Contents
U.S. & World News
ALA News
Booklist Online
Division News
Awards
Seen Online
Tech Talk
Publishing
Actions & Answers
Calendar

FBI seizes library computers; anthrax-case link suspected
The FBI removed two public-access computers from the Frederick County Public Libraries’ C. Burr Artz Library in downtown Frederick, Maryland, July 30, anticipating their return within a week. The seizure is thought to be connected to the case of Army scientist Bruce E. Ivins (right), the late suspect in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks. Two FBI agents took the computers without presenting a court order, although the library’s normal procedure for such requests requires one....
American Libraries Online, Aug. 6; CBS-TV, Aug. 6

D.C. mayor finds funding to save libraries
District of Columbia Mayor Adrian Fenty and Ginnie Cooper, chief librarian for D.C. Public Library, announced at an August 4 press conference that funding has been found to reverse $2 million in projected budget cuts that would have drastically cut library hours. “Residents can rest assured that they can continue to access all of D.C. Public Library’s resources seven days a week next year,” Fenty said, explaining that city officials never intended to trigger cuts to library service....
American Libraries Online, Aug. 6; WRC-TV, Aug. 4

Oxford University halts VTLS implementation
The University of Oxford and VTLS have ended their agreement to implement the Virtua library management system. The August 1 press release from Oxford announcing the decision noted several top-level personnel changes since the university contracted with VTLS in 2005, including the retirement of Oxford University Library Services Director Reg Carr, the departure of OULS Acting Director Ronald Milne, and the appointment of Sarah Thomas as Bodley’s librarian and director of OULS....
American Libraries Online, Aug. 6

Revamped website will debut in September
As it moves toward unveiling its redesigned website, ALA will spend August making the transition to a new information architecture. While that happens, ALA will leave the current website unchanged, with the exception of new American Libraries news stories, official press releases, and Washington Office notices. After Labor Day weekend, ALA will flip the switch on the new site, which will sport a new look and easier navigation (see the preview)....

New: The ALA Connections Salon
In an effort to provide opportunities for ALA members to connect with and learn from one another, ALA President Jim Rettig is creating an ALA Connections Salon. Like European discussion salons, it will provide an online environment for members to participate in formal and informal discussions on specific topics. The salons will take place on OPAL, a user-friendly site offering online rooms where participants can interact via voice-over-IP, text chatting, and synchronized browsing. A pilot salon will take place 2–3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, August 15. To join the discussion, log in to OPAL....

Picturing America, round two
The National Endowment for the Humanities, in cooperation with ALA, is now accepting applications for the second round of Picturing America program grants. Online applications will be accepted through October 31. Picturing America is a free educational resource that helps teach American history and culture by bringing some of our nation’s greatest works of art directly to classrooms and libraries....

Incentives to Step Up to the Plate
This summer, libraries across the country are engaging library users of all ages with the Step Up to the Plate @ your library program, developed by ALA and the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Libraries that bring in the most number of entries are eligible to win special prizes. The first-prize winner will receive a $100 bookstore gift certificate; a copy of Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” by Andy Strasberg, Bob Thompson, and Tim Wiles; and a baseball autographed by Ozzie Smith....

A hybrid ALA for 2015?
Steven Bell writes: “At the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, I was invited to speak at the official ALA Forum on E-Participation about my experience with e-participation within ACRL. I was surprised by the number of folks who had real concerns about opening up ALA to e-member participation. There are some hurdles to jump, but we have the technology to make it possible. I challenged ALA to become a totally hybrid organization by 2015. That means 50% regular members and 50% e-participation members, as well as a conference that offers 50% of its programming to remote participants using distance learning or webcasting platforms.”...
ACRLog, July 30

On the move with the mobile web
In the fifth issue of Library Technology Reports this year, author and library-technology blogger Ellyssa Kroski outlines the components of the mobile web—the users, the devices, the operating systems, the services, the content—and illuminates the research that tracks how users currently engage with information on the Web via their mobile devices. She also delineates several library mobile initiatives and provides a “how to” chapter for libraries interested in developing a mobile experience for their users....

