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American Libraries Online | ALA News | Booklist Online
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Anaheim Update | Division News | Awards & Grants | Seen Online
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Tech Talk | E-Content | Books & Reading | Actions & Answers
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Great Libraries of the World | Digital Library of the Week | Calendar

The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | March 14, 2012

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American Libraries Online

North Carolina State University, D. H. Hill Library, RaleighLibrary Design Showcase 2012
As the transformation of libraries continues, it follows that the physical structure would have to transform as well to support changes in services, missions, and audiences. The 2012 Library Design Showcase highlights the best in new and newly renovated library buildings, divided into 12 sections that each focus on one architectural aspect....
American Libraries feature

The #sxswLAM group tosses the Conversation Ball around in Austin. Photo by Mona T. BrooksRowdy librarians at SXSWi
Paul Vinelli writes: “Saturday is typically the most frenetic day at the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, March 9–13, as dealmakers recover from the previous night’s parties and rally for a second day of negotiations and networking. Librarians rally just as fiercely as anyone else—only we put more heart into what we do. Panelists offered new ways of thinking about the field while challenging us to take action in redefining how we serve our communities.” Look for other rowdy librarians posts here, here, and here. A group called #sxswLAM (Librarians, Archivists, and Museum Professionals) is making its presence felt at the conference, and OIF Director Barbara Jones is also blogging the event....
ALA Membership Blog, Mar. 10–13; The Signal: Digital Preservation, Mar. 12; OIF Blog, Mar. 14

Gleaning signReflective teaching for librarians
Char Booth writes: “Research and attentiveness build a composite of ideas collected through chance and diligence, which is similar to a reflective concept I call gleaning—incorporating the connections that naturally occur through collaboration, participation, and simply moving through the day into whatever you happen to be working on. It is a mindset in which you notice potential solutions to the challenges you face and make use of the resources around you. Gleaning grows out of a willingness to become an active and interested sponge, and involves four elements: observation, documentation, integration, and acknowledgement.”...
American Libraries feature

Jeanette WintersonNewsmaker: Jeanette Winterson
Sanhita SinhaRoy writes: “British author Jeanette Winterson (right) grew up in poverty, with few books and even fewer prospects for escape from the small industrial town where she was raised. In her new memoir, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? (Grove Press, March) the author pays tribute to the power of books and the influence libraries and librarians had in helping her break away from an abusive upbringing and build a better life for herself.”...
American Libraries column

A conversation at the Newberry
Laurie D. Borman writes: “Author Scott Turow and US Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner discussed the future of authors, books, and libraries at the Newberry Library in Chicago February 22 at the first of the ‘Conversations at the Newberry’ series created by National Public Radio’s Chicago affiliate WBEZ. Turow, currently in his second term as president of the Author’s Guild, spoke passionately about the rights of authors and the guild’s fight against the Google Books Project. Posner opened his remarks on how the internet simplifies research, particularly for academics.”...
AL: Inside Scoop, Mar. 12

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ALA News

Chris ColferActor, author Chris Colfer to appear at Annual Conference
Award-winning actor Chris Colfer will appear in the high-profile Auditorium Speaker Series at 2012 ALA Annual Conference on Saturday, June 23, in the Convention Center. Best known for his starring role as Kurt Hummel in the critically acclaimed Golden Globe and SAG Award–winning comedy Glee, Colfer has authored his first children’s book, The Land of Stories, which will be released July 17....
Conference Services, Mar. 13

Cover of the ALA Annual Preliminary ProgramStart planning for Annual with the Preliminary Program
ALA Annual Conference Preliminary Program offers the latest highlights and details, showcasing the huge range of events and sessions that can help you expand your network, build your knowledge, and improve your profession. Look for details on coverage of books and authors, information and public policy, and support for career development. Find out more about the new Tech Talks, ALA Masters Series presentations, Conversation Starters, Ignite Sessions, Unconference, Library Camp, and the Networking Uncommons....
Conference Services, Mar. 13

2012 ALA elections open March 19
Voting in the 2012 ALA elections will begin 9 a.m. Central time March 19. Between March 19 and March 21, ALA will notify voters by email, providing them with unique passcodes and information about how to vote online. Polls will close on April 27. For the fourth year in a row, ALA is holding its election exclusively online. To be eligible to vote, individuals must be members in good standing as of January 31....
Office of ALA Governance, Mar. 13

Cover of Disaster Response and Planning for LibrariesDisaster response and planning
Fire, water, mold, construction problems, power outages—mishaps like these not only bring library services to a grinding halt, but can also destroy collections and endanger employees. Preparing for the unexpected is the foundation of a library’s best response. A third edition of Disaster Response and Planning for Libraries, published by ALA Editions, comes to the rescue with a timely update of the best step-by-step, how-to guide for preparing and responding to all types of library disasters....
ALA Editions, Mar. 7

ALA and iPAC research libraries’ e-government needs
ALA and the Information Policy and Access Center at the University of Maryland College Park have launched a project, “Libraries and E-Government: New Partnerships in Public Service,” in recognition of the expanding role of the public library in the provision of e-government services. The project focuses on the development of an online resource that will assist public librarians to better meet the e-government needs of the communities they serve....
District Dispatch, Mar. 8

The Frankie Pickle posterALA Graphics summer catalog
Two treasured children’s characters star in new illustrated posters and bookmarks: The Frankie Pickle poster (right) and the Yoko Learns to Read poster. In honor of the 30th anniversary of Banned Books Week, two dramatic poster designs, Banned and Forbidden, buttons, and double-sided bookmarks will help libraries, schools, and community groups celebrate the freedom to read September 30–October 6. “It Came from the Library,” YALSA’s 2012 Teen Read Week theme, is highlighted in a spooky poster. Find all of the new products at the ALA Store....
ALA Graphics, Mar. 13

