Uncategorized Archives | Page 25 of 58 | American Libraries Magazine

Thanksgiving Week Serves Up Net Neutrality

By Beverly Goldberg | November 23, 2011

The concept of net neutrality became a reality November 20, when long-sought rules slipped into effect to protect equitable access to online content. However, an unresolved lawsuit filed by Verizon in January continues to challenge the underlying principles codified by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC regulations (PDF file) establish three rules crafted to “preserve … Continue reading Thanksgiving Week Serves Up Net Neutrality →

Reach Out through Outreach

By Abby Johnson | November 18, 2011

Some of the most important library work I do is outside the library’s walls. Outreach—traveling offsite to bring service to potential users—is essential to serving my community and especially its children. Outreach allows librarians to put a friendly face on library services and to meet our patrons where they are (which is all the more … Continue reading Reach Out through Outreach →

The Occupy Wall Street Library Regrows in Manhattan

By Christian Zabriskie | November 16, 2011

[For UPDATE, scroll down to end.] The People’s Library at Occupy Wall Street was destroyed in the early morning hours of November 15. Without warning or provocation hundreds of militarized New York police officers cleared the park starting at 1 a.m. The library was torn down in the dark of night and its books, laptops, … Continue reading The Occupy Wall Street Library Regrows in Manhattan →

An Unplugged Space

By Amanda Wakaruk and Marc Truitt | November 15, 2011

The physical library was once a place of refuge, an escape from distraction. But today, the constant need to connect and communicate has largely rendered this role obsolete. The power of coupling networking tools with instant access to vast amounts of information is now an essential feature of library programs, services, and facilities. A library … Continue reading An Unplugged Space →

A Guide to Ebook Purchasing

By Sue Polanka | November 15, 2011

For those libraries looking to purchase e-books, you are not alone. According to the Library Journal 2011 survey of ebook penetration and use in libraries, 95% of academic, 82% of public, and 44% of school libraries are already offering ebooks, and many more are considering it. For anyone contemplating purchasing ebooks, asking why is the … Continue reading A Guide to Ebook Purchasing →

Readers Are Fundamental

By Joseph Janes | November 14, 2011

I was all set to wax rhapsodic here about my iPad, how much I’m enjoying my new toy (and it is a toy, I know), how quickly I got to the point of loving the “app” idea for its convenience and speed, how interesting it is that I’ve started to begrudge using the web at … Continue reading Readers Are Fundamental →

Poet Laureate Philip Levine

November 14, 2011

At age 83, Philip Levine has been appointed 2011–2012 poet laureate consultant in poetry by Librarian of Congress James Billington. He took up his duties October 17, opening the library’s annual literary season with a reading from his work. “Philip Levine is one of America’s great narrative poets,” Billington said. “His plainspoken lyricism has, for … Continue reading Poet Laureate Philip Levine →

Information Literacy 2.0

By Meredith Farkas | November 1, 2011

Ideas about information literacy have always adapted to changes in the information environment. The birth of the web made it necessary for librarians to shift more towards teaching search strategies and evaluation of sources. The tool-focused “bibliographic instruction” approach was later replaced by the skill-focused “information literacy” approach. Now, with the growth of Web 2.0 … Continue reading Information Literacy 2.0 →

Building a Competitive Advantage

By Brian Mathews | October 28, 2011

When Susan Nutter took over the leadership role at North Carolina State University Libraries in Raleigh, it wasn’t a very inspiring organization. A study found it to be the academic library least able to meet its mission in the state; as a result, faculty were upset, and then they did something about it. In 1996 the faculty … Continue reading Building a Competitive Advantage →

Privatization Showdown Moves to Osceola County, Florida

By Beverly Goldberg | October 26, 2011

After several months of rumors about the future of the Osceola Library System that serves Osceola County, Florida, a series of public hearings that began October 25 are seeking to explain why county officials are considering the outsourcing of library services to Germantown, Maryland–based privatization firm Library Systems and Services, Inc., and how LSSI plans … Continue reading Privatization Showdown Moves to Osceola County, Florida →

