August
23, 2006
AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter e-mailed
every Wednesday to personal members of the American
Library Association.
Contents:
U.S. & World News
ALA News
Booklist Online
New Orleans Update
Division News
Awards
Seen Online
Actions & Answers
Poll
Datebook
AL Direct
FAQ
Korean
librarians invigorate IFLA in Seoul
“Libraries: Dynamic Engines for the Knowledge and Information Society”
commenced August 20 in Seoul. The five-day annual World Library and Information
Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
(IFLA) took on new razzle-dazzle in the South Korean capital as First
Lady Kwon Yang-suk (in white dress) and former president Kim Dae-jung,
winner of the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize for his lifelong dedication to human
rights, addressed more than 3,000 registrants at the opening session....
NYPL’s
reading room no longer in a class by itself
Some 25,000 reference books in the Rose Main Reading Room of the New York
Public Library’s Humanities and Social Sciences Library are getting
a new classification system this year. Since the 1890s, the Reading Room
collection has been arranged according to a unique scheme developed by
the Research Libraries’ first director, Dr. John Shaw Billings (above),
a Civil War surgeon and physician who had directed the Library of the
Surgeon General’s Office for 30 years....
D.C.
residents protest branch-upgrade delays
Dozens of Washington residents rallied August 11 to protest the delay
in reopening the Watha T. Daniel/Shaw Neighborhood Library, one of four
branches of the District of Columbia Public Library closed in December
2004 for an overhaul....
Digital
transition brings changes to LC’s workforce
The growing emphasis on digital initiatives is compelling major shifts
in the Library of Congress’s workforce. In an August 16 article posted
on the website of Government Executive magazine, LC Director for
Workforce Acquisitions Bill Ayers said 200 employees had taken advantage
of a voluntary retirement incentive for librarians who had become “very
comfortable” with traditional librarianship and chose not to gain
new technological skills....
Osama
bin Laden’s Messages maintained
Members of the Marion County (Fla.) Commission voted 4–1 August 2
to retain Messages to the World: The Statement of Osama bin Laden
in county libraries. The action was in response to the June 22 appeal
by complainant Brian Creekbaum after his reconsideration request was denied
by Marion County Public Library Director Julie Sieg....
More
than one book a day challenged in U.S. schools and libraries
The Office for Intellectual Freedom notes that there were 405 known attempts
to remove books in 2005. About 70% of the challenges took place in schools
and school libraries. Bookstores and libraries around the country will
celebrate the freedom to read with exhibits, readings, and special events
during Banned Books Week, September 23–30....
ALA
wins freedom of speech award
Chicago’s Newberry Library presented ALA with the John Peter Altgeld
Freedom of Speech Award July 29 during the 20th Annual Bughouse Square
Debates, a celebration of outdoor soapbox oratory sponsored by the library,
in Washington Square Park. The award, named after the Illinois governor
who in 1893 pardoned the three surviving defendants in the Haymarket Riot
trial, honors a person or organization that has achieved recognition as
a defender of free speech and ideas....
Last
chance to Step Up to the Plate
All entries for the Step Up to the Plate @ your library program are due
September 1, giving library patrons their final opportunity to enter the
national baseball trivia contest for a chance to win a grand prize trip
to the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y....
New
grants for Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature
ALA’s Public Programs Office and Nextbook, a gateway to Jewish literature,
culture, and ideas, have announced two new rounds of grants for Let’s
Talk About It: Jewish Literature—Identity and Imagination, a
theme-based reading and discussion series. Under the new deadlines, two
new themes and increased programming grants are available. Public and
academic libraries are eligible to apply....
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One
year later: Post-Katrina postcards found in New Orleans |
Katrina
destruction captured on video during conference
An ALA Annual Conference participant shot this short video (1:46) of one
devastated area, commenting “If I hadn’t had the opportunity
to get out of the city, I wouldn’t have noticed much of a difference.
I wish my camera could capture the kindness and genuine appreciation shown
by the New Orleans residents. It was all truly humbling.”...
YouTube
Katrina
video, with soundtrack
An interesting compilation of hurricane and damage clips (4:20), accompanied
by a track by alternative metal band P.O.D., appears on this video. Of
course, for the best retrospective documentary yet on New Orleans and
Katrina, watch (or rewatch) Spike Lee’s When
the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, which debuted on HBO
this week....
You Tube
Grow
Your Own @ your library grants
PLA is now accepting applications for its popular “Grow Your Own
@ your library” institutional scholarship. This year, PLA will award
nine public libraries with grants of $8,000 each to be distributed to
staff members who are working to obtain a master’s degree in library
and information science. One library from each of the nine Public Library
Data Service (PLDS) population categories will be selected....