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Cover of the audiobook of Charles Dickens's Hard TimesFeatured review: Media, adult fiction
Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Nov. 2011. 11hr. Naxos, CD (978-1-843-79443-1).
Fans of Naxos’ acclaimed recordings will recognize Lesser’s distinctive British voice in his exceptional reading of Dickens’s classic. What sets the audio apart is Lesser’s skill in establishing the novel’s tone and characters, both key elements in the impact of the story. The setting is Coketown, an English industrial town where pollution fills the air with grime, and the working-class inhabitants with despair. From the opening passages, Lesser sets the stage for conflict in his portrayal of capitalist Gradgrind in arrogant and plummy tones....

Logo for the Back PageHappy birthday, Mr. Dickens
Bill Ott writes: “I started reading Dickens in earnest in the 1970s, after I had escaped academia, and have continued sporadically ever since, aided along the way by all those Masterpiece productions and, more recently, by my new passion, audiobooks. I’m currently listening to Simon Prebble’s spectacular reading of Great Expectations and luxuriating in every mellifluous word. I remember first reading the novel in junior high and not really getting it. My main critical response to the tale was to wonder why nothing was said about how badly Miss Havisham must have smelled. Frankly, the issue remains a concern.”...

@ Visit Booklist Online for other reviews and much more....

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Anaheim Update

Ancient scrollAt the Muzeo: The Word
The Muzeo (which means “museum” in Esperanto) is a relatively new center for arts, knowledge, entertainment, and culture, housed in a former Carnegie library building at 241 S. Anaheim Boulevard. During ALA Annual Conference, the Muzeo will feature an exhibit on “The Word: Ink and Blood” that reviews the history of the Bible and the origins of written language. Artifacts on display include authentic Dead Sea Scroll fragments, Hebrew Torahs, ancient Greek texts, Medieval Latin manuscripts, original pages from the Gutenberg Bible, and rare English printed Bibles....
The Muzeo

Screenshot from Cars Land neon videoDisney’s Cars Land set to open in June
Disney California Adventure, one of the two theme parks in the Disneyland Resort, is opening a new attraction June 15 based on Radiator Springs, the fictional town in the Disney-Pixar movie Cars. Cars Land is designed to look like old Route 66, complete with prominent neon signage. Rides will include the Radiator Springs Racers, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, and Luigi’s Flying Tires. Watch a video (1:30) about the neon creations....
Disney Parks Blog, Mar. 9; Disney California Adventure Park; YouTube, Mar. 10

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2012 ALA Election

Division News

Cover of Families Matter: Designing Media for a Digital AgeFamily life in the digital age
Lori Takeuchi, director of research for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, will be the keynote speaker at the AASL President’s Program at the 2012 Annual Conference. During her presentation, Takeuchi will discuss Families Matter: Designing Media for a Digital Age (PDF file), the findings of two studies that document how families with young children are integrating digital media into the rhythm of daily life....
AASL, Mar. 13

The new logo for School Library Research (formerly School Library Media Research)New name, logo for AASL’s research journal
AASL’s online refereed research journal, School Library Media Research, has changed its name to School Library Research (SLR). Beginning with its 15th volume in April 2012, all research manuscripts in the journal will carry the new name and be branded with the new logo (above)....
AASL, Mar. 13

School Libraries Count! deadline extended
The deadline to participate in the AASL 2012 “School Libraries Count!” longitudinal survey has been extended to March 30. The survey gathers basic data about the status of school library programs across the country. AASL will use this information to develop advocacy tools to support school library programs at the local, state, and national levels. All K–12 schools—public and private—are invited to participate on a voluntary basis....
AASL, Mar. 13

Mackin to sponsor student video contest prizes
Mackin Educational Resources will once again sponsor prizes for AASL’s School Library Month student video contest. Mackin will award the school libraries of the student winners with a prize of $500 in books. The 2012 contest, You Belong @ Your School Library, asks students to visually illustrate why the school library is (either physically or virtually) the place to be. Submissions for the video contest will be accepted through March 29....
AASL, Mar. 13

ALSC online education logoALSC spring online courses
The schedule for ALSC’s spring 2012 online courses is now available. Classes begin April 2 and registration is now open for all courses. Detailed descriptions and registration information is available on the ALSC website. Fees are $95 for personal ALSC members; $145 for personal ALA members; and $165 for nonmembers....
ALSC, Online Learning, Mar. 13

Erin Downey HowertonWebinar: Managing teen behavior
When teens flood into the library, anything can happen. But chaos needn’t reign in your teen space. By setting the right tone with regulars, establishing appropriate boundaries, and equitably addressing problem behaviors, you can create a teen space that is consistently welcoming using strategies from “Managing the Swarm,” YALSA’s April 19 webinar, led by Erin Downey Howerton (right)....
YALSA, Mar. 8

Visit the PLA Store
If you are going to the PLA Conference in Philadelphia, check out the PLA Store at the Pennsylvania Convention Center near the Broad Street entrance. The store is located near registration, ideal for easy access and convenient browsing. With plenty of new and bestselling items available, you’ll want to make sure to carve out some time in your schedule to stop by....
PLA, Mar. 12

