technology Archives | Page 32 of 33 | American Libraries Magazine

Historians Await Access to the Library of Congress’s Twitter Archive

By Greg Landgraf | May 17, 2010

The microblogging service Twitter has gifted its entire archive of tweets, totalling billions of 140-character posts dating back to March 2006, to the Library of Congress. "The Twitter digital archive has extraordinary potential for research into our contemporary way of life," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "This information provides detailed evidence about how … Continue reading Historians Await Access to the Library of Congress’s Twitter Archive →

A Library in Your Pocket

By Meredith Farkas | May 13, 2010

In Vermont, it was easy to ignore the mobile computing craze until 2009. Before that, AT&T didn’t have a presence here, so we couldn’t purchase iPhones in the state. That all changed last year, and now, barely a day goes by that I don’t see someone checking e-mail, texting, or browsing the web on their … Continue reading A Library in Your Pocket →

Drupal: The Change We Need

April 28, 2010

"The change we need," according to Tim O'Reilly, keynote speaker on day two of DrupalCon San Francisco, "is DIY on a civic scale. " We've come to rely on what O'Reilly called "vending machine government," where we put tax dollars in and expect services out, but real progress in civic organizations during tough economic times … Continue reading Drupal: The Change We Need →

Will Social Media Activism Rescue Besieged Libraries?

By Cindi Trainor | April 20, 2010

Library workers and supporters nationwide are turning to social media to spread the word about proposed funding cuts and recruit advocates. Despite what looks to be a very bleak FY2011, social media blitzes to stave off cuts for the current fiscal year may have laid some groundwork toward influencing budgetmakers. In March, the Charlotte (N.C.) … Continue reading Will Social Media Activism Rescue Besieged Libraries? →

Dipping into the Stream

By Meredith Farkas | April 20, 2010

When you think of Twitter, you might think of Oprah. You might think of Ashton Kutcher. But do you think of Roy Tennant, Jessamyn West, and ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries? While social networks are useful for keeping up with celebrities, friends, and family, they’re also valuable professional networking tools that can connect … Continue reading Dipping into the Stream →

The Biggest Front Porch

By Joseph Janes | April 20, 2010

There are few pleasures in life as rewarding as being in the presence of a great storyteller—an opportunity I get every year when the University of Washington SLIS hosts the Spencer Shaw Lecture, in honor of our beloved emeritus faculty member. This year’s treat was Patricia McKissack, whose talk was titled “On the Front Porch … Continue reading The Biggest Front Porch →

Gadgets and Gizmos

By Jason Griffey | April 15, 2010

If we think back, we can imagine a time before the book and, once books became inexpensive and widespread, how revolutionary and democratizing the book was as a tool for sharing information. It must have been incredible to think that you could have so much text in such a compact form, and so many of … Continue reading Gadgets and Gizmos →

Publishers and Libraries Get SaaS-y

March 24, 2010

Yesterday afternoon I met up with some of the AL editors for a quick overview of a few of my favorite browser-based (i.e., cloud or SaaS) photo editing programs. Our idea is that to keep up with trends in online publishing, we all need basic photo-editing skills and anytime access to functional photo-editing software. So we demoed … Continue reading Publishers and Libraries Get SaaS-y →

The Pixelated Campus

By Jennifer Burek Pierce | March 9, 2010

"There is no frigate like a book,” Emily Dickinson wrote long ago, “to take us lands away.” Only the foolhardy would quibble with her eloquent, 19th-century paean to the written word, and librarians aplenty support reading as a vehicle for escape and learning alike. Yet in the current century, more and more librarians themselves opt … Continue reading The Pixelated Campus →

Finding Your Voice

by Meredith Farkas | March 8, 2010

Having a professional online portfolio is a great way to show off your technology skills and provide additional information to potential employers that doesn’t fit into your résumé and cover letter. However, this alone won’t give them a strong sense of who you are, nor will it help you develop a professional network. Adding a … Continue reading Finding Your Voice →

Cornell Seeks Sustainable arXiv Support

By Greg Landgraf | February 18, 2010

Cornell University Library has introduced a voluntary, collaborative business model to support arXiv, its free online repository of nearly 600,000 research articles in physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, and related disciplines. It will remain free to submit or download articles, but Cornell is now asking the 200 institutions that download most from the repository to … Continue reading Cornell Seeks Sustainable arXiv Support →

