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

Catalogs are next to combine in Hennepin merger
Consolidation, partnership, and mergers are not uncommon in the library world. Librarians’ need to operate as efficiently as possible, as well as patrons’ need for finding library information quickly and simply, make consolidations practical, if not necessary. For example, as part of Hennepin County (Minn.) Library’s merger with Minneapolis Public Library, the catalogs of the two formerly separate collections are scheduled to be fully integrated as of August 27....
American Libraries Online, Aug. 17

OITP files broadband stimulus application
The Office for Information Technology Policy filed an application August 18 to the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, requesting $1.6 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to fund a project to develop resources to help librarians manage and plan broadband capacity. The ability to plan for and manage broadband services successfully is essential for today’s 21st-century libraries, which face rapidly increasing demand for these services from their communities....
District Dispatch, Aug. 18

Team up for Library Card Sign-up Month
As schools open their doors for another year of classes, librarians team up with Candace Parker—WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist—to remind parents and children that it’s the perfect time to get the most important school supply of all, a library card. September is Library Card Sign-up Month, and the Campaign for America’s Libraries is looking for stories about how libraries are promoting the initiative. From now until the end of September, libraries are encouraged to submit stories, photos, and sample materials....

Nine ways to get involved in ALA
ALA is an incredibly rich and varied organization and offers something for everyone, whether you want to get involved with colleagues who work in the same kind of library, expand your horizons by attending conferences or continuing education events, network with members who share your interests, find a forum to discuss key issues, work on specific projects, or support libraries and librarians. Here are some key ways you can get more involved with the Association....

Wild Things posters and bookmarks
In honor of the 1964 Caldecott Medal–winning Where the Wild Things Are, ALA Graphics has released two sets of posters and bookmarks. Maurice Sendak’s timeless classic, which relates the imaginary adventure of young Max in the mysterious forest of the wild things, springs to life this fall in a film adaptation, and the posters and bookmarks include imagery from both the movie and the book. Both are available through the ALA Store....

Emergency response planning in academic libraries
ACRL has released Emergency Response Planning in College Libraries, number 40 in its CLIP Notes series. Compiled by Marcia Thomas and Anke Voss and edited by Thomas, the title provides information on disaster- and emergency-response planning and management to assist librarians in the creation and updating of emergency-response plans....

AASL conference sessions will “Rev up learning @ your library”
AASL has released the lineup of more than 100 concurrent sessions for its 14th National Conference, November 5–8, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Registrants are able to view all sessions and create a personal schedule for three days of essential education. Sessions will highlight AASL’s new standards and guidelines, gaming in school libraries, engaging students in Web 2.0 tools, collaboration, collection development, and 21st-century skills. For more information, visit the conference site....

2010 Arbuthnot Lecture
The Riverside County (Calif.) Library System has been chosen to host the 2010 May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture. Kathleen T. Horning (right), director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Cooperative Children’s Book Center, will deliver the lecture, to be held in the spring of 2010. Information about the exact date and how to obtain tickets will be posted when available on the ALSC website....

ACRL fall e-learning schedule
ACRL is offering a wide variety of online learning opportunities in the fall of 2009. Full details and registration information are available online. Registration for all online seminars and webcasts qualifies for the division’s new Frequent Learner Program. Register for three ACRL e-Learning events and receive one free registration. ACRL online seminars are asynchronous, multiweek courses delivered through Moodle....

Get back to school with ALSC online education
Starting in October, ALSC is offering two courses that will enhance your skills and knowledge. The two fall courses are: “The Newbery Medal: Past, Present, and Future” and “Children with Disabilities in the Library.” Discounted rates are available for ALSC members. Courses begin the week of October 5 and run through November 13. Detailed descriptions and course registration information are available on the ALSC website....

2009 Dain Award recipient
The Library History Round Table has awarded the 2009 Phyllis Dain Library History Dissertation Award, which recognizes outstanding dissertations in the area of library history, to Karen J. Cook for her work, “Freedom Libraries in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project: A History.” Cook’s dissertation was submitted for a Ph.D. degree in the College of Communication and Information Sciences at the University of Alabama....

I Love My Librarian Award nominations
Nominations opened August 17 for the 2009 Carnegie Corporation of New York / New York Times I Love My Librarian Award. The award invites library users to recognize the accomplishments of librarians in public, school, college, community college, and university libraries for their efforts to improve the lives of people in their community. Up to 10 librarians will be selected. Each will receive a $5,000 cash award and a $500 travel stipend to attend an awards ceremony and reception in New York in December. Nominations will run through October 9....

