Librarian's Library Archives | American Libraries Magazine

The Librarian as Educational Leader

By Karen Muller | September 1, 2017

In conjunction with its November 2017 biennial conference in Phoenix, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) will be issuing the updated National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. These are evolutionary standards that build on philosophical foundations and familiar elements of previous standards and the streamlined AASL Standards Integrated Frameworks. … Continue reading The Librarian as Educational Leader →

Know Thyself

By Karen Muller | June 1, 2017

This first book grew out of a 2014 ALA Annual Conference presentation. Taking Your MLIS Abroad: Getting and Succeeding in an International Library Job, by Lara Seven Phillips and Katherine G. Holvoet, both of whom have worked overseas, explains the process of landing and taking on an appointment in an international library. The result is … Continue reading Know Thyself →

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

By Karen Muller | May 1, 2017

Creating Inclusive Library Environments: A Planning Guide for Serving Patrons with Disabilities, by Michelle Kowalsky and John Woodruff, begins with an overview of changes initiated because of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the follow-up ADA Amendments Act of 2008—changes designed to ensure a barrier-free environment. From there, the book covers policy … Continue reading Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion →

On Writing

By Karen Muller | March 1, 2017

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 →

Developing New Skills

By Karen Muller | January 3, 2017

Let’s start with raising money. The first set of chapters in 40+ New Revenue Sources for Libraries and Nonprofits, by Edmund A. Rossman III, lays the foundation for specific discussions about sources. Rossman covers why libraries might need more than what their traditional funding bases offer, which for public libraries is 85%–90% local, and how … Continue reading Developing New Skills →

Information Literacy

By Karen Muller | November 1, 2016

If libraries are a cornerstone of our democracy, librarians are the key to their riches. Librarians are also the key to enabling library users to unlock those riches on their own, whether through one-time bibliographic instruction or a more embedded form of instruction—information literacy. At its January 2016 meeting, the board of directors of the … Continue reading Information Literacy →

All in the Family

By Karen Muller | September 1, 2016

Fostering Family History Services: A Guide for Librarians, Archivists, and Volunteers, by Rhonda L. Clark and Nicole Wedemeyer Miller, offers practical advice, with bibliographical notes, on how to establish a family history service within the framework of existing programming and outreach. The authors assert that providing family history resources is more about offering guidance and … Continue reading All in the Family →

Preserving Our Values

By Karen Muller | May 31, 2016

The Intellectual Freedom Manual is a guide to providing library service in support of First Amendment rights. For the manual’s 9th edition, the background information on its policies has been pulled into a separate volume, A History of ALA Policy on Intellectual Freedom: A Supplement to the Intellectual Freedom Manual, compiled by editor Trina Magi … Continue reading Preserving Our Values →

Accessing Information

By Karen Muller | May 2, 2016

One of the sources I suggested is Find It Fast: Extracting Expert Information from Social Networks, Big Data, Tweets, and More, 6th edition, by Robert Berkman. While intended for the business searcher, the chapters on sources, searching, and experts confirm and expand upon what you may know intuitively. Starting with structuring the search, Berkman moves … Continue reading Accessing Information →

Understanding Acquisitions

By Karen Muller | March 1, 2016

The textbook treatment, The Complete Guide to Acquisitions Management, 2nd edition, by Frances C. Wilkinson, Linda K. Lewis, and Rebecca L. Lubas, covers the essentials of the purchasing process for monographs, serials, and digital items as well as out-of-print and antiquarian materials. Several chapters focus on industry partners in the acquisitions process: the publishers and … Continue reading Understanding Acquisitions →

Aiding Student Research

By Karen Muller | January 4, 2016

One of my children received this as a holiday gift: The Student’s Survival Guide to Research, by Monty L. McAdoo. This very readable guide instructs on the methodology of research, from choosing a topic to planning and doing research to producing the final product. McAdoo stresses the iterative nature of the process and introduces related … Continue reading Aiding Student Research →

Scholarly Communication

By Karen Muller | October 30, 2015

Some aspects of the scholarly cycle have persisted for centuries: Scholars write to one another discussing their work, present findings at departmental colloquia or conferences, publish an article, and when there’s a body of research, revamp it into a book. In Scholarly Communications: A History from Content as King to Content as Kingmaker, John J. … Continue reading Scholarly Communication →

Latest Library Links

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Amie Wright writes: “For 23 years Small Press Expo has been a forum for independent, international, and self-published comics creators. This year’s expo, held September 16–17 in Bethesda, Maryland, provided opportunities for collection development and advocacy work in libraries, including the annual Ignatz Awards, partnerships with the Library of Congress and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, and its purposefully intimate setting in which creators and fans could converse.”

AL: The Scoop, Sept. 22
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Polling experts are raising concerns about a new survey that found nearly 20% of US college students believe it’s appropriate to use violence to silence offensive speech. The survey is “junk science” and “it should never have appeared in the press,” according to Cliff Zukin, a former president of the American Association of Public Opinion Polling. UCLA Professor John Villasenor defended his survey as an important window into what he had called a troubling atmosphere on American campuses.

The Guardian (UK), Sept. 22
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Adam Eisgrau writes: “The Copyright Office has wrestled with difficult practical, legal, and political questions about how to modernize Section 108 of the Copyright Act (17 USC §108). That’s the provision that creates a safe harbor from copyright infringement liability under specific circumstances for libraries and archives. In a 70+ page Discussion Document released September 15, the Copyright Office makes detailed proposals for updating Section 108. These are the main points.”

District Dispatch, Sept. 19
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Michael Dowling writes: “We are in the midst of the largest global migration since World War II. Sixty-five million people have been displaced worldwide. Images of refugees risking their lives to escape to Europe flash across TV and computer screens across the world. What has been less visible is the work that community anchors, individuals, and nonprofit organizations accomplish to assist new refugees and asylum seekers. Libraries worldwide play a significant role in welcoming and assisting these people.”

American Libraries feature, International Supplement, Sept. 2017
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A library hailed as China’s most beautiful has been shut down by the authorities for providing pirated books and erotic content. Readers had complained online that the collection in Liyuan Bookhouse in suburban Beijing largely consisted of pirated books, which included printing errors, incomplete translations, forged publisher details, and “uncensored and elaborated erotic descriptions.” The National Office Against Pornography and Illegal Publications ordered the library to suspend business on September 19.

South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Sept. 20
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The Downers Grove (Ill.) Village Council acted within its legal authority on September 5 when it removed a library trustee over remarks about homosexuality that he reportedly made at a public meeting, a DuPage County judge ruled September 21. Judge Paul Fullerton dismissed a motion filed by Arthur Jaros, who asked the court to stop the village from enforcing his removal. But Fullerton said that as a home-rule municipality, Downers Grove had the legal authority to remove Jaros.

Chicago Tribune, Sept. 21
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Administrators in the Jefferson County (Idaho) School District are considering prohibiting a classic novel from being taught in two senior government classes after at least one parent voiced concerns over the book’s violent, sexually charged language. District Superintendent Lisa Sherick questioned whether a passage in George Orwell’s 1984 contradicts district policy requiring academics to align with the “basic ideals, goals, and institutions of the local community.”

Idaho Education News, Sept. 21

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