How often have you heard people complain in the last few months that our president, senators, and congressional reps are all acting like little children—especially during the shameful national debt ceiling crisis? There we were, on the brink of an unprecedented double-dip recession, and our federal elected officials persisted in pointing fingers at each other, … Continue reading No More Kidding Around
Here I sit, minding my own business (OK, working a crossword puzzle and catching my breath after an exhilarating class session with our new graduate students about the future of the book and how libraries will respond to whatever is happening) when an email pings with a request to write an “extra” column for American … Continue reading Steve Jobs, 1955 – –
Are your website visitors doing what you expect them to do or what you want them to do? Are they following the path you thought they would follow when you designed your menu system? Are visitors to your digital-library page finding the link to historical photos of your city or the university’s archival images? These … Continue reading Using Web Analytics Well
Most sports novels, especially the kind that follow a team or an individual through a season of play, face a built-in problem: The drama and suspense usually rides on the team’s success or failure as it moves through the season and plays the inevitable Big Game. Thus, there can only be one of two endings. … Continue reading The Problem with Sports Novels
I’ve been a big advocate of open source software since I learned about the model of software licensing and development 10 years ago. I am a big believer that many minds produce great things, so the idea that a community of users would develop and improve software to the benefit of the community really appealed … Continue reading Open Source, Open Mind
Returning to New Orleans for the 2011 American Library Association Annual Conference this year was both rewarding and emotional for many of us. Five years earlier, we traveled to Louisiana less than a year after the devastating hurricanes and massive flooding from failure of the levies. At that time, we were welcomed with much more … Continue reading The Big Easy Revisited
This month we’re examining the library literature for tips on how to manage our libraries better. Improvements may come from analyzing each step of a task and its impact on the bottom line, or from incorporating new standards and practices consistent with the diversity of materials now part of our collections. Pay Attention to Standards … Continue reading Manage Best with Best Practices
Each week I have at least one conversation about how schools and libraries are working to support teaching and learning in STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I’ve discovered that some librarians are struggling to figure out what their role should be in the STEM universe. I’m here to give you a few pointers. First, … Continue reading The Lowdown on STEM
“Remind me how to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull?” “What music should I play for a piece about polar bears?” “David Hasselhoff—singing at the fall of the Berlin Wall. Can you find tape?” Welcome to a typical day at the National Public Radio library in Washington, D.C., where over 10,000 such requests come in each year from staff, … Continue reading Broadcast Collaboration
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I wasn’t intending to write a “9/11” column, really. The 10th-anniversary rumblings have already begun as I write this, and I’ve started to ponder what I’ll do on the actual day (apart from pulling the covers over my head and muting the inevitable pregame and halftime goings-on during NFL opening-week games). Then, over coffee and … Continue reading What’s Gone Is Gone
I’m working on a new house project. It’s one of the most complicated projects that I’ve ever taken on. There are a million details from the size of the window jambs to the energy rating of the glass in the windows. The construction universe is filled with a diversity of people. There are designers, architects, … Continue reading Networking without Pity
As librarians, we support freedom of speech and freedom of access to information. In early 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a decision that increased these freedoms. Known as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the decision declared unconstitutional some statutory restrictions on political speech—restrictions that carried the threat of fine or imprisonment for … Continue reading Librarians and the Threat to Free Political Speech
