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June 13, 2007
Contents
U.S. & World News [#usworld]
ALA News [#alanews]
AL Focus [#alfocus]
Booklist Online [#booklist]
D.C. Update [#dcupdate]
Division News [#divisionnews]
Round Table News [#roundtable]
Awards [#awards]
Seen Online [#seenonline]
Tech Talk [#techtalk]
Actions & Answers [#actionsanswers]
Calendar [#datebook]
[http://www.sirsidynix.com/Newsevents/Events/event_2007_ala.php]
[http://www.sirsidynix.com]
U.S. & World News
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12 CIC universities join Google Library Project
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/june2007/cicgoogle.cfm]
The 12 universities that make up the Committee on Institutional Cooperation announced June 6 that
they would join the Google Books Library Project, making up to 10 million volumes from their
collections available for digitization and access through Google’s search engine....
case [http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/june2007/vamosappeal.cfm]
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments June 6 in a lawsuit
against the Miami–Dade County School Board for ordering the removal of the children’s
book Vamos a Cuba and its English-language counterpart A Visit to Cuba from elementary school
libraries. The board’s attorney, Richard Ovelmen, told the judges that “The books are
rife with factual omissions, misrepresentations, and inaccuracies that render them educationally
unsuitable,” adding that they fail to mention that Cuba is a dictatorship....
Occult concerns jinx teen read program
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/june2007/occulteasley.cfm]
Pickens County (S.C.) Library System officials have withdrawn the library’s participation in
a nationwide teen reading program (right) within days of its scheduled June 7 launch due to
11th-hour threats against the library, PCLS Director Marguerite Keenan told American Libraries.
“My understanding is that it was announced at a church service that we were promoting
witchcraft and teaching other religions in our young adult program,” Keenan explained....
Laura Bush opens American collection at German library
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/june2007/bushgermany.cfm]
First Lady Laura Bush presented 100 books in English and spoke to around 60 children as part of
the June 6 launch of the “America @ your library” program at the Schwerin City Library
in Schwerin, Germany. The program, introduced to the country by the U.S. embassy in 2005, is
available in 18 public libraries, 12 of which were once part of communist East Germany....
Arkansas court rules against 2005 library appropriations
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/june2007/arkspcourt.cfm]
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled June 7 that money approved by the state legislature in 2005 for
two library projects was appropriated unconstitutionally. Lawmakers had allocated $190,000 for a
new facility for the Jacksonville branch of the Central Arkansas Library System and $50,000 for
the Cleburne County Library in Heber Springs directly from the General Improvement Fund, rather
than making the funds available to the Arkansas State Library to disburse....
Hill Reference Library closes railroad magnate’s archive
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/june2007/hillreflibrary.cfm]
After more than 30 years of owning the personal papers of railroad magnate James J. Hill
(1838–1916), the James J. Hill Reference Library is looking for a new home for them. The
private business reference library in Saint Paul, Minnesota, closed the archive June 1 after
announcing that it no longer matched the library’s mission of providing practical
information to the global business community....
British publishers, universities donate 300 textbooks to Iraq
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2007/june2007/britiraqbooks.cfm]
A delivery of some 300 academic textbooks donated by 21 British academic libraries and publishers
was delivered to the Iraq National Library and Archives in Baghdad this week. Worth an estimated
$30,000, the books are the gift of the British Library’s Higher Education section, working
with the Society of College, National, and University Libraries, which launched an appeal in
February for undergraduate and postgraduate English texts in the social sciences....
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[http://www.hwwilson.com]
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ALA News
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President’s Program features Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/alapp07.htm]
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will join ALA President Leslie Burger for a discussion on the important role
of our nation’s Environmental Protection Agency libraries. The program, titled “A Contract With
Our Future,” will be held June 24 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. during ALA Annual Conference. Kennedy and
Burger will discuss what steps need to be taken in order to ensure that future generations have
access to environmental information, and live in an environment that is safe, clean, and
beautiful....
Julie Andrews to sign books for 100 lucky buyers
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/JulieAndrewstosignbooks.htm]
In the prefunction area outside Ballroom C immediately following her June 25 program, stage and
screen legend Julie Andrews will sign books for 100 lucky holders of a voucher available with
purchase of an Andrews title from the ALA Store, where her latest books will be on sale—The
Great American Mousical and Thanks to You: Wisdom from Mother and Child....
President-Elect Roy honored with Native American dance
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/honordance.htm]
On Friday, June 22, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., hundreds will gather at the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of the American Indian at Fourth Street and Independence Ave., S.W., in
Washington, D.C., to recognize ALA President-Elect Loriene Roy with an honor dance and drum music.
The event recognizes Roy’s accomplishment as the first American Indian to serve as ALA
president....
Vartan Gregorian to speak at Opening Session
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/VartanGregoriantospeak.htm]
Vartan Gregorian, president of the philanthropic Carnegie Corporation of New York, will speak at
the ALA Annual Conference Opening General Session, sharing the stage with former U.S. Senator Bill
Bradley. The program is scheduled for June 23, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in Hall D of the Washington
Convention Center, and will begin with a screening of 100 Years of American Libraries in Three
Minutes, a rapid-fire video history of the magazine on the occasion of its centennial....
