Author Archive: Patrick Burke

Mobile Comics Plus: Library Edition from Recorded Books

Reading Remotely

By Patrick Burke | September 1, 2016

Comics move online Independent audiobook and ebook publisher Recorded Books and comics distributor iVerse Media has partnered with IDW Publishing to update its Comics Plus: Library Edition service. Comics Plus: Library Edition supplies libraries with digital graphic novels and comics that can be accessed by patrons from any web-based device. Patrons can check out as … Continue reading Reading Remotely →

DK Readers develops nonfiction reading programs that use real photography.

Helping Young Readers

By Patrick Burke | July 20, 2016

DK Readers, new and improved Children are exposed to more images on a daily basis than at any time before. To help capture and hold their attention while assisting them with reading, illustrated reference publisher DK Readers has updated its beginner reading program. DK Readers develops reading programs for all ages. Earlier this July, DK … Continue reading Helping Young Readers →

Page 117 of Donald Erdman's journal includes a drawing of a red and black Labrid [sic] and Epinephelus. The page is from a field book documenting Erdman's specimen collecting in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea under the auspices of the Arabian American Oil Company in 1948.

Fielding a Field Notes Comeback

By Patrick Burke | July 14, 2016

Until recently, researcher field notes and firsthand observations were difficult to digitize because of handwriting issues and formatting. Three projects—the Field Book Project, the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) Field Notes Project, and Expanding Access to Biodiversity Literature—are changing that. Field notes are an invaluable resource for students and researchers alike. Edward Davis, assistant professor in … Continue reading Fielding a Field Notes Comeback →

Streamlined Software

By Patrick Burke | May 31, 2016

Apollo automation at Biblionix Public library automation provider Biblionix has updated its award-winning integrated library system, Apollo, with new functions to make life easier for librarians. Apollo helps public librarians streamline their day-to-day tasks such as circulation management, collection management, and new patron sign-up. Because of its multi-tenant design, changes and updates are available as soon … Continue reading Streamlined Software →

Libraries Open Up

By Patrick Burke | May 2, 2016

Gale goes 3D Gale and Cyber Science 3D have partnered to bring science to life for students. With both academic and high school students in mind, Gale—a division of Cengage Learning—has created three distinct interactive science programs that allow students to explore multiple science-based subjects. One program, used as a learning tool for high school and introductory … Continue reading Libraries Open Up →

Auctioned at the 2010 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., this multichromatic quilt coordinated by Rachel Ivy Clarke, a graduate student at the University of Washington in Seattle, uses scraps and other fabrics that may have otherwise been thrown away. Group members were encouraged to contribute blocks in colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Raising Money for Students One Quilt at a Time

By Patrick Burke | March 29, 2016

The group is made up of 15–20 active quilters who work in and with libraries—including librarians, staff, trustees, friends, and vendors. By auctioning off their quilts at Annual Conference, they support students who are enrolled or who will enroll in library school. The group was founded in 1998 at the Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., … Continue reading Raising Money for Students One Quilt at a Time →

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“For many readers and viewers, HBOMax’s recent adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry has become an entry-point for casual observers of the game played on ice with a puck—and hockey romances. You may not know what exactly is happening on the rink, or even in the locker room, but you can guess, and that’s half the fun!” See other lists from Johnson County (Kans.) Library, Multnomah County (Oreg.) Library, Mesa County (Colo.) Libraries, or Omaha (Nebr.) Public Library.

St. Louis Public Library, Dec. 27; Johnson County (Kans.) Library, Dec. 13; Multnomah (Oreg.) County Library, Dec. 11; Mesa County (Colo.) Libraries, Dec. 18; Omaha (Nebr.) Public Library, Dec. 4
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Stefan Milne writes: “Seattle Public Library is the only US library system that makes its anonymized, granular checkout data public. The hitch is that the library’s data set contains nearly 50 million rows. To track trends in the catalog over the last 20 years, University of Washington researchers analyzed the checkout data of the 93 authors included in the post-1945 volume of The Norton Anthology of American Literature, which is instrumental in standardizing the books and writers we’ve deemed culturally important.”

University of Washington News, Jan. 8
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Janette Wright writes: “I was appointed to a leadership role in local government during a period of corporate change and budget constraint. Staff had a low level of trust in leadership, a history of conflict and incivility, and low expectations of the opportunity for service improvements or development. In this article, I’ll reflect on the leadership challenges inherent in such transitions, drawing on my personal experience across the library sector and applying a theoretical framework to offer practical insights for leaders navigating similar terrain.”

Katina, Jan. 8
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Hong Zhou and Hiba Bishtawi write: “For decades, discovery has revolved around keywords: carefully chosen terms, Boolean operators, and increasingly sophisticated relevance ranking. Today, generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems are introducing a different interaction model altogether. Instead of asking how to search, researchers are starting to ask what they want to know and expecting the system to figure out the rest. When does natural language outperform traditional approaches, and what do current AI-powered discovery tools actually do well? We conducted a comparative analysis of four widely used AI-enabled research discovery tools.”

The Scholarly Kitchen, Jan. 6
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Hillel Aron writes: “The estate of legendary author Kurt Vonnegut, three authors, and two unnamed high school students sued the Utah Board of Education on January 6 over the removal of hundreds of books from school libraries. Among the books that have been effectively banned from certain school libraries are Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, and Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Utah’s so-called “book removal law,” H.B. 29, was updated in 2024 and automatically removes books from all school libraries that have been banned by three or more school districts.”

Courthouse News Service, Jan. 6
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Kelly Jensen writes: “On January 12, the first day back on campus for many universities following winter break, at least eight college and university libraries received bomb threats. Campuses received the threats via email. None resulted in the discovery of a physical threat in or near the targeted area.” At least 15 universities faced similar threats in August, believed to be made by the swatting group Purgatory and mostly directed at library buildings. In January, universities in Nebraska, Missouri, Kentucky, and Massachusetts received the threats. The Association of College and Research Libraries and Core offer a LibGuide on safety and security.

Book Riot, Jan. 13; Inside Higher Ed, Aug. 26; Center for Internet Security and Institute for Strategic Dialogue, Aug. 27; ACRL, June 25, 2024
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ALA has officially launched its 150th anniversary year, marking a century and a half of empowering library professionals, advancing access to knowledge and protecting the freedom to read. The association will celebrate year-round in 2026 with key flagship events, kicking off with the 2026 Youth Media Awards, honoring outstanding books, videos and materials for children and teens, on January 26 at the Hilton Chicago. ALA President Sam Helmick marked the anniversary with an essay at ala150.org, and ALA has produced a new anniversary video.

ALA Communications and Media Relations Office, Jan. 8; ALA150.org, Jan. 5; YouTube, Jan. 8

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