Bound to Stay Bound Books and Melcher Scholarships
ALSC has announced the 2009 recipients of the Frederic G. Melcher and Bound to Stay Bound Books Scholarships. The scholarships are awarded annually to students who plan to enter ALA-accredited programs, obtain a master’s degree in library science, and specialize in library service to children. Four Bound to Stay Bound Books Scholarship recipients and two Melcher Scholarship winners were selected....

AASL to sponsor four Spectrum scholars
AASL will sponsor four current Spectrum scholars pursuing a library degree concentrating in school library media or working as school library media specialists for complimentary registration to the AASL national conference and a $750 travel stipend. Spectrum scholars will be paired with a mentor for the duration of the conference and will receive special recognition at key events. Applications are due by September 14....

YALSA names 2009–2010 Spectrum scholar
As part of its commitment to furthering young adult librarianship, YALSA will sponsor Cristina Mitra, a student at the San José State University School of Library and Information Science. Donations to the Friends of YALSA helped fund the scholarship. Mitra chose to pursue a career in teen librarianship after working at a youth-focused nonprofit and as a library assistant at a public high school in San Francisco....

2009 SLA John Cotton Dana Award
Richard Geiger is the 2009 recipient of the Special Libraries Association John Cotton Dana Award. The award recognizes a lifetime of achievement as well as exceptional service to special librarianship and the information profession. The Awards Committee cited Geiger’s leadership in the profession and volunteer work in SLA during more than 30 years of membership. Geiger was library director at the San Francisco Chronicle for more than 20 years. Watch the SLA-TV video....
Special Libraries Association, Aug. 13

Library branch wins a Gold Hard Hat award
Rangeview Library District’s new branch in Bennett, Colorado, designed by Humphries Poli Architects, has been selected as a winner of one of the top three awards in its category in Colorado Construction magazine’s Gold Hard Hat Awards program. The specific award and category will be announced during the 2009 Gold Hard Hat Awards breakfast October 2 at the Denver Athletic Club. The branch, which opened May 31, will be featured in the October issue of Colorado Construction magazine....
Rangeview Library District, Northglenn, Colo., Aug. 4

OCLC Minority Fellowship program expanded
OCLC is expanding and increasing support for its Minority Fellowship program designed to provide opportunities for aspiring library professionals from historically underrepresented groups. The program started this year with one fellow and has been expanded to include two fellows in 2010. The 12-month paid program offers an opportunity to work with OCLC staff in a variety of service areas. The deadline for applications is September 8....
OCLC, Aug. 17

University of Georgia librarian killed in dog attack
University of Georgia Humanities Bibliographer Sherry L. Allen Schweder, 65, and her husband Lothar were mauled by up to 14 dogs as they walked near their home late last week. Visiting Jehovah’s Witnesses discovered the bodies early August 15 along a rural road northeast of Lexington, Georgia, about 12 hours after they were reported missing. Investigators traced the dogs, of mixed breeds and various sizes, to a house farther down the road; the owner no longer lives in the house but visits every other day to feed the dogs. Neighbors said the animals never seemed aggressive, but the county has euthanized them. Charges are being considered against the owner....
Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald, Aug. 18–19

Lynndie England LC lecture canceled after threats
An August 14 lecture at the Library of Congress by Lynndie England, one of the most recognizable figures of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, was scratched over safety concerns after opposition from library employees produced violent threats, according to David Moore of the LC Professional Association, the sponsoring organization. Moore, a German acquisitions specialist at the library, said he received several “vicious” emails and telephone calls threatening violence. LCPA President Angela Kinney cancelled the lecture August 13....
Washington Times, Aug. 15

Knoxville gay-blocking suit settled out of court
A U.S. District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit August 10 filed against the Knox County (Tenn.) Schools by the American Civil Liberties Union based on a settlement agreement that students will have access to educational websites about alternative lifestyles. The ACLU sued Knox County and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools in May, accusing them of unconstitutionally blocking students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues through the schools’ internet service....
Knoxville (Tenn.) News Sentinel, Aug. 13