Many Voices, One Nation
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/BuildingOneNationManyVoi.htm]
ALA will showcase the diverse voices of our world at the “Many Voices, One Nation” program, an
evening of literature and performance during Annual Conference, June 22, from 7 to 10 p.m. Join
Nancy Garden, Patrice Gaines, E. Ethelbert Miller, and other writers and artists as they weave a
tapestry of spoken words, song, and dance celebrating our fundamental unity within the global
human family....
Free internet safety bookmarks available at Annual Conference
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/ALAMySpaceILAonlinesaf.htm]
ALA is joining with MySpace and the Illinois Library Association to distribute one million free
bookmarks containing tips on internet safety at the 2007 Annual Conference. The bookmarks are
printed as a series, each aimed at a specific audience including kids, teens, and parents. By
distributing these bookmarks, MySpace and the library community hope to help educate youth and
parents to make safe and informed decisions online....
REFORMA program on English-only censorship
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/jkeo.htm]
Congressman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz., right) and Office for Intellectual Freedom Director Judith
Krug will speak about the impact that English-only initiatives have on children and young adult
library services. The program will be held 1:30–330 p.m., June 24. The program will address the
critical need for library workers to learn how to confront English-only initiatives....
Panel features tech writers and exhibitors
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/ALtechpanel.htm]
American Libraries “Technically Speaking” columnist Andrew Pace and Smart Libraries
Newsletter writer Marshall Breeding will moderate a first-ever panel discussion with leading
technologists from seven major library vendors. Titled “Speaking Technically: A Conversation
about Cutting-Edge Library Automation and Technology,” the session will take place on the
LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage in the exhibit hall on Sunday, June 24, from 10:30 a.m. to
noon....
Library Worklife [http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/LibraryWorklifenewslette.htm]
The ALA–Allied Professional Association: The Organization for the Advancement of Library Employees
is sending out a free special issue [http://www.ala-apa.org/newsletter/4nspecial.html] of its
electronic newsletter, Library Worklife: HR E-News for Today’s Leaders to individual and
institutional ALA members. Twenty-six of the most popular articles since 2004 are included....
AL Focus
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launches AL Focus video site
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/ALFocusVideoSite.htm]
American Libraries has launched AL Focus, [http://alfocus.ala.org/] a video component of the
American Libraries Online [http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/index.cfm] website. AL Focus is the
creation of AL Associate Editor Daniel Kraus and ALA Internet Development Specialist Jenny Levine.
Kraus is an accomplished filmmaker whose works include the documentaries Sheriff and the feature
film Ball of Wax. He will be in charge of producing and editing video and audio for the new
site....
Bibliotheca Alexandrina 5th anniversary [http://alfocus.ala.org/node/17]
American Libraries Editor in Chief Leonard Kniffel visits (4:42) the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in
Alexandria, Egypt, for the library’s 5th anniversary. Kniffel takes in some of the local sights
(including the ancient library at Serapeum, circa 297 A.D.), and speaks to Library Director Ismail
Serageldin and Chief Librarian Sohair Wastawy, among others....
ALA Wheel of Confusion #1 [http://alfocus.ala.org/node/23]
TESLA? ANSS? ECRR? Join us in a lighthearted look (5:22) at those confounding ALA acronyms with
staff members Charles Wilt, Marci Merola, and Adam Burling. Can any of them overcome the mighty
wheel? Featuring host extraordinaire John Chrastka and the woman with the answers (most of them,
anyway), Karen Muller....
Donavan Vicha on ASCLA and RUSA [http://alfocus.ala.org/node/20]
ALA Manager for Membership Development John Chrastka sits down (or stands up, actually) with
Donavan Vicha, Web Program Officer for ASCLA and RUSA (10:37). John finds Donavan right in the
middle of an online class being held in the virtual world of Second Life, and they use the
opportunity to chat about avatars, virtual book talks, voice-to-voice interface, Moodle, and
RUSA’s section of ALA/Arts Island in Second Life....
Featured review: Reference
[http://www.booklistonline.com/default.aspx?page=show_product&pid=1900288]
Shearer, Benjamin F., editor. Home Front Heroes: A Biographical Dictionary of Americans during
Wartime. Jan. 2007. 3 vols., 935p. Greenwood (978-0-313-33420-7).
Here is a unique A–Z biographical dictionary that profiles 1,001 individuals whose actions
“affected how the United States made, supported, perceived, and protested its major war
efforts from the Revolution to Gulf War II.” The editor is a librarian who has written and
edited several reference works, and the 65 contributors are experts in history and other relevant
areas. Numerous black-and-white portraits enhance the biographical sketches, which highlight the
subjects’ wartime contributions (although some oddly allude to multiple marriages and
offspring when those details seem irrelevant)....
@ Visit Booklist Online [http://www.booklistonline.com/] for other reviews and much more....
