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ALA leaders gathered in New York to meet with several publishers. Back row, from left: ALA Past President Courtney Young; Erika Linke, DCWG cochair and Associate Dean and Director of Research and Academic Services at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries; DCWG cochair and director of Skokie (Ill.) Public Library Carolyn Anthony; and ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels. Front row, from left: Julie Todaro, dean of library services at Austin (Tex.) Community College and 2016-2017 ALA President; OITP Director Alan Inouye; ALA President Sari Feldman; and OITP Program Director Carrie Russell.

ALA Responds to Penguin Random House Ebook Licensing Announcement

By Alan S. Inouye | December 3, 2015

The new structure will phase out the Penguin model of one-year lending and reduce the price for some previous Random House titles with a $65 cap on all Penguin Random House e-titles starting January 1, 2016. “Libraries will be pleased that the combined Penguin Random House license will ensure perpetual access to e-titles, and all will … Continue reading ALA Responds to Penguin Random House Ebook Licensing Announcement →

Solving the Self-Published Puzzle

By Greg Landgraf | October 30, 2015

“We used to have an event in Glen Ellyn called BookFest involving local merchants and the library,” says Susan DeRonne, adult department director at Glen Ellyn Public Library (GEPL). “[It] had a tent where self-published authors could sell their works, and it became more and more popular in its last years.” GEPL is one of … Continue reading Solving the Self-Published Puzzle →

Scholarly Communication

By Karen Muller | October 30, 2015

Some aspects of the scholarly cycle have persisted for centuries: Scholars write to one another discussing their work, present findings at departmental colloquia or conferences, publish an article, and when there’s a body of research, revamp it into a book. In Scholarly Communications: A History from Content as King to Content as Kingmaker, John J. … Continue reading Scholarly Communication →

The Ebook Pricing Wars

By Michael Rockliff | October 20, 2015

Some of that anxiety has been over fear of being locked into terms that might prove economically unviable. That is, of course, a legitimate concern. We could argue, however, that earlier in the life of a technology is, in fact, the best time to experiment. There is much to be learned, and less to lose, … Continue reading The Ebook Pricing Wars →

Altmetrics, Bibliometrics

By Rachel Borchardt and Robin Chin Roemer | September 15, 2015

For practical purposes, the best-known definition of altmetrics, “the creation and study of new metrics based on the Social Web for analyzing and informing scholarship,” comes from altmetrics.org, a website set up by Priem and three of his colleagues. Since then, others have questioned the definition and the methods of calculating altmetrics in various scholarly … Continue reading Altmetrics, Bibliometrics →

Creative Apocalypse: Canceled or Delayed?

By James LaRue | September 14, 2015

The surprising answer, argues Johnson, is that they are doing pretty well. Musicians are definitely not making as much from Spotify and Pandora as they made from CDs. On the other hand, they are making quite a bit more on live performances. There seem to be, in fact, more musicians making a living at it … Continue reading Creative Apocalypse: Canceled or Delayed? →

From left: Cartoonist Raina Telgemeier, Travis Jonker, and Colby Sharp discuss graphic novels on episode two of The Yarn.

Spinning The Yarn

By Alison Marcotte | September 8, 2015

American Libraries spoke with Sharp and Jonker to learn more about their creative process, the making of Sunny Side Up, and how educators and librarians can get involved with making podcasts. American Libraries: What was the inspiration to start The Yarn? Travis Jonker: Colby had the idea to try it. We kicked it around for … Continue reading Spinning The Yarn →

Open Access Publishing

By Marcus Banks | September 8, 2015

“I really believe open access is not a passing fad,” Mary Ellen Davis, executive director of ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) division, told an open-access panel at the American Historical Association’s 2014 annual meeting. “I believe open access is a durable feature of the landscape of scholarly communication.” ACRL made its scholarly … Continue reading Open Access Publishing →

The Open Ebooks Initiative

By James LaRue | July 17, 2015

In brief, this three-way partnership between the New York Public Library (NYPL), DPLA, and First Book (with support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services) seeks to make free ebooks accessible to low-income children between the ages of 0 and 18. The books will be made available through the NYPL Library Simplified app (available in … Continue reading The Open Ebooks Initiative →

Image from My Dog, an interactive ebook from Rosen Publishing.