Rockford Public Library board okays cuts, closure
The Rockford (Ill.) Public Library would close the Lewis Lemon branch, lay off two dozen staffers and six management-level employees, and reduce hours at all libraries, under a reorganization proposal unanimously approved August 17. Library officials expect to lose $1.4 million in funding, including $824,897 the city has traditionally allocated for pensions. The union has 10 days to review the proposal and offer alternative solutions....
Rockford (Ill.) Register Star, Aug. 18; WIFR-TV, Aug. 19

Effingham refuses to remove teen book
The board of the Helen Matthes Library in Effingham, Illinois, was united in its stance against censorship August 17 when it denied a request to remove a book from the teen section. Amy and Brad Hibdon became concerned when their 15-year-old daughter checked out Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott and seemed upset by the content, which involves a teen who has been kidnapped and sexually abused for five years. Library Director Jeannie May said she agreed the book took on a painful topic, but that is not reason enough to remove it....
Effingham (Ill.) Daily News, Aug. 18

Restricted or historic? Tintin in the Brooklyn vault
The cartoonist Hergé is popular again, as is his adventurous reporter Tintin, who will be featured in a Stephen Spielberg movie due out in 2011. But if you go to the Brooklyn Public Library seeking a copy of Tintin au Congo (Paris, 1974), Hergé’s second book in a series, you must make an appointment. The book was moved in 2007 from the stacks to the vault of the Hunt Collection of Children’s Literature after a patron objected to the way Africans are depicted in the book....
New York Times, Aug. 19

UCLA considers shutting Arts Library
The University of California, Los Angeles, has confirmed that it is looking at eliminating its Arts Library, which contains more than 270,000 volumes in the fields of art, architecture, design, film, television, and theater. If the plan is approved, UCLA will close it and move some of the collection to a facility shared with another library. University Head Librarian Gary Strong added that the chemistry library is also under consideration for elimination, but no layoffs from the library staff are currently planned....
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 15

Dominican offers new LIS doctorate program
The Dominican University Graduate School of Library and Information Science in River Forest, Illinois, is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year and school administrators say it is attracting record numbers of local adults as it rolls out a new doctorate program this fall. Dean Susan Roman (right) said the school’s program attracts a wide cross-section of professionals who are discontented with a field they studied earlier....
River Forest (Ill.) Leaves, Aug. 13

A librarian’s influence on actress Jennifer Garner
Retired Kanawha County (W.Va.) Schools Librarian Annyce McCann, 72, heard about her name being mentioned in the pages of the September issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, when she got a phone call from another librarian. Actress Jennifer Garner (right) had written, “My dream was to grow up to be a librarian, because I had a librarian named Mrs. McCann who I thought was the most magical woman on the planet.” McCann had worked at Kanawha County only a short time when she met first-grader Garner....
Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail, Aug. 18; O, the Oprah Magazine, Sept.

A library dedicated to beach reading
John Kelly writes: “You might have thought, as I did, that a library at the beach would be about as busy as a corset shop at a nudist colony, but it turns out that the the Worcester County (Md.) Library’s Ocean City branch hums every day, shine or rain. There’s undoubtedly a different vibe to this beach library. But ‘you do have to wear shoes,’ Assistant Branch Manager Joe Colantuoni pointed out. ‘You do have to wear a shirt.’”...
Washington Post, Aug. 19

Baylor’s Bush library plan offered far more
Baylor University lost to Southern Methodist University in the race to host George W. Bush’s presidential library, despite offering more land, more buildings, and more amenities, newly released records show. Among the attractions the Waco school sketched out for the complex: an outdoor concert venue, a multiuse conference center, an IMAX theater, an on-site fishing lake, a Little League baseball field, and a riverside boat dock. SMU in Dallas was always considered the front-runner because of the Bushes’ academic and personal ties....
Dallas Morning News, Aug. 17

A Spartan beauty or a plain old beast?
Is the 1955 Donnell Library on West 53rd Street in New York City a rare piece of midcentury Modernism? Or an empty suit of expressionless masonry? As the vacant building heads toward demolition in two years, a cadre of preservationists still hope to convince the Landmarks Preservation Commission that the limestone façade is not a nothing, but a something....
New York Times, Aug. 13

Community center library in Miami takes off
A new library in the Liberty Square Community Center on Miami’s northwest side opened in July with about 3,000 donated books from local civic groups. Liberty Square is a neighborhood that the politically correct describe as depressed and the realistic describe as plagued by crime. Eric Thompson, one of the center’s directors, has motivated reading by nearly eliminating access to other indoor activities, like TV-watching....
Miami Herald, Aug. 13

