Reports still coming in on Hurricane Sandy library flooding
News coverage and reports from state libraries offered little information about damage to public and academic libraries in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which hit the Atlantic Coast five miles southwest of Atlantic City, New Jersey, on the evening of October 29. Many public libraries, including the New York Public Library, remained closed on October 31. As of mid-day, many coastal areas of New Jersey and New York remained without power, preventing damage assessments and the operation of pumps....
American Libraries news, Oct. 31

Zombies invade the library
Toni Massari McPherson writes: “Imagine the library from hell: stacks filled with unseen dangers; furniture that’s been overturned and tossed into makeshift barriers; groans, shrieks, and manic laughter as frantic patrons struggle in dim emergency lighting to find safety from monsters lying in wait to terrify, give chase, and contaminate them with a single touch. This was the scene inside the Z. J. Loussac Library in Anchorage, Alaska, on October 20.”...
American Libraries feature

How to put on a How-To Festival
Judy Rosenfield writes: “On a sunny spring Saturday at the Louisville (Ky.) Free Public Library, hundreds of people with schedules in their hands rushed down hallways and up stairs, wondering, ‘What should I learn next?’ Flamenco dancing or magic tricks? How to cook perfect omelets or how to start kayaking? How to win at Scrabble or how to raise chickens? The day was part of the library’s first How-To Festival, an experiment in high-intensity community-based interactive learning.”...
American Libraries feature

Will’s World: Trust in your trustees
Will Manley writes: “It frustrates me profoundly to have someone in the library profession approach me at a conference to challenge my credibility as a speaker—usually in view of the fact that I’m retired, out of touch, and behind the times. In other words, I’m no longer actively involved in library matters. My defense is immediate. I explain that while I may be retired from the administrative wars, I now play an even more important library position: I am a trustee.”...
American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.

Ban Pooh?
Q. Each year when we mark Banned Books Week in my middle school reading class, I’m always astonished to see that Winnie-the-Pooh has appeared on a list of banned books, though not one from ALA. Why is this book listed? A. I think what has happened is this. Up until the last year or so, we had on our website a page with the 100 titles on the Radcliffe list and highlighted those that had been challenged. But people didn’t read the fine print and thought all of them had been challenged. So, where Winnie-the-Pooh is listed as #22 on the list of classics, no challenges have been recorded.”...
AL: Ask the ALA Librarian, Oct. 31

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Ben Bizzle to speak at Midwinter
Library Facebook and social media guru Ben Bizzle (right) will show attendees how to maximize the reach and impact of a library Facebook page in the ALA Masters session, “Outreach 2.0: The Digital Revolution of Public Relations,” at the Midwinter Meeting in Seattle on January 27. This popular library innovator will provide strategies for taking advantage of the most cost-effective outreach tool there is, using examples from eight libraries across the country that added more than 9,000 fans in 28 days....
Conference Services, Oct. 26

The novel is alive and well
“The Novel Is Alive and Well” is the 2013 subject of the popular Exhibits Round Table / Booklist Author Forum, kicking Midwinter off in style on January 25 and offering the first of many opportunities to hear and see favorite authors up close. Lively moderator Brad Hooper, Booklist adult books editor, will draw best-selling authors Ivan Doig (right), Gregg Olsen, and Ruth Ozeki out on how their books contribute to the thriving novel form and the influence of the Pacific Northwest on their work....
Conference Services, Oct. 25

Celebrate Games Day with an online scavenger hunt
Starting on Saturday, November 3, to coincide with International Games Day, atyourlibrary.org will host a gaming-themed scavenger hunt. To play, participants answer a new question each day for five days. Each correct answer will count as an entry in the scavenger hunt. At the end of the week, a winner will be selected at random from all eligible answers to receive a $50 GameStop gift certificate....
Campaign for America’s Libraries, Oct. 30

The five-minute library instruction assessment
Information literacy expert Sarah Steiner (right) will show you how five minutes of skilled, targeted assessment is all you need to give you a precise understanding of students’ needs, learning, and retention in the latest iteration of the popular workshop “How to Improve Your Library Instruction: Assessment in Five Minutes” on January 10. Drawing from real-life examples, Steiner will discuss how to write the best assessment questions and use inexpensive survey tools to gauge learning while you interact with students. Registration is open....
ALA Editions, Oct. 30

