Pruett is speaking of her library’s experience with the Edge Initiative, a management and leadership tool library staff can use to evaluate and strengthen public access technology services to achieve community goals. The Edge Initiative, often referred to simply as the Edge, will begin a nationwide rollout in January. Pruett’s library was one of the … Continue reading How to Get the Edge on Technology Access
The world of e-content has so far focused on academic librarians, who were first to immerse their institutions in digital repositories and open access, and public librarians, who struggled to fold the new e-content market into their already crowded offerings. But Chris Harris (my predecessor as the E-Content blogger and director of the School Library … Continue reading Legacy Publishing, School Libraries, and the Fight for E-Content
Discovery services face complex challenges. For example, to accommodate the concerns of proprietary-content providers, discovery services must differentiate publicly available search results from content offered only to authenticated users. In addition, access to resources must be aligned with each library’s subscription and database selections. Discovery services only allow access to resources that a library is … Continue reading Web-Scale Discovery Services
Earlier today, a federal district court struck down net neutrality, the nondiscrimination rules of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) governing how internet service providers deliver online information. ALA President Barbara K. Stripling swiftly responded to the decision in Verizon v. FCC (PDF file) by expressing the Association’s disappointment at this blow to a principle ALA has long advocated: … Continue reading Troubling Decision Nixes Net Neutrality Rules
A quick walk and talk through the madness that is CES Unveiled, the official media event of the International CES, where the press can find “the latest products in one room and get a preshow look at what will be making headlines during CES.” [video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SKy2kAdkrQ width:420 height:315 align:center]
Beth Bacon, vice president of content management at Seattle publishing platform Booktrope, posted a piece December 30, 2013, on the idea of libraries as ebookstores. On the surface, there is much to commend it. Many bookstores have closed, and the more than 15,000 public libraries in the United States—more, ALA tells us (PDF file), than … Continue reading A New Year’s Vision of Libraries as Bookstores
With the growing cost of higher education, declining library budgets, and the crisis in scholarly publishing, it can sometimes be difficult to feel optimistic. Looking at the creative efforts to address these issues through publishing gives me ample hope. Many academic libraries are working to make the scholarly and creative output of their communities widely … Continue reading Open Access Everything
The library has contracted with the Toronto-based tech company BiblioCommons to develop and run the website. The BiblioCommons platform allows patrons not only to have a more interactive experience with other CPL users by way of comments and reviews, but also with the patrons of other library systems that also use BiblioCommons, such as in … Continue reading Chicago Public Library’s New Website Goes Amazon
Cory Doctorow shared the sad tale on December 15 of one family’s holiday hopes being dashed by bah-humbug capitalism and the slippery nature of contractual licenses. Here is Bill's story, with another type of license taken from Clement Clarke Moore’s A Visit from St. Nicholas. ’Twas the night before movie time, when all thro’ the house Not … Continue reading On the Perils of Licensing; or Bah Humbug Capitalism
Libraries are all about people—both the people who use their services and the people who work there. Some key areas of concern for libraries relate to patrons with disabilities and patrons who use the library as their primary access point for technology. Library staff members need to know what technology barriers patrons may face and … Continue reading Assistive-Adaptive Technologies
American Libraries is now accepting submissions for the 2014 Library Design Showcase, our annual feature celebrating new and newly renovated or expanded libraries of all types. The showcase will be featured in our September/October 2014 issue. We are looking for libraries that are shining examples of innovative architecture and that address patrons’ needs in unique, … Continue reading Library Design Showcase Submissions Open
“We avoided it for awhile,” says Gail Shackleton, director of library services at Appleby College, a 7–12 grade school in Ontario. She and library technician Stefania Mulyk administer the library’s social media presence, which already includes Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and YouTube. They waited to adopt Vine until four months after the app’s introduction because of … Continue reading Libraries on the Vine
