Libraries
news, Aug. 31; The Beat, Aug. 30 
A
library home for poetry
The new library
of the Poetry Foundation in Chicago has a simple goal. “The mission
of the library echoes that of the foundation: to place the best poetry in front
of the most people,” explains Librarian Katherine Litwin. But poetry can
have a reputation for inaccessibility. The Poetry Foundation Library was designed
to make the collection enjoyable and accessible. The library is located off the
main entrance of the foundation’s new headquarters, only three blocks from ALA headquarters....
American Libraries
news, Aug. 31
Will’s World: Networking
without pity
Will Manley writes: “I’m working on a new house project. It’s
one of the most complicated projects that I’ve ever taken on. There are
a million details from the size of the window jambs to the energy rating of the
glass in the windows. For a novice like me, it’s all very confusing and
requires a great deal of research. Never have I needed a library so much. But
a library only gets you so far. There is a network out there, and if you connect
into it, will make life a lot easier.”...
American
Libraries
column, Sept./Oct.
On My Mind: Librarians and
the threat to free political speech
Jeffrey Beall writes: “As librarians, we support freedom of speech and freedom
of access to information. In early 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a
decision that increased these freedoms. Known as Citizens United v. Federal
Election Commission, the decision declared unconstitutional some statutory
restrictions on political speech—restrictions that carried the threat of
fine or imprisonment for merely engaging in political speech. Specifically, Citizens
United overturned some limits on corporate political speech.”...
American Libraries
column, Sept./Oct.
Currents
On August 22 Cindy
Woodruff (right) became youth services librarian at Laurel (Del.) Public
Library. In July, Richard Hume Werking retired from the Nimitz
Library at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he served for
20 years as library director and professor of history. Dorothy Boone Dismuke,
80, former reference librarian at the Oak Ridge (Tenn.) Public Library from 1967 to 1987, died August 11....
American Libraries
column
ALA
News
ALA bids farewell to John
Chrastka
John Chrastka, ALA’s director of membership development, is leaving the
Association effective August 31 to become a partner in a Chicago-based association
consulting agency. His immediate supervisor, ALA Associate Executive Director
for Communications Cathleen Bourdon, says of John: “He was the friendly
face of ALA to thousands of ALA members and a true colleague to ALA staff.”...
AL
: Inside Scoop, Aug. 29
October is Information Literacy
Awareness Month
Information Literacy Awareness Month is a great time to honor teachers, librarians,
and other underrecognized shepherds who guide all ages through the abundant information
available online and in print. By teaching the rewards of lifelong learning, you
can help young readers become future advocates for libraries as essential civic
centers for learning and community. The new Knowledge is Power poster set illustrates the enduring importance
of education. The four posters are handsomely illustrated, and each bears a thought-provoking quotation....
ALA Graphics, Aug. 30
ALA partners with Library
2.011 worldwide virtual conference
ALA is partnering with founding sponsor San Jose State University SLIS to present
the Library 2.011 worldwide virtual conference, November 2–3, a unique chance
to participate in a global conversation on the current and future state of libraries.
The conference will be held online, accommodating multiple time zones over the
course of two days, and will be free to attend. The call
for presentations is now open and submissions are due by September 15. To
be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates, please join the Library 2.0 network....
Library 2.011 Conference
ALA
seeks two endowment trustees
(Word file)
Applications
are now being accepted for two upcoming openings for endowment trustee to help
manage the ALA Endowment Fund. One position is for the expiring term of Senior
Trustee Dan Bradbury, and the other is for a newly added position that will expand
the trustees from a committee of four to a committee of five. The deadline to
apply (Word file) is November 15....
ALA Finance and Accounting, Aug. 30
Featured
review: Science fiction
Stephenson, Neal. Reamde.
Oct. 2011. 1,056p. Morrow, hardcover (978-0-06-197796-1).
Not many writers
can make a thousand-page book feel like it’s over before you know it, but
Stephenson, author of Cryptonomicon (928 pages), Anathem (981),
and the three-volume Baroque Cycle (about 900 each), is a master of character,
story, and pacing. Here, an unknown miscreant has created a computer virus, Reamde—a
possibly deliberate misspelling of “read me,” a common file name—and
is using it to extort money from users of a multiplayer online game. Meanwhile,
a plan to sell stolen credit-card numbers to a Russian mobster goes horribly awry,
catapulting a hacker and her cohorts into a race for their lives. The book feels
like a video game—characters bouncing from one action set piece to another;
new villains introduced out of left field; a sprawling, compelling, completely
seductive story that keeps the reader flipping pages at near light-speed....
The lessons of weeding
Joyce Saricks writes:
“A column on weeding: What a way to start a year! I’m a packrat at
heart, and weeding has always been anathema to me. I’ve taken the precaution
of emailing my longtime friend, librarian Merle Jacob, the queen of weeding, to
warn her that I had finally come around to her point of view, lest she faint in
shock at seeing this column. This change of heart has happened over the last few
months. I volunteer at my local library, and in addition to shelving DVDs (and
always finding several to take home), I’ve been assisting Sue O’Brien,
my successor as department head, with a fiction weeding project. Once again we’re
out of room, and the director refuses to build a wing just so we won’t have
to weed the almost 50,000-volume fiction collection.”...
Free Booklist webinars
in September
Booklist editors host leading practitioners, authors, and publishers’
representatives at least once a month in webinars on a variety of topics offering
immediate tips, tools, resources, and new ideas for collection development and
readers-advisory work. The webinars are recorded and archived on the Booklist
Online webinars page where there is also information about upcoming offerings.