D.C. Update
====================================================================================================
A guide to dining in D.C.’s Penn’s Quarter
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/resources/selectedarticles/0607restaurant_guide.pdf] (PDF file)
In this Annual Conference restaurant guide, DC Public Library’s Elena Tscherny reveals that
Washington is the culinary paradise of the East. She writes: “My husband Alex, already enjoying
his retirement from the Library of Congress, is my constant companion in our weekly explorations
of the wonderful downtown restaurants offering local and international cuisines.”...
American Libraries 38, no. 6 (June/July): 112–117
Family and friends at ALA Annual Conference
[http://wikis.ala.org/annual2007/index.php/Bring_the_Family_/_Friends]
You can purchase one of three types of passes for your people: Exhibits Only at $25, Exhibits Plus
at $35, or Exhibits Supreme at $50. You can purchase them on site. All passes are four-day passes,
but can be used on any single day or combination of days....
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum [http://www.ushmm.org/]
The museum, located at 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, S.W., has on ongoing special exhibition on the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion. “A Dangerous Lie” explores the continuing impact of the most
widely distributed antisemitic publication of modern times. Today, technology has made the
Protocols available to anyone with internet access, and it continues to be circulated by those who
promote hatred, violence, and even genocide....
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Drumming, anyone? [http://www.drumcircle.com/vmc/arthur.html]
If you missed the drum circle at the ACRL National Conference, you can catch another at Annual.
Ethnomusicologist Arthur Hull, the father of the modern-day community drum circle movement, will
lead a two-hour community group drumming event open to everyone at all levels (cost is $5), and
with drums and other percussion instruments provided. It will be Saturday, June 23, 3 to 5 p.m.,
at the National Music Center [http://www.nationalmusiccenter.org/], 801 K Street, N.W. Contact
Keith Russell [mailto:krussell@ku.edu] for more details....
Village Music Circles
Division News
====================================================================================================
YA authors LIVE on stage
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/YALSALIVEyourlibrary.htm]
Join YALSA Monday, June 25, for an afternoon featuring contemporary young adult authors at the
LIVE! @ your library Reading Stage at the ALA Annual Conference. The event will feature Carolyn
Mackler, Nick Hornby, Gene Luen Yang, and others....
New LITA guide on interactive technologies
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/LITAGuidepreorder.htm]
LITA Guide #13, Using Interactive Technologies in Libraries, is now available for preordering.
Edited by Katherine Hanson and H. Frank Cervone and published by Neal-Schuman and LITA, the guide
will be available on June 13. Leading information professionals offer helpful forecasts for the
future of such major technologies as RSS, wikis, blogs, and podcasting....
PLA introduces new Toolkit for Success
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/PLAToolkitforSuccess.htm]
PLA will introduce its latest publication, Libraries Prosper with Passion, Purpose and Persuasion:
A PLA Toolkit for Success, at ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. The toolkit provides
guidance for the entire advocacy planning process, including goal setting, audience analysis and
identification, message and strategy development, and tactic evaluation and selection. PLA will
present a demonstration of the contents and application of the toolkit on Sunday, June 24, from
1:30 to 3:30....
Round Table News
====================================================================================================
CLENERT Annual Conference events [http://www.ala.org/ala/clenert/conferences/conferences.htm]
“Learning When There Is No Time to Learn” and “Learning for Library Staff” are two Continuing
Library Education and Networking Exchange Round Table programs at Annual Conference....
FAFLRT Annual Conference events [http://www.ala.org/ala/faflrt/Default3440.htm]
The Federal and Armed Forces Libraries Round Table is offering tours of the U.S. Census Bureau
Library at Annual Conference....
GLBTRT Annual Conference events [http://isd.usc.edu/~trimmer/glbtrt/alaannual2007sch.html]
“Aging Issues for GLBT Patrons” and “Addressing the Information Needs of Female-to-Male
Transsexuals” are two Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table programs at Annual
Conference....
IRRT Annual Conference events [http://www.ala.org/ala/irrt/annualmtgs.htm]
“International Library Partnerships” and “Opportunities to Participate in Global Library
Development” are two International Relations Round Table programs at Annual Conference....
LHRT Annual Conference events
[http://www.ala.org/ala/lhrt/conferenceinfo/conferenceinformation.htm]
“Washington, the Nation, and the World: Papers in Honor of John Y. Cole” and “Library Policies of
American Occupation: Japan Was Not Iraq” are two Library History Round Table programs at Annual
Conference....
LIRT Annual Conference events [http://www3.baylor.edu/LIRT/program.html]
The Library Instruction Round Table is hosting a program on “It’s Showtime for Instruction
Librarians! The Making of Short Films for Marketing and Instruction” at Annual Conference....
LRRT Annual Conference events
[http://www.ala.org/ala/lrrt/conferenceinformationab/lrrtconfinfo.htm]
“Information Seeking Behavior from Childhood through College” and “Research: A User Experience”
are two Library Research Round Table programs at Annual Conference....
LSSIRT Annual Conference events
[http://www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2007a/supportstaff.htm]
The Library Support Staff Interests Round Table is co-hosting the “Conference Within a Conference”
at Annual Conference....