Winthrop library reopens five months after arson
The Charles M. Bailey Public Library in Winthrop, Maine, opened its doors to patrons for the first time since a devastating arson this past March. The library was housed temporarily at the town hall while repairs took place. “People donated books, they donated tables, so it was a lot of changes, but we had a lot of help too,” said children’s librarian Cindy Hinkley (above)....
WCSH-TV, Portland, Me., Aug. 17

Omaha residents rally for branch
A group of about 100 protesters rallied at the Florence branch of the Omaha (Nebr.) Public Library August 12 to object to its closing for the duration of 2009. Tammy Kimble, a rally organizer, said government officials should be trying to preserve and promote the historic nature of Florence, founded as a pioneer town in 1854 and annexed by Omaha in 1917. City Councilman Pete Festersen attended the rally and said it seemed unfair to close an east Omaha library while opening one in west Omaha....
Omaha (Nebr.) World-Herald, Aug. 12

Eganville debates bookshelf bias
A nasty controversy is swirling around the Bonnechere Union Public Library in Eganville, Ontario. The main character in the story is Ken O’Day, 59, well-known locally as a social conservative and one of two candidates for a vacancy on the seven-member library board. A petition soon circulated, opposing O’Day for what was described as his repeated condemnation of gays and lesbians. O’Day fired back that the library was choosing material by relying on “left-wing” sources like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the New York Times....
Ottawa (Ont.) Citizen, Aug. 16

Alabama library employee charged with forgery
A grand jury will examine evidence in October against a former Cherokee (Ala.) Public Library staffer accused of using a library credit card after the account was closed. Page McWilliams of Tuscumbia is charged with second-degree forgery, fraudulent use of a credit card, and first-degree theft of property. The library board began looking into its credit card account after they were contacted about an overdue bill for $16,000....
Florence (Ala.) Times Daily, Aug. 17

Google nears deal with French National Library
A four-year fight to keep the contents of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in French hands ended in defeat August 18 as it was announced that the library would collaborate with Google. “Google has won,” said the front-page headline in La Tribune. The library is about to strike a deal under which digitial copies of its books will be added to the Google Book Search library. The agreement would mark a major retreat because the BNF led a counterattack, noisily launched under President Chirac in early 2005, against what France saw as a dangerous new American imperialism....
The Times (U.K.), Aug. 19

European publishers target Google
Google is facing growing opposition in Europe to its landmark Google Book Search settlement, raising a fresh challenge to an agreement that could help determine the future structure of the digital books business. While limited only to book rights in the United States, the proposed settlement, which still needs court approval, has aroused consternation among European publishers, who fear they will lose some of their rights to millions of European works held in university libraries in the United States....
Financial Times, Aug. 12

Rare map thief arrested in Spain
Spanish police arrested a 47-year-old Hungarian man in Pamplona on August 7 in connection with the theft of 67 rare maps and cartographic materials from several libraries in northern Spain. The man, identified only as “Z. V.,” has been the subject of a manhunt, called Operación Biblión, since the March 2008 theft of a 16th-century map from El Escorial monastery library in Madrid. He told officials his own crimes were inspired by the robbery of 10 Ptolemaic maps from the National Library in Madrid in August 2007....
ThinkSpain, Aug. 12; Diario de Noticias (Pamplona), Aug. 12

Go back to the Top

Five ways to keep laptop thieves from jacking your data
Jacqui Cheng writes: “Laptops are more prevalent today than they have ever been. With such an explosion in notebook use, there are that many more targets for thieves looking to pawn our stuff for a quick buck, or even worse, steal our data for more nefarious uses. Once your laptop is stolen, a burglar can access almost anything on it—that is, unless you take the right precautions. For Windows, a number of users recommend LoJack for Laptops.”...
Ars Technica, Aug. 17

Sites that help you find hot topics
Don Reisinger writes: “The web is a great place to learn about hot topics, but internet memes can’t be spotted so easily unless you have some help. On topics ranging from tech to general interest, you can find what’s hot at any moment with the following resources. The New York Times Blogrunner sifts through all the news blogs across the web, finds the hot topics, and lists them on the site. The most popular stories at the time are listed at the top of the page.”...
Webware, Aug. 17

