Randa Kamal, director of the library at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem and president of the Palestinian Library and Information Association (PLIA), said one of the biggest challenges for her library is acquiring research materials. Books or journals that “discuss Palestinian culture or the Israeli-Arab conflict are prohibited” by the Israeli occupation forces and are subject … Continue reading Academic Libraries in Palestine
The panelists were Blake Carver, LYRASIS; Lauren Comito, Queens (N.Y.) Library; Laura Costello, Stony Brook (N.Y.) University; Carolyn Coulter, PrairieCat Library Consortium; and Nick Grove, Meridian (Idaho) Library District. Here are some of the questions: What is the next top tech trend? Comito: Teaching underlying concepts, not specific devices. Costello: Real-time library data: What are … Continue reading LITA’s Top Tech Trends
Although the winners of the 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction were announced in January at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Boston, the two authors were recognized at the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando at a ceremony Saturday evening. The awards are made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and are administered by ALA’s Booklist and the Reference and User Services Association.
Children’s author Avi was the featured speaker at the President’s Program of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) on Saturday morning. AASL President Leslie Preddy introduced the 2003 Newbery Medal‒winner (for Crispin, the Cross of Lead), saying, “He writes literature, not books” and “never ‘writes down’ to his readers,” skillfully using “power, voice, and integrity in his writing.”
The US government is spending $1.5 billion on career information and assistance for American workers, job seekers, and employers through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), first implemented in 2013. On Saturday morning at the ALA Annual Conference in Orlando, the ALA Washington Office brought together a panel of librarians and state workforce experts to show how public libraries can get funding as eligible providers to collaborate with job centers to provide recruitment, digital training, and consultation services to workers who need reemployment—activities that many libraries are already doing for their patrons.
The sea change brought about by digital humanities (DH) resources is still rippling through academia. As Stewart Varner and Patricia Hswe write in their special report on “Digital Humanities in Libraries” (American Libraries, Jan./Feb. 2016), libraries are “unsure how they should respond as DH attracts more and more practitioners and its definition evolves to cover … Continue reading How Librarians and Faculty Use Digital Humanities
Imagine a conference where, after listening to a “characteristic address” by Melvil Dewey—“full of the enthusiasm of invention and the ardor of prophecy, which never fails to kindle a responsive spark in his audience”—you venture out to ride on the biggest Ferris Wheel in the world, eat some new-fangled ice cream cones, watch Alexander Graham … Continue reading Meet Me in St. Louis
Throughout 2016, American Libraries will be adding images to the ALA 140th anniversary Pinterest board in reverse chronological order, starting in 1876 with ALA’s founding and ending up with 2015. This blog post includes some of the imagery from the Association’s first 25 years of existence. In 1899, Melvil Dewey, a founder of ALA and … Continue reading Things You Didn’t Know about ALA History, 1876–1900
University of Tennessee Digital Humanities Librarian Ashley R. Maynor has created a multimedia web documentary, titled The Story of the Stuff, that looks at what motivates people to send physical memorials to the victims and survivors of such tragedies. After Newtown, Maynor says she “witnessed firsthand the growing phenomenon in global culture that we’ve seen … Continue reading In the Wake of Tragedy
Michael, you are currently at work on a book, This Machine Kills Fascists: Technology and Culture in the US Folk Music Revival, about the American folk music revival of the 1950s and 1960s. What part did Alan Lomax play in that revival? MICHAEL J. KRAMER: Alan Lomax’s part in the US folk music revival is … Continue reading The Legacy of Alan Lomax
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in the October 1997 issue of American Libraries. It has been updated to include new information (updates in blue). American Libraries is no exception. However, unlike less reputable media, we go to original sources whenever possible to ascertain whether or not our spooks are spurious. And in so doing … Continue reading Phantoms among the Folios:
A Guide to Haunted Libraries
Your most recent book is a fascinating look at the Underground Railroad and antislavery networks of pre–Civil War New York City. Explain how you came across the document that shed new light on these events. ERIC FONER: It was totally accidental. Madeline Lewis, an undergraduate history major at Columbia who also worked for my family … Continue reading Newsmaker: Eric Foner
