A free online photo archive of the Middle East

Mount Sinai, Egypt, pilgrim cross and Armenian inscription

Jessica Holland writes: “In September 2017, the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, published an online archive of historical images from across the Middle East. The project is being supported by a grant from the US Department of Education. While working as an archivist, I helped start this ambitious project to digitize and publish 30,000 photos over four years. Images are searchable by the name of the cultural heritage site, objects found in the photo, names of the people represented, and many other metadata tags.”

Muftah, Dec. 11, 2017

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Adi Robertson writes: “For weeks, tech news has been dominated by billionaire Elon Musk’s attempts to buy (and subsequently avoid buying) Twitter. And since Musk announced his plans in April, people have debated whether it’s better for online social spaces like Twitter to remain publicly traded companies—where they’re under pressure from shareholders—or be owned by a single wealthy figure like Musk. But Ben Tarnoff, author of the upcoming book Internet for the People, believes there’s a better way. Tarnoff’s book discusses common proposals like lessening the power of internet gatekeepers with antitrust reform, but it also argues that promoting competition isn’t enough: there should also be a political movement advocating for local, noncommercial spaces online.”

The Verge, May 23
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Hannah Natanson writes: “On a hot, dusty Wednesday afternoon, 10 girls gathered in their high school library to talk about a book the adults said they weren’t allowed to read. The teens came complaining about tests and chattering about TikTok dances—but they quieted when Ella Scott, the 16-year-old cofounder and copresident of the Vandegrift High School (Tex.) Banned Book Club, cleared her throat. Ella looked at her notes for the club’s 14th meeting, convened to review I. W. Gregorio’s None of the Above. The book tells the story of Kristin, a high school student who discovers she is intersex, a condition in which people are born with atypical combinations of chromosomes, hormones, gonads, or genitals. In December, the Leander (Tex.) Independent School District had banned the novel from classroom libraries and from use in high school student book clubs—along with 10 other books.”

The Washington Post, May 22
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Austin Persinger writes: “Last November, our local police department wrote on Facebook that it had received complaints about misused and abandoned shopping buggies strewn about Hinton, our city of 2,800 people. The police, using the tools at their disposal, threatened disciplinary measures for what it referred to as the unlawful removal of buggies. I thought this was a knee-jerk reaction and not the best solution for the situation. I read this story through the lens of a rural librarian conducting a reference interview. The story that I heard was that there are lower-income people in our community who take these carts because they live in a food desert and lack reliable transportation.”

American Libraries Trend, May
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Annemarie Mannion writes: “When her son brought home speech cards from elementary school to help him better learn and articulate words, Jen Taggart could barely see what the cards depicted. The cards had been duplicated and the images were blurry, says Taggart, head of youth services at Bloomfield Township (Mich.) Public Library (BTPL). That experience more than 13 years ago inspired her to start BTPL’s Youth Accessibility Support Collection, a set of items designed to meet the needs of children with various types of disabilities and learning needs. Since 2009, families have been borrowing from the collection, which includes adaptive toys, sensory storytime boxes, speech therapy cards, and skills development sets.”

American Libraries Trend, May
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livius writes: “Librarians at the Leeds (U.K.) Central Library took advantage of the lockdowns to thoroughly survey and catalogue the rare book and special collections. In the process, they documented more than 3,000 items that had fallen through the cracks, including a Bible so small that you need a magnifying glass to read it.” The survey also found a copy of Oliver Twiss, a low-cost contemporary that lifts heavily from Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.

The History Blog, May 9; The Independent (U.K.), May 5
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The Public Library Association is now accepting applications for public libraries to receive funding to conduct digital literacy workshops using DigitalLearn.org resources. The PLA Digital Literacy Workshop Incentive Program, supported by AT&T, provides up to $7,000 to support outreach and training in local communities. The application deadline is June 10. Library staff can learn more about this opportunity on May 19, 2022, at 1 p.m. Central as part of the PLA Digital Literacy Workshop Incentive Office Hour. The webinar also will be archived and posted online.

Public Library Association, May 17
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Julie Kim writes: “Watching an adorable kid lovingly curl up with their favorite stuffed animal can be achingly cute … until you think about where that stuffie has been. The sandbox, the car trunk, the dog’s mouth—oh, my! And then, ugh, what’s been on that stuffie (I have observed a kid burying boogers into the fur of their favorite stuffed lion). Officially grossed out? Fortunately, many stuffed animals and plush dolls are machine-washable. Vinyl dolls should never be submerged in water. But with some supplies and techniques, you can remove grime and even undo a doll’s marker makeover.”

New York Times, May 12

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