MAGERT Annual Conference events [http://www.ala.org/ala/magert/meetingsa/ann2007.htm]
“Library Security for Maps” and “200 Years of the Coast Survey” are two Map and Geography Round
Table programs at Annual Conference....
NMRT Annual Conference events
[http://www.ala.org/ala/nmrt/conferencesmeetings/washingtonannual2007/annual2007.htm]
“Navigating the Rapids: Myths and Realities of Intergenerational Workplaces” and “Using Past Lives
to Launch Your Library Career” are two New Members Round Table programs at Annual Conference....
SORT Annual Conference events [http://www.ala.org/ala/sort/sortatconference/sortconference.htm]
The Staff Organizations Round Table is sponsoring walking tours to explore historic sites near
DuPont Circle at Annual Conference....
SRRT Annual Conference events [http://libr.org/srrt/news/srrt158.pdf] (PDF file)
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Multicultural Idea Exchange” and “Darfur: The Library’s
Responsibility and Our Community’s Need to Know” are two Social Responsibilities Round Table
programs at Annual Conference....
Awards
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FTRF Roll of Honor Award
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/ThomasFreedomtoReadAward.htm]
Lucille C. Thomas, immediate past president of the Brooklyn Public Library’s board of
trustees and former assistant director of the New York City Board of Education’s Office of
Library, Media, and Telecommunications, is the recipient of the 2007 Freedom to Read Foundation
Roll of Honor Award. Thomas is a longtime advocate of the principles of intellectual freedom and
equity of access to information in public and school libraries....
W. Y. Boyd Literary Award
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/WYBoydLiteraryAward.htm]
Robert Mrazek’s novel The Deadly Embrace is the winner of the W. Y. Boyd Literary Award for
Excellence in Military Fiction for 2007. “It is a very compelling tale that enables the
reader to obtain a perspective of what it was really like in war-weary England in the days before
the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944,” said jury chair Robert Schnare....
Six Spectrum doctoral fellows announced
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/Inaugural6Spectrum.htm]
The first six recipients of the Spectrum Doctoral Fellowship have been announced by ALA and the
University of Pittsburgh School of Information Sciences: Janet Ceja Alcalá (University of
Pittsburgh), Tammy Mays (University of Wisconsin at Madison), Liladhar Pendse (University of
California at Los Angeles), Elisabeth Rodriguez (University of Pittsburgh), J. Brenton Stewart
(University of Wisconsin at Madison), and Vivian Wong (University of California at Los Angeles)....
AASL Distinguished School Administrators Award
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/2007AASLDistinguishedAwa.htm]
Nathan S. Greenberg has won AASL’s 2007 Distinguished School Administrators Award. Greenberg is
superintendent of schools in the Londonderry (N.H.) School District and a member of the Board of
Directors of the New England School Development Council....
Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize [http://libr.org/plg/2007Braverman.php]
Marcel LaFlamme has been awarded the 2007 Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize by the Progressive
Librarians Guild for his essay titled “Towards a Progressive Discourse on Community Needs
Assessment: Perspectives from Collaborative Ethnography and Action Research.” LaFlamme is enrolled
in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons College in Boston....
Progressive Librarians Guild, June 6
FLICC awards for federal librarianship [http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2007/07-130.html]
The Federal Library and Information Center Committee has announced the winners of its national
awards for federal librarianship, which recognize the many innovative ways that federal libraries,
librarians, and library technicians fulfill the information demands of government, business, and
scholarly communities and the American public. The award for Federal Librarian of the Year went to
Carla Pomager, systems/acquisition librarian for the Army General Library Program....
Library of Congress, June 12
Seen Online
====================================================================================================
Inmates file lawsuit over book ban
[http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--prisonbookban0610jun10,0,1153411.story]
Inmates at the federal prison camp in Otisville, New York, were stunned at what they saw at the
chapel library on Memorial Day: Hundreds of books missing from the shelves, part of a post-Sept.
11 federal directive designed to prevent radical religious texts from falling into the hands of
violent inmates. Three prisoners have filed a lawsuit over the policy, saying their constitutional
rights were violated. They say all religions were affected—Islamic prayer books, Christian books,
and ancient Jewish texts were among those removed....
Associated Press, June 10
Kentucky library identifies rare sculpture [http://www.kentucky.com/139/story/93651.html]
Late last year, a sculpture sitting inside the front entrance of the Paris–Bourbon County
(Ky.) Public Library [http://www.bourbonlibrary.org/brideofspring.htm] for 30 years was an artwork
created by Edmonia Lewis in the 1870s and long considered lost. The Bride of Spring (right) is a
rare creation by the first African-American and Native American female sculptor to gain
international fame....
Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, June 10; Paris-Bourbon County Public Library
Incoming freshmen and summer reading [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/articles/070607/7summer.htm]
Many of next fall’s first-year college students have thrown their tasseled caps in the air and are
ready to pick up the sunscreen and surfboards, but there may be another item to put in the beach
bag: a book assigned by the university. In an attempt to welcome students to the college classroom
experience before they even move into the dorms, a growing number of universities are dishing out
summer reading assignments to their first-year students....