ALCTS preconference to look at authority work, RDA
“A Change in Authority: Authority Work in the RDA Environment” is the topic for the upcoming ALCTS preconference at this year’s ALA Annual Conference. This one-day preconference is intended for catalogers new to authority work and/or who work with authority control issues at the local level. The preconference will be held June 22. Registration is required and a separate registration fee applies....
ALCTS, Mar. 13

LITA preconferences announced
LITA is offering three full-day preconferences, to be held June 22, at the ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California. The three preconferences include “Web Content Strategy for Libraries,” “Creating Library Linked Data: What Catalogers and Coders Can Build,” and “Building Digital Collections Using Islandora.”...
LITA, Mar. 13

Explore Ireland’s libraries, pubs, historic sites
ASCLA is following up its sold-out Paris trip with a fall trip to Ireland in 2012 to explore the emerald isle, its castles, libraries, and important historic sites. The trip will run October 4–12, and will include hotels and transportation to Dublin, Kilkenny, Cork, Cobh, and Killarney; four dinners; tours of the National Library and the Killarney Library, Trinity College and the Book of Kells, Powerscourt Gardens, Kilkenny and Blarney Castles, and the Ring of Kerry. Download the brochure (PDF file)....
ASCLA, Mar. 13

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Awards & Grants

G. Sayeed ChoudhuryOCLC/LITA Kilgour Award winner
LITA has announced G. Sayeed Choudhury (right) the 2012 winner of the Frederick G. Kilgour Award for Research in Library and Information Technology. Choudhury, associate dean for research data management at the Sheridan Libraries of Johns Hopkins University, was recognized for his leadership in the field of data curation and for his ongoing impact on the field of librarianship in applying the principles of librarianship to the curation and preservation of digital data....
LITA, Mar. 13

Cover of Harry and Hopper, one of dozens of titles selected for the 2012 list of Notable Children's Books by ALSC2012 Notable Children’s Books
ALSC selected its 2012 list of Notable Children’s Books in January during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Dallas. The list of titles includes fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and picture books of special interest, quality, creativity, and value to children 14 years of age and younger. View the annotated list of titles....
ALSC, Mar. 13

2012 Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grants
The Morton School of Excellence in Chicago, the Perris (Calif.) Library, and the Prentiss (Miss.) Public Library are the recipients of the 2012 Coretta Scott King Book Donation Grants. The grant provides to libraries and other organizations the books submitted for consideration for the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, including a full set of the 2012 winning titles. Each year, three organizations are selected that demonstrate need and potential benefit from receiving the collection....
Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, Mar. 8

Bookapalooza Program winners announced
ALSC has awarded the 2012 Bookapalooza Program to three libraries: First Regional Library in Hernando, Mississippi; Conley Elementary School Library in Whitman, Massachusetts; and Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe–Saginaw Chippewa Academy in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The award includes a variety of materials from books to DVDs and audiobooks....
ALSC, Mar. 13

A card advertising the Queens History Conference held at Queens College, Oct. 2-3, 1992Queens Memory Project receives citation
ALCTS has declared the Queens Memory Project as the recipient of its Outstanding Collaboration Citation for 2012. The citation recognizes and encourages collaborative problem-solving efforts in the areas of acquisition, access, management, preservation, or archiving of library materials. The project is dedicated to digitizing, preserving, and providing access to the local history of Queens, New York....
ALCTS, Mar. 12

New RUSA BRASS travel grant
Academic business librarians are encouraged to apply for the BRASS Business Expert Press Award for Academic Business Librarians, a new conference travel grant offered by the Business Reference Services Section of RUSA and sponsored by Business Expert Press. This award, in its inaugural year, recognizes a librarian new to the field of academic business librarianship and provides $1,250 for expenses related to attendance to the 2012 ALA Annual Conference. Download the nomination form (PDF file)....
RUSA, Mar. 13

Apply for a Jan Stauber Grant
The Beacon Society, a nonprofit affiliate of the Baker Street Irregulars, has set a May 1 deadline for librarians, teachers, and others in the US and Canada to apply for a $250 Jan Stauber Grant. The grant will fund programs that introduce young people to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. The society’s website also offers ideas on how libraries can use Sherlock Holmes to spur reading....
Beacon Society

Movers and Shakers 2012 logoMovers and Shakers 2012
Library Journal’s Movers and Shakers award spotlights librarians and others in the library field who are doing extraordinary work to serve their users and to move libraries of all types and library services forward. They hail from all corners of the library world. They’ve been nominated by their colleagues, friends, bosses, and admirers. This year’s group of 53 brings the Movers cohort to more than 550....
Library Journal, Mar. 13

Portion of the cover of Bibliographia Karaitica2012 Judaica Bibliography Award
The Research Libraries, Archives, and Special Collections Division of the Association of Jewish Libraries has announced the winner of its 2012 Judaica Bibliography Award. Bibliographia Karaitica (Brill), edited by Barry Dov Walfish and Mikhail Kizilov, is a mammoth bibliography that captures every conceivable aspect of Karaite literature and culture....
People of the Books Blog, Mar. 12

Cover of Liberty's Exiles2011 National Book Critics Circle awards
On March 8, the National Book Critic Circle presented its awards for the publishing year 2011. The prize in fiction went to Edith Pearlman for Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories (Lookout Books), a collection of 34 Chekhov-like short stories that was also nominated for the National Book Award. The nonfiction prize went to Maya Jasanoff for Liberty’s Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World (Knopf), a book of fresh, original, and sprightly scholarship....
National Book Critics Circle, Mar. 8

Cover of Redwood and Wildfire2011 James Tiptree Jr. Award
Every year, the Tiptree Award celebrates an unusual novel that contemplates shifts and changes in gender roles. This year’s winner is Redwood and Wildfire (Aqueduct) by Andrea Hairston, a story of a “hoodoo woman” who migrates from rural Georgia to Chicago at the turn of the 20th century. The citation noted that the “characters in Redwood and Wildfire deftly negotiate freedom and integrity in a society where it’s difficult to hold true to these things.”...
James Tiptree Jr. Literary Award Council, Mar. 9

Cover of The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener2012 AHS Book Award winners (PDF file)
Each year, the American Horticultural Society recognizes outstanding gardening books published in North America with its annual Book Award. This year, five winners were named, among them The Holistic Orchard by Michael Phillips (Chelsea Geren) and The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour (Storey)....
The American Gardener, Mar./Apr.

