Archives

The Last Card

By Joseph Janes | January 4, 2016

Ah, the memories that flooded back when we all heard the recent news that OCLC had printed the last run of catalog cards. If asked, I would’ve confidently assumed that had finished up long ago. An OCLC press release told us that since 1971, the company had produced 1.9 billion cards. My rough calculations give … Continue reading The Last Card →

The Right Technology

By Sarah Strahl | January 4, 2016

Technology staffers at public libraries should be asking themselves continually: How do we make this technology fit the library? How do we make and keep technology nimble and adaptable? Can we ever make technology dynamic enough to ensure we can keep up with unforeseen problems? How do we do this so we can help patrons … Continue reading The Right Technology →

Libraries Transform

By Sari Feldman | January 4, 2016

The good news is that the Center for the Future of Libraries is providing guidance around the most challenging changes for library professionals. Trends such as the sharing economy and Big Data are worthy of discussion for libraries of all kinds. The sharing economy has given rise to unexpected collections: People are turning to their … Continue reading Libraries Transform →

San José (Calif.) Public Library’s privacy toolkit creates a personalized list of links, tips, and tutorials that reflect a user’s online privacy preferences.

California Library Creates Online Privacy Tool

By Erin Berman and Jon Worona | January 4, 2016

The internet doesn’t have to be scary. That’s the message from Erin Berman, innovations manager at San José (Calif.) Public Library (SJPL), and Jon Worona, division manager for technology and innovation at SJPL. American Libraries invited Berman and Worona to discuss the library’s new Virtual Privacy Lab, an interactive site that teaches people about online … Continue reading California Library Creates Online Privacy Tool →

An AASL makerspace in the exhibit hall attracted attendees to work with littleBits electronic building blocks and create lighted name badges and low-tech maker crafts.

Makerspaces, Digital Literacy, Advocacy at AASL15

By Laurie D. Borman | January 4, 2016

Before the opening general session began, hundreds of school librarians met at IdeaLab, a digitally enhanced poster session with 20 video displays on topics that included STEM and STEAM, national standards, and Common Core, among others. Later, keynote speaker Heidi Hayes Jacobs challenged librarians to throw away old roles, quit making decisions based on habit, … Continue reading Makerspaces, Digital Literacy, Advocacy at AASL15 →

Podcaster Joseph Janes of Documents That Changed the World.

Hearing Voices: Librarian-Produced Podcasts

By Steve Thomas | January 4, 2016

Podcasts are digital audio files delivered through the internet, like on-demand talk radio, usually downloaded or streamed through an app, such as iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Listeners can have new episodes delivered to them by subscribing to a show’s feed. Though mainstream culture is just now catching on to podcasts thanks to shows … Continue reading Hearing Voices: Librarian-Produced Podcasts →

Kathryn Matthew is the new director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Newsmaker: Kathryn Matthew

By Greg Landgraf | January 4, 2016

What do you see as the key issues facing libraries right now? I think nonprofits, and particularly libraries, are stepping back and examining how we become community anchors and develop meaningful, deep, and sustained partnerships with other players in the community, rather than acting as a single entity trying to reach target populations. Balancing digital … Continue reading Newsmaker: Kathryn Matthew →

Your Story Matters

By Jennifer Burek Pierce | January 4, 2016

This was the prompt conclusion of organizer Hank Green as he spoke before an enthusiastic crowd of teens and tweens at NerdCon: Stories—a conference embracing “the power and magic of storytelling,” featuring podcasters, novelists, cartoonists, musicians, and poets—on October 9, the morning it opened. At 9:01, someone sitting near me in the auditorium of the … Continue reading Your Story Matters →

Special Report: Digital Humanities in Libraries

By Stewart Varner and Patricia Hswe | January 4, 2016

Digital humanities (DH) is the umbrella term that describes much of this work. It is neither a field, a discipline, nor a methodology. It is not simply the humanities done with computers, nor is it computer science performed on topics of interest to the humanities. DH is the result of a dynamic dialogue between emerging … Continue reading Special Report: Digital Humanities in Libraries →

What’s in Store for Ebooks?