New website will promote Banned Books Week
ALA and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression are launching a website that will help bookstores and libraries promote Banned Books Week, to be held this year from September 27 through October 4. A key feature will be a list that visitors can use to find participating bookstores and libraries in their communities. Libraries that would like to be listed can submit details of their Banned Books Week celebrations....

ALA endorses the Free Speech Protection Act
ALA has endorsed the Free Speech Protection Act of 2008 (S. 2977) (PDF file) and urged its passage as soon as possible in order to protect authors, publishers, and others in the United States from libel lawsuits filed in foreign countries. The bill was introduced following several notable defamation lawsuits filed in Great Britain and elsewhere against authors and publishers in the United States....

Loriene Roy offers NPR listeners her literary must-reads
Regular featured National Public Radio guest Loriene Roy has completed her term as president of ALA. In an exit interview with the program, Roy shares highlights from her time leading the Association, what the future holds for her, and one final list of suggested literary musts for the inquiring mind....
Tell Me More, National Public Radio, Aug. 5

Planning for next Joint Conference of Librarians of Color
The Steering Committee for the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color is making significant progress toward its next conference, slated for sometime in 2012. During the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, presidents of each of the five caucuses signed the JCLC Memorandum of Understanding and contributed their promised financial deposits for conference planning seed money....

Council actions posted
The ALA Council actions, agendas, and documents for the 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim are now available on the ALA website....

Celebrate Teen Read Week, October 12–18
Thanks in part to events like Teen Read Week, an annual initiative of YALSA, teen books now enjoy unprecedented critical success and popularity. Since 1998, Teen Read Week has encouraged teens to visit their public and school libraries, select their own reading material, and read for the fun of it. Teen Read Week 2008 will be celebrated in more than 4,000 libraries across the United States October 12–18. This year’s theme is “Books with Bite @ your library,” which promotes a variety of books from vampire stories to cooking to technology (bytes)....

AASL seeks proposals for 2009 conference
AASL is accepting proposals for concurrent and Exploratorium sessions at its 14th National Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The conference, “Rev Up Learning @ your library,” will be held November 5–8, 2009. Proposals should try to inform conference attendees of the new Standards for the 21st-Century Learner. Deadlines are December 1 for the concurrent session and March 30 for the Exploratorium session....

AASL seeks presenters for reading institute
AASL is accepting proposals from presenters for its “Reading and the Elementary School Library Media Specialist” licensed institute. Candidates are encouraged to apply before the August 18 deadline. The institute is designed specifically to address critical topics in reading for K–6 school library media specialists. Download the RFP (PDF file)....

Register for YALSA online courses
YALSA has opened registration for three online courses this fall: “Making the Match: The Right Book with the Right Teen at the Right Time” (Teri Lesesne); “New Technologies and New Literacies for Teens” (Linda Braun); and “Pain in the Brain” (Beth Gallaway)....

RUSA online CE courses
RUSA will offer four professional development opportunities online this fall. The topics are genealogy, business reference, the reference interview, and marketing basics. All courses will be administered using Moodle, an online course-management tool....

New RUSA award promotes African-American literature
RUSA will honor the life and work of Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960), a prominent voice in African-American literature, with a new award sponsored by Harper Perennial Publishing, a division of HarperCollins. The Zora Neale Hurston Award will recognize the efforts of a RUSA member who promotes African-American literature through a program, readers’ advisory project, or similar efforts in their library community. The deadline for nominations is December 1....

AASL offers $45,000 in awards
The AASL awards program will offer more than $45,000 in awards in 2009 to AASL members. The division’s nine awards recognize excellence and showcase best practices in the school library media field in categories that include research, collaboration, leadership, and innovation....

