Two small items in this month's American Libraries really connected for me. On page 34 we have a quote from the San Francisco Chronicle's open reader forum, in which the writer says facetiously, "Of all the current assaults on our noble republic, perhaps none is more dangerous than the public option-specifically, the public library option … Continue reading Fear of Socialism
I'm no prophet, but my guess is that 2009 will be known as the year of the great health care debate. While I haven't studied all the details of the various plans, I do support the concept of universal health care for all. I have felt strongly about this issue since 1972 when I broke … Continue reading The Librarian Is In
The first program I ever saw on television was a boxing match: Rocky Marciano versus Jersey Joe Walcott, September 23, 1952. My family didn't have a television at the time, but our neighbors across the street did, and my father, mother, and I were all invited over for the fight. Marciano won handily, but what … Continue reading Sugar Ray
Net Gen? Gen Y? Gen M? All are labels we've heard applied to the generation ranging in age from adolescents just entering or about to enter high school, to those just joining the work force. Whatever they're called, they have particular, technology driven learning styles, which are examined in Teaching Generation M: A Handbook for … Continue reading We Are All Millennials
Recently I listened to a commencement speaker who said, "If faculty members can't offer students some hope and optimism for their future, some path of confident thinking in uncertain times, then we have no right or reason to be around them." I'd prefer offering students a sunnier picture from behind the reference desk, but the … Continue reading Killjoy Was Here
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On what was apparently a slow news day, the front page of the July 29, 2009, New York Times featured YAWA—yet another Wikipedia article—a variation on the enduring theme of “Wikipedia is changing the world; how shocking” (or how wonderful, depending on the mood of the reporter). This one highlighted an exploration of the ethics of … Continue reading What Do You See?
Library websites have been around for about 15 years. The list of what has changed in the past 15 years could fill a library. Programming languages have changed. Web browsers have changed. Internet connections have gotten faster, and websites have come to serve a wider variety of functions. Interaction has also changed. Many library websites, … Continue reading Building a Digital Branch
Thanks to Libraries, Librarians You sit down to write a novel and soon the characters are crowding around demanding attention with the urgency and self obsession of a 3-year old. Nothing shuts them up until the manuscript is ripped from your hands at deadline, and even then, they squawk until they've gone to print. Over … Continue reading Letters
The Spectrum Scholarship Program is one of the more successful programs initiated by ALA. It began as part of then- ALA Executive Director Elizabeth Martinez's vision to recruit more minorities into the library and information management profession. Betty Turock turned that vision into a reality in the late 1990s during her ALA presidency. Spectrum's mission … Continue reading Spectrum’s $1-Million Challenge
The future of online learning is now, says Kenneth E. Hartman, academic director for Drexel University Online and chairman of National Distance Learning Week (November 9-13). His article in this issue makes a compelling case for online education in general and distance learning in particular. Earlier this year, I taught a one-week summer course in … Continue reading Going the Distance
If you find the no-frills Billy Goat Tavern on a list of restaurants for the America Library Association’s Annual Conference in Chicago, the likely reason is that it inspired and remains true to the 1970s Saturday Night Live “Cheezborger! Cheezborger! No Coke,pepsi!” skit. Walls decorated with blowups of columns by Mike Royko and others celebrate … Continue reading Once in a Lifetime
Hardly anyone I know in Chicago is actually from Chicago, born and raised here that is. Most of my friends and colleagues are from someplace else, a lot of us from Michigan. I always tell people back home in Detroit that if the Midwest were a country, Chicago would be the capital, so I feel … Continue reading Sweet Home Chicago
