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I was all set to wax rhapsodic here about my iPad, how much I’m enjoying my new toy (and it is a toy, I know), how quickly I got to the point of loving the “app” idea for its convenience and speed, how interesting it is that I’ve started to begrudge using the web at … Continue reading Readers Are Fundamental
While libraries are learning the value of gaming, there is not currently a great deal of information available discussing standards for videogame collection development, and few libraries with game collections have published their policies. To help librarians more effectively serve gamers, Team G of the 2011 class of ALA Emerging Leaders worked to study and … Continue reading Serving Players Through Selection
As video games gain influence in our culture, the need to preserve them for future study gains importance as well. “The computer game industry has had a major impact on the film industry,” said Richard Pugh of the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia. “The two industries have been feeding … Continue reading Preserving Bits
Like many libraries, Canton (Mich.) Public Library has traditionally operated a summer reading program to encourage children to keep reading through the summer months when they aren’t facing regular class assignments. But the library had two significant issues with the program. One was budgetary. “We have relied on the community, sponsors, donors, and our own … Continue reading Summer Reading Levels Up
The notion that the research efforts of a group of people with varying opinions, when aggregated, can result in better information than a specific expert could come up with—aka “crowdsourcing”—has been around for some time. It’s one of the ideas on which the 10-year-old Wikipedia is based. So it seemed only natural when one of … Continue reading Libraries Tap into Crowd Power
When Susan Nutter took over the leadership role at North Carolina State University Libraries in Raleigh, it wasn’t a very inspiring organization. A study found it to be the academic library least able to meet its mission in the state; as a result, faculty were upset, and then they did something about it. In 1996 the faculty … Continue reading Building a Competitive Advantage
How often have you heard people complain in the last few months that our president, senators, and congressional reps are all acting like little children—especially during the shameful national debt ceiling crisis? There we were, on the brink of an unprecedented double-dip recession, and our federal elected officials persisted in pointing fingers at each other, … Continue reading No More Kidding Around
The library world was thrilled at the September 21 announcement that library vendor OverDrive had enabled its library customers to loan the ebooks they’d licensed from OverDrive to patrons with Kindle e-readers—provided that the ebooks were in Kindle-maker Amazon’s sales inventory. Since then, examination of the fine print between OverDrive and Amazon has caused ethical … Continue reading Librarians Weigh Kindle Ebook Lending against Reader Privacy
Here I sit, minding my own business (OK, working a crossword puzzle and catching my breath after an exhilarating class session with our new graduate students about the future of the book and how libraries will respond to whatever is happening) when an email pings with a request to write an “extra” column for American … Continue reading Steve Jobs, 1955 – –
Are your website visitors doing what you expect them to do or what you want them to do? Are they following the path you thought they would follow when you designed your menu system? Are visitors to your digital-library page finding the link to historical photos of your city or the university’s archival images? These … Continue reading Using Web Analytics Well
Each week I have at least one conversation about how schools and libraries are working to support teaching and learning in STEM: science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. I’ve discovered that some librarians are struggling to figure out what their role should be in the STEM universe. I’m here to give you a few pointers. First, … Continue reading The Lowdown on STEM
The individuals and libraries shown here have been singled out by their peers for their extraordinary achievements. These are the highest and most prestigious awards given by the American Library Association, but they are only a handful of the 200-plus awards presented annually by ALA, its divisions, round tables, offices, and other units. Meet more … Continue reading Leading By Example: 2011 ALA Award Winners