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Seen Online

Henryville (Ind.) High School, damaged by the March 2 tornadoBooks sought for Henryville school libraries
The elementary and secondary schools in Henryville, Indiana, were severely damaged by a March 2 tornado, especially the high school library located on the hard-hit south end of the complex (right). Few books survived the assault, according to Henryville teacher Shawn Turner. The Greater Clark County Schools Educational Foundation in Jeffersonville, Indiana, is accepting donations to help rebuild the collection. Indiana authors are holding a raffle to encourage donations. At least two school libraries in Kentucky were also badly damaged in the same storm system....
Greater Clark County Schools; Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal, Mar. 7; GalleyCat, Mar. 13; Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader, Mar. 8

Suzanne ThorinLuis HerreraObama nominates two librarians to national board
President Obama announced March 9 his intent to nominate Luis Herrera and Suzanne E. Thorin to the National Museum and Library Services Board. Herrera is the city librarian of the San Francisco Public Library and Thorin is university librarian at Syracuse University. The NMLSB is an advisory body that includes the director and deputy directors of IMLS and 20 presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed members of the general public....
White House, Mar. 9

Court: Excerpting and linking online is fair use
On March 9, the US District Court in Nevada issued a declaratory judgment (PDF file) that makes it harder for copyright holders to file lawsuits over excerpts of material and burden online forums and their users with nuisance lawsuits. The judgment—part of the nuisance lawsuit avalanche started by copyright troll Righthaven—found that Democratic Underground did not infringe the copyright in a Las Vegas Review-Journal article when a user of the online political forum posted a five-sentence excerpt, with a link back to the newspaper’s website....
Electronic Freedom Foundation, Mar. 10

The Rosa F. Keller branch of the New Orleans Public Library is set to reopen on March 16The rebirth of New Orleans libraries
For some New Orleanians, the story of the post-Katrina public library system’s resurrection might read like a never-ending tale. While officials managed to reopen five of the 13 storm-damaged locations quickly, many neighborhoods have been forced to rely on makeshift mini-libraries. But city hall is preparing to cut the ribbons on five new state-of-the-art libraries over the next few months, including three in rapid-fire succession in March....
New Orleans Times-Picayune, Mar. 12

Strike deadline looms for Toronto library workers
The union representing Toronto Public Library workers says it’s battling the city to give members full-time jobs as a strike and lockout deadline looms. More than half of the workforce at Toronto Public Library is part-time, and an increasingly understaffed library system has made it so part-timers are competing with other part-timers, said library union official Maureen O’Reilly....
CBC News, Mar. 7

Former library president admits stealing nearly $100K
The former president of Blue Mountain Community Library in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, admitted March 9 to stealing nearly $100,000, in a plea agreement under which his wife will be allowed to enter into a first-offender program. Over nine years, Richard Leidich used the public library’s funds to support himself, his wife, and his various business interests, pilfering $99,212 from it before he was caught....
Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call, Mar. 9

Volunteers worked at the Universal Bibliographic Repertory, the project that grew into the MundaneumGoogle to partner with the Belgian Mundaneum
Google is linking up with an information precursor that aimed to do something similar in the 19th century, on paper. The company announced March 13 it is forming a partnership with a museum in Mons, Belgium, the Mundaneum, dedicated to the compilation and indexing of knowledge in a giant, library-style card catalog with millions of entries—an analog-era equivalent of a search engine or Wikipedia—conceived in 1895 by Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine. The partnership is part of a campaign by Google to demonstrate that it is a friend of European culture....
New York Times, Mar. 12

Joy BanksA cataloger of carillons
Joy Banks (right) is thought to be the only carillon librarian in the world. She chronicles and catalogs the largest collection of carillon music known. That extensive collection is housed inside the centerpiece of the Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida, the Singing Tower. Banks actually manages two libraries inside the tower: the Bok Tower archives and the Anton Brees Carillon Library, which houses books, periodicals, recital programs, music scores, maps, recordings, slides, and photographs related to carillon music....
Winter Haven (Fla.) News Chief, Mar. 11

Houston library helps mayor delve into her roots
Thanks to KUHT-TV and Houston Public Library’s Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, Mayor Annise Parker stands a good chance of getting some of her genealogical questions answered. KUHT is preparing a program documenting Parker’s genealogical journey to accompany the PBS series Finding Your Roots. Clayton Reference Librarian Ashley Riggenbach said she has found apparent paternal ancestors for Parker dating to the 1870s....
Houston Chronicle, Mar. 12