September’s webinars support librarians in enhancing their collections for
fall and winter. All Booklist webinars are Tuesdays starting at 1 p.m. Central Time....
|
Take
advantage of AASL11 pricing
The deadline for advanced registration pricing for “Turning the Page”
ends September 29. To be held in Minneapolis October 27–30, the AASL 15th
National Conference and Exhibition is the premier biennial four-day event for
school librarians, administrators of library services, educators of school library
students, and school library supporters. Registration and program information
can be found online....
AASL, Aug. 30
Teens should vote now for
the Teens’ Top Ten
YALSA invites all teens to get out the vote for the Teens’ Top Ten. Teens
can vote for their favorite books from the last year in the annual
poll. Voting is open through September 16. The 25 nominees for this year’s
Teens’ Top Ten are available on the YALSA website, along with a toolkit
for librarians to promote the list to the young adults visiting their libraries.
The final 2011 Teens’ Top Ten list will be announced during Teen Read Week, October 16–22....
YALSA, Aug. 30
Registration for Teen Read
Week ends September 16
Registration for Teen
Read Week, YALSA’s annual literacy event, will close on September 16.
Visitors to the Teen Read Week website will also find activity ideas relating
to this year’s theme, planning resources and publicity tools, as well as
details on the Teen Read Week Photo Contest, judged by TRW Spokesperson Jay Asher.
Teen Read Week will be celebrated October 16–22, with a theme of “Picture It @ your library.“...
YALSA, Aug. 30
Upcoming ACRL e-learning
events
ACRL is offering a wide variety of online learning opportunities in fall 2011
to meet the demands of your schedule and budget. Full details and registration
information are available on the ACRL
website. Registration for all online seminars and Webcasts qualifies for the
ACRL Frequent
Learner Program. Register for three ACRL e-Learning events and receive one free registration....
ACRL, Aug. 30
ALCTS continuing education
events for fall
ALCTS offers a wide variety of online continuing education opportunities through
webinars, web courses and e-forums. Here is a list of upcoming web courses and
webinars for fall. Additional details and registration information are available online....
ALCTS, Aug. 30
IEEE
Science Kits for Public Libraries grant
(PDF file)
The Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Chicago Section has announced a Science
Kits for Public Libraries grant. The grant will provide funding to up to 20 public
libraries in the Midwest for the development of math and science collections for
K–12 students through the creation of science kits—especially kits
that provide prepared experiments for use by students and librarians. Applications
will be accepted from October 1 until November 15....
Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Chicago Section, Aug. 22
James
Tait Black Memorial Prizes
The winners of this year’s James Tait Black Memorial Prizes, given annually
by the University of Edinburgh, were announced at the Edinburgh International
Book Festival on August 19. The two £10,000 ($16,400 U.S.) prizes are given
for the best work of fiction and for the best biography during the previous year.
The Fiction Prize was awarded to debut American novelist Tatjani Soli for The
Lotus Eaters, set in the last days of the Vietnam War. The Biography Prize
was won by Hilary Spurling for Burying the Bones: Pearl Buck in China,
a biography of Nobel Prize–winning author Pearl Buck....
BBC
News Scotland, Aug. 19
2011
Scottish Book of the Year
Scottish author Jackie Kay has won the 2011 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust
Book of the Year for her autobiographical novel Red Dust Road. Kay received
her £30,000 ($49,250 U.S.) prize at an August 26 ceremony during the Edinburgh
International Book Festival. Born in Edinburgh to a Scottish nurse and a Nigerian
student, Kay was adopted at birth by a white couple and brought up in Glasgow.
Red Dust Road, published by Picador, is an autobiographical account of
Kay’s search to find her birth parents....
Edinburgh
Reporter,
Aug. 26
2011 Age Books
of the Year
The winners of the 2011 Age Book of the Year awards were announced August
25 at the opening keynote address of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Fiona McGregor’s
Indelible Ink (Scribe) won the Aus$10,000 overall prize, having
also won the same amount for Fiction Book of the Year. Her third novel, Indelible
Ink is an “utterly original, strangely charismatic” tale of society
and a tattoo, set in the prosperous North Shore of Sydney....
The Age
(Melbourne, Australia), Aug. 26
Seen
Online
Missouri
judge blocks new social media law
A new law regulating how Missouri teachers communicate with their students on
Facebook and other social media websites suffered a double-barreled setback August
26. Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem awarded the Missouri State Teachers Association
a preliminary
injunction blocking the law (Missouri Senate Bill 54) from taking effect,
saying it would have a “chilling effect” on free speech rights. And
Gov. Jay Nixon said he will ask lawmakers during a special session in September
to strip out the law’s most controversial provisions, including the one the judge ruled on....
Kansas City (Mo.) Star,
Aug. 26
Santa
Cruz school librarian challenges textbook changes
Furious about the chemical
industry’s footprint in a state-sponsored environment curriculum, a librarian
at Santa Cruz (Calif.) High School has started a
petition to have the industry’s influence removed. As of August 30,
Veronica Zaleha had garnered more than 25,000 signatures on the social networking
platform Change.org. She started the petition in response to a California
Watch investigation that showed the American Chemistry Council had successfully
inserted edits and additions about the benefits of plastic shopping bags into
an 11th-grade environmental textbook....