TechSource Webinar Available Online

February 17, 2010

Cosponsored by American Libraries, SirsiDynix Insititute, and ALA's Library and Information Technology Association, the TechTrends: Midwinter 2010 webinar produced by ALA Tech Source attracted about 850 participants. "We had some great presentations and some lively discussion," says Tech Source editor Dan Freeman. The webinar tackled topics related to the new wares being touted in the exhibit hall during ALA's … Continue reading TechSource Webinar Available Online →

Latest Library Links

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Tova Gaster writes: “Library Futures’s new research report, ‘Keeping an Open Mind: Awareness, Use, and Perspectives of OER in Public Libraries,’ takes a first look at how public librarians are using and perceiving open educational resources (OER). Library Futures surveyed public librarians about their use and awareness of OER via the Public Library Association mailing list from January–March 2024 and received 107 usable responses. Our flagship survey revealed that public librarians are very interested in OER, but many lack the resources, education, or support to bring interest into action.”

Library Futures, Nov. 22
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Jack Wallen writes: “Bluesky is a breath of fresh air. You’re not force-fed ads, nor are there algorithmic suggestions to clutter up your feed. Even better, there’s so much positivity. That alone is worth the time to migrate. But how do you get started? It took you years to collect those followers on Twitter. Will it take years to do the same on Bluesky? No. Bluesky’s starter packs are customized collections of accounts pre-loaded with users interested in different subjects.” Librarian Paul Jewell has created an information literacy starter pack.

ZDNet, Nov. 26; Information Literacy Weblog, Dec. 2
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A newly published research study from the American Association of School Librarians’ peer-reviewed online journal, School Library Research, investigates self-censorship of controversial topics in collection development. In “To Add or Not to Add: An Examination of Self‐Censoring Behaviors among School Librarians,” information science professors Jennifer Moore and Alissa Tudor use survey data to examine which controversial or frequently challenged topics school librarians chose not to collect. The research found that there were high amounts of self-censorship around books that dealt with sexual content, abortion, and self-harm.

American Association of School Librarians, Dec. 3; School Library Research, Volume 27
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Frank Strong writes: “Day one of pre-filing of bills for the 2025 Texas legislative session treated us with several attempts to further restrict reading rights for Texans. The headliner of those bills is House Bill 183, which would enable the State Board of Education to review and remove books from all public schools in the state, essentially creating a statewide banned books list. But it won’t be the only one. Below are six more antibook bills you should watch out for—and publicize, and speak out against, and fight—in the new year.”

Anger & Clarity, Nov. 29
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“In today’s society, libraries stand out as among the last truly public institutions. Providing access to resources without financial, social, or physical barriers, public libraries make a unique contribution to promoting individual and collective flourishing throughout the communities they serve. The New York Public Library’s Strategy and Public Impact team and the Humanities and Human Flourishing Project at the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center in Philadelphia have released a new report as part of an ongoing collaboration to study and advocate for the role of public libraries in the communities they serve.”

New York Public Library, Nov.
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ALA’s Games & Gaming Round Table announced the winners of its 2024 Platinum Play Hall of Fame Awards on December 2, representing the best games for library collections or programming released in the last two to 10 years. The “Platys” Class of 2024 includes longstanding favorites such as Splendor and Azul, approachable program-friendly titles like Just One and Exploding Kittens, the tournament-friendly Super Smash Bros. Melee, geolocation game Pokémon Go, and ‘80s throwback RPG Kids on Bikes.

ALA Games and Gaming Round Table, Dec. 2
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Samantha Kretschmer writes: “A staff survey conducted by administration at my library two years ago pointed to a general feeling of discontent amongst staff. The administration formed a Staff Advisory committee, which I was tasked with chairing. The point of this committee was to promote understanding and cooperation between the various branches and departments of the library; to promote productive cooperation between staff, management, and administration; to provide a place for a constructive exchange of ideas; to serve as a channel for staff questions, comments, and concerns; and to help create a community amongst staff.”

ALSC Blog, Nov. 28

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