Author Archive: George M. Eberhart

Media Literacy in an Age of Fake News

By George M. Eberhart | November 1, 2019

Librarians can ensure patrons make informed decisions in local, state, and national elections by helping them think critically. Libraries of all types can promote media literacy by providing handouts, LibGuides, training, and programs about separating fact from online fiction. The following resources can assist. The National Association for Media Literacy Education, a nonprofit organization based … Continue reading Media Literacy in an Age of Fake News →

Citizen Science

By George M. Eberhart | June 24, 2019

Lillich added that these projects are neither clinical trials nor social science surveys, but represent the real involvement of the public in scientific research. George Strawley, community engagement coordinator with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Midcontinental Region, said that citizen science projects “definitely lend themselves to K-12 students,” but colleges and communities can … Continue reading Citizen Science →

Nnedi Okorafor on Writing, Rage, Bugs, and Aliens

By George M. Eberhart | June 23, 2019

Then came “The Breaking,” as she called it. Diagnosed with scoliosis at age 13, the disease progressed and when she was 19 she went in for spinal surgery and woke up paralyzed. “I went from being an athlete to being in a hospital bed unable to move,” she said. “I lost my faith in science … Continue reading Nnedi Okorafor on Writing, Rage, Bugs, and Aliens →

Left to right: OCLC's Cathy King, Lynn Silipigni Connaway, and Jay Holloway

User-centric Library Services

By George M. Eberhart | June 23, 2019

Cathy King, executive director of OCLC Delivery Services, said that with the rise of virtual assistants like Alexa, library users now expect technology to respond immediately to simple commands. “Take Jill, for example,” she said. “Jill is a real university undergraduate English major who does not use the library. It’s Friday, and she needs to … Continue reading User-centric Library Services →

Jarrett Dapier, Nora Flanagan, Emily Knox, and Eric Ward at the ALA Annual Conference and Exhibitions June 22, 2019.

Confronting White Nationalism

By George M. Eberhart | June 22, 2019

Confronting White Nationalism in Schools was published by the Western States Center in Portland, Oregon, and is available for free download. The toolkit inspired Jarrett Dapier, young adult librarian at Skokie (Ill.) Public Library, to look at how libraries should respond to similar events. He said he was motivated by the rise of incidents involving “alt-right, white … Continue reading Confronting White Nationalism →

Authors Gennifer Choldenko and Varian Johnson

The Urgency of History

By George M. Eberhart | June 22, 2019

All six panelists admitted that they had not read history when they were kids. But they were inspired to write historical fiction or nonfiction when they encountered something special—comic books, family oral histories, or primary sources in college. Varian Johnson, author of the Coretta Scott King honor book The Parker Inheritance (2018), said that the common … Continue reading The Urgency of History →

Newsmaker: Emma Boettcher

By George M. Eberhart | June 11, 2019

When did you first try out for Jeopardy? I first auditioned for the show when I was just about to graduate from high school. At the time, I was trying to get on the show’s College Championship. (I could audition for that as a high school student because the tournament would tape and air when … Continue reading Newsmaker: Emma Boettcher →

Bookend: Finding Flora and Fauna

By George M. Eberhart | June 3, 2019

Martin R. Kalfatovic, BHL’s program director, estimates that its 20 member libraries and 22 affiliates have scanned upwards of 147,000 titles, ranging from the 15th century to the present, with information on more than 180 million species. “Though most of them are scientists,” he says, “about 72% of our users are also interested in the … Continue reading Bookend: Finding Flora and Fauna →

Award-winning graphic novelist Alison Bechdel closes out the 2019 Association of College and Research Libraries Conference in Cleveland on April 13. Photo: Laurie DeWitt/Pure Light Images

Alison Bechdel: A Life in Books

By George M. Eberhart | April 13, 2019

Internationally renowned cartoonist Alison Bechdel was the closing keynote speaker. She illustrated her talk throughout with panels from her graphic novels Fun Home (2006) and Are You My Mother? (2013), as well as her long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. Bechdel said she realized at age 19 that she was a lesbian, “though … Continue reading Alison Bechdel: A Life in Books →

From left: Yasmeen Shorish, Nathan Hall, and Rebecca Kennison present the new ACRL research agenda.

ACRL’s New Research Agenda

By George M. Eberhart | April 13, 2019

On April 13 at the 2019 ACRL Conference in Cleveland, three members of ReSEC described their process for creating the research agenda and what they hope to accomplish with the new document. ReSEC Chair Yasmeen Shorish, associate professor at James Madison University Libraries in Harrisonburg, Virginia, said the committee’s charge was to “help identify actionable … Continue reading ACRL’s New Research Agenda →

Fobazi M. Ettarh at the 2019 Association of College and Research Libraries Conference in Cleveland April 13.

