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A 23-foot statue stands at a central spot on the Oxford campus of the University of Mississippi. The state's Institutions of Higher Learning board will determine whether to relocate the monument to a Confederate cemetery, also on campus.

A Monumental Debate: Addressing Controversial Namesakes

By Timothy Inklebarger | February 4, 2020

In this multipart series, American Libraries presents case studies and interviews with thought leaders looking at research trends in academic libraries. We’ll be covering the topics of social justice, information literacy, digital archives, faculty outreach, and new technology. This is the sixth story in the series. It’s been more than two years since the university chose … Continue reading A Monumental Debate: Addressing Controversial Namesakes →

Agents of Influence: Academic Librarians -- Fostering partnerships at the forefront of research

Pioneering Digital Humanities at Stanford

By Timothy Inklebarger | January 6, 2020

In this multipart series, American Libraries presents case studies and interviews with thought leaders looking at research trends in academic libraries. We’ll be covering the topics of social justice, information literacy, digital archives, faculty outreach, and new technology. This is the fifth story in the series. Quinn Dombrowski, academic technology specialist at Stanford’s Division of Literatures, … Continue reading Pioneering Digital Humanities at Stanford →

From left: Catherine Morse, Joe Bauer, Matt Carruthers, and Sara Hughes at a research sprint held in October 2019 in partnership with University of Michigan Library. The group worked on developing a data management system for information on public drinking water.

Ready, Set, Research!

By Timothy Inklebarger | December 3, 2019

In this multipart series, American Libraries presents case studies and interviews with thought leaders looking at research trends in academic libraries. We’ll be covering the topics of social justice, information literacy, digital archives, faculty outreach, and new technology. This is the fourth story in the series. Also referred to as scholar sprints, the intensive forums are … Continue reading Ready, Set, Research! →

Reaching the Uninsured

By Leighann Wood | October 29, 2019

Through PLA’s second annual Libraries Connecting You to Coverage initiative, libraries can start or increase efforts to educate and build year-round awareness of coverage options including enrollment in Medicaid or a Special Enrollment Period. These efforts will help reach the uninsured, many of whom are people of color. Health insurance is an important first step … Continue reading Reaching the Uninsured →

Colleen Lyon, head of scholarly communications at University of Texas at Austin.

Wading the Muddy Waters: Educating on Copyright and Digital Archives

By Laurie D. Borman | October 22, 2019

In this five-part series, American Libraries presents case studies and interviews with thought leaders looking at research trends in academic libraries. We’ll be covering trends on the topics of social justice, information literacy, digital archives, faculty outreach, and new technology. This is our third story in the series. Even with all that traffic, Lyon still gets … Continue reading Wading the Muddy Waters: Educating on Copyright and Digital Archives →

Mind Your Business(es)

By Anne Ford | September 30, 2019

PLYMC Business and Investment Librarian Ed Koltonski offers these tips for supporting small business success: Work with local groups that also support business development. The BIC works closely with many other partners in the area, including the Youngstown chapter of the SCORE business mentoring network, the local business incubator, and other public libraries. “I’ve been … Continue reading Mind Your Business(es) →

Librarians Bridge the Gap: Accessing Public Health Information

By Laurie D. Borman | September 17, 2019

In this five-part series, American Libraries presents case studies and interviews with thought leaders looking at research trends in academic libraries. We’ll be covering trends on the topics of social justice, information literacy, digital archives, faculty outreach, and new technology. This is our second story in the series. “Whether it’s helping to work with a question, … Continue reading Librarians Bridge the Gap: Accessing Public Health Information →

Digging through Boxes, Delving into Databases

By Laurie D. Borman | August 6, 2019

In this five-part series, American Libraries presents case studies and interviews with thought leaders looking at research trends in academic libraries. We’ll be covering trends on the topics of social justice, information literacy, digital archives, faculty outreach, and new technology. We’ll also explore how librarians build and grow relationships within the academic community. Our first … Continue reading Digging through Boxes, Delving into Databases →

Primary Sources for Pride Month

By Phil Virta | June 13, 2017

Gale’s Archives of Sexuality & Gender, the largest collection of resources available to support the study of gender and sexuality, was introduced to address this dearth of information. LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940, Part II expands the breadth of unique, fully searchable primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues—and provides extensive coverage of underrepresented LGBTQ … Continue reading Primary Sources for Pride Month →

Historic Hunterfly Road Houses, Weeksville Brooklyn.