No More Kidding Around

By Will Manley | October 26, 2011

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 →

A Library Occupies the Heart of the Occupy Movement

By Christian Zabriskie | October 18, 2011

[For UPDATES since the clearing of Zuccotti Park, scroll to the end.] The People’s Library at Occupy Wall Street in New York City started spontaneously shortly after the protest began on September 17, when a pile of books was left in a cardboard box at Zuccotti Park on Wall Street. The books were passed around … Continue reading A Library Occupies the Heart of the Occupy Movement →

Latest Library Links

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Alvin Wanjala writes: “The rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots has popularized the term large language model (LLM), the underlying AI tech working behind the scenes. LLMs generate output based upon a predicted set of language in response to the user input, making it appear as if the AI is capable of thinking for itself. But LLMs aren’t the only large models in town; large action models (LAMs) could be the next big thing in AI. An LAM is an artificial intelligence system capable of understanding human input and performing a corresponding action.”

MakeUseOf, July 11
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Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky, was partially evacuated July 15 after university officials received an email claiming “In the name of Donald Trump I have hidden highly lethal lead azide devices in the library and cafeteria.” Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, evacuated its library and dining halls after receiving bomb threats July 11. Evacuation orders in both cases were lifted after searches found no bombs. Many public libraries in Illinois, Minnesota, and other states have experienced threats over the past year, most recently at River Forest (Ill.) Public Library.”

WDRB-TV (Louisville, Ky.), July 15; WGAL-TV (Lancaster, PA), July 15; Book Riot, July 16; WLS-TV (Chicago), July 9
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C. Allison Sills writes: “In the dance between safeguarding patron privacy and navigating the law, community colleges confront a pivotal question: How do we fulfill our legal obligations without compromising the ethical and legal bedrock of our profession? In North Carolina, where I work, since the Parents’ Bill of Rights became state law in December 2023, community colleges have been pressured to compulsorily activate all patron checkout history for the first time in decades. The need to shield individuals’ privacy from potential abuse is paramount.”

College & Research Libraries News, July
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Steph Campbell writes: “From a combination of hype from Stranger Things, captivating performances on Critical Role, acceptance of ‘nerd culture,’ and so many other reasons, tabletop role-playing games have greatly increased in popularity over the past few years, and youth activities are reflecting this. Running games is often seen as the core for facilitating this interest, but you can connect your library’s book collection to this too. By displaying books that focus on themes from your library’s game sessions, you can help players find other stories that they relate to.”

ALA Games & Gaming Round Table, July 11
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Share innovative strategies and resources with your peers by submitting an education program proposal for the 2025 LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, taking place January 24–27, 2025, in Phoenix. The submission site is open now through August 12. The programmatic theme of LibLearnX 2025 is Reimagine, Refocus, Reset: Charting a Path for the Future. The LibLearnX Program Submission Guide provides detailed explanations of the learning formats and step-by-step instructions for submitting a proposal. Consult the Program Proposal Rubric for evaluation criteria and scoring and view a video on using the submission site to create and submit your proposal.

ALA Conference Services, July 15
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Summer is in full swing. This means getting outside, soaking up some sunshine, and listening to our favorite tunes—from oldies-but-goodies to today’s hits. In Episode 97, Call Number covers music. This episode includes conversations with librarian and Grammy Award–winning French horn player Joy Worland, as well as librarians who have organized programs for local patrons who love Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and K-Pop. Attendees of ALA’s 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego also share memories of the first concert they attended.

AL: The Scoop, July 15
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Sheila Craft-Morgan writes: “Citations are a key measure of the impact of a researcher’s work. However, research in a variety of disciplines has found that women are less likely to be cited than men; citations contain geographic bias; and the Matthew effect—in which those who begin with advantage continue to gain advantage—leads to more citations for prominent scholars in a specific discipline. These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups.”

American Libraries column, June

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