Todd Bol and his Little Free Library. Screenshot from MSNBC newscastLittle free libraries are catching on in many places
Pat Schneider writes: “I ran into Rick Brooks recently and, not surprisingly, talk soon turned to Little Free Library—the project he cofounded with Todd Bol (right) that places small boxes offering free books in places where people will find them. ‘We’re now in 34 states and 17 countries,’ said Brooks, an outreach manager with UW-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies. The effort started in 2010 when Bol put up the first one in Hudson, Wisconsin, to honor his late mother. Brooks says today there are 400 to 500 Little Free Libraries now in use around the world.” Watch the newscast (2:41)....
Madison (Wis.) Capital Times, Mar. 11; MSNBC, Mar. 11

McMillan Library, NairobiThe story behind Nairobi’s McMillan Library
When the final story of the McMillan Memorial Library is written, it will be about a person, eccentric philanthropist and plantation owner William Northrup McMillan, who bequeathed part of his wealth to the citizens of Nairobi, Kenya, and had it protected by an Act of Parliament. That was the work of a genius. As the only landmark building in Nairobi specifically protected by law, this library will remain for years as a showcase of Victorian architecture....
Business Daily Africa, Mar. 8

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Tech Talk

New iPad, Asus Transformer Prime, or Samsung Galaxy Note: Which tablet to buy?New iPad or Android? What should you get?
Eugene Kim writes: “This time around, the Apple iPad rumor mill was mostly right on. With Apple’s third-generation tablet, we got a super-high-res 2,048-by-1,536-pixel Retina Display powered by a beefed-up A5X CPU, a better camera, and fast 4G LTE on AT&T or Verizon. This all brings up the eternal tablet question again: iPad or Android?” Sascha Segan compares the apps....
PC Magazine, Mar. 8–9

Automatic recharging, from a distance
Anne Eisenberg writes: “Think how convenient it would be if you could recharge electronic devices without ever having to plug them in—or even take them out of your briefcase. Instead, you could leave your briefcase, tote bag, or backpack on a counter in the living room at home, and the smartphones and tablets within could see to their own recharging. The technology is based on magnetic induction—the process used to recharge electric toothbrushes.”...
New York Times, Mar. 10

Patriot Supersonic USB 3.0The best USB flash drive
Brian Lam writes: “The thing I figured out after looking over a few dozen USB flash drives is that the best ones from three years ago are considered dog slow by today’s standards. Sure, any drive you get will work. But some will be slow and some will be expensive, and some will be slow and expensive. But there are a handful of great ones out there. Because of that, I’ve decided the Patriot Supersonic USB 3.0 is the drive I’d get because it’s the right combination of speed and value.”...
The Wirecutter, Mar. 2

How to hide wiggly underlines10 spell-checker secrets for Microsoft Word
Helen Bradley writes: “You use Word’s spelling checker every day, and probably just as often encounter some of the tool’s puzzling behavior. But do you know how to get rid of a word that you mistakenly added to its dictionary or how to hide the red wiggly lines that appear all over your document? The following 10 tricks will help you to work more efficiently in Word 2010, and they will even make you and your documents look smarter.”...
PC World, Mar. 13

What happens to missing smartphones?
Jason Fitzpatrick writes: “What exactly happens to smartphones separated from their owners? To find out, Symantec loaded 50 smartphones with fake personal and corporate information, then left them in public locations around New York City. Using remote software, researchers then tracked what exactly happened to the phones after they were released into the wild. Here are some of the stats from their white paper.”...
How-To Geek, Mar. 14

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E-Content

Justice Department suspects an ebook price fix
The Justice Department has warned Apple and five of the biggest US publishers that it plans to sue them for allegedly colluding to raise the price of electronic books. Several of the parties have held talks to settle the antitrust case and head off a potentially damaging court battle. If successful, such a settlement could have wide-ranging repercussions for the industry, potentially leading to cheaper ebooks for consumers. Not every publisher is in settlement discussions. Peter Brantley notes: “If agency pricing is struck down, readers may once again see reasonable book prices from online retailers that years ago acknowledged that digital music and videos have a very different value than their traditional analogues.”...
Wall Street Journal, Mar. 9; New York Times: Media Decoder, Mar. 9; Publishers Weekly, Mar. 11

Califa Group logoCalifa Group adopts an ebook ownership model
Michael Kelley writes: “The largest library network in California will adopt the pioneering ebook business model of Colorado’s Douglas County Libraries, which allows libraries to truly own, not rent, their ebooks. The San Mateo–based Califa Group, which brokers services and products for 220 multitype library systems, has seeded the project with about $30,000 and will purchase ebook files directly from publishers as well as an Adobe Content Server to manage the digital files.”...
Library Journal: The Digital Shift, Mar. 12

Independent Publishers Group logoThe little guys stand up to Amazon
Curt Matthews, chief executive of the Chicago-based Independent Publishers Group, is up against an almost insurmountable force, Amazon.com. The online retailer rakes off half the cover price of IPG’s ebooks and is demanding an even larger share. For now, Matthews isn’t budging. The standoff began in February when IPG’s contract came up for renewal. When Matthews balked at what he called tougher terms, Amazon pulled from its website nearly 5,000 of IPG’s electronic books....
Chicago Tribune, Mar. 10

E-journal preservation and archiving: The hard questions
Rick Anderson writes: “How important is it that we archive all of the scholarly record? I realize this question may sound crazy. How could any reasonable person (a librarian, no less) suggest that the scholarly record doesn’t need to be robustly and fully archived? We should stop and think before we automatically assume that it does—and that if we do decide that it does, we need to make ourselves fully aware of the scale of project we’re talking about.”...
The Scholarly Kitchen, Mar. 7