U.S. News & World Report, June 7
Santa Clara University’s Second Life
[http://media.www.thesantaclara.com/media/storage/paper946/news/2007/05/24/Scene/Santa.Clara.Enters.
Virtual.World.In.second.Life-2907420.shtml]
With the completion of Santa Clara Island imminent, Santa Clara University is expanding into the
internet game called Second Life. The island features three digital replicas of campus buildings:
the de Saisset Museum, Mission Church, and a completed version of the library currently under
construction. The virtual library has the most functionality. A small staff of librarians and
assistants can help visitors through chatting and possibly voice communications when that feature
is added to the game....
The Santa Clara, May 24
America’s obsession with secrecy
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802496.html]
Case Western Reserve University Journalism Professor Ted Gup writes: “Today the nation’s obsession
with secrecy is redefining public and private institutions and taking a toll on the lives of
ordinary citizens. Excessive secrecy is at the root of multiple scandals—the phantom weapons of
mass destruction, the collapse of Enron, the tragedies traced to Firestone tires and the arthritis
drug Vioxx, and more. In this self-proclaimed Information Age, our country is on the brink of
becoming a secretocracy, a place where the right to know is being replaced by the need to know.”...
Washington Post, June 10
Egypt says university must allow veils
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/09/AR2007060900641.html]
An Egyptian court ruled June 9 that a U.S.-accredited university in Cairo was wrong to bar a
female scholar who wears an Islamic face veil from using its facilities. The American University
in Cairo, seen as a bastion of Western liberal education in Egypt, had revoked Iman al-Zainy’s
longstanding library privileges after she donned the niqab, a face veil that leaves only the
wearer's eyes uncovered....
Reuters, June 9
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[http://www.maintainitproject.org/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=AL%2BDirect]
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Tech Talk
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Drupal, Joomla, and Moodle: Tools to use
[http://www.techsource.ala.org/blog/2007/06/unsucking-online-education-part-two.html]
With Drupal and Joomla, you can build a website that contains forums, bulletin boards, chat rooms,
blogs, media, document editing, newsletters, customizable RSS feeds, calendars, and much more.
Moodle combines many of the social software tools we love, like RSS and wikis, with the
functionality and layout of a traditional course management tool....
ALA TechSource blog, June 6
Ebrary’s e-book survey [http://www.ebrary.com/corp/newspdf/ebrary_survey_release.pdf] (PDF
file)
Content provider ebrary has compiled the results of its informal e-book survey conducted to better
understand the digital content needs of the library community. Anyone interested in receiving a
copy may register [http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=kqxPd1nXcrb9lRVf9ZWjQQ%3d%3d] or visit
the ebrary booth at ALA Annual Conference. One finding was that respondents ranked Google and
other search engines as the least prevalent factor driving e-book usage....
Ebrary, June 11
LibGuides integrates with Facebook [http://www.springshare.com/libguides/index.html]
LibGuides is a system for publishing information and creating social networks centered around
library resources. Librarians create Guides that contain any kind of content, then publish them
online for users to interact with. LibGuides is also available from Facebook
[http://www.springshare.com/libguides/facebook.html], enabling users to access the library
content, chat with reference librarians, and even search the catalog, all from their facebook
homepages....
Springshare
Shameless self-promotion
[http://blogs.ala.org/pace.php?title=shameless_self_promotion&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1]
Andrew Pace writes: “Many of you have perhaps heard that I am moderating a debate at ALA Annual
Conference in Washington, D.C., titled ‘The Ultimate Debate,’ Saturday, June 23, from 1:30 to 3:30
p.m. I hope you will join me and the debaters—Karen Schneider, Joe Janes, and Stephen
Abram—as we discuss ‘Do Libraries Innovate?’ For pre-debate rabble-rousing, see the LITA-L
list archives [http://lists.ala.org/wws/arc/lita-l]!”...
Hectic Pace blog, June 13
[http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/keyboard]Browser keyboard shortcuts
[http://www.mozilla.org/support/firefox/keyboard]
Mozilla offers a complete list of Firefox keyboard shortcuts and their Internet Explorer and Opera
equivalents. Discover the wonders of Alt + Home, Ctrl + U, Ctrl + L, and Ctrl + Plus sign....
Mozilla.com
How Bluetooth works [http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/bluetooth.htm]
There are lots of different ways that electronic devices can connect to one another. This article
takes a look at a method of connecting devices called Bluetooth that can streamline the process. A
Bluetooth connection is wireless and automatic, and it has a number of interesting features that
can simplify our daily lives....
How Stuff Works
A historical glimpse into library automation
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/techspeaking/2007columns/techjune.cfm]
Andrew Pace writes: “I love those old volumes of the Journal of Library Automation, precursor to
Information Technology and Libraries, LITA’s scholarly publication. The forefathers of library
automation (sorry, they seem to have been all men in that first issue) were there for the 1968
inaugural issue—Ned Morris, Richard Johnson, Robert Wedgeworth, Richard Chapin, Dale
Pretzer, and, one of my absolute favorites, Richard De Gennaro. They wrote about Texas A&I’s
acquisitions system, Stanford’s book catalog, Brown’s fund-accounting system,
machine-readable shelf lists, and the nascent history of library automation.”...