OverDrive awards go to 13 libraries
Digital distributor OverDrive presented Digital Pioneer Awards (“Digies”) to 13 libraries and consortia that demonstrated excellence in the expansion and promotion of their digital download websites. The awards were presented at Digipalooza ’08, July 24–27, in Cleveland, Ohio....
OverDrive, Aug. 4

William Joyce wins Louisiana Writer Award
Children’s author and Shreveport native William Joyce has been named winner of the 2008 Louisiana Writer Award. The award will be presented to Joyce October 4 by the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana for his contributions to the state’s literary heritage. Joyce’s books include George Shrinks, Santa Calls, Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures with the Family Lazardo, and A Day with Wilbur Robinson....
Shreveport (La.) Times, July 30

Awards gaffe becomes perfect publicity for book
The audience at the Wales Book of the Year 2008 Awards gasped with embarrassment as Assembly Heritage Minister Rhodri Glyn Thomas announced the wrong winner July 29. Runner-up Tom Bullough made his way to the stage to collect the £10,000 first prize, only to be told the real winner was, in fact, poet Dannie Abse. But as footage of the event made its way across the internet, Bullough’s The Claude Glass started leaping off the shelves....
Cardiff (U.K.) Western Mail, July 30

Congress revamps student loan program
The House and Senate passed July 31 a major overhaul of federal higher-education programs aimed at expanding financial aid and bringing greater clarity and disclosure to the student loan process. The Higher Education Opportunity Act (H.R. 4137, S. 1642) extends the current Perkins loan forgiveness to certain school and public librarians, and authorizes a discretionary loan forgiveness of up to $10,000 for service in “areas of national need.” Librarians qualify as long as they are employed full-time in a high poverty area for five consecutive years....
Washington Post, Aug. 1; District Dispatch, Aug. 1

Flood-damaged items salvaged by UI team
The University of Iowa Libraries Preservation Department is helping to restore thousands of items from the African American Historical Museum and Cultural Center of Iowa and the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library, both of which suffered extensive damage in the June flooding at Cedar Rapids. It will take months to get through all of the items—some 7,000 books, 3,000 records, hundreds of manuscripts, dozens of statues, and even a few outfits of clothing....
Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette, Aug. 4

Boosters will fight Long Beach Main Library closure
Not long after the Long Beach, California, mayor and city manager announced their budget recommendations August 1, the Long Beach Public Library Foundation launched a campaign to keep the Main Library open. Mayor Bob Foster and City Manager Pat West are recommending that the council close the downtown library and beef up the schedules at the 11 branches so that they can operate seven days a week, and in some cases, for longer hours. But Main Library supporters have already said they won’t back that plan....
Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram, Aug. 3

Columbus library a top innovator in video gaming
This fall, the Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library plans to connect its branches to a national video-game tournament system for libraries. Eventually, webcams might even allow teens to trash-talk and cheer from branch to branch. CML has spent $40,000 on video-game equipment in the first two years of a program to make teenagers feel more welcome. ALA has invited the library’s Teen Services Specialist Julie Scordato to join a panel to develop guidelines on how best to use video games in libraries....
Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, July 31

Fitchburg looks for funds to fix 68% cutback
As the Fitchburg (Mass.) Public Library wraps up its first month in a radically truncated form, its budget and personnel slashed, library advocates are mounting a private fundraising effort. To close the city’s $5-million budget deficit this year, Mayor Lisa A. Wong put forth a budget that cut library spending by $800,000, or 68%. Instead of being open 63 hours a week, the library is open 21 hours a week. Most library employees were laid off, and none of the remaining staff receives benefits....
Worcester (Mass.) Telegram, Aug. 1

Guilford’s first librarian still volunteers at 100
Surrounded by friends, family, and colleagues, Edith Nettleton celebrated her 100th birthday July 22 at the place where she has spent much of her adult life—the Guilford (Conn.) Free Library. Nettleton, who became the first librarian there in 1934 and retired as director in 1978, still volunteers with special projects on Guilford history and genealogy....
New Haven (Conn.) Register, July 23

