In the office to my left, a colleague works with two oversized monitors and a driving simulator attached to his computer. From my right comes a steady bass thump as another colleague keyboards while listening to rap. In the midst of such 21st-century, tech-centric activity, an old-fashioned book-lover could feel decidedly dinosaur-like. Enter the book … Continue reading Screening Your Reads
It’s no secret that librarians like books. For decades, those pages sandwiched between rectangles of cardboard have been the primary reason librarians sought and secured employment. As methods of communication and information sharing evolve, however, books have begun to transform, sparking a debate not only among book publishers and readers but librarians as well. In … Continue reading Booking to the Future
The good people of Sunrise, on the east coast of Florida, want you to know that they do exist, still, and have not been wiped off the map by a hurricane, or supervillain, or Godzilla. This is despite the fact that on three—three—separate occasions, Google has failed to return any results for a search for … Continue reading Sunrise, Sunset
The library world, in general, has done a poor job of keeping up with new technologies over the past decade, and that has hurt us in many ways. Many libraries and librarians are working hard to catch up, but the broader library culture is still sluggish. The world of information exchange is in constant flux, … Continue reading Why Must a Card Be a Card?
In the November/December issue of Library Technology Reports, ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom Collaborated with Jason Griffey, Sarah Houghton-Jan and Eli Neiburger to produce “Privacy and Freedom of Information in 21st Century Libraries”, a practical guide to issues facing today’s library professionals. This excerpt comes from the issue’s introduction. The intersections of technology, security, and … Continue reading Bridging Intellectual Freedom and Technology
Authors Toni Morrison and Eula Biss were honored by the Chicago Public Library Foundation and Chicago Public Library October 20 during the Carl Sandburg Literary Awards Dinner at the University of Illinois at Chicago Forum. Morrison, who received the coveted Sandburg Award honoring a significant work or body of work that has enhanced the public's awareness of … Continue reading Toni Morrison, Eula Biss Receive Carl Sandburg Literary Awards
A promptly handled reconsideration request at the Waukee (Iowa) Public Library morphed into a public-relations nightmare for Director Maryann Mori last week when area residents misinterpreted a Des Moines Register story about the relocation of The Notebook Girls from the YA section to adult nonfiction as restricting adolescents’ ability to borrow the title. However, nothing … Continue reading When a Good Deed Meets Bad Press
The message of the American Library Association can best be summarized in one word, a word we all understand, a word that holds us together as librarians. That word is “Read.” “Why do we need libraries when all the information in the world is on the internet?” It’s a tiresome question that American librarians are … Continue reading Libraries Now More Than Ever
The libraries at Stanford University have been a juggernaut of innovation over the last 20 years. They have reenvisioned scholarly communications with the launch of HighWire Press, initiated digital preservation and archiving tools LOCKSS and CLOCKSS, become a founding member of the open-source course management software Sakai, and developed numerous enhancements to Blacklight, the open-source … Continue reading The Stanford Innovation Juggernaut
The 13th annual LITA National Forum brought library and information technology professionals together in Atlanta September 30–October 3 to discuss projects and developments surrounding the conference theme, “The Crowd and the Cloud.” Expert speakers shared knowledge of, and experiences with, the leading trends and innovations in library technologies, including mobile, social, and web services. Keynoting … Continue reading Crowd Discusses the Cloud at LITA Forum
What makes younger library users, past or present, so interesting to researchers? At the Library History Seminar XII, September 10–12, many scholarly papers focused on youth services. The ideas in circulation at the Madison conference suggested that two factors ignite academic interest—censorship and new technology. Forces of change make young people visible in the library, … Continue reading Hearts and Minds in Play
Yahoo headlines blared out the shocking news today that “Rupert Grint has risked upsetting parents of young Harry Potter fans—he’s urging them to read controversial novel A Clockwork Orange.” Grint did so by joining his costars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson to pose for a trio of American Library Association READ posters. The Yahoo News … Continue reading Rupert Grint’s Shocking Book Choice for Potter READ Poster