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Beth Elderkin writes: “Whether the country is facing an unprecedented crisis, is desperate for better leadership, or simply needs to have a bit of fun, it helps to have our commanders in chief by our side. But when those actually in power royally suck, you can turn to science fiction to find something to believe in. We previously covered the worst presidents in sci-fi, including The Hunger Games’ President Snow (who for some reason is getting a prequel novel about his early years). For this Presidents’ Day, in an election year nonetheless, we thought we’d look at the fictional presidents and leaders who inspire hope and change.”
io9, Feb. 17
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Julia Bayly writes: “In the small, rural northern Maine town of Fort Kent, the card catalog is alive and well. The Fort Kent Public Library isn’t alone. Janet McKenney, data coordinator for the Maine State Library, estimates around 25 of Maine’s 265 public libraries have not automated their collections and still rely on card catalogs. But that number continues to shrink. It’s a slow-moving project to bring full automation to a small library. The staff of two at Fort Kent has spent the last two years entering each and every volume, video, and recording into what will be a computerized database. And they have been doing it one publication at a time, by hand.”
Bangor (Maine) Daily News, Feb. 17
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Joel Schwartzberg writes: “With so many ways to spin and distort information these days, a presentation needs to do more than simply share great ideas—it needs to support those ideas with credible data. No problem, you may say. A bar graph here, and a pie chart there, and you’re off to the races, right? Not so fast. Because while a good presentation includes data, data alone doesn’t guarantee a good presentation. How you present data can double—or decimate—its impact, so take note of these seven ways to ensure that your data is doing its job.”
Harvard Business Review, Feb. 11
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Alex Barker and Patricia Nilsson write: “A quiet revolution is sweeping the $20 billion academic publishing market and its main operator Elsevier, partly driven by cash-strapped librarians. When Florida State University canceled its Big Deal contract for all Elsevier’s 2,500 journals in 2019 to save money, the publisher warned it would backfire and cost the library $1 million extra in pay-per-view fees. But even to the surprise of FSU Library Dean Gale Etschmaier the charges after eight months were actually less than $20,000. ‘Elsevier has not come back to us about the Big Deal,’ she said, noting it had made up a quarter of her content budget before the terms were changed.”
Financial Times, Feb. 11
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Gwyneth Jones writes: “Here’s a fun, easy-to-set-up book selection activity that you can do at the drop of a beat. I am always looking for ways to beef up our circulation numbers by getting more books into the hands of kids. I wanted an activity I could run before the holidays that was fast and fun with a very little preparation. For musical bookcases, you only need music, kids, and (optional) scratch and sniff bookmarks for prizes. It’s a great way for kids to get up and move into areas of our library and get to know new titles and genres. Here is what it looked like in action (1:22).”
The Daring Librarian, Feb. 15
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The staff at North Central High School in Kershaw, South Carolina, is seeking assistance with the purchase of library books after a tornado devastated the school’s main campus on January 11. School district officials said the library was one of the hardest hit areas of the school. Now, they are asking for the public’s help to restore their collection. Follett, the school’s central library book vendor, has created a Titlewish online link where those interested in donating can help. The company will match 10% of the donations, and 100% of the funds will go directly to the school’s library account, allowing staff to select the books that best match their needs.
WLTX-TV, Columbia, South Carolina, Feb. 16
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The ALCTS Collection Management Section has awarded the 2020 ProQuest Award for Innovation to Alex Valencia, Lynn Whittenberger, and Meredith Wynn of North Carolina State University Libraries for their contributions in creating an innovative discovery solution for highly complex gaming resources. The award recognizes significant and innovated contributions to electronic collections management and development practice. Valencia, Whittenberger, and Wynn developed an innovative discovery solution for gaming collections including virtual reality.
ALCTS, Feb. 14