By Alan S. Inouye | January 4, 2016

What accounts for the sudden and rapid growth? One answer: the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle in 2007. In response to the disruption that ensued—specifically for library ebook sales and lending—ALA established the a working group on libraries and digital issues (now known as the Digital Content Working Group, or DCWG) to help navigate the Association … Continue reading What’s in Store for Ebooks? →

The New Digital Divide

By Meredith Farkas | January 4, 2016

But ask someone to fill out a form, search a library database, or edit a term paper, and it quickly becomes clear that a phone is not a perfect replacement for all of a computer’s functions. According to a recent Pew Research Center study of smartphone use, for approximately one in five Americans, their mobile … Continue reading The New Digital Divide →

Financially Healthy

By Mario González | January 4, 2016

The final audit for the 2015 fiscal year will be presented at the 2016 Midwinter Meeting in Boston. However, I would like to share with you now that preliminary results show a positive outcome for the Association. Overall, revenues generated by ALA and its divisions were 5% higher than expected, while expenses were slightly lower. … Continue reading Financially Healthy →

Latest Library Links

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Daniel Pfeiffer writes: “It has been a brutal summer for artificial intelligence (AI) news and commentary. Though I have deep reservations about the trajectory we’re on, I do at least feel good about the work that librarians are undertaking in this field, such as organizing communities of practice, incorporating AI into information literacy instruction, and finding thoughtful uses of it. Such applications underscore that librarians have an important role in shepherding this technology, and we need more AI-literate librarians to enter these conversations and decision-making processes.” Pfeiffer recommends new reports and research to help librarians gain that literacy.

Choice 360: LibTech Insights, July 28, July 14, July 7, June 9
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Rachel McRady writes: “Dan Pelzer read more than 5,000 books throughout the course of his life, including one classic he called ‘pure torture.’ Pelzer, who died on July 1 at the age of 92, left his friends and family a 109-page handwritten list of all the books he’s read since 1962. Pelzer’s family scanned the list and created a website sharing his reads, What Dan Read. In a post shared on the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Facebook page, Pelzer’s daughter, Marci, wrote, ‘ALL of his books were Columbus Metropolitan Library books. Nobody loved the library more than Dan.’”

People, July 22; Columbus Metropolitan Library, July 21
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Greg Landgraf writes: “Libraries are having a Hollywood moment, as several documentarians have recently turned their lenses towards libraries, librarians, and intellectual freedom issues. Some of these films made their mark at the recent ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, on PBS, at the Sundance Film Festival, and even at the Oscars, where The ABCs of Book Banning was nominated last year for Best Documentary Short Film. Below you can read about some favorites (and find out how to watch them).”

American Libraries Online, July 28
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ALA has launched the ALA Learning Library, a member-exclusive collection of free professional development resources. Introduced at the 2025 ALA Annual Conference, the ALA Learning Library will help ALA members easily access a large and growing of eLearning events that are only available to them. In addition to demonstrating the value of membership to current members, the new library also helps promote membership to non-members who want to take advantage of the professional development offerings.

ALA Communications, Marketing, and Media Relations Office, July 23
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Sam Helmick writes: “As library professionals, we often traffic in the timeless—in books, archives, and community memory. But this year’s ALA Annual Conference reminded us that timing matters, too. At a moment when the core tenets of librarianship—intellectual freedom, the right to read, equitable access to information—are under direct attack across the country, gathering in Philadelphia felt as much like a profound act of civic engagement as it did impactful professional development. There was an unmistakable sense that showing up mattered.”

American Libraries column, July/Aug.
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Marshall Breeding writes: “Although libraries are currently facing a climate of political and financial upheaval, that didn’t stop information professionals from showing up in force to ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition. With more than 600 vendors and a variety of live stages and pavilions, the Library Marketplace showcased products for libraries facing intense new challenges. Services and solutions that focused on libraries’ ongoing needs for efficiency and impact were in high demand.”

American Libraries feature, July/Aug.
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Daisy Atterbury writes: “Literature, like space travel, offers an escape, but also a way to reimagine what it means to be tethered to this planet, to each other, to the futures we may or may not reach. A multi-genre class of experimental writers challenged me to think against the steady gravitational pull of capitalist orientations to space. Space belongs not to the empire, but to the storytellers, the poets, the dreamers who refuse the logic of extraction and conquest. Each of these books remind us that another world is always possible, whether here, ‘out there,’ or somewhere between.”

Electric Literature, July 18

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