British Library to display its royal illuminated manuscripts
The British Library is embarking on a major project with its collection of medieval and Renaissance royal illuminated manuscripts, which will culminate in the first-ever exhibition of the collection in 2011–12. In 1757, King George II presented approximately 1,950 manuscripts from the royal library to the newly founded British Museum; they survive as the largest collection of medieval and Renaissance paintings owned by English monarchs....
24 Hour Museum, Aug. 4

1969 library slaying still haunts Penn State
On the chilly Friday after Thanksgiving 1969, a murder took place in Penn State University’s largest library that has baffled investigators and fascinated amateur sleuths ever since. A graduate student, 22-year-old Betsy Aardsma, was stabbed once amid the shelves of Pattee Library. She bled to death from the chest wound. Nearly four decades later, state police are still actively working the case, and have begun to solicit tips from a handful of amateur investigators fascinated by the mysterious stabbing....
Philadelphia Inquirer, July 30

Saudi Arabian library now allows women
Women in the Saudi coastal city of Dammam are now able to use its library unaccompanied, according to the local al-Watan newspaper. “Female students no longer need to be escorted by a male relative,” said the library’s director, Saad al-Harithi. Besides encouraging women to use the library more, al-Harithi said he also wants to create sections for children, to introduce them to literature....
Adnkronos International, Aug. 4

Aurora: The future of browsing?
Aurora is a concept video (7:22) presenting one possible future user experience for the Web, created by Adaptive Path as part of the Mozilla Labs concept browser series. Aurora explores new ways people could interact with the Web in the future based on projected technological trends and real-world scenarios. The release of Aurora is part of the launch of Mozilla Labs’ browser concept series, an ongoing initiative to encourage developers to contribute their own visions of the future of the browser and the Web....
Adaptive Path, Aug. 4

Has Windows Vista come around?
It’s been a year and a half since Windows Vista debuted, with many reports circulating about how bad it was. Jason Cross writes: “The first service pack has been released, along with an absolute flood of other automatic updates and drivers and software patches. Is it still worth upgrading? The short answer is yes. If you buy a PC today and it has Vista installed on it, or build a new PC (even a low cost, sub-$1,000 box), you should be in fine shape.”...
ExtremeTech, July 30

Free for all: Open source software
Karen Schneider writes: “So what is open source software (OSS)? It’s software that is free in every sense of the word: free to download, free to use, and free to view or modify. Most OSS is distributed on the Web and you don’t need to sign a license agreement to use it. In fact, if you use the Firefox web browser or WordPress blogging software, you’re already using open source software.”...
School Library Journal, Aug. 1

How to sync any desktop calendar with Google Calendar
Adam Pash writes: “As of July 28, you can now sync your Google Calendar with virtually any popular desktop calendar for free. Not only can you enjoy your favorite desktop calendar software and still get the benefit of the web interface, but you can also sync any desktop calendar with any other across platforms using GCal as a go-between. Let’s take a comprehensive look at how to set up bidirectional syncing between Google Calendar and your favorite desktop calendar—from Outlook and iCal to Sunbird and Thunderbird—for free.”...
Lifehacker, July 29

The Web, as seen by those with color blindness
In the United States, 7% of the male population—or about 10.5 million men—and 0.4% of the female population either cannot distinguish red from green, or see red and green differently. For those of us who see colors just fine, it is hard to imagine what those with color blindness are seeing. Luckily, there is now a Color Blind Web Page Filter, which allows you to view what your site looks like to people with each type of color blindness....
Color + Design Blog, July 24

Cloud computing
Brian Dvorak has put together CloudTrip, a website that compiles information on cloud computing sites—web-based applications that accomplish tasks that were traditionally done with desktop tools—such as design, communications, email, finance, productivity, storage, audio, and video. In addition, if you have a useful web application you would like to share, you can sign up with Cloud Trip and post it in the directory....
CloudTrip