California Watch, Aug. 19, 29
Expand branch hours to support
literacy
María Luisa Arroyo (right) writes: “Why do branch libraries matter?
Some may argue that branch libraries are losing their relevance. Besides, who
uses the library anyway nowadays? It just has old books, right? Neither cell phones
nor home computers, though, can teach young children how to hold a book upright,
how to turn pages, nor choose for them age-appropriate books to read. Neither
cell phones nor home computers can teach any child how to read aloud or check
for understanding while reading. Isn’t it common sense to have the branch
libraries in their neighborhoods open when they and their families need them?”...
La Prensa de Western Massachusetts,
Aug. 29
Sugar Grove director was
fired for defying authority
The Sugar Grove (Ill.) Public Library board majority fired longtime library director
Beverly Holmes-Hughes in July because she defied their authority, according to
a statement released August 25. According to the statement, the board majority
found that Hughes would not do what was asked and that this created a tension
among the four trustees, resulting in a deteriorated working relationship. Plans
for a new
library Friends group are on hold until the current group, which does not
agree with the decision to fire Holmes-Hughes, dissolves at the end of its fiscal year in December....
Kane County (Ill.) Chronicle,
Aug. 27
Illinois
man charged with library book thefts
According to police, a Glen Ellyn, Illinois, man stole thousands of books, DVDs,
and other items from Chicago-area libraries and then sold some of them on the
internet. James F. Jackson was taken into custody August 26 and charged with three
counts of felony theft. A search of Jackson’s apartment and vehicle turned
up materials taken from libraries, including an unspecified number of items from the Lisle Public Library....
Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald,
Aug. 29
Michigan library staffer
killed by bear in Yellowstone
Wildlife agents were trying to capture a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National
Park on August 29 after it killed a hiker. The body of John Wallace, 59, was discovered
August 26 in a backcountry area known for its high population of bears. Wallace
had worked for about 20 years at the Portage Lake District Library in Houghton,
Michigan. Library Director Shawn Leche said Wallace was a quiet, easygoing man
and a conscientious worker who loved books, opera, and the outdoors....
Associated Press, Aug. 29
Murder of Coronado librarian
in 1975 still unsolved
A 74-year-old retired librarian and war widow, Ruth Quinn was found late on March
16, 1975, in her home on Pomona Avenue in Coronado, California, fully clothed,
in bed, with gunshot wounds to her head and collarbone. The shots had been fired
at close range. Police concluded Quinn’s death was a premeditated murder.
She had worked as a librarian, first at the main library in San Diego and later
at the Coronado Public Library. The library was the last place she was seen alive....
Coronado (Calif.) Patch,
Aug. 29
Layoffs expected in Santa
Cruz
A new service model that keeps all branches of the Santa Cruz (Calif.) Public
Library open and increases their hours will require layoffs this fall that are
expected to equal about 10% of the workforce. Director Teresa Landers has submitted
a draft report to staff members and union leaders for input, and anticipates presenting
it to the Library Joint Powers Authority board for a possible vote October 3....
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury-News,
Aug. 24
Home libraries spring up
in El Paso colonias
All summer long, children of all ages streamed in and out of Maria Garcia’s
home in the colonia of Agua Dulce, in far East El Paso, Texas. Spearheaded by
Sister Frances Hicks of the School Sisters of St. Francis, Garcia and four other
mothers in the colonias of Agua Dulce, Ascencion, Las Colonias, and Dairyland
opened mini-libraries in their homes. Hicks, who teaches ESL in the colonias,
said she was able to get a donation of 2,000 books from St. Patrick’s Catholic
School in St. Charles, Illinois. Once the books were ready, she tried to get one
house in each colonia to have a mini-library....
El Paso
(Tex.) Times,
Aug. 26
Chicago organizes Library
Lounge nights
With the launch of the monthly Library Lounge nights, part of Chicago Public Library’s
recent “Not What You Think” campaign, the library wants to reintroduce
the library to city residents—especially young, professional urbanites—in
a place they likely already frequent: local bars. At each happy hour you can expect
to learn about all the offerings at CPL, beyond just books, e-books, and audiobooks.
You’ll also get yourself a library card on the spot, a library
T-shirt, and a couple of drinks to sip....
Huffington
Post,
Aug. 24
San Jose’s old MLK
library demolished
Scott Herhold writes: “On August 30, city officials began to demolish the
old San Jose (Calif.) Public Library Martin Luther King building, replaced in
2003 by a gleaming new one, for a convention center expansion. City Librarian
Jane Light led a last tour of the place a day earlier, billing it as the MLK ghost
tour. The design on the outside smacked of Brutalism 101, and a moat around the
building separated the library from the street, like a forbidding castle. For
its time, the old MLK building was considered a Disneyland of a library. A postcard
from the mid-1970s shows it lit up in a warmly translucent glow.”...
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News,
Aug. 29
You can get that
at the library?
Gregory Karp writes: “Libraries have always been great money savers because
of all the books and periodicals you can borrow and use for free. Offerings at
libraries can vary widely, so the only way to know all that yours offers is to
check out the website or visit in person. But here's a sampling of some unusual
services you might find, with help from ALA President Molly Raphael.”...
Chicago Tribune,
Aug. 26
Librarian strike looms at
University of Western Ontario
David Rapp writes: “Unionized librarians and archivists at the University
of Western Ontario in London have set a strike deadline for September 8, the first
day of classes, as bargaining continues with university administration over staffing
and compensation. Represented by the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association
bargaining unit, UWO librarians have been without a contract since June 30.”...
