I don’t usually get to attend the Charleston Conference (in fact, I’ve only been to one), so I look forward to seeing the annual Charleston Conference Proceedings. The 2008 edition showed up on my desk this past November (around the time that the 2009 Conference was taking place). The theme for 2008 was “The Best … Continue reading Charleston on My Mind
Libraries and librarians have an important stake in the development of online scholarship. Many benefits will come from the growth of digital monographs and journals as well as the development of scholarly websites, online archives, blogs, wikis, and other outlets for research even farther afield from the traditional models. Chief among these advantages are lower … Continue reading It’s the Content, Stupid
The George W. Bush Presidential Center has been designed to achieve LEED platinum certification and will include numerous sustainable design strategies, including locally sourced and 20% recycled building materials, solar hot water panels, native landscaping to reduce irrigation, and a storm-water management system that conveys, cleanses, and collects surface runoff and roof rainwater and will … Continue reading Bush Presidential Library Unveiled
Conjure up a picture of today's librarian, and you are likely to be wrong. Professional librarians are information analysts, freedom of information and protection of privacy officers, family literacy specialists, Internet trainers, teen specialists, genealogists, web designers and technologists, database managers, historical researchers, information brokers . . . indeed, few have the title of "librarian" … Continue reading The Bunheads are Dead
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
Think about it. What makes you decide to try a new restaurant, see a particular movie, read a novel? Is it because you saw an ad, or because a friend-someone you trust-recommended it? The whole advertising arena has changed. Today there are so many more choices and so much clutter. We're no longer all watching … Continue reading The Power of Word-of-Mouth Marketing
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
Technology and reference are intertwining strands of public service. As our systems get more sophisticated, and as our desire to overhaul and remake those systems gets more intense, libraries need librarians who are tech-savvy and back-office staff who are pure tech. But is the drive toward more technologyoriented public service a one-way street? Or is … Continue reading Digital Divide on the Inside
In a bold recession-bucking move, Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois, has launched the first PhD program in library and information science in its 108-year history. The Doctorate of Philosophy in Library and Information Science, to be administered through the suburban Chicago university’s accredited Graduate School of Library and Information Science, has accepted its first … Continue reading Dominican University Library School Establishes PhD Program
In Children and Libraries: Getting It Right (ALA Editions, 2001), I proposed three alternative visions for the children we would be serving as we moved into the 21st century: the original notion of the child reader, an idea that inspired and guided the founders of library service to children; the child of the information age; … Continue reading The Children We Serve
American Libraries: With many libraries being forced to reduce hours because of funding problems, just when so many more people need service, what can the federal government do to help? Arne Duncan: You hit the nail on the head. At a time of pretty significant increases in usage among children, among parents, among families, unfortunately … Continue reading Arne Duncan on Libraries in Economic Recovery
