Along with calls for ammunition and assault-weapon restrictions, as well as heightened school security nationwide, came renewed concerns about violent videogames. The Obama administration directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January to study the causes of gun violence, including the effects of violence in videogames, the media, and social media on real-life … Continue reading Gun Violence, Videogames, and Libraries
“Far too many people are floundering in our educational system and I believe libraries can change that.” “What else is a coffee-obsessed, over-organized, well-read information analyzer with a love for technology to do?” “I am a convener, a catalyst for action, a collaborative project manager.” “I want to be forever bothered—bothered people make great things … Continue reading The Applicant Pool
“Every academic librarian worth her salt is embedded.” “3D printers are so hot right now.” “Are you telling me you don’t have QR code scavenger hunts at your library?” “Your library doesn’t tweet?” “But surely you have a Pinterest site!” Although I’ve been in the profession only a decade, I’ve seen plenty of hyped-up ideas … Continue reading Spare Me the Hype Cycle
Libraries of all types are currently undergoing changes that most agree are transformative in nature. But what do we mean when we talk about “transforming” libraries? We mean that we are not just dealing with quantitative change—doing more, for instance—but with qualitative change. This means fundamental change in the very nature of what we do … Continue reading Defining “Transformation”
One telling image embodies the ridicule he endured. In it, his face and that of his wife Mildred are superimposed on a drawing of two monkeys’ bodies. Movie stills and ephemera from the making of Inherit the Wind (1960) document the celebrity status achieved by his attorney, Clarence Darrow (fictionalized as the thinly veiled Darrow … Continue reading Cultivating a Special Collection
The voice on the phone sounded exhausted. “I have lost my life’s work,” the man said. He was an artist who had his paintings stored in a basement somewhere in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It was November 2, 2012, four days after Hurricane Sandy hit the New Jersey coast, and the call came … Continue reading To Protect and Preserve
Two Italian kids, planting their feet in America for the first time on Ellis Island in 1913. What had they left behind? And what lay ahead for them? It’s this photo—and others like it—that got Maura Marx into a bit of trouble. Marx is director of the effort to launch the Digital Public Library of … Continue reading A Digital Library for Everyone
Seven years ago, then–ALA President Leslie Burger helped launch the Emerging Leaders program with 117 participants and 23 projects. This year’s class of 55 Emerging Leaders met at Midwinter in Seattle, and will present their projects at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. Open to librarians and support staff who are new to the profession, … Continue reading Something Old, Something New
They’re the new people greeting you at the reference desk, shelving books in the stacks, and experimenting with fresh ideas behind the scenes. These are the new library rising stars, the generation that will move, shape, and influence the present and future of the ALA and the library profession. These are the American Library Association’s … Continue reading Emerging Leaders: Class of 2013
On Day Two of the “Imagine. Create. Innovate.” conference, Jim Loter, director of information technology at Seattle Public Library, discussed his library’s digital content strategy and the ReadersFirst movement. While Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries, under the leadership of Jamie LaRue, has focused on independent publishers and self-published content, Seattle uses quite a number of mainstream … Continue reading Seattle’s Jim Loter Reveals His Library’s ReadersFirst Strategy
I’m writing this from the Monroe County (N.Y.) Library System’s Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, which is hosting “Imagine. Create. Innovate.” The technology conference is focusing on future issues like the library as publisher and ebook adoption. James LaRue from Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries and the ALA Digital Content and Libraries Working Group … Continue reading James LaRue speaks at “Imagine. Create. Innovate.” conference
Recent court filings, news reports, and online posts, however, have begun to shine a spotlight on libraries’ filtering policies and practices. According to legal complaints, some libraries are denying users access to websites that discuss Wicca and Native American spirituality; blacklisting websites that affirm the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities while whitelisting sites … Continue reading Filtering and the First Amendment