Library Journal, Aug. 25
Want a library card? Have
you had a sex change?
Local councils in the U.K. are asking residents who want to borrow books from
public libraries whether they have AIDS or schizophrenia, or have had a sex change.
The information is being gathered in an effort to comply with equal-opportunity
rules. In Islington, people registering to borrow books are asked whether they
have a “hidden impairment” such as cancer, HIV, or diabetes. Among
the questions from Haringey council is this one: “Does your gender differ from your birth sex?”...
The Telegraph
(U.K.), Aug. 27
How to buy a projector
M. David Stone and
Tony Hoffman write: “Projectors have come a long way from the days when
the most useful way to categorize them was by their weight class. Today there
are any number of more meaningful kinds of categories, including intended use
(business presentations, home theater, game playing), technology (LCD, DLP, LCOS),
throw distance (how close the projector can be to the screen), and more. Here
are some questions that will help you focus on the right category for your needs.”
And here are PC Magazine’s top 10 picks....
PC Magazine,
Aug. 25
Sarah’s audio gadget
showcase
Sarah Houghton-Jan writes: “I get asked a lot what technology I actually
use, as opposed to all the cool stuff I show people or talk about. So I started
looking around and thinking about it. What do I use? What do I have? Do I like
it or love it? And I decided to start posting about it by gadget subject area. So we begin with audio.”...
Librarian in Black, Aug. 25
10 social networking add-ons
for Firefox
Sarah Jacobsson Purewal writes: “Move over, RockMelt. You don’t need
a dedicated social networking browser to stay überconnected. Here are 10
Firefox add-ons (all compatible with the latest version of Firefox) that will
turn your browser into a social butterfly, including a Facebook toolbar, a Twitter
search box, a HootBar, and a TinyURL generator (right).”...
PC World,
Aug. 30
Repair
a faulty Windows installation without reformatting
Alex Castle writes: “Nothing
will put a crimp in your computing style quite like a Windows error. Although
Microsoft’s OS has gotten exponentially more stable over the years, it’s
still very possible for Windows system files to become corrupt, which can cause
your system to slow down, freeze, or (in the worst case) refuse to load your operating
system at all. When you encounter a Windows error, your first instinct may be
to back up your data, grab the installation disk, and weep silently as you press
the Reformat button. We’re here to tell you there’s another way.”...
Maximum PC,
Aug. 31
Sony announces 6-inch, library-ready e-reader
On August 31, Sony announced what it calls the lightest touch-screen, 6-inch e-reader
ever, Reader Wi-Fi (PRS-T1), providing a natural and immersive reading experience.
Reader Wi-Fi is smaller than an average paperback book, can easily fit into a
bag or pocket, and is available in three color choices—black, red, or white.
It is also the first e-reader to offer wireless connectivity to public libraries
in the U.S. and Canada via a dedicated icon on the device to allow convenient
borrowing of free e-books with a valid library card. And it comes with a Pottermore e-book giveaway....
Sony, Aug. 31
Seven
ways to use the iPad to help students excel
Jeffry Thurana writes: “We
are approaching the era where students don’t have to carry stacks of thick
heavy books to school anymore. Everything will be digitized and available at the
tip of students’ fingers and many schools have already adopted the iPad
as their learning tool, while students and educators are slowly figuring out the
best way to utilize the iPad for education. From using the iPad as a reference
tool to taking class notes, here are seven ways that the iPad will change the
way your student learns.”...
MakeUseOf, Aug. 23
 Amazon
won’t be adopting EPUB
Nate Hoffelder writes: “Do you recall that
rumor from three months back about Amazon switching
to EPUB? Well, the new Kindle format called Print Replica discovered
August 28 is a pretty good sign that EPUB just isn’t going to happen. Here’s
the thing. Amazon didn’t adopt PDF. They could have used PDFs if they wanted
to, but instead they went with their own proprietary format: something like PDF
but completely controllable.”...
The Digital Reader, Aug. 28–29; TeleRead, Aug. 28
The emerging e-book app
ecosystem
John Dupuis writes: “My intent with this post is to prod people to think
of some of the hidden downsides of relying on the app model for distributing and
monetizing e-books—in other words, the kinds of marketplaces we see emerging
in the iTunes and Android app commercial developer ecosystem. If you want to read
an e-book, you more or less have to buy it for your iPhone or iPad. You can’t
download it illegally, you can’t borrow a copy from a friend or from the
library unless your friend or library are also willing to lend you their device.
So, what would I like to see in an e-book ecosystem?”...
Confessions
of a Science Librarian, Aug. 29
 The
25 most downloaded e-books on Project Gutenberg
Jason Sockel writes: “When
Michael Hart endeavored to create Project Gutenberg 40 years ago, he probably
did not envision the No. 1 downloaded title being the Kama Sutra, but
a surprising search revealed just that. Project Gutenberg is an expansive set
of free e-books, digitized and assembled by Hart (who, incidentally, is the inventor
of the e-book) when he was a college student in Illinois. Since that time, his
team has digitized more than 30,000 public-domain titles.”...
OverDrive Digital Library Blog, Aug. 29
Academic
library user attitudes towards e-books
(PDF fle)
As academic libraries ramp up their investments in e-book collections and
experiment with a growing range of purchasing models, they need to know more about
how their users view e-books, and what expectations users bring to library collections. In
2007–2008, a research team conducted a study using Q-methodology to identify
opinions about e-books among the population of library users at Miami University in
Oxford, Ohio....