Cover of Fifty Shades of GreyBooks women read when no one can see the cover
If that woman next to you on the train seems unusually engrossed in her e-reader, there may be a good reason. Electronic readers, and the reading privacy they provide, are fueling a boom in sales of sexy romance novels, or “romantica.” Kindles, iPads, and Nooks “are the ultimate brown paper wrapper,” says Brenda Knight, associate publisher at Cleis Press, a publisher of erotica since 1980. Mainstream publishers are launching digital-only erotic labels to feed demand, and the genre even has its first bestseller, Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James....
Wall Street Journal, Mar. 13; New York Times, Mar. 9

Penguin restricts ebook downloads to USB devices
Paul Biba writes: “Penguin is doing everything it can to make ebooks unpalatable to libraries and their users. Restricting transfers to USB means that a reader can’t use the Kindle app on his iPhone, for example, to download and read a library book. This is due to restrictions publishers have placed on their titles. At the moment, Penguin is the publisher that has chosen this limitation for their Kindle titles in Library2Go.”...
TeleRead, Mar. 13

SXSWi: The fate of libraries
Harry McCracken writes: “Carson Block, who gave a SXSW Interactive talk March 10 titled ‘The Great Library Swindle,’ says that he’s passionate about libraries and technology. But he didn’t really need to tell his audience that. The intensity of his interest was very much on display during his talk, which was about the daunting challenges that public libraries face in the age of the internet and digitization.”...
Time: The Technologizer, Mar. 11

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ALA 2012 Annual Conference in Anaheim logo

Dan Ariely

Behavioral economist, bestselling author, and frequent presenter Dan Ariely takes a groundbreaking look at the way we behave, and talks about his forthcoming book, The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone— Especially Ourselves, on Sunday, June 24, in the Convention Center at ALA Annual Conference.


ALA HRDR ad


Project MUSE ad


Midwest Tape ad


Innovative Interfaces ad


Hunger Games READ poster

Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games trilogy has been an epic sensation for teens and adults alike. Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its 12 districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. This poster featuring Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) is a must-have for Hunger Games fans and readers as they eagerly await the big-screen adaptation on March 23. NEW! From ALA Graphics.

Solutions and Services column

Great Libraries of the World

Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense

Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, Milan, Italy. A public university library serving the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, founded in 1772 on the site of a former Jesuit school, the library has two magnificent reading rooms: the Maria Theresa Hall, with two levels of exquisite walnut bookshelves designed by the architect Giuseppe Piermarini and two huge Bohemian crystal chandeliers reconstructed from the remains of ones that lit the Hall of Caryatids in the Royal Palace of Milan, damaged by Allied bombing in 1943; and the Theological Hall, once used by the Jesuits as a study room, with portraits of two Habsburg emperors.

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze

Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, Florence, Italy. The library was founded as the Biblioteca Magliabechiana in 1714 with the bequest of a collection by Antonio Magliabechi, bibliophile and librarian to the grand duke of Tuscany. In 1743, it became a depository for Tuscan imprints and opened to the public in 1747. After Italian unification, it was renamed the National Central Library of Florence. Since 1935, the collections have been housed in a building located along the Arno River, which flooded on November 4, 1966, and damaged nearly one-third of the library’s holdings including prints, maps, posters, newspapers, and a majority of works in the Palatine and Magliabechi collections. Unfortunately, 46 years later, many of the damaged books are still in storage awaiting repair, binding, cleaning, and reassembling.

This AL Direct feature showcases 250 libraries around the world that are notable for their exquisite architecture, historic collections, and innovative services. If you find yourself on vacation near one of them, be sure to stop by for a visit. The entire list will be available in The Whole Library Handbook 5, edited by George M. Eberhart, which is scheduled for publication in 2013 by ALA Editions.

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Data Visualization Coordinator, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. In fall 2012, the Brown University Library will open a state-of-the-art Digital Scholarship Lab, which will feature a high-resolution tiled video display wall, surround sound, and the ability to interact with the wall using peripheral devices. The Digital Scholarship Lab will provide the facilities for scholars across the disciplines to engage with research data using advanced visualization software, to examine and compare high-resolution digital content, and to experience audiovisual media in a setting unique on Brown’s campus. The Data Visualization Coordinator oversees the operation of the Digital Scholarship Lab (DSL) and identifies, installs, and supports software to facilitate information visualization across multiple disciplines within the context of the DSL....

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Digital Library of the Week

New York World's Fair 1940 tickets

The Queens Memory Project is a dynamic testament of collective memory for the residents of Queens, New York—the most diverse county in the United States. The interviews and archival records gathered here from many sources document the borough’s people and places; their differences, their changes over time, and their strong ties to one another. The project combines historical and contemporary photography, maps, news clippings, and other documents with oral history interviews of current residents. Among its goals are to record borough history as it happens and empower residents from all ethnicities and walks of life to document their lives in the borough.

Do you know of a digital library collection that we can mention in this AL Direct feature? Tell us about it. Browse previous Digital Libraries of the Week at the I Love Libraries site, NEW: Check out our Pinterest page to view some of our favorite digital libraries.


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Like sharks, if libraries are dormant too long, they die.

—Greg Hill, director of Fairbanks (Alaska) North Star Borough Libraries, “Some Use Toilet Paper to Set Records, Some for Clothing Design,Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, Mar. 11.

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Reused Libraries Rejuvenate Communities

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Women's Basketball Legends: Nancy 'Lady Magic' Lieberman, Babe Didrikson

Women's History Month; Dare to Dream--Women of Freedom

Ben Fountain: 'It was like a feast.'