“Technically Speaking,” American Libraries 38, no. 6 (June/July): 52
Actions & Answers
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Web 2.0: The sleep of reason
[http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main/2007/06/web-20-the-sleep-of-reason-part-i/]
Michael Gorman expresses his views on the internet and credulity to get the ball rolling in an
ongoing forum on Web 2.0 [http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main/category/web-20-forum/]: “Bloggers
are called ‘citizen journalists’; alternatives to Western medicine are increasingly popular,
though we can thank our stars there is no discernable ‘citizen surgeon’ movement.” In part 2
[http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main/2007/06/web-20-the-sleep-of-reason-part-ii/], he rants,
“Digital Maoism is an unholy brew made up of the digital utopianism that hailed the internet as
the second coming of Haight-Ashbury—everyone’s tripping and it’s all free; pop
sociology derived from misreading books such as James Surowiecki’s 2004 The Wisdom of
Crowds.”...
Britannica Blog, June 11–12
Book ads: The Golden Age, 1962–1973
[http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/book-ads-the-golden-age-1962-1973/]
Advertisements for books have been around nearly as long as books themselves, and in the New York
Times, they’ve appeared since shortly after the first issue of the newspaper went to press
in September 1851. The Times Paper Cuts blog takes a look at ads from the Golden Age, when they
were fresh, pushy, serious, and wry, often all at the same time. There was a new sense of
electricity in the culture and in the book world....
Paper Cuts, June 11
Lit 50: Who really books in Chicago [http://www.newcitychicago.com/chicago/6583.html]
The Chicago literary community has entered one of its most tumultuous times, what with the
prospects of a major Borders retreat and the closing of the Virgin Megastore and Tower Records,
along with the near-death experience of one of Chicago’s best-known independents, Women and
Children First. But there are many Chicago literary movers and shakers who keep the books in the
stores and in our minds....
NewCity Chicago, June 5
Char’s BookExpo superlatives
[http://kittylady5.blogspot.com/2007/06/book-expo-nyc-2007-chars-annual-awards.html]
Char Gwizdala, a librarian at Queens (N.Y.) Library, offers her take on the best events at
BookExpo this year, among them the most patient author (Matthew Reinhart, right), the yummiest
give-away, the coolest picture-taking event, the most socially conscious exhibitor, the coolest
and most unassuming couple, and the best swag....
Char’s blog, June 3
Bartlesville update [http://maureenjohnson.blogspot.com/2007/06/big-bad-bartlesville-update.html]
Maureen Johnson, whose book The Bermudez Triangle is under reconsideration by the Bartlesville
(Okla.) Mid-High school, writes: “The first thing is that the only librarian on the committee, the
only person who stood up for the book . . . was removed from her position as a chair of one of the
library committees by Janet Vernon, the head of the committee, and the person who still refuses to
talk to me about the book.”...
Maureen’s Blog, June 8
Google adjusts privacy policy
[http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9024403]
Google will make the data it stores about end users anonymous in its server logs after 18 months,
according to a June 11 blog post [http://googleblog.blogspot.com/] by the company’s global privacy
counsel. Previously, Google had said
[http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9013159] it
would make the data anonymous after 18 to 24 months. The decision comes in the wake of a letter
(PDF file [http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/fsj/privacy/news/docs/pr_google_16_05_07_en.pdf]) sent
in May from a European Union data protection working group regarding the company’s privacy
policies and a report [http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-553961]
released June 9 by Privacy International that ranked
[http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9024239] Google
worse than any other internet company in protecting user privacy....
Computerworld, June 12
LC to name National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
[http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2007/07-128.html]
The Library of Congress has created the post of National Ambassador for Young People’s
Literature. Appointed for a two-year term by the Librarian of Congress, the ambassador will speak
to the importance of fiction and nonfiction in the lives of young people. The appointment of the
first ambassador will be announced in January 2008....
Library of Congress, June 7
FSU chemist preserves LC materials [http://www.fsu.edu/news/2007/06/04/library.preservation/]
This summer, a Florida State University chemist will use his knowledge of cellulose, a key
component of paper, to help the world’s largest library find ways to preserve its vast treasure
trove of books, manuscripts, maps, newspapers, and pamphlets, many irreplaceable. André Striegel,
assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at FSU, has been invited to serve as the first
Preservation Research and Testing Professor in Residence at the Library of Congress Preservation
Research and Testing Division....
Florida State University, June 4
Grants to Native American libraries [http://www.imls.gov/news/2007/061207.shtm]
The Institute of Museum and Library Services June 12 awarded Native American tribes across the
country $1.3 million in grants to improve library services. In all, 229 grants will strengthen
library service for 237 Native American tribal communities and Alaska Native villages....
Institute of Museum and Library Services, June 12
Literacy and learning at the Multnomah County Library [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP7uexIzotQ]
Produced by Portfolio Productions for the Library Foundation in Portland, Oregon, this video
(3:55) illustrates how Multnomah County Library’s innovative literacy and reading programs
inspire the practice of reading for life....