Make your own URL-shortening service
Kevin Purdy writes: “URL-shortening services are ubiquitous on Twitter and other cramped online spaces. They won’t all last and their shutdowns could annihilate your linking history. If you own a domain, though, you can host your own service. There’s not a lot you can do about your already-posted social network links, but anyone who’s got $10 for a domain name registration, and a creative short URL idea, can host, monitor, and control their shortened links.”...
Lifehacker, Aug. 14

30+ impressive social media stats visualized
Adam Ostro writes: “The online marketer and author of the upcoming book Socialnomics has put together a fantastic video (4:23) comprised of more than 30 different stats about the growth of social media. While we’re familiar with some of the stats (he even cites some of our reports), there were a bunch of new and intriguing ones. For example, one out of eight couples married in the United States last year met via social media, and if you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia, you would earn $156.23 per hour.”...
Mashable, Aug 14; YouTube, July 30

The digital divide inside the library
Kate Sheehan writes: “Technology and reference are intertwining strands of public service. The task of keeping up with librarians (and their jobs) is getting techier. As our systems get more sophisticated and our desire to overhaul and remake those systems gets more intense, libraries need librarians who are tech savvy and back office staff who are pure tech. There’s no doubt that reference librarians need a strong technology skill set, but do our techies also need to have public service experience or skills?”...
ALA TechSource, Aug. 13

HootSuite organizes your Twitter activity
Dustin Luck writes: “Twitter started out as a simple enough idea: Tell people what’s going on with you in 140 characters or less. Now it’s evolved to become a tool for crowdsourcing and trendspotting. Online Twitter client HootSuite can help organize your Twitterverse. You can manage multiple twitter accounts from a central dashboard and tweet, retweet, reply, and direct message using any one or more of those accounts.”...
Lifehacker, Aug. 13

WikIT: The mind-mapping wiki
Joyce Valenza writes: “I am a big fan of mind mapping for researching, brainstorming, organizing, problem solving, visualization, and communicating knowledge quickly. So when I met WikIT: Mindmapping Wiki, it was love at first sight. The site’s goal is to provide a community-built source on the use of information mapping. While not specifically aimed at education, WikIT is absolutely relevant for teachers of thinking skills and knowledge organization.”...
NeverEndingSearch, Aug. 16

16 apps for sharing large files
Orli Yakuel writes: “In this post, I compare 16 file-sharing services.  I took three main issues under consideration when creating this comprehensive app list: free, fast, and useful. Most of the services suggested require no registration. None of them will ask you to download anything to your computer, and all of them are easy to use, and worth using.”...
TechCrunch, Aug. 8

Behind the librarian mask
William Coday was a model employee—a mild-mannered, 40-year-old librarian—who completely lost control when his girlfriend left him. When he didn’t show up for work at the Broward County (Fla.) Library on July 12, 1997, concerned coworkers called his apartment complex to check up on him. Instead, the man who searched the apartment found someone else—the body of a woman who had been brutally murdered. In Behind the Mask (St. Martin’s, June), Stella Sands tells the story of librarian William Coday, who had a deadly history more than two decades long, stretching across two continents....
Crimesider, Aug. 14

Yasgur kin tells the Woodstock story
Like millions of others, a 14-year-old girl in Greenville, Pennsylvania, learned about the 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair by reading her local newspaper. Abigail Yasgur never went to the original concert site in Bethel, New York, but as a distant cousin of the dairy farmer who hosted the festival on his land, she has cowritten a children’s book with her husband about the event—Max Said Yes! The Woodstock Story (Change the Universe Press, May). Until recently, Yasgur was director of the Jewish Community Library in Los Angeles....
Poughkeepsie (N.Y.) Journal, Aug. 13

Counting titles and authors
Lorcan Dempsey writes: “How many print books were published in the United States since 1923, and how many authors were associated with those books? Here are some numbers from WorldCat, acknowledging that they provide good indications, not definitive answers. Print books published: 12,582,962. Unique personal authors: 3,685,778. Unique corporate authors: 977,679.”...
Lorcan Dempsey’s Weblog, Aug. 16