College and Research Libraries,
preprint, July 2012
Ungluing e-books
Eric Hellman writes:
“Unglue.it
will be the name of Gluejar’s ungluing e-books website. For readers new
to this blog, ‘ungluing e-books’ is what I’m calling the process
of raising money to make creative-commons licensed e-book editions of the books
that you love, so that everyone, everywhere, can read them. We’re developing
the Unglue.it website on the Amazon
cloud. One of our big decisions has been to use an invitation-only rights
holder strategy during the launch phase.”...
Go to Hellman, Aug. 30
Changing
demographics of tablet and e-reader owners
In the United States as recently as last summer, tablet and e-reader owners tended
to be male and on the younger side. But according to Nielsen’s latest quarterly
survey of mobile-connected device owners, this is no longer the case. Only 46%
of tablet owners are now under the age of 34 and the percentage of those over
55 has increased to 19%; and 61% of all e-reader owners are now female, compared
to a mere 46% in the third quarter of 2010....
Nielsen Wire, Aug. 25
 Open
access to research data is a lot tougher than you think
Kyle Niemeyer writes:
“Most readers of this blog are familiar with the current effort to make
research articles open access, but there is also a parallel effort to develop
public archives for the research data behind them. We’ve addressed how funding
questions make this a difficult issue, and the difficulty in preserving
raw experimental material (also limited by money), but the primary obstacle
to widespread adoption of existing public research data repositories appears to
be simply time and effort.”...
Ars Technica: Nobel Intent, Aug. 26
The metadata of classical
music
Steve Smith writes: “Finding classical music on Spotify is easy; finding
a specific recording, on the other hand, can feel like anything but. As always
seems to be the case, classical buffs have to work harder than pop-music fans
to build and organize the virtual library of their dreams. The problem, as usual,
comes down to metadata, the information that tells a computerized player what
content the files on a compact disc contain and how to organize tracks you’ve
downloaded from the internet. As yet, no standard for classical metadata exists.”...
New York Times,
Aug. 25
Three graduate projects
and a dissertation
Christopher Harris writes: “I am starting to think that it really isn’t
totally our fault that we can’t figure out this whole e-book thing. There
are two problems: what we don’t know, and what we think we know. For example,
we think we know how many books to buy; public librarians look at the ratio of
available copies to pending holds and then buy more copies if the ratio is off.
Besides being totally reactive, I am not sure how effective that formula is. So
I propose three graduate projects and one dissertation.”...
District
Dispatch, Aug. 29 |
Celebrate
Banned
Books Week this year (September 24–October 1) by freeing your
mind and reading from a banned book. The Banned Books Week robot is back again
by popular demand. The ALA Store has Banned Books Week posters, bookmarks, buttons,
T-shirts, and the 2011 list of banned books.
NEW!
From ALA Graphics. |
New this week
in
American Libraries
|
Great Libraries of the World
Melk
Abbey Library,
Melk, Austria. The abbey was
founded in 1089 when Leopold II, margrave of Austria, gave one of his castles
to some Benedictine monks, and the library soon became renowned for its extensive
manuscript collection. It is also well-known for its ceiling fresco, painted by
Paul Troger in 1731–1732, which depicts an allegory
of Faith surrounded by the four Cardinal Virtues. In his 1980 novel The
Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco named one of the protagonists “Adso von
Melk” as a tribute.
National
Library,
Vienna, Austria. The library dates
back to 1368 and the personal collection of Albert III, duke of Austria. The Baroque
State
Hall (Prunksaal) was built in 1723–1726 to house the Habsburg imperial
court’s manuscripts, incunabula, books, maps, and globes until late in the
19th century. It is decorated with statues of Emperor Charles VI and other Habsburg
monarchs by Peter and Paul Strudel and ceiling
frescoes by Daniel Gran. The court library became the Austrian National Library
when the republic was established in 1920. Its treasures include the largest Egyptian
papyrus
collection in Europe, a 6th-century Greek illuminated manuscript of De
Materia Medica by Dioscorides, a museum of 380 globes
and scientific instruments from before 1850, and a map
collection that includes the 17th-century Atlas
Blaeu–van der Hem, a 50-volume set of more than 2,400 maps, prints, and drawings.
This
AL Direct feature showcases 250 libraries around the world
that are notable for their exquisite architecture, historic collections, and innovative
services. If you find yourself on vacation near one of them, be sure to stop by
for a visit. The entire list will be available in The
Whole Library Handbook 5, edited by George M. Eberhart, which is scheduled
for publication later this year by ALA Editions. |
Career
Leads from
Chair
of Cataloging and Metadata, Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama.
The chair of cataloging and metadata reports to the library director. The cataloging
department is comprised of two librarians, three staff members, and some student
workers. Responsible for original, complex and copy cataloging of materials in
all formats including electronic resources; reviews and implements new workflows
as technologies change; provides departmental supervision and training to staff
and student assistants in cataloging and support tasks; previews cataloging policies
and procedures and implements improvements; plans and implements metadata schema
and standards and develops work flow procedures for metadata projects; participates
in reference rotations which entail some weekend and some night duty....
@
More
jobs... |
Digital Library of the Week
The
Miniature
Book Collection in the University of North Texas Digital Library
includes a selection of contemporary and historical miniature books selected from
the larger collection in the UNT Libraries Rare Book Room. In some cases, only
the covers have been digitized. The collection also contains issues of the Miniature
Book News and the Miniature Book Society Newsletter. Miniature books
are defined as those books under 4" (3" in some places) in height.
