Latest Library Links
-
Elena Cavender writes: “College can be scary and overwhelming, and it’s hard to know where to get a little help with academic tasks. Knowing which websites can help you with various aspects of college life, especially when it comes to assignments, can make all the difference. We’ve collected 10 websites that will help along the way.”
-
Susanna Clarke, who published her debut novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell 17 years ago and then was struck with chronic illness, has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction for her second novel, Piranesi. Narrated by its eponymous hero as he explores the endless halls of a house that imprisons an ocean, Piranesi is “a truly original, unexpected flight of fancy which melds genres and challenges preconceptions about what books should be,” according to the chair of judges, Booker-winning novelist Bernardine Evaristo.
-
The National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards, announced Nancy Pearl, the former librarian, as the recipient of its 2021 Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community. For nearly four decades, Pearl worked in the public library systems in Detroit, Tulsa, and lastly, Seattle, where she was the Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book. Pearl will be honored at the 72nd National Book Awards Ceremony on November 17.
-
NPR’s On the Media examines the Dewey Decimal Classification System, a method that dates back to 1876 and is used by most libraries around the world. The second most popular system, the Library of Congress Classification System, was published in the early 1900s and based on the organization of Thomas Jefferson’s personal library. These systems help patrons find books on the shelves and facilitate resource-sharing between libraries. But they also encode bias into the structure of libraries.
-
Annie Rauwerda writes: “Sci-Hub provides free access to millions of papers and books. Its disregard for copyright makes it the target of legal threats, but its mission of providing open access to publicly-funded studies has made it overwhelmingly popular among scientists and lay readers alike. And it’s growing again.”
-
Thorin Klosowski writes: “Most of the data economy underpinning common products and services is invisible to shoppers. As your data gets passed around between countless third parties, there aren’t just more companies profiting from your data, but also more possibilities for your data to be leaked or breached in a way that causes real harm. Consumer data privacy laws can give individuals rights to control their data, but if poorly implemented such laws could also maintain the status quo.”
-
Marshall Breeding writes: “On September 1, Francisco Partners, a private equity investment firm, announced it had acquired Follett School Solutions. Follett School Solutions’ products include the Destiny Library Manager used by many US K–12 school libraries, the Aspen Student Information System, and the Titlewave ecommerce platform, which it uses to distribute print and digital content for educational institutions. Francisco Partners states that it does not plan to fold Follett School Solutions into any of its other educational technology business and will operate it as an independent company. It may bring new business or technology assets to strengthen its acquisition, a common strategy among investment firms.”
-
NYPL School Outreach Librarian Tiffany James writes: “For many New Yorkers, this time of commemoration is a moment to teach, discuss, and reflect on our recent history with readers who had not yet been born. As the book discussion, recommendations, and resources below attest, there are lots of ways to explore 9/11 and the legacy of that terrible day with kids and teens, both in the classroom and at home.”
-
Robert “Jay” Malone took the helm of ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries on September 7. As ACRL’s new executive director, Malone will lead the largest of ALA’s eight divisions, which includes more than 9,000 individual and institutional members. Malone answered our 11 Questions to introduce himself to ALA members.
-
ALA is working with state chapters and state libraries in the Gulf region and East Coast to gather and provide reports of libraries that were damaged during Hurricane Ida. ALA will be providing updates through its media channels and on its Disaster Relief Fund website. Members and library supporters interested in helping rebuild libraries to help their communities recover can donate at https://ec.ala.org/donate (select Disaster Relief Fund).
-
In our September/October issues, we examine the lasting effects of the September 11, 2001, attacks on libraries and librarians. The stories in this special report include: a look back at the 21 libraries destroyed in the World Trade Center and the documentation activities that followed this immense cultural loss; recollections from librarians who countered post–September 11 ignorance and bigotry with programs and information about Islam and the Middle East; a profile on the public library of Gander, Newfoundland—a small Canadian town that found itself in the spotlight when 6,500 travelers were diverted there after the attacks; an overview of two archives preserving the broadcasts and digital ephemera of September 11; and an interview about privacy and surveillance with the Connecticut Four, the four librarians who challenged the Patriot Act and government overreach that followed the attacks. Twenty years on, these accounts remain powerful and relevant, serving as a reminder of the profession’s role in telling and keeping our collective history.
-
Andrew Albanese writes: “US Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter concluded that a court would likely find Maryland’s recently passed library ebook law to be preempted by federal copyright law under a legal doctrine known as ‘conflict preemption.’ But in her nine-page opinion, Perlmutter did not find the Maryland law to be ‘expressly’ preempted by the Copyright Act, as opponents of the law have contended, and conceded that the cases she used to reach her ‘conflict preemption’ determination (which relies heavily on a 1999 decision in Orson Inc. v. Miramax) may not be a perfect fit.”
All links outside americanlibrariesmagazine.org are provided for informational purposes only. Questions about the content of any external site should be addressed to the administrator of that site.