Although the daily work of librarians and journalists differs, the vocations share many professional values. Brandy Zadrozny, who worked as a librarian for a decade before becoming a reporter and researcher for the Daily Beast and a reporter for NBC News, and Alice Crites, an MLIS-trained research editor whose work has helped earn six Pulitzers … Continue reading Our Vocation Is Information
Point: Jenny Paxson, readers’ advisory librarian, Webster (N.Y.) Public Library Does your library charge fines? We do charge fines at Webster Public Library. How are the collected funds used? We use the funds—$71,000 collected from fines annually—as part of our operating budget. Without them it would be difficult to run the library. Do fines discourage … Continue reading An Overdue Discussion
“The invitations are definitely one of the highlights,” notes Christina Bryant, department head of the library’s Louisiana Division/City Archives and Special Collections. “They are each a miniature work of art and sometimes engineering,” she says of the elaborately paneled and intricately drawn creations. Other standouts in the Carnival collection, dating back to the 1860s, include … Continue reading Bookend: Conservator of Carnival
You share some intensely personal experiences in Homecoming King about being the child of an immigrant. Was it hard deciding what to codify into comedy? In a comedy special you have only 70 minutes, so a lot of times you’re working with coffee and you need to boil it down to comedy espresso. I’m trying to … Continue reading Newsmaker: Hasan Minhaj
What made you want to work on this book? I have been passionate about the links between Wikipedia and libraries for a long time. I have been editing Wikipedia pages since 2005 and deeply engaged with its community since 2012. Because of my day job, I could see so many possibilities for librarians to connect … Continue reading A Conversation with Author Merrilee Proffitt
In 2015, we—Virginia Beach City Public Schools Library Services Coordinator and Virginia Association of School Librarians (VAASL) Executive Board Member Kelly Miller and Virginia Library Association (VLA) Executive Director Lisa R. Varga—met at a state social function. A few months later, the Virginia General Assembly introduced legislation threatening intellectual freedom. We decided to coordinate our … Continue reading Finding Advocacy Allies
When researchers need to study these or other pieces of American ephemera created after 1876, they head to the Ray and Pat Browne Library for Popular Culture Studies at Ohio’s Bowling Green State University Libraries. Founded almost 50 years ago, the library holds one of the largest comics collections in the country, as well as … Continue reading Bookend: Pop Culture Paradise
Academic libraries are looking beyond efficiencies in collection management or improvements in library-provided discovery services. Instead, they are addressing broader education needs by inserting relevant resources into platforms that support the curriculum and enhance their institutions’ research activities. Public libraries seek technologies that improve engagement with their communities. These libraries value reliable and feature-rich automation … Continue reading Library Systems Report 2018
Use the Annual Conference Scheduler to start planning. Speakers who inspire ALA President Jim Neal welcomes Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, filmmaker, immigrant rights advocate, and CEO of Define American Jose Antonio Vargas as his President’s Program speaker (June 24). This year’s slate of Auditorium Speaker Session presenters includes presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin … Continue reading 2018 Annual Conference Must-Dos
Initiated in 1997 as a one-year program under former ALA President Mary R. Somerville and revived in 2006 under former ALA President Leslie Burger, Emerging Leaders recognizes the best and brightest new leaders in our profession. It’s open to librarians of any age who are new to the library profession and who have fewer than … Continue reading Emerging Leaders 2018
How were these dissertations selected? Each year I locate and read the many wonderful LIS dissertations out there via university digital archives and online databases. I select dissertations that have practical implications for libraries. Next I look for a variety of methodologies, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches. Those most relevant to current issues and … Continue reading Notable Dissertations 2018
Wikipedia contributors and librarians share similar skills: an understanding of quality research materials, an interest in effective citation and attribution, and clear public communication. Wikipedia’s “sum of all human knowledge” mission also aligns with the service-focused goals of librarianship, where patron access to public knowledge drives both activities. A difference between the two communities is … Continue reading Bringing Wikipedia into the Library