Great Songs: 'Summer Wind' and Songwriter Johnny Mercer

How to Get a Great Job: Crafting Effective Cover Letters

A Sense of Our Future: Cokie Roberts, Journalist, Radio and Television Political Commentator

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Calendar

Apr. 14:
Theorizing the Web,
Conference, University of Maryland, College Park.

Apr. 18:
Ninth Annual Copyright Conference,
Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. “©opyright in ©asablanca: Round Up the Usual Suspects!”

Apr. 18–20:
Fifteenth Distance Library Services Conference, Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tennessee.

Apr. 19–21:
American Society for Indexing Annual Conference, Bahia Resort, San Diego. “Index Appreciation Days: Oh, the Places You'll Go!”

Apr. 24–27:
Alabama Library Association, Annual Convention, Wynfrey Hotel, Hoover.

Apr. 25–27:
Oregon Library Association, Annual Conference, Riverhouse Convention Center, Bend. “Oregon Libraries: Right at the Heart of Things.”

Apr. 25–27:
Utah Library Association, Annual Conference, Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City. “From Telegrams to Tweets: 100 Years of Connecting Utah Librarians.”

May 2–4:
Loleta Fyan Small and Rural Libraries Conference, Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, Traverse City, Michigan.

May 9–10:
Massachusetts Library Association, Annual Conference, DCU Center, Worcester. “Book to the Future.”

May 9–11:
Maryland Library Association / Delaware Library Association, Joint Conference, Clarion Resort, Ocean City, Maryland. “Choose Your Own Journey.”

May 16–18:
Designing Libraries for the 21st Century,
Conference, MacEwan Hall, University of Calgary.

May 19–21:
Maine Library Association / Maine Association of School Libraries, Joint Conference, University of Maine at Orono. “Libraries United.”

May 31–
June 1:

Rhode Island Library Association, Annual Conference, Bryant University, Smithfield. “RI Libraries: Enriching Individuals, Strengthening Communities.”

June 4–8:
Standing Conference of Eastern, Central, and South Africa Library and Information Associations, Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi, Kenya.

June 5–6:
New Jersey Library Association, Annual Conference, Revel Resort, Atlantic City. “ReTooling 4 Tomorrow.”

Sept. 24–26:
Fourth International M-Libraries Conference, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK. “From Margin to Mainstream: Mobile Technologies Transforming Lives and Libraries.”

Oct. 3–5:
Library 2.012, Worldwide Virtual Conference, Online.

Oct. 12–14:
National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, National Conference, Hyatt at Olive 8, Seattle. “A National Gathering of Innovators.”

Oct. 25–26:
Fifth Rizal Library International Conference, Ateno de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines. “Libraries, Archives, and Museums: Common Challenges, Unique Approaches.”

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Books & Reading

Screenshot from The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On videoThe story of “Keep Calm and Carry On”
Kent Anderson writes: “I think the first time I saw the classic ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ poster was in 2005 or 2006. A coworker had it hanging on her wall. Because she was also one of the busiest people around, it made sense. But the classic and very British elegance also resonated for me as it apparently has for millions. This short video (3:01) outlines the strange history of the poster—a true World War II relic almost lost forever.”...
The Scholarly Kitchen, Mar. 9

Britannica Editor in Chief Dale HoibergBritannica discontinues its print edition
For 244 years, the thick volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica have stood on the shelves of homes, libraries, and businesses everywhere, a source of enlightenment as well as comfort to their owners and users around the world. But on March 13 the editors announced that they will discontinue the 32-volume printed edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica when the current inventory is gone. In a larger sense this is just another historical data point in the evolution of human knowledge. The New York Times offers some background. Watch the video (2:29)....
Britannica Blog, Mar. 13; New York Times: Media Decoder, Mar. 13; YouTube, Mar. 9

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Actions & Answers

Survey: People like Google, but not what it’s doing
Greg Sterling writes: “On March 9, the Pew Internet Project released findings of a survey on search, personalization, and targeted advertising. In a nutshell, survey respondents had a positive view of search and the quality of search results. Yet the majority gave an unequivocal thumbs down to search personalization (and behavioral targeting). This isn’t necessarily a contradiction in the abstract, but it is when you consider that the most popular search engine is moving aggressively in a direction most people say they don’t want search to go.”...
Search Engine Land, Mar. 9, 12; Pew Internet and American Life Project, Mar. 9

Google scales back its scanning
Jennifer Howard writes: “Google has been quietly slowing down its book-scanning work with partner libraries, according to librarians involved with the vast Google Books digitization project. But what that means for the company’s long-term investment in the work remains unclear. Librarians at the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin systems confirmed that the pace has slowed. According to Michigan’s Paul Courant, the slackening pace reflects a natural maturation of the project.”...
Chronicle of Higher Education, Mar. 9

Information Services Librarian Elizabeth Nicholson (right) hands a treat to sophomore political science major Fatimah Green as part of Phillips Library's candy campaignAurora librarians inspire students with Milk Duds
Aurora (Ill.) University students returning from spring break are getting a tasty reminder from the staff at Phillips Library that their final papers and projects are due soon. Librarians fanned out across campus and passed out notes to students that said, “Don’t let your papers be duds,” attached to Milk Duds. The candy campaign, begun last spring with Nestlé Crunch bars, is the brainchild of Elizabeth Nicholson (right), part-time information services librarian....
AU Today, Mar. 13

Peter Alyea displays a digital image of the grooves of an old recording captured by IRENE. Photo by Abby Brack LewisUnlocking the sounds of the past
Erin Allen writes: “In the basement of LC’s Madison Building, Peter Alyea sits at a desk and takes millions of photos of the insides of the grooves of old recordings. The images, reassembled on Alyea’s computer monitor, reveal in detail every curve cut into the floor of every groove—and provide the key to extracting sound from recordings unheard for decades and preserving those sounds for future generations. The pictures are the product of IRENE/3-D.”...
Library of Congress Blog, Mar. 12