Why Being Bad Is Good

By George M. Eberhart | April 13, 2019

Most librarians, she said, believe in this dominant narrative, but the process of “examining those elements and decolonizing them can be uncomfortable for many people, causing defensive reactions and revealing blind spots in one’s perspective.” Ettarh took the traditional characteristics of the library narrative and recast them slightly to give them a realistic perspective: Libraries … Continue reading Why Being Bad Is Good →

Mies Martin (left) and Beth Martin present their findings at the Association of College and Research Libraries Conference in Cleveland on April 12.

The Impostor Phenomenon

By George M. Eberhart | April 13, 2019

At an April 12 session at the Association of College and Research Libraries Conference in Cleveland, Beth Martin, head of professional programs at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, and Mies Martin, electronic resources and serials librarian at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, described their own recent IP research. Beth Martin said IP is … Continue reading The Impostor Phenomenon →

Latest Library Links

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Michael Kan writes: “Are you still using ‘chocolate,’ ‘naruto,’ or ‘monkey’ for your passwords? You really need to stop. All three are among the most commonly used passwords, putting your accounts at risk of hacking, according to new data from NordPass. The password manager’s sixth annual list of the top 200 most commonly used passwords is pulled from a 2.5TB dataset of stolen logins taken from various sources.” ZDNet offers tips for creating stronger passwords and improved security measures.

PC Mag, Nov. 14; NordPass, Nov. 13; ZDNet, Nov. 14
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John Sharp writes: “Athens and Fairhope are two fast-growing cities in the fastest-growing areas of Alabama, and there is no mistaking their conservative bona fides. But according to early statistics about library card applications, their libraries appear to be bucking a trend embraced by conservative-leaning groups and the Alabama GOP: Their patrons appear to be trusting the libraries. More than 60% of parents at Fairhope Public Library and Athens-Limestone County Public Library have signed off on all-access passes for their children with no restrictions on library usage.”

AL.com, Nov. 17
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Katie Gaddini writes: “Book bans may have mushroomed in the Trump era of reactionary politics, but they have a well-established history in America. One woman in particular, Norma Gabler, redefined the current strategy and logic behind modern book bans. Called ‘education’s public enemy number one,’ by critics in 1980, Gabler led the crusade against the so-called secular trend in school textbooks throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Even though Norma and her husband Mel worked together, Norma was the public face of their efforts for decades.”

Time: Made By History, Nov. 13
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Many members know Bill Ladewski as executive director of the Reference and User Services Association, an ALA position he has held since 2019. In early September, Ladewski added another title to his CV: director of Member Relations and Services. In this role, he and his team are charged with providing service and information to the Association’s nearly 50,000 members. Ladewski answered our 11 Questions to reintroduce himself to the ALA community.

AL: The Scoop, Nov. 19
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John Warner writes: “I understand what people mean when they invoke the term ‘institutional neutrality,’ but I don’t know how it’s workable in today’s world. Higher education institutions are built upon a foundation of actual values, values that are, by definition, not neutral. The Kalven report, the Rosetta Stone of institutional neutrality produced by a faculty committee at the University of Chicago in 1967, is not a call to make all work emanating from an institution ‘neutral,’ but is instead a call to make the atmosphere for scholarly inquiry and debate as free as possible.”

Inside Higher Ed, Nov. 15
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Angela Hursh writes: “Ever wondered how your library’s email performance compares to others? Benchmarks help you understand how well your emails perform in key areas and identify opportunities for improvement. They also allow you to compare your email marketing performance, set goals, and stay on top of trends. However, the lack of industry benchmarks for email marketing metrics specific to libraries has been bugging me. Metrics from similar industries don’t fully capture the unique aspects of promoting a library. To help libraries accurately measure their email effectiveness, we’ve created the first-ever library email benchmark report.”

NoveList, Oct. 22
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Rachel Hendrick writes: “Students and library vendors are pushing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in higher education, but there are very few resources that help librarians and scholars separate the wheat from the chaff. Luckily, we here at Choice love a good assessment rubric. (In fact, we made a PDF of our assessment rubric.) Even the least tech-savvy of us can use a very simple AI literacy framework to think critically about whether an AI application is worth your time.”

Choice 360 LibTech Insights, Nov. 13

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