YouTube, May 24
National Library of Australia to add WorldCat records
[http://www.oclc.org/news/releases/200664.htm]
The National Library of Australia has agreed to add some 12 million bibliographic records to
WorldCat, making these records visible to web searchers worldwide. Australian libraries will use
WorldCat to catalog, find, and share library materials....
OCLC, June 11
[http://www.ala.org/ala/eventsandconferencesb/annual/2007a/geninfo.htm]
As the demand for library service continues to climb, more than 20,000 library professionals and
supporters will gather in Washington, D.C., from June 21 to 27 at the Washington Convention Center
for the ALA Annual Conference, [http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2007/june2007/acr07.htm] the
largest library conference in the world.
[http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=catalog&_pn=product_detail&_op=1294]
[http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=catalog2&_pn=product_detail&_op=2250]
Judy Nichols’s Storytimes for Two-Year-Olds
[http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=catalog2&_pn=product_detail&_op=2250] outlines
techniques and programs proven to engage young audiences—ultimately making them lifelong readers.
This classic bestseller, first published in 1987 and expanded in 1998, returns in a refreshed
third edition in 2007. A classic! From ALA Editions.
[http://www.ala.org/ala/ourassociation/governanceb/electioninfo/alaelectioninfo.htm]
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alctscontent/alctslrts50/alctslrts50.htm]
[http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/conferencesandevents/national/pressoffice/registrationopen.htm]
[http://www.ala-apa.org/salaries/confprograms.html]
[http://www.ala.org/ala/lita/litaevents/litanationalforum2007denver/forum2007.cfm]
[http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla73/registration-en.htm]
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/campaign/whatsnew/annual2007.htm]
Consider going to these public relations, marketing, and advocacy programs
[http://www.ala.org/ala/pio/campaign/whatsnew/annual2007.htm] from the ALA Public Awareness
Committee and the ALA Washington Office.
In this issue
June/July 2007
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/tableofcontents/2007contents/june2007.cfm]
An AL Timeline
ALA Presidents Speak across a Century
Ken Burns Archives America
Librarians of Congress
Conference Preview
Career Leads from
[http://joblist.ala.org/]
Content Services Manager,
[http://joblist.ala.org/modules/jobseeker/controller.cfm?scr=jobdetail&jobid=6614] WebJunction,
Seattle, Washington. WebJunction is hiring immediately for a Content Services Manager to oversee
the team running several web content programs and services. The Content Services Manager will
manage all existing and new web content products and services, and will leverage online community
building tools to increase the value of content offerings....
@ More jobs [http://joblist.ala.org/]...
[http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2007/jun07/jun07.htm]
[http://www.techsource.ala.org/ltr/open-source-software-for-libraries.html]
Casey Bisson, with the help of Jessamyn West and Ryan Eby, reports on open source software and its
use and importance in libraries in the May/June issue
[http://www.techsource.ala.org/ltr/open-source-software-for-libraries.html] of Library Technology
Reports.
[http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washevents/woannual/dayonthehill/dayonthehill.cfm?CFID=11313872&CFTO
KEN=59782366]
Library Day on the Hill.
[http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/washevents/woannual/dayonthehill/dayonthehill.cfm?CFID=11313872&CFTO
KEN=59782366] On Tuesday, June 26, busloads of librarians and library supporters from across the
country will descend upon Capitol Hill to call attention to the value of today’s libraries, as
well as the issues the library community is facing. The event is free but does require
registration. There will be buses leaving from the 7th St. entrance of the Convention Center and
going to a drop point on Capitol Hill.
Public Perception
How the World
Sees Us
“I am inclined to think, sir, that perhaps the two most valuable and satisfactory characteristic
products of American civilization are the librarian, on the one hand, and the cocktail on the
other. I will not attempt, sir, the delicate question of deciding which is best, but I am given to
understand that some of us have sampled both and found them equally satisfactory and equally
stimulating.”
?Croydon (England) Public Librarian L. Stanley Jast, responding on behalf of overseas visitors to
a welcoming address by Louisiana Purchase Exposition President David Francis, at the first session
of ALA Annual Conference, Oct. 17, 1904, held at the St. Louis World’s Fair.
From the CentenniAL Blog
American Libraries has just introduced AL Focus [http://alfocus.ala.org], a new site for video
content. But it’s not even our first attempt at a regular video series: That was Library Video
Magazine,
[http://blogs.ala.org/AL100.php?title=the_library_video_magazine_experiment&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1]
whose story began in 1983. A brief news mention in the February issue (p. 105) announced the
availability of “a pioneering ‘ALA-TV Conference ’83’ telecast” for people unable to attend
Annual. AL Editor Art Plotnik coordinated production of the program, a five-hour telecast of
conference highlights and a live “bibliographic institute” with call-in questions, viewed by 2,500
people at about 120 sites around the United States and Canada. Appearing in the broadcast were
library leaders such as Plotnik, Henriette Avram, Linda Crismond, and Peggy Barber, and
celebrities like Ray Bradbury, Richard Attenborough, and LeVar Burton....