The 10 oddest travel guides
Paul Collins writes: “‘After five years’ travel,’ veteran guidebook writer Geoff Crowther once recalled, ‘most of us went feral.’ So did the books they wrote. Jammed into backpacks, ripped into pieces, guidebooks escape into the wild to get lost or abandoned for the next edition. Here are 10 that are so transfixingly odd that they’ve remained readable long beyond their original itineraries.”...
Slate, Aug. 4

Record-breaking sales for Breaking Dawn
The anticipation for Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga, came to a best-selling end. The Hachette Book Group estimates 1.3 million copies were sold August 2 after being released at 12:01 a.m. It was its largest first-day sales record. In anticipation of demand, an additional 500,000 copies were printed before publication, bringing the total to 3.7 million. Still, nothing competes with Harry Potter. Last July, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 8.3 million books in its first 24 hours on sale....
USA Today, Aug. 3

Amazon.com acquires AbeBooks
Amazon.com announced August 1 that, subject to closing conditions, it has reached an agreement to acquire the Victoria, British Columbia–based AbeBooks. AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books, with over 110 million primarily used, rare, and out-of-print books listed for sale by thousands of independent booksellers from around the world. AbeBooks will continue to function as a stand-alone operation and will maintain all of its websites....
Amazon.com, Aug. 1

Danny Fingeroth’s top 10 graphic novels
American comic book writer Danny Fingeroth has put together his choices for the top 10 graphic novels: “These are graphic novels, some famous, some less well-known, that do what all great literature does, in that they give you such a pleasurable experience while reading that you’re simultaneously eager to uncover the ending, yet also dreading it, knowing that the experience will then be over.”...
The Guardian (U.K.), July 30

What reference e-book publishers should be doing
Stephen Francoeur writes: “In recent weeks, Sue Polanka has been writing about reference e-books and where they may or should be headed. Prompted by her call for librarians to offer publishers more feedback about what reference e-book publishers should be doing, I thought I would offer more detailed suggestions.”...
Digital Reference, July 30

Spinal exam
Lisa Chellman writes: “One thing I haven’t seen discussed is the face that books present to potential readers once they’re on the shelf. In libraries and bookstores, where face-out shelving is at a premium, readers’ first impression of a book isn’t the cover. It’s the spine. Most libraries place books’ location stickers within the two bottom inches of the spine. It would be far better if publishers simply avoided placing vital information in those bottom two inches of spine.”...
Under the Covers, July 28

Census data gold mine to open
One of the largest available online family-history resources is teaming up with other organizations to make more records available to the public. FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization operating out of Salt Lake City and partnering with Ancestry.com to publish complete U.S. census records from 1790 to 1930. Ancestry.com has agreed to turn these records over to FamilySearch, which will convert the master microfilm copies into a digital format and add them to their existing census records. In addition, FamilySearch has reached an agreement with other genealogy organizations, The Origins Network and www.findmypast.com, to publish census data for England and Wales from 1841 to 1901....
Brigham Young University, Aug. 1

New NCES academic library statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics report, Academic Libraries: 2006 First Look, summarizes services, staff, collections, and expenditures of 3,600 academic libraries in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. During 2006, these institutions added 22.2 million volumes to their collections and spent a total of $6.2 billion (about half of that consists of salaries and wages). Only 34% reported incorporating information literacy into their missions....
National Center for Education Statistics, July 8

Survey of academic libraries
The Primary Research Group has released its 2008–2009 Survey of Academic Libraries, based on 75 libraries in the United States and Canada. The survey found that only 22.5% of the respondents believed that librarian salaries had gone up faster than inflation, while more than 34% thought salaries had gone down in real terms in the past year. Participants also rated the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana as the top LIS program....
Primary Research Group, July

