October 4, 2006
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Map thief gets three-and-a-half years
A federal judge in New Haven, Connecticut, sentenced convicted map thief E. Forbes Smiley III to 42 months in prison September 27, despite requests from victimized libraries for a much sterner punishment. Smiley, a Massachusetts map dealer who has admitted stealing 98 rare maps from seven repositories in the United States and England, must also pay $1.9 million in restitution to antiquarian booksellers and collectors he defrauded....
Orphan works bill shelved until 2007
The House abandoned September 27 a bill aiming to limit liability of copyright infringement of orphan works—copyrighted works whose owners are difficult or impossible to find. To the dismay of many supporters, in September the bill was folded into the more complicated Copyright Modernization Act of 2006 (H.R. 6052), which also deals with online music licensing. The House Judiciary Committee has withdrawn this larger bill a total of three times from scheduled markup....
Texas district pulls two books for profanity
Officials of the Columbia-Brazoria (Tex.) Independent School District have removed two books from the West Brazos Junior High library in Brazoria following two unrelated complaints within a month’s time. Assistant Superintendent Martha Buckner told American Libraries that the library no longer carried Ursula LeGuin’s A Fisherman of the Inland Sea nor Zero to Sixty: The Motorcycle Journey of a Lifetime by Gary Paulsen....
Tennessee group vows to fight library privatization
Three weeks after the Jackson–Madison County (Tenn.) Library board announced it would outsource its operations to management firm Library Systems and Services, a citizens’ group has formed to contest the plan. The group, Citizens Against Privatization, claims to have collected 1,000 signatures opposing any outsourcing contract....
Judge tosses lawsuit against Pueblo library
A federal judge has dismissed a $1-million lawsuit filed against the Pueblo (Colo.) City-County Library District by its former human resources director. Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch ruled September 25 against Helen Tomicich, whom the library board fired in 2003 after critics questioned the validity of her doctoral degree....
Santa Fe staffers stage mock protest over film stereotype
After finding out that an archivist/librarian in an upcoming miniseries filmed at their library would be portrayed by a small, frail-looking, gray-haired actress, the staff of the Santa Fe (N. Mex.) Public Library organized a friendly T-shirt protest September 27 to let the crew know that this was not the norm. In August, Lions Gate Entertainment had contacted SFPL to shoot a segment of The Lost Room—a series scheduled to appear on the Sci-Fi Channel in December—in the library’s Southwest Room....
Harry Potter series chosen as favorite challenged books
More than 5,000 readers cast their votes for their favorite challenged books as part of celebrations during the 25th anniversary of Banned Books Week. The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling led all voting with 1,490 votes. Online voting was hosted by ALA, one of the sponsors of Banned Books Week (September 23–30)....
New member satisfaction survey
ALA is asking members to survey its progress since the first member satisfaction survey was conducted in 2004. The 2006 survey was sent to a representative sample of ALA members October 3, and respondents have about six weeks to reply. The study complements, but is separate from, the online website usability survey recently completed....
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Hotel registration open
Online housing registration for Midwinter opened on October 2. ITS Group is ALA’s travel management company for both hotel and airline reservations. As an ALA attendee or exhibitor, you are eligible for special airline and hotel rates....
Seattle Public Library internet and wireless access
Free internet access is available at many Seattle Public Library branches, including the downtown Central Library. Along with its wired workstations, the library also offers WiFi access for your laptop....
Seattle Public Library
Seattle coffee lingo
Seattle is known as the home of Starbucks and the designer coffee movement. Find out the words you will need to know to most easily order your coffee of choice, as well as some mysterious local place names (Belltown, the Pig, Sea-Tac)....
ALA Midwinter wiki
SmartGirl.org offers teen reading survey
In conjunction with Teen Read Week, YALSA is asking librarians to encourage their teenage patrons—young men and women ages 12 through 18—to complete an online reading survey offered by SmartGirl.org between now and October 31....
What are the core services offered by public libraries? (PDF file)
PLA asks for your help in defining the unique role of public libraries today and in the future. You can find a complete report of the discussions about each of 13 service responses (core services, defined in the 1997 Planning for Results) on the PLA Blog, and you can add your comments there. This online discussion will continue until October 20, and drafts of proposed new service responses will be available on the PLA Results website and the PLA Blog on December 1....
