I was never any good at science, whether it was dissecting a frog or—God help me—completing a science-fair project. My personal nadir came on a chemistry exam in high school. I like to think my score of eight points out of a possible 100 remains, these many decades later, the worst officially posted number in … Continue reading Science for the Nonscientist
We librarians are experts at collecting. Our jobs, our departments, our very buildings have been designed to acquire content. There is, however, another side to content that many libraries haven’t yet fully explored, and that is content creation. Yes, we have books about how to create a graphic novel, how to learn a musical instrument, … Continue reading Create a Library “Tech Shop”
Can’t you just see a group of librarians gathering around the proverbial water cooler each morning to profess their love for their patrons? “We love our patrons. Yes, we do. We love our patrons. How about you?” Okay, maybe not, but the sentiment remains. Librarians love their patrons; it’s why we do everything we do. … Continue reading Returning the Love
Each January, librarians, publishers, parents . . . and, well, anyone who has an interest in books and reading . . . awaits the announcement of the Youth Media Awards at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. While awards help us define the criteria for “good” books, the lists of winners and notables are just a few … Continue reading Great Lists of Great Reads
I applaud the hard work of everyone who has tackled the thorny issues confronting libraries in the increasingly hostile ebook environment in which we find ourselves. However, I believe we are missing an essential component in any solution: copyright law reform. At last summer’s ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans, I listened to an impassioned … Continue reading We Need Copyright 2.0
In the 1990s, libraries were pioneers in providing access to the internet in their communities. Even today, libraries are the only place some community members can get online. Over the past few years, libraries have begun positioning themselves as the go-to place for digital creation technologies, providing hardware and software that most people wouldn’t have … Continue reading Providing the Tools
This piece is excerpted from the January 2012 issue of Library Technology Reports. You can purchase the full issue on the ALA Store. Google “smartphone user.” Click on Images. What do you see? When I tried this, I saw some graphs, pictures of devices (many of them BlackBerrys), and a bunch of white people, mostly … Continue reading Bridging the Digital Divide with Mobile Services
All of you who’ve weeded a collection know the challenges I face. Former American Libraries Editor Leonard Kniffel left me a legacy: file drawers stuffed with materials from his 15 years at the helm of this magazine. As someone new to the American Library Association and to this publication, it’s been somewhat daunting to determine what … Continue reading Treasure Hunt
My first American Library Association Midwinter Meeting was in 1976. After stimulating learning experiences at two Annual Conferences, I really wanted to get involved. Colleagues advised me that Midwinter provided the best venue to do that with its focus on ALA business meetings. ALA’s open meeting policy allowed me to observe meetings related to my … Continue reading No Longer Business as Usual
At the Australian School Library Association conference in October 2011, Executive Director Karen Bonanno offered several excellent insights in her keynote (Vimeo, 31:46) that are useful to all librarians in this era of tightened budgets and job opportunities. School librarians in particular may want to implement Bonanno’s five-finger mnemonic to craft that one-minute elevator speech … Continue reading Making Progress by Fives
For compiling best lists, that is. I either make or participate in the making of at least three different kinds of best-book lists every year. First, there’s the Booklist Editors’ Choice list, published in our January double issue, but I’m only one voice among many in putting together that annual compendium. Then there’s my Back … Continue reading It’s That Time of Year
Welcome to the first Outside/In, our new column for American Libraries. Some readers may remember us from Public Libraries magazine, where we wrote the Internet Spotlight column about web topics relevant to librarians and the public library sector. Our goal with this new column is to share practical information, news, and tips about emerging web … Continue reading Add to Your (Library) Cart