Digital publishing: In praise of pioneers

By James LaRue | July 16, 2015

But let’s focus on a new and better story. Disruption clears a path for pioneers, visionaries who see an opportunity where others see a threat. When it comes to ebooks, a few publishers are worthy of note. They not only experiment with technology in ways that significantly enhance the product, but they also reach out … Continue reading Digital publishing: In praise of pioneers →

DCL Ebook Report, July 2015

By James LaRue | July 14, 2015

By contrast, the bookstore gets a 45% discount off the consumer price ($6.75) and makes $8.24. Having worked in bookstores myself, I know the margin is slim, and I have no quarrel with it. But I do have a quarrel with the library price. It is set, distributors assure me, by the publisher. But here’s … Continue reading DCL Ebook Report, July 2015 →

Get Published

By Sanhita SinhaRoy | June 29, 2015

The four panelists, representing authors, editors, and publishers, emphasized the importance of timelines. “Time management and project management is a big deal,” said Brad Eden, dean of library services at Valparaiso (Ind.) University. A timeline for editing a book needs to factor in calls for proposals, giving authors deadlines, and establishing the editor’s own deadline … Continue reading Get Published →

Latest Library Links

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Sheila Craft-Morgan writes: “Citations are a key measure of the impact of a researcher’s work. However, research in a variety of disciplines has found that women are less likely to be cited than men; citations contain geographic bias; and the Matthew effect—in which those who begin with advantage continue to gain advantage—leads to more citations for prominent scholars in a specific discipline. These findings contribute to the notion that scholarly knowledge comes from a homogenous group of researchers, thereby overlooking the contributions of other groups.”

American Libraries column, June
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Mel Baldwin writes: “Regardless of why someone comes into a library, every patron should be free to interact with staff, browse materials, and use the internet without fear of harassment or worse. That freedom depends on libraries upholding patron privacy. With nearly 400 active anti-trans bills pending in state legislatures as of April 2024, it is a dangerous time in the US to be gender nonconforming, someone whose gender expression does not align with the traditional male or female binary. And for trans people of color, studies show the risk of discrimination and violence is higher.”

American Libraries column, June
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Greg Landgraf writes: “On a school morning last September, small groups of 5th-graders crowded around tools connected to scientific research—a microscope, a robotic camera, and even a snake named Morgan Freeman—clipboards and pencils in hand. They were at the Melrose branch of Roanoke (Va.) Public Libraries (RPL), judging graduate students from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on their research. The event was RPL’s second Flip the Fair, introduced in 2022 to help graduate students develop skills to effectively communicate their research while engaging local elementary students with STEM topics and the library.”

American Libraries Trend, June
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Aaryn Bierly writes: “Disability Pride Month is traditionally celebrated in July to celebrate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA regulates laws regarding service animals, requires employers to accommodate their employees’ physical and medical needs, stipulates the number and placement of accessible parking spaces and restrooms, and more. One in five Americans has some type of disability that makes working more difficult, and the ADA has made working conditions easier for a significant number of Americans. We’ve got several great lists of books for kids and teens of different ages featuring characters with a range of disabilities.”

Herrick District Library (Holland, Mich.), July 1
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“Many people already turn to libraries as sources of trusted information ahead of elections, and organizations like ALA and the League of Women Voters are hoping to expand those numbers. We’ve curated a selection of resources, tools, and ideas to help inform your library’s approach to this important work.”

WebJunction, July 3
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“A federal appeals court in New Orleans is taking another look at its own order requiring a Texas county to keep eight books that deal with subjects including sex, gender identity, and racism on public library shelves. Llano County officials had initially removed 17 books from its shelves amid complaints about the subject matter. The June 6 order was vacated July 3 after a majority of the 17-member court granted Llano County officials a new hearing before the full court. The order did not state reasons and the hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled.”

Associated Press, July 7
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Todd Spangler writes: “In the days after Paramount Global disabled mtvnews.com and mtv.com/news in June—removing a trove of hundreds of thousands of articles about music and pop culture from the internet—the not-for-profit Internet Archive assembled a searchable index of 460,575 web pages previously published at mtv.com/news. The Wayback Machine’s archive of MTV News is not the full complement of what was published over the span of more than two decades. But the new collection at least ensures, for the time being, that much of MTV News’ articles remain accessible in some form.”

Variety, July 2

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