Dust-jacket intrigue and fraud
Allison Hoover Bartlett writes: “Building a collection of rare books is a deeply satisfying treasure hunt, and because what’s sought after can be worth a fortune, theft, fraud, and forgery lurk in the shadows. The temptation to swindle grows alongside value, and dust jackets are a case in point. Most attempts at phony jackets do not fool professionals who handle books for a living, but collectors usually don’t have this savvy, and neither do all dealers.”...
Los Angeles Times, Aug. 16

Ebrary half-off sale
Electronic publisher ebrary is working with its partners to offer 50% discounts for as few as 15 titles from a single publisher through December 15. So far, 12 publishers are participating, among them the University of Michigan Press, Taylor & Francis, Elsevier, and Cambridge University Press. Email ebrary sales to request an order form. Demonstrations and trialsare also available upon request....
ebrary, Aug. 13

Library workers: The latest facts and figures
In 2008, there were 197,000 librarians, 44,000 library technicians, and 101,000 other education, training, and library workers. Most librarians work in school and academic libraries; about one-fourth work in public libraries. Librarians are mainly between the ages of 45 and 55, and assistants are more likely to be under 35 years old. In 2008, 25.8% of librarians were union members; 30.2% were represented by unions....
AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees, July

New WorldCat search-for-a-library feature
A library search feature is now available to WorldCat users. Users can search for libraries by name, location, or postal code and refine search results by library type, such as public library or academic library. The order of library search results will vary depending on the type of search that is conducted. Google Maps has also been integrated into the experience to make it easier to find a nearby library....
WorldCat Blog, Aug. 17

Relevance in context
Lukas Koster writes: “If you do a search in a bibliographic database, you should find what you need, not just what you are looking for or what the database thinks you are looking for. So, how should search systems behave to make you find what you need? There are two conditions that need to be met: The search terms must be interpreted correctly, and the most relevant search results must be presented.”...
Commonplace.net, Aug. 11

Embrace your teacher identity
Carrie Donovan writes: “Librarians who teach now find themselves faced with the demand to connect with students, to make libraries and information literacy knowledge meaningful, and to create learning opportunities that are memorable and long-lasting. Such a shift in expectations calls for teacher behavior that is purposeful, mindful, and rooted in the self. Transformation of this sort does not come easy, nor does it happen magically. For those in search of a true teacher identity, authenticity will serve as the best guide.”...
In the Library with the Lead Pipe, Aug. 19

How the brain hard-wires us to love information seeking
Emily Yoffe writes: “We are so insatiably curious that we gather data even if it gets us in trouble. We search for information we don’t even care about. We actually resemble nothing so much as those legendary lab rats that endlessly pressed a lever to give themselves a little electrical jolt to the brain. While we tap, tap away at our search engines, it appears we are stimulating the same system in our brains that scientists accidentally discovered more than 50 years ago when probing rat skulls.”...
Slate, Aug. 12

Keywords from a librarian
New Inside Higher Ed blogger Mary W. George writes: “Teaching faculty have immense persuasive power; we librarians do not. What we do have are sweeping views of what scholars are up to, a grasp of how researchers do their business and what evidence ensues, and a knack for identifying and locating that evidence. By and large faculty and academic librarians respect one another’s expertise and collaborate happily. But where and how do our students learn the process and logic of source seeking? That is the question that haunts me and inspires this blog.”...
Keywords from a Librarian, Aug. 18

Run your library like a circus
Steven Bell writes: “Maybe you think your academic library is already being run like a circus, but I ’m going to bring a different circus to your attention. The Cirque du Soleil is as much about art and beauty as it is pure entertainment. But there are also some leadership lessons we can all learn from this truly unique circus. I found these ideas worth sharing in an interview that designer David Rockwell conducted with Lyn Heward, creative director at Cirque du Soleil.”...
ACRLog, Aug. 18; Contract, July 17

Blurred boundaries
Herminia Din and William B. Crow write: “Typically, museums can draw strength from their physical places. Sometimes this is an actual historic site where an event happened or a unique environment that can be examined with both a historical and contemporary lens. Place-based education, a rising field that has its roots in environmental and ecological education, theorizes that learners connect best to subjects and topics grounded in their own daily lives, experiences, and communities. Digital environments provide a rich way to do this. Online learning can serve as a bridge between worlds and help museums expand their boundaries.”...
Museum, July/Aug.