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What’s Seattle’s head librarian reading?
Valerie Easton writes: “Marcellus Turner (right) started out in 4th grade shelving books in his school library in Mississippi. Fourteen months ago, he became the director of the Seattle Public Library System, and he now oversees the Central Library and 26 branches that circulated 11,572,778 items last year. When MT, as he’s known by friends and library staff, went to his first Seafair parade last summer, he was delighted to see that so many of the people lining the streets were reading while waiting for the parade to start.”...
Crosscut.com, Oct. 25

Seattle superlatives
The first Dick and Jane children’s book series was created by Seattle’s Elizabeth Julesburg under the pseudonym Elizabeth Montgomery. Seattle has the largest percentage of library card holders in the nation (80%) and spends double the national average on books every year. King County Library System was the busiest library system in the US in 2010 with circulation of 22.4 million items....
See Seattle

Seven restaurants that define Seattle dining now
Allison Austin Scheff and Sara Dickerman write: “If you took a culinary snapshot of Seattle in 2012, what would it taste like? Beyond the strong locavore focus and the eager seasonality of menus, Seattle restaurants have a unique spirit, a feel all their own. We celebrate this special Seattle flavor by calling out the restaurants that define our city—and the trends they exemplify. This is where to go to taste Seattle.”...
Seattle Magazine, Apr.

Use these phrases if your flight is cancelled
“Operator, please connect me to customer service.” “The first thing you should do is call the airline, even while you’re waiting in line to be rerouted,” says Brett Snyder of Cranky Concierge, an air-traveler assistance firm. “This way, you’re essentially cutting the line in front of you.” To expedite the rebooking process at the major airlines, keep their numbers (PDF file) in your wallet.”...
Real Simple

Literary Landmark at Central Connecticut
The Elihu Burritt Library at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain was designated a Literary Landmark October 11 in honor of writer and abolitionist Elihu Burritt (1810–1879). His writings are housed at the CCSU Library and in the New Britain Public Library. The Skinner, Cargill, and Bradley families sponsored the Literary Landmark and established an endowed scholarship, announced at the dedication....
United for Libraries, Oct. 30

AASL boosts Digital Learning Day events
AASL will join the Alliance for Excellent Education and other national educational groups in celebrating the second annual Digital Learning Day on February 6. School librarians are encouraged to participate in events and contribute resources. Once registered, school librarians can share success stories, join a community of practice, download tools to promote the celebration, and add their Digital Learning Day activities to an interactive map....
AASL, Oct. 30

Discover “The Power of Data”
A new AASL webinar, “The Power of Data,” to be held November 15, will explore how data can be used to support school library programs. Presenter Sandra Andrews (right) will show how to compare local data with national data to determine how it can help in decision making at the school level. She will also demonstrate the utilization of benchmarking and using data for advocacy and to communicate needs and successes. Registration is open....
AASL, Oct. 30

AASL seeks proposals for Hartford conference
AASL invites proposals for concurrent sessions to be presented during its 16th National Conference and Exhibition. Concurrent sessions will be held on November 15–16, 2013. The submission deadline has been extended through November 12, 2012. Concurrent sessions during the conference are 75 minutes in length. Proposals should focus on one of the content strands. AASL is also looking for 20–30 volunteers to participate in a blind review and scoring of concurrent session proposals and proposals for the Best Practice Showcase....
AASL, Oct. 25

AASL commends 11 programs that support school librarians’ work
Moving on recommendations made by its Affiliate Assembly, AASL has formally commended 11 programs based on their support of the school librarian profession and their alignment with AASL’s learning standards and program guidelines, as well as the principles expressed in AASL mission and value statements....
AASL, Oct. 30

Edward McCoy is ALSC’s 2013 Emerging Leader
Edward McCoy (right), library assistant at the Oakland (Calif.) Public Library, has been named a 2013 Emerging Leader by ALSC. After working as an attorney for eight years, McCoy returned to library school and plans to receive his MLIS from San José State University in December. A member of Save Oakland Libraries, McCoy has completed internships at San Francisco Public Library and Alameda Free Library. Emerging Leaders receive up to $1,000 each to participate in the ALA Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference....
ALSC, Oct. 30