ACRL’s first international immersion program
The ACRL Institute for Information Literacy seeks applicants for its first international Immersion Program, August 5–10, 2007. The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, will host the program, along with contributions and support from the University of Winnipeg and Brandon University. The deadline is December 1....
ACRL Fall Virtual Institute registration now open
Registration is now open for the ACRL Fall Virtual Institute, “The User at the Center,” which will be held completely online on November 9. The institute will focus on how libraries can use technologies and practice to put the user at the center of the information enterprise on campus. The advance registration deadline is October 26....
Teaching social science skills
ACRL has published Teaching Information Literacy Skills to Social Science Students and Practitioners, its second discipline-based casebook. Compiled by Doug Cook and Natasha Cooper, this volume is based on the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards and presents cases on learning situations and how they can be analyzed and addressed....
AASL offers pre-Midwinter institute on reading
AASL will offer a pre-Midwinter institute, “Reading and the School Library Media Specialist,” on January 19, 2007, during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. This all-day workshop will address critical topics in reading for P–12 library media specialists....
YALSA selects two emerging leaders
YALSA has announced its support of two members, Jenine Lillian and Elsworth Rockefeller, for ALA’s Emerging Leaders 2007 initiative. YALSA will provide stipends of $500 per conference for Lillian and Rockefeller to attend the Emerging Leaders training program conceived by ALA President Leslie Burger....
LRRT call for papers
The Library Research Round Table will sponsor two Research Forums at the 2007 ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., June 21–27, one on general LIS research and another on a more specific topic that will emerge as the submissions are evaluated. LRRT welcomes papers emphasizing the problems, theories, methodologies, or significance of research findings for LIS. To be considered, submit a two-page proposal by December 8....
LITA/Brett Butler Entrepreneurship Award
LITA is seeking nominations for the Brett Butler Entrepreneurship Award. Sponsored by Thomson Gale, this award is given to recognize a librarian or library that demonstrates exemplary entrepreneurship by providing an innovative product or service, designed to meet the needs of the library world through the skillful and practical application of information technology. The deadline is December 1....
Singer wins second OCLC Research Software Contest
Ross Singer has won the second OCLC Research Software Contest with Umlaut, an OpenURL link resolver intended to improve access to library collections by contextualizing citations and available holdings more accurately for a given user. Currently running with Georgia Tech’s catalog, Umlaut utilizes a host of web services and can take several paths depending on what it finds at various stages....
OCLC, Sept. 28
Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award
Presented annually, the Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award acknowledges individuals or groups who have furthered the cause of intellectual freedom, particularly as it impacts libraries, information centers, and the dissemination of ideas. The deadline for nominations for 2006 is October 15....
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign GSLIS
Illinois awards $3.4 million in LSTA grants
Secretary of State Jesse White has awarded FY07 Library Services and Technology Act grants totaling $3.4 million to nearly 500 libraries, library systems, and museums containing libraries in Illinois....
Illinois Secretary of State, Sept. 26
Most reliable search tool could be your librarian
Most people don’t bother to look at results past the first page or spend much time evaluating the source of the material, experts say. While the Web is good for offering quick results from a broad range of sources (which may or may not be trustworthy), librarians can help people get access to more authoritative information and go deeper with their research....
C|net news.com, Sept. 29
ACLU gets OK to pursue Patriot Act lawsuit
A federal judge in Detroit rejected the government’s request to dismiss an ACLU lawsuit challenging the constitutionally of the controversial USA Patriot Act, an antiterrorism measure Congress enacted after the September 11, 2001, attacks. U.S. District Judge Denise Hood issued the ruling without fanfare September 29, nearly three years after promising a speedy decision in the case. Congress amended the act in March, well after the hearing before Hood in December 2003....
Detroit Free Press, Oct. 4
Harry Potter row heats up in Georgia
A woman who maintains that the Harry Potter books are an attempt to teach children witchcraft is pushing for the second time to have them banned from school libraries. Laura Mallory, a mother of four from the Atlanta suburb of Loganville, told a Georgia Board of Education officer that the books, by British author J. K. Rowling, sought to indoctrinate children. Referring to the recent rash of deadly assaults at schools, Mallory said books that promote evil help foster the kind of culture where school shootings happen....
