"There is no frigate like a book,” Emily Dickinson wrote long ago, “to take us lands away.” Only the foolhardy would quibble with her eloquent, 19th-century paean to the written word, and librarians aplenty support reading as a vehicle for escape and learning alike. Yet in the current century, more and more librarians themselves opt … Continue reading The Pixelated Campus
Elisabeth Doucett is an entrepreneur. She has to be. As director of the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick, Maine, one of her chief responsibilities is to raise funds for the collection. If she doesn’t, nothing new will be added to the shelves. "Our town essentially pays for the building; but everything that goes inside of … Continue reading Risk, Failure, and Yield
In 1974 the eminent Augusta Baker authored, along with Ellin Greene, Storytelling: Art and Technique. Now this classic has been brought into the twenty-first century by Greene and Janice M. Del Negro. As they state in their preface, the fourth edition “reflects the radical cultural and societal changes that have taken place since the first … Continue reading Art of Storytelling
Having a professional online portfolio is a great way to show off your technology skills and provide additional information to potential employers that doesn’t fit into your résumé and cover letter. However, this alone won’t give them a strong sense of who you are, nor will it help you develop a professional network. Adding a … Continue reading Finding Your Voice
The guy driving the airport shuttle van couldn’t get over it. I had arrived at the Philadelphia airport and was to be driven to a speaking engagement at a library conference in New Jersey. I had called the driver from home before I left to give him the details of my flight arrival. Nonchalantly, he … Continue reading My Favorite Medium
Even non-techies can offer cutting-edge services right away, says Ellyssa Kroski in her cover story for the March issue of American Libraries. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter make it easier for all of us to communicate and collaborate, she says, and her main point is that you no longer have to be an … Continue reading Is Technology Catching Up?
At Miami University’s regional campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, Ohio, we have also encountered “the textbook phenomenon” described by Bonnie Imler. However, our response to students’ confusion about the roles of the library and the bookstore has been quite different from Imler’s. Our reaction to the oft-repeated axiom that “libraries don’t purchase course textbooks” was … Continue reading The Case for Textbooks
After nearly 30 years at Booklist, the greatest pleasure of my job continues to be discovering a new writer before the rest of the world and watching a career develop over time. One of my most satisfying discoveries has been Erin Hart, a Minneapolis writer whose third novel, False Mermaid, is published this month. Like … Continue reading Discoveries
Library catalogs have evolved over time as technology has changed. The last 150 years have seen a progression from book catalogs to cards, and eventually, to online catalogs. Each of these changes has provided new capabilities that can be adopted for improved user services. The next step in this evolution is on the horizon, and … Continue reading Cataloging Horizons
You’ve got to feel a bit for Wikipedia cofounder Jimmy Wales. Here’s a guy with a fairly simple but incredibly powerful idea: Create a way for people to share what they know with the wider world and in the process build a resource that can be of great benefit to everyone. As he said in … Continue reading Whither Wikipedia?
I recently started teaching another great group of future librarians at San José State University about Web 2.0 technologies. I’m always in awe of their enthusiasm for the subject matter and for their chosen field. This year, I also feel a little sad, knowing that some of them will likely struggle to find work after … Continue reading Your Virtual Brand
I recently started teaching another great group of future librarians at San José State University about Web 2.0 technologies. I’m always in awe of their enthusiasm for the subject matter and for their chosen field. This year, I also feel a little sad, knowing that some of them will likely struggle to find work after … Continue reading Your Virtual Brand