Do
you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this
AL Direct feature? Tell us about it.
Browse previous Digital Libraries of the Week at the I
Love Libraries site. |
Public
Perception
How
the World
Sees Us
“
I really love the book discussions
we have in the prison library. You see, when we were on the street we have to
show off that we were tough men. We don’t show our feelings. In here we
read this book and find the character in the book has the sames issues we have.
It takes a little while, but after a time the brothers in the book discussion
group begin to open up. Nobody is judging you and we feel a little freer to explore
our feelings since more or less we all share the same experience. It all happened
in the library.”
“If
past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.”
|
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TweetWatch
Follow:
Science Online London, Sept. 2–3, at:
#solo11
European Congress
on E-Inclusion, Brussels, Sept. 6–7, at:
#ecei11
American Libraries
news stories, blog posts, tweets, and videos, at:
amlibraries |
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Us
American Libraries Direct
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Liz Humrickhouse
Student Intern
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15 reasons why bookstore/library
partnerships are good
Naomi McEneely writes: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that libraries
have readers, booksellers have books, and publishers have authors, and that each
of the three is generally in need of the others. Lake Forest Book Store works
with 15 of the 20 libraries in Lake County, Illinois, and has plans to partner
with the remaining five by the end of 2011. The store brings in authors for library
events, but only with the stipulation that it can sell the books. The partnership
has been beneficial on every level.”...
Bookselling This Week, Aug. 24
How
to host a video book club visit
Jason Boog writes: “Skype made book
club headlines August 29 as author Meg Wolitzer used the video chat service
to visit book clubs around the country. If you want to have an author speak to
your book club through video chat, check out GalleyCat’s Authors
Who Visit Book Clubs list to find nearly 1,000 writers. Explore the Video
Chat category to find a video-friendly author in your favorite genre.”...
MediaBistro: GalleyCat, Aug. 29; Reuters, Aug. 29
Selecting books for special-needs
storytimes
Renee Grassi writes: “Whether or not you have led a special-needs program
before, the fact is that you may have already led one and not even known it. If
your storytimes are drop-in and you don’t have information about a child’s
special need ahead of time, selecting crowd-pleasing stories could be a challenge.
So, in order to be prepared, plan ahead and ask yourself these questions.”...
ALSC Blog, Aug. 31
Collectible diaries from
Che to Valentino
Elizabeth C. writes: “Reading someone’s personal diary is an invasion
of privacy, and yet libraries are filled with diaries that have been published
over the years. The day-to-day memories of people in the public eye or just ordinary
folks in extraordinary circumstances make for fascinating collections. This selection
of rare diaries contains many notable names, including adventurer Lawrence
of Arabia, revolutionary Che Guevara, avant-garde artist Jean Cocteau, silent
movie star Rudolph Valentino, and the green-fingered author who created Biggles.”...
Reading Copy Book Blog, Aug. 29
Astounding pulp cover artwork
Natalie Baaklini writes:
“Here’s our look at the evolution of science-fiction magazine and
paperback cover art from 1930 to 1955, as pulp styles exploded into awesomeness.
Pulp art is characterized by tight compositions focused on one or two figures,
with highly saturated colors and a contrasting background. Brush strokes were
often visible because of the speed the artists worked at to make deadlines. This
added to the illusion of motion in the figures. Violence and sexual overtones
appeared on covers like never before, no longer merely suggesting adventure but
beating you about the head with it.”...
io9, Aug. 26
Virginia
earthquake knocked down books in Maryland
Following the Virginia earthquake on August 23, more than 27,000 books fell
off the shelves at the University of Maryland’s McKeldin Library in
College Park. The library closed to the public following the tremors and reopened
on August 26. Compact shelving on four floors was compromised; one unit tilted
off its track. A free-standing bookshelf on the library’s fourth floor collapsed.
Staffers have picked up all the books and loaded them onto book carts. Sorting
and shelving is underway. Only about 700 items require preservation treatment....
University of Maryland, Aug. 29
Nothing right about this
copyright ruling
Maura Smale writes: “The world of copyright litigation is getting downright
surreal. Recently a court struck down an appeal of a New York case, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Supap Kirtsaeng, involving reselling books from overseas
in the United States. Essentially, the court ruled that the first sale doctrine
applies only to works manufactured in the U.S. The takeaway is that libraries
may not be able to loan out books that were manufactured outside the United States,
and students may not be able to buy or sell used textbooks.”...
ACRLog, Aug. 30; Scholarly Communications @ Duke, Aug. 24
Google’s +1 button
could affect search results
Ryan Singel writes: “Google is making plans to turn its +1 button into a
crowdsourcing tool that helps it reorder search results and fight web spam. Introduced
in March, the +1 sharing button debuted with little incentive for web surfers
to click on it. But in August, the button entered adolescence and can now be used
to post stories to friends and followers on Google+ (and Google
Maps), much as the Like button functions for Facebook. If Google’s search
results become heavily dependent on social signals from Google+, then there’s
going to be heavy pressure on the net’s websites to embed the Google+ button.”...
Wired: Epicenter, Aug. 29; Google Lat Long Blog, Aug. 29
Three
hidden features in Google Advanced Search
Google is continually improving
its search engine. Not only does it work meticulously on the search algorithm
change, but also the graphical user interface and its features constantly receive
upgrades. Many changes are subtle and thus easily missed. Likewise, many advanced
features are well hidden. Google has recently updated its advanced search features,
making it easier for users to more quickly narrow down search results. Here are
three features you may not know about....