UK Daily Mail, Oct. 4
Banned book display removed from Virginia high school
Harrisonburg (Va.) Schools Superintendent Donald Ford ordered the removal of a Harrisonburg High School display of books that have either been banned or challenged. The display, which Ford ordered removed September 27, was part of ALA’s annual Banned Books Week. Ford said he was concerned the school division would encourage students to read banned books because they are on a controversial list and not because of their content....
Harrisonburg (Va.) Daily News Record, Oct. 4
Florida students take aim at reading record
Students across Florida cleared their throats and sat up straight as they attempted to break the Guinness World Record for Most People Reading Aloud Simultaneously in Multiple Locations. On September 28, 304,843 students statewide read an excerpt from Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson while watching a live public broadcast from Disney’s MGM Studios. The Florida schools will not know whether they broke the record for another month because of the massive paperwork involved....
Miami Herald, Oct. 1
National Book Festival draws thousands of book lovers
More than 100,000 people from all corners of the country gathered together September 30 on the National Mall to celebrate reading at the Library of Congress’s sixth annual National Book Festival. Seventy award-winning authors (including Khaled Hosseini, right, author of The Kite Runner), illustrators, and poets were joined by basketball stars, storybook characters, reading promotion partners, and book lovers of all ages....
Library of Congress, Sept. 30
LC acquires gay-rights pioneer’s papers
The Library of Congress and the Franklin Kameny Papers Project are sponsoring a ceremony October 6 to mark the acquisition of the gay-civil-rights activist’s papers. Kameny, now 81, cofounded the Mattachine Society of Washington in 1961 and the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance in 1971, led the first gay protest at the White House in 1965, fought employment discrimination in federal government service, and helped persuade the American Psychiatric Association to stop classifying homosexuality as an illness in 1973....
Washington Post, Oct. 1
How will Google stay on top?
Google is the 800-pound gorilla in the business of internet search, but how will it stay there? Now it’s Google vs. YouTube. As Chicago Tribune chief business correspondent David Greising reports, “Video over the internet is the next big land rush in the internet economy.” Go inside Google’s HQ with this photo essay (3:47) by Tribune photographer Alex Garcia and a special report....
Chicago Tribune, Sept. 21
Jack Prelutsky, America’s first children’s poet laureate
Whether riffing on homework, dragons, pizza, or the dot-gobbling Flotz, Seattle’s Jack Prelutsky is arguably the nation’s most popular children’s poet. His works, which span nearly 40 years and 35 volumes, include A Pizza the Size of the Sun, The Frogs Wore Red Suspenders, and his latest, Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant. On September 27 in Chicago, Prelutsky, 66, was named the first children’s poet laureate, courtesy of the nonprofit Poetry Foundation....
Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Sept. 28
Carrie Underwood helps Oklahoma literacy campaign
American Idol winner Carrie Underwood is the latest celebrity to appear on a poster for the Oklahoma Library Association’s “Read Y’all” literacy campaign. Posters featuring the country singer from Checotah will be distributed free to every academic, public, school, and special library in the state, said Buffy Edwards, poster coordinator for the campaign....
Associated Press, Oct. 2
New Frost poem found at University of Virginia
A University of Virginia graduate student, poking through a box of uncataloged material at the school’s library, has found an unpublished poem by Robert Frost. The poem, “War Thoughts at Home,” was handwritten by Frost in a copy of North of Boston, his second collection of poetry. The poem is signed by Frost and dated January 1918....
Charlottesville (Va.) Daily Progress, Sept. 29
Pioneer’s diary from 1886 given to North Dakota library
The diary of Dakota pioneer Levi Dalley was found in the bottom of a bucket of toys purchased at a garage sale in Buffalo, New York, some 20 years ago. Now, the New Jersey couple who owned it has presented it to Daphne Drewello, director of the Alfred Dickey Public Library in Jamestown, North Dakota....
Jamestown (N. Dak.) Sun, Oct. 2
Indian college gets grant to preserve palm-leaf manuscripts
The United Theological College in Bangalore received $15,000 September 27 from U.S. Ambassador to India David C. Mulford for the preservation of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts and rare books. The funds will be also be used for creating microform copies....
The Hindu, Sept. 28
Most young people entering the workforce lack success skills
A new survey (PDF file) of leaders from a consortium of business research organizations finds the incoming generation sorely lacking in much needed workplace skills—both basic academic abilities and such skills as critical thinking, teamwork, and communication. The report, released October 2, is based on a detailed survey of 431 human resource officials conducted in April and May 2006 by the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Society for Human Resource Management....