LITA
President’s Program (MP3 audio file)
The LITA President’s Program at Annual Conference in New Orleans
featured John B. Horrigan of the Pew Internet and American Life and OCLC's
Cathy DeRosa discussing their research on the evolution of the internet
and its effect on library users’ behavior. The presentation is roughly
one hour long....
Divisions,
round table support Emerging Leaders program
Nine divisions and one round table have announced they will sponsor their
members’ participation in the new Emerging
Leaders 2007 program. The program was initiated by ALA President Leslie
Burger and is intended to welcome and train 100 new librarians to get
a jump-start in leadership....
READ
Nepal wins Gates Access to Learning Award
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Access to Learning Award
is given annually to recognize the innovative efforts of libraries, organizations,
or library agencies outside the United States in providing no-cost public
access to information technology. The 2006 award, announced August 21
at the IFLA Congress in Seoul, Korea, went to Rural
Education and Development (READ) Nepal for its innovative approach
to building and sustaining village libraries....
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
LRRT
announces 2006 winners of the Jesse H. Shera Award
ALA’s Library Research Round Table has awarded the 2006 Jesse H.
Shera Award for Distinguished Published Research to “A Citation Study
of the Characteristics of the Linguistics Literature” by University
of Illinois at Chicago librarians Helen Georgas and John Cullars, which
appeared in College and Research Libraries 66, no. 6 (November
2005): 496–515....
Vamos
ruling to be appealed
Continuing
its efforts to remove a controversial children’s book, the Miami-Dade
School Board voted this afternoon to appeal a federal judge’s ruling
that forced the district to keep Vamos a Cuba and 23 other titles
on school library shelves. In a 5–2 decision, with two members absent,
the board said it wanted to protect the right of the district to determine
the content of school libraries, rather than leave it up to a judge....
Miami Herald, Aug. 22
EPA
begins closing libraries before Congress acts on plan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving ahead this summer to
shut down libraries, end public access to research materials, and box
up unique collections on the assumption that Congress will not reverse
President Bush’s proposed budget reductions, according to agency
documents released August 21....
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Aug.
21
Librarians
at the gates
“With the federal government ever more intent on spying on its own
citizens, and on classifying, concealing, and manipulating larger swaths
of information and intelligence, librarians and library custodians are
on the front lines protecting freedom of inquiry and our right to privacy,”
writes Joseph Huff-Hannon. “And where right-wing groups, both local
and national, have campaigned for censorship, librarians have also stepped
up to the plate to defend minority points of view in their collections.”...
The Nation, Aug. 22
NCLIS
commissioners oppose IMLS consolidation plan (PDF
file)
Meeting in Washington, D.C., August 14, members of the U.S. National Commission
on Libraries and Information Science opposed by a vote of 11–1 a
draft proposal (PDF
file) by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the consolidation
of the two organizations....
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
British
Library acquires Coleridge archive
An extraordinary archive from the extended family of Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772–1834), one of the great English Romantic poets, has been bought
by the British Library. The vast treasury of papers revealing the family’s
bemused if affectionate view of the maverick talent in their midst had
been kept in family ownership in Ottery St. Mary, the Devon village where
the poet was born, for two centuries....
The Independent, Aug. 21
Indianapolis
OKs union vote
The Indianapolis–Marion County Public Library Board agreed this week
to recognize an employee union if enough eligible workers vote for it.
In a resolution passed unanimously Thursday, the seven-member board established
policies for organizing such a union, including a requirement that at
least 75% of the employees cast ballots in an election....
Indianapolis Star, Aug. 19
A
chapter closes
In one year as the children’s librarian at the District of Columbia
Public Library’s Northeast branch, Tony Hurst’s silly songs,
wide-eyed storytelling and passion for children’s books have made
him bigger than Barney and more wonderful than the Wiggles in many Washington
households. But Hurst told his last tale at DCPL August 17 before heading
to nearby Brent Elementary School to become the librarian there....
Washington Post, Aug. 17
The
books Google could open
Book Search is a Herculean undertaking, digitizing both new and old works
housed in some of the world’s top libraries and rendering them searchable
through Google’s website. This powerful tool will make less well-known
written works or hard-to-find research materials more accessible to students,
teachers, and others around the world. Book Search comes at a time when
college and university libraries are hard-pressed to keep up with the
publishing and technology revolutions....
Washington Post, Aug. 22
Smithsonian
photography archive online
The Smithsonian Photography Initiative has launched an electronic portal
to a portion of the vast image collections residing in its 18 museums
and galleries, nine research centers, and the National Zoo. Its search
engine offers access to a cross-section of the work of more than 100
photographers, who used 50 different photographic and image-making processes
and technologies....