WebJunction 2.0
Over the past weekend, WebJunction fully migrated all its existing content, features, discussions, and members to a new platform that includes a new course catalog, easier contribution, and new ways to connect with library colleagues. A short video presentation on the new homepage reviews the highlights....
WebJunction, Aug. 5

More streets, more places
Earlier this summer, Google launched its first international Street View coverage with the Tour de France route. On August 4, it brought Street View to Japan and Australia. The Japan launch includes a number of major cities including Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. Imagery for Australia includes extensive coverage throughout the country, featuring Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, and many places in between. More than 30 new cities in the United States are newly covered too, among them New Orleans, Baton Rouge, El Paso, Wichita, Savannah, and Colorado Springs....
Google Lat Long Blog, Aug. 4

Favorite online readers advisory tools
Sarah Houghton-Jan writes: “This list is of my favorite online readers advisory tools, a subject area request I get often from my fellow library staff. This a little bit longer than some lists, because there’s just too much out there that is worth looking at and I don’t want to deprive anyone of any of this wonderfulness.”...
Librarian in Black, Aug. 1

IMLS to hand out 776 Connecting to Collections bookshelves
776 museums, libraries, and archives, representing every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam, have been selected to receive the Institute of Museum and Library Services’ Connecting to Collections Bookshelf. The contents of the bookshelf were selected by a blue ribbon panel of conservation experts; it includes an essential set of books, online resources, and a user’s guide that can profoundly affect the ability of small libraries and museums to care for their collections....
Institute of Museum and Library Services, Aug. 5

The rush to save Timbuktu’s crumbling manuscripts
Fabled Timbuktu, once the site of the world’s southernmost Islamic university, harbors thousands upon thousands of long-forgotten manuscripts. But the legacy of the Malian oasis, written with ink made from gallnuts, is beginning to fade. Roughly a dozen academic institutions are now involved in saving and evaluating the documents. The French are developing a database, while the United States has donated a device to digitize the damaged documents. The Norwegian cities of Oslo and Bergen are training locals to become conservators....
Der Spiegel, Aug. 1

21st-century skills map released
The 21st Century Skills and Social Studies Map (PDF file), developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the National Council for the Social Studies, shows educators how to align teaching and learning to the demands of the 21st century by providing lesson examples that combine core skills like critical thinking, creativity, and innovation with interdisciplinary themes. It is the first in a series of core content maps designed for educators, administrators, and policymakers. Other maps will be available for mathematics, English, geography, and science throughout 2008 and 2009....
Partnership for 21st Century Skills, July 17

Digital Bookmobile to set out from Central Park
The Digital Bookmobile will launch a national tour promoting audiobook, e-book, music, and video downloads from public libraries on August 10 in New York City’s Central Park. The digital download event, held in association with the New York Public Library, creates an engaging experience around the library’s Virtual Branch download website. The Digital Bookmobile will continue to promote digital books from public libraries through 2009 with events scheduled across North America....
Market Wire, Aug. 6

Contest: What I wish everyone knew about librarians
Smart Poodle Publishing in Hollywood, Florida, is sponsoring a writing contest for librarians. Entrants must submit an essay of up to 1,500 words describing what they wish everyone knew about librarians. For example, as Dani Vaughn-Tucker writes, “we’re not all bun-donning-sensible-shoe-wearing ladies garbed in black cardigans cradling a cat waiting to shush the first person who violates the ‘No Talking’ policy.” There are three prizes of $500, $100, and $50. The deadline is December 1....
Smart Poodle Publishing; Curious Child’s Library Wanderings, July 31

New partners for Flickr Commons
The George Eastman House and the Bibliothèque de Toulouse have joined Flickr Commons and are providing open access to some of their images there. The woman dressed as an Egyptian dancer (right) is an autochrome provided by the George Eastman House. The Lumière brothers, inventors of the motion picture camera, invented the autochrome process in 1904. (The Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian is also providing access to part of its collection on Flickr, though not as part of the Commons project.)...
Open Access News, July 28