Royalty fees in the Google Books settlement
Mary Minow writes: “I have been surprised at the lack of discussion about printing fees in the Public Access Service section of the Google Books settlement. Although users cannot download books in the database, they are allowed to print out pages. Libraries are required by Section 4.8(a)(ii) of the settlement to charge users a royalty fee for the printing. Google will collect the money on behalf of libraries and pass it on to the Books Rights Registry. This is the equivalent of having to send a royalty check to the Copyright Clearance Center for every page that is printed from a library book.”...
LibraryLaw Blog, Aug. 16

Take the Google quiz
Regardless of how you feel about Google, you have to admire them. Two techies in a garage with no viable business model have created one of the fastest-growing, most profitable, most admired companies ever. They have, in short, been almost frighteningly true to their mission: to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. But how well do you really know Google? Take this quiz and see....
Network World, Aug. 12

San José launches Text a Librarian service
Sarah Houghton-Jan writes: “On August 17, the San José (Calif.) Public Library, launched our new Text a Librarian service. As far as I can tell, we are the first public library in California to offer text messaging services. The service is run through Mosio’s Text a Librarian. The library responds to the user through the interface of our choice (web browser, email, IM, or text messaging) and the answer shows up to the customer as a text message.” The University of Nebraska at Omaha started a similar service at the Criss Library....
Librarian in Black, Aug. 17; UNO Gateway, Aug. 11

The latest in green lighting
Joyce Benson writes: “LEDs (light-emitting diodes) are super-efficient light bulbs and are gaining in popularity due to long lifespans, minuscule use of electricity, and low heat output (which minimizes the need for air conditioning). While LEDs have a higher initial cost than standard incandescent or CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs, they’ll save you money in the long term by using much less energy and practically eliminating the need for replacements. And they don’t contain any toxic ingredients—unlike CFLs, which contain trace amounts of mercury and need to be disposed of properly.”...
GreenStrides, Aug. 13

Legislation sought for our “no vacation” nation
Wanda Urbanska writes: “The United States is the only developed country in the world in which workers are not guaranteed the right to a paid vacation under the law. In fact, our epidemic of overwork is so widespread that many people don’t see the need for initiative. But the cumulative effects of this reality are showing up in U.S. vital statistics. In 1980, Americans ranked 11th in the world in life expectancy. We have now slipped to 42nd.”...
Cosmopolitan Review, Aug. 8

Printed treasures of the New York Public Library
The Gothamist went to NYPL’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building to get a closer look at the Rare Books Division, a 280,000-volume collection filled with striking works dating back hundreds of years, including the first book published in North America and the book in which Ernest Hemingway jotted down his Nobel acceptance speech. Curator Michael Inman shared some stories in a behind-the-scenes look at the collection....
The Gothamist, Aug. 10

Information Rx
Susie McIntyre writes: “National studies indicate that nearly half of all American adults have difficulty understanding and using health information. In January 2007, the Great Falls (Mont.) Public Library received $25,000 to help healthcare patients access quality information. Our project attempted to weave together referrals from healthcare professionals and increase access to information.”...
Montana Library Focus 27, no. 2 (Apr.): 6

Participate in H1N1 WebDialogues
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are considering the scope of the fall program for vaccinating Americans against the novel H1N1 pandemic influenza virus. The CDC is calling on informed citizens to share their views on this vital topic. Register now to participate in one of two WebDialogues: August 26–27 or August 31–September 1....
WebDialogues

Long live the news aggregators
Erik Schonfeld writes: “The newspaper industry is blaming online news aggregators for its dwindling profits and inability to adapt to a world of links and truly free-flowing information. It wants to go back to the world before the web, when each newspaper was a small media bundle packed with stories, 80% of which sucked. Well, guess what? The media bundle is dead. News sites can no longer capture the reader’s attention with 20% news, and 80% suck.”...
TechCrunch, Aug. 16

Luann on libraries
Jackie S. writes: “The comic strip Luann by Greg Evans is about a teen’s life. This series has Luann working in her public library. A cute guy asks her to show her around the library because he is doing a school report on public libraries. See the full series at the Luann website, where you can also comment or rate the three-panel comic.”...
Library Advocate, Aug. 19; Luann, Aug. 17–19

Baloney Detection Kit as an information literacy tool
With a sea of information coming at us from all directions, how do we sift out the misinformation and bogus claims and get to the truth? Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine lays out a “Baloney Detection Kit,” 10 questions we should ask when encountering a claim (14:40). Sponsored by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science....
YouTube, June 22

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