The last thing you want to hear is that times are tough. You're living it. You don't need to be reminded. Hours are being cut back, book budgets are being slashed, and librarians are being laid off. The personnel cuts are the ones that create the most fear and pain. As I talk to librarians … Continue reading Retiring the Golden Years
After nearly three decades of attending conferences of one kind or another, I no longer look forward to them with the enthusiasm I once felt. Sure, there's always the opportunity to meet friends and do necessary business, but there's also the fatigue that hits by about midpoint of the show and lasts for several days … Continue reading Bouchercon
When the first edition of Garner's Modern American Usage was published in 1998, it quickly became a standard guide. The third edition continues to hack through the thickets of grammar, word choice, punctuation, and pronunciation. If it's unclear to you whether home in or hone in is correct, or you are certain that impact is … Continue reading Language-wise
A friend and I have an ongoing disagreement about teens and libraries, which runs something like this: I notice the latest study showing that adolescents don't turn to libraries to meet their information needs, and I utter dismayed comments about all the wonderful resources intended for younger library users. My friend begs to differ, usually … Continue reading Redeeming Our Relevance
Some 250 residents who turned out for a public meeting October 24 on the planned closing of four Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branches heard Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and library Director Barbara Mistick announce that the targeted branches may get a reprieve. The officials told the crowd that a plan was in the works to raise … Continue reading Pittsburgh Officials Express Hope of Heading Off Branch Closings
I refer to it as "the textbook phenomenon," and it has me perplexed. Over the past five years, I have watched increasing numbers of students struggle with the difference between the traditional roles of the college library and the college bookstore. I still remember the first time a student approached me at the reference desk … Continue reading Troublesome Textbooks
In virtually all libraries today, there will be many more people using the library than just those who come through the door. Our patrons are increasingly accessing our resources and services virtually, to the point where some never use the physical library at all. This has challenged libraries to find creative ways to provide comparable … Continue reading Your Desktop: The Movie
In virtually all libraries today, there will be many more people using the library than just those who come through the door. Our patrons are increasingly accessing our resources and services virtually, to the point where some never use the physical library at all. This has challenged libraries to find creative ways to provide comparable … Continue reading Your Desktop: The Movie
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As we all know, Judith Krug—the director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, who passed away April 11, was an extraordinary woman, a force for the freedom to read and view and write and think as we please. She was a hero and role model for us all to live up to, and she left … Continue reading Censorship Gets Smart
After the opening session at ALA’s Library and Information Technology Association National Forum, held in Salt Lake City October 1–4, American Libraries caught up with LITA Past President Andrew Pace, who said there’s a lot of work involved in diversifying the keynote topics. Each is chosen to strike a balance between “fact, fun, and fancy,” … Continue reading LITA Forum Speakers Make the Case for Mobile
The once-exponential rate of growth in Wikipedia's size is slowing. The number of new articles per month peaked in 2007 at about 60,000, declining steadily to about two-thirds of that figure today, according to research by the Augmented Social Cognition Research Group at the Palo Alto Research Center. The number of active editors crested at … Continue reading Wikipedia Growth Slows
Citizen-activists in Gwinnett County, Georgia, won a months-long battle with library officials October 21 when trustees at a specially called meeting voted unanimously to keep all 15 branches of the county system open as full-service libraries instead of converting three facilities to bookless computer centers or shuttering them altogether. “I believe we put enough pressure … Continue reading Gwinnett Board Blinks, Rescinds System Reorganization