LC Junior Fellows unearth treasures
Matt Raymond writes: “Every year for the past few years, thanks to the generosity of the late Mrs. Jefferson Patterson and the James Madison Council, as many as 50 interns have come to the Library of Congress through its Junior Fellows program. They spend several weeks during the summer combing through both uncataloged copyright deposits and collections acquired through gifts, looking for hidden gems. This year, 200 items were showcased, including a rare first-edition piece of instrumental sheet music for the Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin (1899).”...
Library of Congress Blog, Aug. 5

Time 2 Chime in Allen County
This 6-minute podcast begins with a selection from Time 2 Chime, a performance by the Homeschool Handchime Choir at the Allen County (Ind.) Public Library. It was performed during their 2008 spring concert. Children’s Librarian Mandy Goldfuss talks about the program, the challenges, and rewards....
ALSC Blog, Aug. 3

Satirical maps of the First World War
Paul K. writes: “The emergence of modern nation states (such as Germany and Italy) following the mid-19th century revolutions in Europe provided geopolitical material for satirical illustrators to exploit. The serio-comic map caricature genre reached its peak of popularity at the beginning of World War One. These humorous propaganda maps stirred nationalistic fervor, mocked and belittled enemies, and even served as a mnemonic tool for students to learn their geography.”...
BiblioOdyssey, Aug. 3

Take the metadata survey
Jung-ran Park, assistant professor at the Drexel University iSchool, has created an online survey on “Metadata Creation and Metadata Quality Control across Digital Repositories: Evaluation of Current Practices.” Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the project examines the metadata creation process, the employment of controlled vocabulary schemes, metadata quality control measures, and new competencies and skill sets demanded from cataloging professionals....
Drexel University iSchool, Aug. 6

NARA’s own records are difficult to access
Anthony Clark writes: “While researching my book on the history of presidential libraries, I discovered a shocking but perhaps not surprising situation: The National Archives and Records Administration is improperly withholding its own records. Rather than abide by legislative requirements and professional standards, NARA has chosen to avoid accessioning and processing many (if not most) of its own records dating back more than 40 years. Worse, officials have blocked access to the records, perhaps due to concerns over possible criticism of the agency.”...
History News Network, July 21

Copyright advocates urge WIPO to consider library concerns
On behalf of the Library Copyright Alliance, Janice Pilch, head of Slavic and East European acquisitions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, participated in a meeting of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property in Geneva, Switzerland, July 7–11. Through two formal statements (PDF file)—one jointly issued with the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions—LCA urged committee members to recognize and support the ongoing work that libraries undertake as stakeholders in intellectual property issues....
District Dispatch, Aug. 4

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga library video
Jason Griffey writes: “Take a look at the Fall 2008 UTC Library video that we’ll be pushing out to students and new faculty this fall. Created by a grad student, now adjunct professor, at UTC, Justin Lewis, with direction from me (who basically just said things like ‘Make it cool. Slow that down’). The vision was all his. I think it came out remarkably cool.”...
Pattern Recognition, July 29

The Fairfield University library video
Student Julie (played by Tess Brown) has to make many decisions at Fairfield (Conn.) University’s DiMenna-Nyselius Library. Should she join Matt for coffee? Ask for reference help? Watch a movie in the auditorium? Work at a table? Use microfilm with Joey? Or walk on the beach? This spoof of MTV’s Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County was directed, produced, and edited by Bob Cammisa. (Beware, the latest version of Flash is required to view it.) The library’s podcasts of how to use various reference databases are also amusing....
DiMenna-Nyselius Library

ALA TechSource, in collaboration with ACRL, ALCTS, ALSC, and LITA, invites you to join us for the Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium, the year’s most exciting event devoted to gaming and literacy, research, and accessibility, November 2–4, in Oak Brook, Illinois. Keynote speakers include Andrew Bub, Lawrence Kutner, and Mark Prensky.