New social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter enable librarians to converse, communicate, and collaborate with patrons as never before, because they are increasingly a part of people’s everyday lives. A brochure that describes your library with a few pictures is great, but a video tour that people can watch on your website or … Continue reading 10 Technology Ideas Your Library Can Implement Next Week
Read the updated version of this article. Reading, said the great English essayist Matthew Arnold, “is culture.” Given the condition of reading test scores among school children nationwide, it isn’t surprising to find both our nation and our culture in trouble. Further, the rush to internetize all schools, particularly K–12, adds to our downward spiral. … Continue reading 10 Reasons Why the Internet Is No Substitute for a Library
Progress implies change. Not all change is progress, but all progress requires change. Change can be planned or unplanned. Libraries have experienced some serious unplanned changes in the recent past; they have been buffeted by changes in technology and scholarly communication and the downturn in the economy. Even so, most libraries have adapted wonderfully to … Continue reading Embracing Change for Continuous Improvement
In 1940, author Wesley Adamczyk was deported at age 7 from his native Poland to Siberia with his family. He was among more than a million poles who were exiled, imprisoned, or enslaved at hard labor. His father was murdered by the soviets in the Katyn Massacre; his mother died of disease and starvation while … Continue reading Author Wesley Adamczyk Documents World War II Soviet Deportation of Poles to Siberia
American Libraries Editor in Chief Leonard Kniffel interviewed Mohammad Abbas, head of the new Library Department of the Iraqi Coucil of Representatives (ICOR, the nation's parliament in Baghdad) August 24 during the World Library and Information Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions in Milan, Italy, and by e-mail in the days following. American … Continue reading Newsmaker: Mohammad Abbas
Many public libraries—in Colorado, the United States, and even worldwide—are facing significant financial troubles. We are part of a larger economic system, and this is a dip in the cycle. Such dips are inevitable over the course of one’s career. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of some strategies for reining … Continue reading Tough Times and Eight Ways to Deal with Them
First the bad news: The local economy is down, half of your branches close early three days a week, and staff hours have been cut by 20%. Now the good news: Circulation and gate count have skyrocketed and people who haven’t been inside a public library in decades are lining up for library cards. While … Continue reading How to Thrive by Design in Tough Times
Welcome to Boston, ALA attendees! The city has a world of mouth watering restaurants to sate every palate. Boston is made up of distinct neighborhoods that each offer a view into the life of Bostonians, and this guide is arranged that way as well. The city is compact and walkable, and it has a good … Continue reading Where to Eat in Boston
Blue-eyed octogenarian and information advocate Nancy Hatch Dupree is a rare bright spot in Afghanistan today. But the impact of her work can only be fully appreciated in its brutally unglamorous context. The 2009 Afghan presidential elections were lengthy and disappointing, highlighting the extreme levels of corruption that are endemic in this war-torn nation of … Continue reading ABLE in Afghanistan
Libraries and librarians have an important stake in the development of online scholarship. Many benefits will come from the growth of digital monographs and journals as well as the development of scholarly websites, online archives, blogs, wikis, and other outlets for research even farther afield from the traditional models. Chief among these advantages are lower … Continue reading It’s the Content, Stupid
One day in 2007 I am head of the Systems Department at the University of Arkansas Libraries in Fayetteville. The next, I am two weeks away from a 13-month deployment to Iraq with the Arkansas Army National Guard. It really wasn't that I thought it couldn't happen; I just thought it wouldn't happen at that … Continue reading Beyond Books and Bullets
When working with students, librarians serve as bridges as well. Librarians must often interpret an assignment in order to bridge the gap between student and instructor expectations. But even with a well-designed assignment, addressing the student's expressed needs while interpreting the instructor's expectations is often a difficult balancing act. For example, when students are told … Continue reading Be the Bridge