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, Oct. 2
Ensuring the net generation is net savvy (PDF file)
Net Gen students may know the internet, but they are not necessarily “net savvy.” Exposed to huge quantities and multiple formats of information online, they are constantly challenged to sort valid from inaccurate information. Moreover, students are creating information, not just consuming it. This Educause Learning Initiative paper by George Lorenzo and Charles Dziuban explores the challenges students face online in effectively finding information, using technology, and thinking critically....
Educause, Sept.
Banned book boosters
Reference Librarian Adam Burke finds some shocking material to celebrate Banned Books Week, September 23–30, at Waubonsee Community College’s Todd Library in Sugar Grove, Illinois. The picture was one of 28 featured on its website showing staff and faculty in the act of reading. The library also covered its doors in plain brown paper with a peep hole, warning people who came in that they might see banned books....
Waubonsee Community College
RedLightGreen gone
Andrew Pace writes: “I got an e-mail today from the RedLightGreen team at RLG. RedLightGreen provided inspiration and set the bar in many respects long before anyone had uttered the words ‘next generation catalog.’ The much-lauded interface to the research union catalog is fading away in the wake of the OCLC/RLG merger. Fortunately, this is not as much a deprecation as it is a passing of the baton to WorldCat.org, which launched in beta status last month.”...
Hectic Pace, Oct. 4
Wisconsin schools losing certified media specialists
The number of Wisconsin school districts with certified librarians is declining, endangering the future achievement of Wisconsin students. According to a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction survey, this school year students have access to 70 fewer library media specialists than last year. During the 2005–2006 school year, 199 of Wisconsin’s 426 districts (46.7%) employed only one certified library media specialist....
Wisconsin Educational Media Association
Looking for a school library job overseas?
Have you always wanted to be a school librarian overseas but don't know where to start? If you are interested in a job for the 2007–2008 school year, now is the time to begin the application process. There are several firms that match teachers and librarians looking for jobs with schools seeking new teachers and librarians....
AASL blog, Sept. 26
Library Student Journal debuts
The University at Buffalo Department of Library and Information Studies has released the first (September) issue of Library Student Journal, an open-access, peer-reviewed journal for future information science professionals edited by students at the university. Articles include “Internet Filtering and the Adolescent Gay/Lesbian Patron” by David Brian Holt, and “The Role of Skepticism in Human-Information Behavior” by Michael J. Giarlo....
Library Student Journal
New NBC talk show holds essay contest for school libraries
NBC’s Megan Mullally Show is teaming up with Nestlé Toll House in a national essay and bake sale contest to raise money for school libraries. The contest will give schools the opportunity to win $25,000 for their libraries. Have your students explain why reading is important to them in 100 words or less by the October 13 deadline....
Megan Mullally Show, Sept. 21
Animal sounds, courtesy of the Macaulay Library
Cornell University’s Macaulay Library has the world’s largest archive of animal sounds. It has more than 160,000 recordings of 67% of the world’s birds, and rapidly increasing holdings of insects, fish, frogs, and mammals. The advanced search engine allows audio and video searches by common or scientific name, location, or recordist....
Macaulay Library
LC places 10,000th map online
The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress has placed the 10,000th map on its website, 10 years after the division began digitizing maps. The map is Samuel de Champlain’s 1607 vellum chart of the North American coast from Nova Scotia to Massachusetts....
LC Geography and Map Division, Sept. 27
NARA releases 2006 strategic plan
Preserving the Past to Protect the Future, the strategic plan (PDF file) of the National Archives and Records Administration 2006–2016, details NARA’s goals for the next 10 years, the strategies it will use to achieve those goals, and the measures by which it will evaluate progress....
National Archives and Records Administration
Two new JSTOR search prototypes
JSTOR subscribers can try out two new search prototypes in the organization’s Sandbox. One is an enhanced ARTstor search engine, and the other is a search protocol that allows search limits on particular disciplines or languages....
JSTOR, Sept. 29
ALA Midwinter Meeting,
January 19–24, 2007, Seattle, Washington.
The next deadline for Certified
Public Library Administrator applicants and providers is January 5.
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Choctaw storyteller Tim Tingle and author Lisa Yee are two of the featured speakers at the Joint
Conference of Librarians of Color, Dallas, October 11–15.
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