Have you heard of Khan Academy? Sal Khan started the organization in the belief that people could learn by watching short, targeted videos online. Subjects run the gamut: from algebra to art history to the principles of banking to taking the SAT. He began by remotely tutoring his cousin in 2004 and created videos to … Continue reading It’s Always Time for CE-TV
Displays are hit or miss. So often we throw together a bunch of books on a theme. In our flurry to pull just the right items and create beautiful signage to market the display, we get lost in the process and fail to ask ourselves important questions. Will patrons find this useful? Should it be … Continue reading Building Displays That Move “the Merchandise”
We librarians are experts at collecting. Our jobs, our departments, our very buildings have been designed to acquire content. There is, however, another side to content that many libraries haven’t yet fully explored, and that is content creation. Yes, we have books about how to create a graphic novel, how to learn a musical instrument, … Continue reading Create a Library “Tech Shop”
Each January, librarians, publishers, parents . . . and, well, anyone who has an interest in books and reading . . . awaits the announcement of the Youth Media Awards at the ALA Midwinter Meeting. While awards help us define the criteria for “good” books, the lists of winners and notables are just a few … Continue reading Great Lists of Great Reads
The HBCU Library Alliance, a consortium that promotes collaboration among information professionals and excellence in library leadership, was established in 2002 and continues to provide an array of training and development opportunities for member institutions, including photographic preservation, reports, assessments, and leadership workshops. So far, the project has documented nine success stories. Here are two … Continue reading Preserving Black Academic Library History
“Sisters function as safety nets in a chaotic world simply by being there for each other.” —Carol Saline and Sharon J. Wohlmuth, coauthors of Sisters (Running Press, 2004) What if libraries, like sisters, could be there for one another? What if public libraries with more resources partnered with underfunded ones to help them reach their … Continue reading O Sister Library, Where Art Thou?
With a voice that echoed the melodious tone in sermons and speeches delivered by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Dr. Lewis V. Baldwin, an ordained minister, addressed the theme “Honoring a Legacy That Still Inspires” during the annual King Sunrise Celebration on Monday. Rev. Baldwin, who has written and edited several … Continue reading Honoring a Legacy That Still Inspires
Support and education for today’s youth is the key to liberation. That was the overall message delivered by Jamal Joseph, author of the newly released Panther Baby: A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention (Algonquin Books), who delivered the 13th annual Arthur Curley Lecture Saturday. The lecture series was created in honor of the late ALA … Continue reading Curley Lecturer Discusses His Life as a Black Panther
This piece is excerpted from the January 2012 issue of Library Technology Reports. You can purchase the full issue on the ALA Store. Google “smartphone user.” Click on Images. What do you see? When I tried this, I saw some graphs, pictures of devices (many of them BlackBerrys), and a bunch of white people, mostly … Continue reading Bridging the Digital Divide with Mobile Services
When the Kansas Digital Library Consortium’s contract with digital-content distributor OverDrive was up for renewal last year, two issues made Kansas State Librarian Joanne Budler decide it was time to move on and transfer the ebook titles to another vendor who could offer a better deal. First, OverDrive planned to raise license fees by almost … Continue reading Threats to Digital Lending
The digital revolution in libraries is not exactly a secret. Every day we read about some upheaval in the ebook industry, a new development in digitization, or yet another service from Google. And the recent announcement of an ALA-wide initiative on digital content and libraries, while important and necessary, won’t exactly make media headlines. It … Continue reading The Revolution Isn’t Just Digital
Join the more than 10,000 library leaders, publishers, authors, and guests in discussions about the transformation of libraries, learn firsthand from frontline Occupy movement librarians, and engage in the excitement of Youth Media Award announcements during the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting January 20–24 at the Dallas Convention Center and area hotels. More than 1,800 … Continue reading The Conversation Starts in Dallas . . .
