Skip to main content
American Libraries Magazine Menu
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Features
    • Trends
    • Columns
    • Newsmakers
    • Spotlights
    • By the Numbers
    • Bookend
    • People
    • Library Systems Report
    • Design Showcase
  • AL Direct
  • The Scoop blog
  • Podcast
  • Webinars
  • JobLIST
  • Census
  • 3w
    Damaged manuscripts in the Venice Conservatory

    Tommaso Dorigo writes: “On November 12 the city of Venice, Italy, was flooded by the second-highest tide in recorded history. The sea level, pushed by 60 mph winds and intense rainfalls, surged to more than six feet above average, a mere three inches less than the disastrous event of November 4, 1966. I am especially sad for what happened to the library of the Venice Conservatory. The management of the conservatory decided to move to the ground floor the precious music manuscripts of its library. The result was irreparable damage and unique documents turned to goo, which students and volunteers are now trying to save.” Venice’s Libreria Acqua Alta bookstore, which tried to keep its wares waterproof, also has extensive damage.

    Science 2.0, Nov. 15

  • Latest Library Links

    • 20m

      Cover of Research Data Services in Academic Libraries: Where are We Today?Choice magazine has published the fifth in a series of white papers designed to provide actionable intelligence around topics of importance to the academic library community. Written by Carol Tenopir, Research Data Services in Academic Libraries: Where Are We Today? offers a unique opportunity to revisit and re-examine findings from a 2012 ACRL survey and white paper about research data services (RDS) by reissuing the survey, appropriately updated, and writing about the changes in thjese services that have occurred in academic libraries in the past seven years.

      Choice, Dec. 12

    • 2h

      Cover of Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash (2015), by Timothy CaulfieldJeffrey Davies writes: “Stars—they’re just like us! So of course we would want to read a book written by our favorite celebrity if they decided to publish one, right? It could be a memoir, an essay collection, a cookbook, a book of poetry, or a self-help book—it doesn’t matter. If we love the person who wrote it, chances are the bookworm probably won’t be far away. However, sometimes we get so distracted by the stars in our eyes that we fail to realize the moments when celebrity culture clashes with reality. But first, where did this whole idea of the ‘celebrity book’ come from?”

      Book Riot, Dec. 12

    • 3h

      Blue Yeti silver editionMelanie Pinola and Kevin Purdy write: “The built-in microphones on most computers don’t do your voice justice—they’re likely to pick up too much room tone, add too much fuzz, and miss out on the warm tones of being in the same room as someone. Whether you’re on a conference call or recording a podcast, a standalone mic connected over USB will help you sound your best. After testing more than 25 different USB microphones over the past six years with the help of audio professionals, we’ve found that the Blue Yeti is still the best microphone for most people.”

      Wirecutter, Dec. 9

    • 3h

      Fresh Start @ Your Library logoThe New Jersey State Library in Trenton received an IMLS National Leadership Grant for $628,774 to support reentry services in six libraries across the state. Fresh Start @ Your Library will provide assistance for citizens returning to their local communities upon completion of their prison terms. The two-year program, offered in partnership with the New Jersey State Parole Board and the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, will launch in January.

      New Jersey State Library, Dec. 10

    • 3h
      E-Rate

      Marijke Visser writes: “On December 3, the FCC released its long-awaited E-Rate order, making permanent the Category 2 budget system that was piloted in the 2014 modernization of the federal program. On balance, the new order reflects the FCC’s ongoing efforts to make the application process less burdensome, which ALA has advocated many times. Since 2014, ALA has filed numerous rounds of comments and secured meetings with FCC staff and commissioners on behalf of the nation’s libraries, focusing on how the nascent Category 2 budget system is working.”

      AL: The Scoop, Dec. 12

    • 4h
      Stairs at the Calgary (Alberta) Public Library

      Hanna Marie Roseen writes: “After having a direct flight cancelled I had to be rerouted through the Calgary, Alberta, airport with a seven-hour layover. So I decided to visit the Calgary Central Library. Even before entering the library I was thankful to make the trek: light wood, honeycomb patterned glass, and a beautiful set of stairs leading up to the entrance (as well as an elevator). Entering the library, my eyes were immediately drawn upward to the ovaline center where light from a skylight shone through. This building is incredibly beautiful and bright.”

      Library Planet, Dec. 12

    • 4h

      Cover of Autonomous, by Annalee NewitzAmy Brady writes: “’Tis the season for good food, lots of travel, and—if your family is anything like mine—difficult conversations with loved ones who still think climate change is a made-up liberal plot. This year, I decided to give them the books that might help them to think differently—specifically, works of climate fiction (cli-fi) novels and short stories that give narrative shape to the climate emergency. These nine books aren’t just great stories; they might also help to broach the subject of climate change in a non-threatening way.”

      Chicago Review of Books, Dec. 12

    View more Latest Library Links

    AL Live

    al-live-logo@2x

    AL Live screenshot with laptop



    American Libraries Magazine

    A publication of the American Library Association

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Flickr
    • Youtube
    • RSS
    • Pinterest
    • Advertising
    • About
    • Comment Policy
    • Contact
    • Subscriptions
    • Submissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright/Terms of Use Statement
    • Site Help
    American Library Association
    • ALA Home
    • JobLIST
    • ALA News
    • ALA Store
    • Strategic Directions

    50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611

    1.800.545.2433

    © 2009–2019 American Library Association