At Novato, for example, one retired Air Force officer who volunteers at the library has become someone whom vets can not only get information from but can also communicate with, according to Kevin Graves, a Bay Area coordinator with the California Department of Veterans Affairs. “Vets come in every week just to speak to him, … Continue reading Bridging the Gap for Vets
Finding diverse podcasts One place to look is the website of a podcast collective called Postloudness. Based in Chicago, it aims to create a community of shows by women, people of color, and queer-identified hosts. Its goal is to encourage and support underrepresented voices to produce podcasts and expand diversity in programming. You may also want to … Continue reading Diverse and Accessible Podcasts
The Research + Practice Collaboratory, a nonprofit that develops and tests new approaches to research and practice, says that such jointly conducted research “can produce tools and findings that speak directly to the concerns of educators. This approach may also represent a more ethical approach to education research by giving equal voice to the insights, … Continue reading Research–Practice Partnerships
Librarians work with students at an early age to teach the importance of documenting sources and not plagiarizing others’ work. Teaching Plagiarism Prevention to College Students: An Ethics-Based Approach, by Connie Strittmatter and Virginia K. Bratton, presents a model to address intentional plagiarism. This model does not address how to cite properly but rather seeks … Continue reading On Writing
Though many library staffers receive physical first aid and CPR training as part of their jobs, mental health first aid training happens far less often. For libraries, however, mental health training can defuse tense situations, provide needed resources, and most importantly, help patrons through crises. Such training is meant “to raise awareness and break down … Continue reading Mental Health First Aid
Thankfully, Hall, assistant director of the Bedford (Ind.) Public Library, had an ally she knew could come to the rescue: Bridget, a beautiful Golden Retriever therapy dog waiting in her office. “When she told him [about the dog], he stopped crying immediately and got up from the floor where he had been lying face down,” … Continue reading Library Waggin’ Train
As an Association, we advocate for a wide range of federal legislation and policy issues, from intellectual freedom and privacy to access to government information to preservation to copyright. We also advocate for funding for library programs, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), the E-Rate program, … Continue reading In D.C., It’s All about Our Values
In my columns and interviews over the past eight months of my presidency, I have focused primarily on ALA’s values and the values of our profession. As a result, I invariably receive a myriad of emphatic emails from people who often tell me that I can’t tell them how to think or what to value. … Continue reading Our Way Forward
I’ve always preferred the AND operator to NOT when trying to refine search results. NOT is too blunt an instrument for my tastes, and it’s too easy to lose good information with it; using AND provides focus and often does a more effective job of narrowing down a big retrieval set. AND has been on my mind lately. As I … Continue reading Boolean Logic
1857 Year that Jane Wadden Turner was hired as a library clerk by the Smithsonian. She was the first woman to secure a paid position at the institution. 16 Number of years that the Amelia Bloomer List, a project of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Social Responsibilities Round Table Feminist Task Force, has been recommending … Continue reading By the Numbers: Women and Libraries
This is a climate in which we now all live. This is the climate in which my husband and I are raising our 3-year-old daughter, a Korean American, in a city that is 83% white and 8% Asian. Currently, 96% of Minnesota’s K–12 educators are white. Across the country, librarianship is 88% white. What do … Continue reading Diversify Everything
Document capture at Crowley Imaging Services The Crowley Company has been providing micrographic and digital archiving services for more than 30 years. Crowley Imaging Services uses equipment from its own manufacturing arm and other vendors to offer services to libraries and archives that don’t have an in-house digitization department. The company recently purchased two Phase One IQ3 … Continue reading Saving Your Media