Document: The CIA's Role in the Study of UFOs, 1947-90Top five formerly top secret government documents
March 11–17 is Sunshine Week, an initiative to spark conversations about transparency in government. Catherine Shreve, librarian for public policy and political science at Duke University’s Perkins Library, has been rifling through the government’s files and has come up with this list of her favorite formerly secret documents, selected either for their historical importance or simple oddity....
Duke Today, Mar. 11

CoderDojo logoCoding for kids
Gretchen Caserotti writes: “We are putting together a big STEM-based fair at the Darien (Conn.) Library this summer and it got me thinking about technology programming for kids. In my investigations, it seems there are three programming languages that are easiest for kids to start with: Python, Ruby, and Scratch. Once kids are comfortable, they can graduate to the more challenging languages like Perl and C++. Here are a few resources to get kids started coding at your own library.”...
ALSC Blog, Mar. 10

10 things I didn’t learn in library school
Eric S. Riley writes: “When I first started working for a public library in 2007 there were numerous things that came up over the course of my day-to-day work that were just never discussed in library school. If they were, they were not in the classes that I took. But let me tell you, if there was a ‘getting real’ class, it should have been mandatory. So, here’s a quick list of things that I was totally unprepared for.”...
Letters to a Young Librarian, Mar. 8

Is an MLS a poor investment?
Dorotea Szkolar writes: “In the June 2011 Forbes online edition, Jacquelyn Smith ranked a master’s degree in library science as the one of worst master’s a student could invest in. She based the rankings on employment projection data and average mid-career pay compared with similar jobs. Let me provide a counterperspective to supplement the statistical analysis and create a more complete picture of the benefits for those considering the degree.”...
Information Space, Mar. 7; Forbes, June 6, 2011

Are librarians choosing to disappear?
Carl Grant writes: “As librarians, we frequently strive to connect users to information as seamlessly as possible. A group of librarians said to me recently: ‘As librarian intermediation becomes less visible to our users/members, it seems less likely that our work will be recognized. How do we keep from becoming victims of our own success?’ As our library collections have become virtual and as we increasingly stop housing the collections we offer, there is a tendency to see us as intermediaries serving as little more than pipelines to our members.”...
Thoughts from Carl Grant, Feb. 28

Strikers, 1910-1915Women’s History Month @ your library
This March, Women’s History Month is being celebrated across the country with the theme “Women’s Education–Women’s Empowerment.” This year’s theme aims to bring attention to the critical role that rural women play in the global economies of both developing and developed nations. Throughout the month libraries will offer a variety of programs and activities to celebrate. Here are just a few examples of what libraries are doing....
ALA Public Information Office, Mar. 13

Explaining patron privacy in a world of target markets
After reading a recent New York Times article on companies snooping on customers’ shopping habits, Laura Crossett writes: “We are so used to being targeted by retailers and political campaigns that we see hospitals and libraries as just more people looking to sell stuff to us. I tell people I meet that the library has as much concern for our patrons’ privacy as the hospital does for its patients. I tell them this is a major component of my ethics as a librarian, that next to opposing censorship, it is the thing I hold most sacred. They are always, always shocked.”...
lis.dom, Mar. 12; New York Times, Feb. 16

Poison Help widget from the US Health Resources and Services AdministrationNext week is National Poison Prevention Week
Marcia Zorn writes: “National Poison Prevention Week is the third week of March. Since 1962, it has alerted the public to the dangers of accidental poisonings. This is a week for libraries and librarians to provide information on safety measures to prevent poisoning from household products, medicines, pesticides, plants, bites and stings, food poisoning, and fumes. Here are some resources.”...
ReferencePoint, Mar. 2

Create a great teen website
Karen Jensen writes: “If you are a school or public library, you can’t ignore the fact that teens are online. A lot. And honestly, you need to create a situation for yourself where you have a dynamic and continually updated web presence committed to teens.”...
Teen Librarian’s Toolbox, Mar. 9

C-SPAN Video Library logoFour seriously cool information resources
Gary Price writes: “As a librarian, researcher, and frequent blogger, I’m constantly coming across incredibly useful online information resources that are most effectively searched using their own site search tools, rather than relying on general-purpose engines to surface their valuable content. I plan to start writing about these on a regular, ongoing basis, using a bullet-point format that highlights the most useful features of each resource. Here are the first four (of many more to come).”...
Search Engine Land, Mar. 9

University of South Carolina Library, ColumbiaThe first separate academic library buildings in the US
Larry Nix writes: “The first US library building built solely to serve as a library was at the University of South Carolina in 1840. The USC building (right) is still used as a library. Academic libraries prior to this time were located in campus buildings that served multiple purposes. According to Kenneth E. Carpenter, Gore Hall, built at Harvard in 1841, was a close second.”...
Library History Buff Blog, Mar. 7

Pages the catPages, the Valley Center library cat
In Valley Center, Kansas, a stray cat found its way into the hearts of the folks who work at the library. After a story ran in the local newspaper, some visitors said they had to quit going to the library because of cat allergies (3:43). But the patrons who love the cat (nicknamed Pages) outnumbered those who didn’t, the library board and Director Janice Sharp agreed, and Pages became a permanent resident with his own blog....
KAKE-TV, Wichita, Kans., Feb. 6, 2011; Posts from the Paw

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