See the Blog
[http://blogs.ala.org/AL100.php?title=technology_coverage_part_2_the_first_kil_1943&more=1&c=1&tb=1&
pb=1] for more....
[http://blogs.ala.org/AL100.php]
[http://www.ala.org/ala/alctscontent/alctslrts50/alctslrts50.htm]
[http://www.ala.org/ala/lama/lamapublications/laandm/lamhome/lamonline.htm]
Discover 50 years of LAMA’s legacy in “A Brief History and Timeline of the Library Administration
and Management Association, 1957–2007,” by Robert Daugherty and Robert F. Moran Jr. in the Summer
issue of Library Administration & Management (PDF file
[http://www.ala.org/ala/lama/lamapublications/laandm/lamhome/21n3_daugherty_moran.pdf]).
Ask the ALA Librarian
[http://www.alastore.ala.org/SiteSolution.taf?_sn=catalog2&_pn=product_detail&_op=1992]
Q. Due to staff shortages in recent years, our collection hasn’t been weeded in a while. With some
recent new hires and volunteers, we began the process. But it’s become abundantly clear that there
will be many discards, and we don’t have the space to sell all of these to the patrons. We’d be
willing to donate them. Do you know of anyone that could use them?
A. We’re glad you’ve been able to return to weeding, which is an important (if sometimes
misunderstood) step in collection evaluation and development.
[http://wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/index.php/Collection_Development] See the ALA Professional
Tips wiki [http://wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/index.php/Weeding_and_Library_Discards] for
further assistance.
The ALA Librarian [mailto:AskTheLibrarian@ala.org] welcomes your questions.
Calendar
ALA Courses
July 1–30: Pain in the Brain: Adolescent Development and Library Behavior
[http://www.ala.org/yalsa], Power Programming for Teens [http://www.ala.org/yalsa], and Using
Electronic Databases with Teens [http://www.ala.org/yalsa]. Online courses offered by YALSA.
Register by June 15.
July 1–Aug. 10: Making the Match: Finding the Right Book for the Right Teen at the Right
Time [http://www.ala.org/yalsa]. Online course offered by YALSA. Register by June 15.
July 22–24: Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium
[http://gaming.techsource.ala.org/index.php/Main_Page], Chicago. Sponsored by ALA TechSource.
July 23–Aug. 17: Selecting Spanish-Language Materials for Adults
[HTTP://www.ala.org/ascla/]. Online course offered by ASCLA.
Aug. 5–10: ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians
[http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlevents/leadershipinstitute.htm], Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ongoing: ALA and the Southeast Florida Library Information Network offer ALA members more than
1,500 e-learning courses [HTTP://www.libraryelearning.org/ala/] from Element K.
Ongoing: AASL offers licenses to host a one-day regional institute, Collaborative Leadership
[HTTP://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/conferencesandevents/aaslregionalinstitutes/collaboration.htm].
Ongoing: LITA offers licenses to host several one-day regional institutes: User Centered Design:
Design Process and Usability
[HTTP://www.ala.org/ala/lita/litaevents/litaregionalinst/litaregional.htm], Establishing an
Institutional Repository
[HTTP://www.ala.org/ala/lita/litaevents/litaregionalinst/litaregional.htm], Wireless Networks in
Libraries [HTTP://www.ala.org/ala/lita/litaevents/litaregionalinst/litaregional.htm], and XML and
Libraries. [HTTP://www.ala.org/ala/lita/litaevents/litaregionalinst/litaregional.htm]
Ongoing: LAMA offers licenses to host several one-day regional institutes
[HTTP://www.ala.org/ala/lama/lamaevents/lamaregionalinstitutes/lamaregionalinst/lamaregional.htm].
Ongoing: PLA offers a variety of online courses through e-Learning @ PLA
[HTTP://www.ala.org/ala/pla/plaevents/elearningpla/elearningpla.htm].
Ongoing: ACRL offers a series of podcasts [http://blogs.ala.org/acrlpodcast.php] on issues in
academic librarianship.
@ More [http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/datebook/datebook.cfm]...
Contact Us
American Libraries Direct
AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter emailed every Wednesday to personal members of the
American Library Association [http://www.ala.org].
George M. Eberhart,
Editor:
geberhart@ala.org [mailto:geberhart@ala.org]
Daniel Kraus,
Associate Editor:
dkraus@ala.org [mailto:dkraus@ala.org]
Greg Landgraf,
Editorial Assistant:
glandgraf@ala.org [mailto:glandgraf@ala.org]
Karen Sheets,
Graphics and Design:
ksheets@ala.org [mailto:ksheets@ala.org]
Leonard Kniffel,
Editor-in-Chief,
American Libraries: lkniffel@ala.org [mailto:lkniffel@ala.org]
To advertise in American Libraries Direct, contact:
Brian Searles, bsearles@ala.org [mailto:bsearles@ala.org]
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All links outside the ALA website are provided for informational purposes only. Questions about
the content of any external site should be addressed to the administrator of that site.
American Libraries
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