The Affordable Care Act (ACA), with open enrollment for health insurance running from October 1, 2013, through March 14, 2014, may turn out to be as busy as April tax time for libraries. And as with taxes, those manning the reference desk are not expected to be experts or to help people complete the paperwork, … Continue reading Studying Up on Health Care Literacy
In August 2013, the Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR), the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and two other groups launched a Joint Task Force on Librarians’ Competencies in Support of E-Research and Scholarly Communication. Its first task will be to identify expertise and skill sets that academic librarians will need for expanded roles in … Continue reading Newsmaker: Kathleen Shearer
Helping patrons manage their fantasy football rosters was one way Waelchli thought to do it. “I really enjoy helping people research and problem-solve and crack the nut of trying to find the information that they’re looking for,” he says. “I enjoy playing fantasy football, too.” Nothing in America brings people together quite like sports. Although … Continue reading Friday Night Library Lights
The anger, frustration, and worry that the situation could turn out very badly were evident in the president’s voice. It was September 1962 and pro-segregation forces were readying for a violent clash with US troops over a court order entitling James Meredith, an African-American student, to enroll at the all-white University of Mississippi. Days before … Continue reading Digitizing Camelot
The conversation starts here … Midwinter provides several opportunities to share and engage with colleagues. Experts give the latest updates on policy, research, statistics, and technology in the “News You Can Use” segment. Sponsors include ALA divisions and offices and the ALA Digital Content and Libraries Working Group. Hear library specialists describe their latest in-house … Continue reading 2014 ALA Midwinter Must-Dos
The name of Xavier’s disorder is virtually unpronounceable: megalencephaly, polymicrogyria, polydactyly, and hydrocephalus syndrome, or MPPH for short. First identified in 2004, the syndrome is little understood, with no known cause and only about a dozen cases worldwide. “I think that the case for open access really hits home when you have a situation where … Continue reading How Open Access Scholarship Saves Lives
But don’t just take Joe’s word for it. OCLC’s surveys on the “library brand” regularly turn up the same result. In fact, in Perceptions of Libraries 2010, OCLC found that in the previous five years libraries have become even “more strongly associated with books than they were before”—69% in 2005 vs. 75% in 2010. Or … Continue reading How Low Can Our Book Budgets Go?
The first step is to form a building committee that represents various constituencies: political representatives of the wider community, the library board of trustees, the professional staff, frequent library users, interested citizens, and donors. All have vital ideas and opinions. The design process involves analyzing the physical and cultural setting for the building, preparing a … Continue reading Melding Minds to Make a Library
Each year, the American Library Association recognizes the achievements of more than 200 individuals and institutions with various awards. Chosen by juries consisting of colleagues and peers, this year’s award winners were chosen for their leadership and vision, as well as their continued investment in the profession through mentorship. The following honorees represent only a … Continue reading Honoring Excellence and Leadership
David “Skip” Prichard became president and CEO of OCLC on July 1, succeeding Jay Jordan, who retired after 15 years at the helm of the nonprofit library consortium. He had most recently served as president and CEO of Ingram Content Group in Nashville, and before that was president and CEO of ProQuest Information and Learning. … Continue reading An Interview with Skip Prichard
Here’s a snapshot of how the library community is affected until the budget situation is resolved: The Library of Congress buildings are closed to the public, and its website is inaccessible, except for THOMAS, Congress.gov, and Cataloger’s Desktop. However, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine still offers access to LC and other agencies before their websites went dark. The National … Continue reading The Government Shutdown and Libraries
More than one-third of US adults and nearly 17% of children and adolescents were obese in 2009–2010, according to a January 2012 data brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics. Those numbers mean that every public service facility in the country—including libraries—should be prepared to meet the needs … Continue reading Is Your Library Plus-Size Friendly?