MakeUseOf, Aug. 23
Five things libraries can
post on Foursquare Venue Pages
Heather Mansfield writes: “Here are five different types of tips that your
nonprofit can post on Foursquare Venue Pages using your nonprofit’s Foursquare
Page (not your personal Foursquare account) to both gain new followers and inspire
the Foursquare community. The more tips you post, the more exposure your Foursquare Page will get.”...
Nonprofit Tech 2.0 Blog, Aug. 30
 Medify
simplifies medical research
Sarah Kessler writes: “What you find when
you search for health information online is not necessarily what you need if you’re
managing a disease. Medify
attempts to find a productive compromise between the extremes of online health
information. It aggregates published research from the U.S. National Institutes
of Health’s Medline, a database that contains more than 18 million references
to journal articles going back to 1946. Then it scrapes data points like the number
of patients studied, their treatments, symptoms, and side effects to generate
insights about medical treatments and experts.”...
Mashable, Aug. 27
10
tips for respectful and effective shared calendaring
Terri Griffith writes:
“Shared calendars push our boundaries in the workplace and let other people
see and touch our time in ways that have limited equivalents. Having a staff member
manage your calendar used to be a status signal and implied that your time was
important. Instead, shared calendars open your time to the world—a huge
benefit for our ever more collaborative work. Unless they are effectively managed,
however, they can be a major drain on our time.”...
GigaOM, Aug. 22
The research paper controversy
Barbara Fister writes:
“An issue currently highlighted in the New York Times Room
for Debate feature is on whether research papers are a ‘waste of time’
and no longer ‘justifiable as a means of grading a college student’s
performance.’ I also have never heard the argument made that ‘it is
outdated because the internet has made sources so readily accessible’ or
that it promotes ‘deference to conventional opinions.’ Let’s
take a closer look at these claims.”...
Inside Higher
Ed: Library Babel Fish, Aug. 29; New York Times: Room for Debate, Aug. 28
WorldCat turns 40
August 26 marks the
40th anniversary of the launch of WorldCat, the world’s most comprehensive
database of resources held in libraries around the globe. On August 26, 1971,
the OCLC Online Union Catalog and Shared Cataloging system (now known as WorldCat)
began operation. That first day, from a single terminal, catalogers at Ohio University
in Athens, Ohio, cataloged 133 books online. Today, WorldCat comprises more than
240 million records representing more than 1.7 billion items in OCLC member libraries worldwide....
OCLC, Aug. 26
Three simple marketing rules
for libraries
Ned Potter writes: “You don’t need to be a genius to do this stuff,
or have huge marketing budgets, or even loads of time. It’s just a case
of reconfiguring our existing efforts to acknowledge some simple rules. Number
2: No one cares about the how. Libraries are seemingly process focused, but the
the rest of the world is focused on results. When marketing a service we should
concentrate on what people aspire to, not the tools that will get them there.”...
thewikiman, Aug. 25
Depository library user
survey report released
In its efforts to address the value of Federal Depository Library Program membership,
the U.S. Government Printing Office developed a survey for depository library
users. The survey ran from October 10, 2010, through March 4, 2011, and resulted
in more than 3,300 responses from users of nearly 550 depository libraries. The
final report, FDLP Users Speak (PDF
file), presents the survey results....
FDLP Desktop, Aug. 24
My problem with Banned Books
Week
Rory Litwin writes: “The Banned
Books Week project, well-intended as it may be, fails to model good standards
for democratic communication. Here is what I mean. Book banning, good people agree,
should be fought against and is a source of inspiration to fight for what is right.
Banned Books Week taps into people’s responses to these historical narratives
and aims to prevent the suppression of ideas from recurring. But what counts as
a ‘banned book’ is actually a ‘challenged book,’ and what
counts as a challenged book is something quite different from an effort to prevent
a book from being published, sold, or even made available in a library.”...
Library Juice, Aug. 28
Library teen centers: A
report from the field
Steve Teeri writes: “My philosophy in running a teen center is ‘No
matter what, this will be a safe and respectful place.’ Without those two
things we cannot build anything else. This goes both for our teen customers and
our library staff. We treat teens as adults, and let them know we expect them
to behave as such. If a teen comes to us with an idea for a program or a concern
we listen to them fully. The only time we bring our staff power to bear is when
the fun gets a little too out of hand.”...
Letters to
a Young Librarian, Aug. 26
Topeka doesn’t like
social media
David Lee King writes: “Wouldn’t it be weird if Google, Kansas, blocked
Google from its own computers? Unfortunately, that just happened. OK, it’s
really Topeka, Kansas (Topeka renamed
the city in March 2010 for that Google fiber-optics project). And they didn’t
really block Google—they blocked YouTube (which Google owns). But still,
there’s some irony there, is there not?”...
David Lee King, Aug. 30
A new model of storytelling
Laura Fleming writes:
“As a school library media specialist, storytelling is at the core of what
I do each and every day. I have seen many children who struggle with reading because
of a lack of engagement with traditional books and stories. The new media that
surrounds educators and learners forced me to rethink the concept of storytelling
for our 21st-century learners. After some experimenting within my classes, I found
a way to successfully engage and capture the attention of all of my students.
As a result of this, a new model of storytelling emerged for me: Transmedia.”...