Smithsonian Institution
University
of California launches Calisphere website
The University of California launched on August 21 a free website
that offers educators, students, and the public access to more than 150,000
images, documents, and other primary source materials from the libraries
and museums of the UC campuses and cultural heritage organizations across
California. Calisphere’s primary sources include photographs, documents,
newspapers, political cartoons, and other cultural artifacts that reveal
the diverse history and culture of the state....
University of California, Aug. 21
NCES:
School librarians are now instructors
The National Center for Education Statistics has released a report
on expenditures for public elementary and secondary education for the
2003–2004 school year, which now includes librarians in the category
of instruction and instruction-related expenditures. It is unclear what
changes, if any, the Texas Education Agency (or other state agencies)
will make to the 65% rule in light of this recent change to the NCES definition....
Texas Association of School Administrators, Aug. 17
Chapel
Hill SILS celebrates its 75th year
The School of Information and Library Science at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill is launching its 75th anniversary September 18
with a celebration on the theme, “Illuminating the Past, Imagining
the Future.” Photos showing the school’s history appear on its
website....
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill SILS
Search
privacy: The danger is real
It actually isn’t that hard to identify someone just by their search
information, writes Jim Rapoza. Several national news outlets have been
able to successfully identify individuals based solely on groupings of
search terms. One of the main reasons this works is that people like to
search for information on themselves or on people they know, not realizing
that these “ego searches” are often clear markers for their
entire search history....
eWeek, Aug. 21
How
to find free, quality, full-text articles and books on the scholarly web
Robert J. Lackie, instruction and reference librarian at Rider University
in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, describes pertinent resources on the free
web of interest to librarians and other educators who conduct research
and would like to easily supplement their currently available holdings,
in print and electronic formats and via commercial vendors’ fee-based
subscription databases, within their own libraries....
MultiMedia & Internet @ Schools,
July/Aug.
Award-winning
Australian children’s books
The Children’s Book Council of Australia has announced its picks
of the best literature for young readers published in 2005, with J. C.
Burke’s The Story of Tom Brennan (Random House Australia)
chosen as best book for older readers. The judges commented in their report
(PDF file):
“This year’s reading saw families wrestling with mental illnesses
such as bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia. In several notable
works, authors were able to provide shimmers of credible optimism as a
counterpoint to despair in the face of unremitting bleakness.”...
Children’s Book Council of Australia
Youths
are underwhelmed by it all
A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll finds that a large majority
of the 12- to 24-year-olds surveyed are bored with their entertainment
choices some or most of the time. Other polls in the series show that
this demographic likes to watch brand-new movies at
home rather than in theaters, says that duplicating
CDs or DVDs it owns is perfectly legal, isn’t as eager to watch
TV on cellphones
and iPods as networks might think, uses the phone to text-message
friends more than call them, and often plays games or sends e-mail at
the same time as homework....
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 7–11
23
things you can learn about Web 2.0
Learn along with the staff of the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg
County, North Carolina, as they participate in a nine-week program to
complete 23 small exercises
to explore and expand their knowledge of the internet and Web 2.0 technologies.
(Sorry, only PLCMC staffers are eligible for the prizes.) Details about
the tasks are activated each week, and the project is in its third week
now....
Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
Rejected
paper proposal blues
Steven Bell has some suggestions to offer those whose papers were not
accepted for the ACRL 13th National Conference in Baltimore, March 31–April
1, 2007—or for any conference, for that matter....
ACRLog, Aug. 23
What
does your browser reveal about you?
“Believe it or not, the choice of your favorite browser reveals a
lot about your personality,” sardonically writes Michigan State grad
student Luke Maciak, who says of IE 5.0 users: “You stubbornly refuse
to upgrade that ancient Win 98 box that you are using because you don’t
need some fancy computer and in your opinion the one you have works just
fine. You also probably don’t use antivirus or antispyware either.”
He provides stats
on the browsers used by visitors to his site....
Terminally Incoherent, Aug. 19
IFLA/OCLC
Fellows for 2007 named
OCLC, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions,
the American Theological Library Association, and European library cooperative
OCLC PICA announced the IFLA/OCLC Early Career Development Fellows for
2007 at the IFLA congress in Seoul August 22. The fellowship program supports
library and information science professionals from countries with developing
economies. The 2007 Fellows are from Ghana, the Philippines, Jamaica,
Brazil, and Serbia....
OCLC, Aug. 22
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The National Library Symbol was originally designed by Ralph E. DeVore
for use in the Western Maryland Public Libraries. Find out more about
it in this ALA
Library Fact Sheet.
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The Herb
Block Foundation’s Defending Freedoms grant program seeks
proposals from organizations throughout the U.S. that strive to safeguard
the basic freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and work to eliminate
all forms of prejudice and discrimination.
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