Edutopia, Aug. 26
Holiday resources from September
to June
Julie Greller writes: “Here’s a list you won’t want to lose.
Resources for all the holidays celebrated from September to June”: Hispanic
Heritage Month, Columbus Day, Halloween, Ameican Indian Heritage Month, Veterans
Day, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and much more....
A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet, Aug. 29
14 marvelous modern libraries
The jaw-dropping intricacy
of antique
libraries, with their leaded glass windows and tiers of dark wood shelves,
is being replaced in favor of clean lines, open spaces, and a focus on new technology
in library architecture of the late 20th century and beyond. These 14 (see 15
more) modern libraries are just as beautiful, boasting dramatic shapes and
volumes, high ceilings, transparent walls, and impressive stacks of books....
Web Urbanist, Aug. 22, 26; Dec. 10, 2008
Who cares about libraries?
Canadians, apparently
John Geddes writes: “To hear the uproar in Toronto, an avid book borrower
might be forgiven for imagining that Canadian libraries are coming under financial
siege. The administration of the city’s right-leaning, populist mayor, Rob
Ford, is taking a hard look at closing branches of the Toronto Public Library
to cut costs. Yet top Canadian librarians do not see the Toronto scrap as a sign
that the international malaise has arrived here. They point to upbeat developments
in other Canadian cities.”...
Macleans,
Aug. 29
Bibliographic Framework
Transition Initiative
Karen Coyle writes: “While there is no question that MARC was originally
developed by the Library of Congress and has been maintained by that body for
over 40 years, it is surely time for that control to pass to a more representative
body. LC recently announced the Bibliographic
Framework Transition Initiative to ‘determine a transition path for
the MARC21 exchange format.’ The next data carrier for libraries needs to
be developed as a truly open effort.”...
Coyle’s InFormation, Aug. 25
Play a game and help decode
the Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Keith Veronese writes: “Want to help transcribe ancient Greek texts from
the comfort of your couch? Have no understanding of the Greek language? No problem.
With the Egypt Exploration Society and Oxford University’s Ancient
Lives project, you can contribute to the work of researchers who are digitizing
the vast holdings of the Oxyrhynchus Papyri, a mysterious pile of Greek papers
discovered in an ancient dump outside Egypt. And you can do it just by playing a puzzle game.”...
io9, Aug. 30
Library book boxes
Larry Nix writes:
“I try to say no when someone offers or lets me know about a large library
artifact in order to keep my basement from becoming a library museum. A colleague
caught me in a weak moment, however, when he alerted me to a wood library book
box that was being offered on Craigslist. He even offered to pick up the book
box, which was located in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. The large wooden box was
probably used to transport one of Wisconsin’s many traveling
libraries. Some other examoples are shown here.”...
Library
History Buff Blog, Aug. 24
Phyllis Diller’s gags
on file at the Smithsonian
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History opened an exhibition
in the Albert H. Small Documents Gallery that features a “gag file”
filled with over 50,000 jokes belonging to comedian Phyllis Diller. The joke cards
are annotated, organized, and documented with a rigor that would please the most
diligent of librarians. Each drawer is arranged alphabetically by subject. Many
of the topics listed on the front of the drawers suit Diller’s self-deprecating
persona of harried wife, mother, and homemaker. Watch the video (1:40)....
O Say Can You See?, Aug. 12; YouTube, Oct. 26, 2006
Library of the Congress
, the movie
Mike Ashenfelder writes: “The
Library of Congress, a 20-minute motion picture from the 1940s, is blessed
with a special mojo. It is not only a loving homage to the library, rich with
Hollywood production values, but it is also associated with a few significant
nodes in history: World War II, the creation of the library’s motion picture
archives, and the population of cyberspace with cultural treasure. The motion
picture is a pleasure to watch. It has great dignity and pride, and it attempts
to convey the library’s significance, its roots in American history, and
its reach into international collections.”...
The Signal:
Digital Preservation, Aug. 29
Mindset
list for new librarians and teachers
Doug Johnson writes: “I've enjoyed the Beloit
Mindset list and use parts of it in presentations for years. Maybe it’s
time to dust off my librarian and teacher mindset lists and spruce them up a little.
Librarians entering the field today: Have never had to type a catalog card. Have
never looked something up in the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature.
Have always maintained a Facebook fan page for their library.”...
The Blue Skunk Blog, Aug. 27
Kentucky
welcomes students back with another Hubbub
The University of Kentucky Libraries celebrated freshman orientation week with
its fifth annual Hubbub event, which featured prizes, a photo
booth, video games, and a balloon artist. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
and Research Stacey Greenwell said: “We kicked the video games up a notch
with an Unreal Tournament from KY Trade in the lab and a full-size Galaga arcade
game thanks to Louisville Arcade Expo, in addition to video games old (a Vectrex, seriously) and new.”...
The Uncommon Commons, Aug. 24
The
Librarian Sisterhood
Corpses are piling up at the Eastern Kentucky University Libraries as Documentarianationalist
Rupert Van Witherbottom compiles evidence of a secret and sinister Librarian Sisterhood
whose punishment of patron transgressions is a “macramé of the macabre.”
This video
exposé (15:24) will curdle your blood and “turn your kidneys
inside out.” Conceived by Library Associate Richard Garland for the EKU
Libraries Fall 2011 all-staff meeting, and starring Jens Arneson (above), Sarah
Cooper, Clay Howard, and other EKU staffers....
YouTube, Aug. 19 |
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