Thousands take part in Teen Read Week
More than 3,000 libraries embraced the 2012 Teen Read Week theme, “It Came from the Library,” by hosting an array of events and programs October 14–20. Programs ran the gamut from a Teen Book Fest at the Provo City (Utah) Library to a Maker Faire at Ocean County (N.J.) Library. “We’re thrilled that so many libraries across the country are able to inspire so many teens to use library resources to read for the fun of it,” said YALSA President Jack Martin....
YALSA, Oct. 30

Find out what library non-users want
Participants in PLA’s live, hour-long webinar on November 7, “The Elusive Library Non-User: How to Find Out What Non-Users Want,” will learn techniques to gain insights about non-users and how to draw them into the library from instructors Donna Fletcher and Paula Singer. The webinar is the second in the PLA Conference Webinar Series, which is still accepting registrations to access “The State of E-Books in Public Libraries and Publishing” through the PLA archive and “On Life Support, But Not Dead Yet! Revitalizing Reference for the 21st Century,” on November 15....
PLA, Oct. 30

Apply for PLA’s first-ever Leadership Academy
The inaugural PLA Leadership Academy, “Navigating Change, Building Community,” to be held March 5–8 in Chicago, will offer intensive, empowering leadership education for public librarians who want to increase their capacity to lead not only within the library, but also in the community. Developed in collaboration with the International City and County Managers Association, the academy promises a groundbreaking focus on developing the skills needed to work with municipal officials and other community stakeholders. The application deadline is November 28....
PLA, Oct. 30

Call for proposals: 2013 LITA Forum
The 2013 National Forum Committee seeks proposals for high-quality preconferences, concurrent sessions, and poster sessions for the 16th annual LITA National Forum to be held in Louisville, Kentucky, November 7–10, 2013. The theme is “Creation, Collaboration, Community.” The deadline to submit is February 25....
LITA Blog, Oct. 24

Library consultants: Network at ASCLA luncheon
ASCLA’s Library Consultants Interest Group will host a networking luncheon on January 26 during the 2013 ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle. A forum for face-to-face networking among consulting colleagues, the luncheon will also feature educational content such as learning new icebreakers, refining elevator pitches, and using Twitter for self-promotion. Participants will also have the opportunity to win career-related raffle prizes. Tickets are now on sale....
ASCLA, Oct. 30

ASCLA seeks webinar proposals for 2013
Proposals are invited from subject matter experts and experienced librarians for ASCLA webinars to be presented in 2013 on topics such as innovative services for an aging population, collaborative digitization, correctional librarianship 101, data analysis and assessment, and serving disabled patrons. Webinar presenters are compensated for their work and will receive training and support for Blackboard Collaborate. Learn how to submit a proposal....
ASCLA, Oct. 30

ACRL approves new diversity standards
The board of ACRL has approved a new iteration of “Diversity Standards: Cultural Competency for Academic Libraries.” Developed by the ACRL Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee, the standards emphasize the need and obligation for academic and research libraries to serve and advocate for racial and ethnically diverse constituencies. Read “Diversity Standards” online and in the October C&RL News....
ACRL, Oct. 30

ACRL seeks workshop presenter
ACRL is accepting applications from prospective new presenters for the workshop “Scholarly Communications: From Understanding to Engagement.” The day-long workshop, now in its fifth year, is led by two expert presenters at locations across the country. The workshop content is updated each year to meet the evolving needs of the community. In 2013, the sections will focus on access, intellectual property, engagement, and emerging opportunities for scholarship. Application materials must submitted via email by November 19 to Lisa Macklin....
ACRL, Oct. 30

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ALA recognition awards and grants
Nominate yourself, colleagues, or your library for one of the 2012 ALA recognition awards and grants. The deadline is December 1, unless otherwise noted. General information about these and other ALA awards is available on the ALA website....
Office of ALA Governance, Oct. 30

EBSCO offers seven grants to attend Annual Conference
ALA and EBSCO are partnering to offer seven scholarships for librarians to attend the 2013 Annual Conference in Chicago, June 27–July 2. Each grant will be in the amount of $1,000. The money is to be used for conference registration, travel, and expenses. The deadline to apply is December 1....
Office of ALA Governance, Oct. 30

UIC library commons area wins design citations
The American Institute of Architects’ Chicago chapter has awarded the University of Illinois at Chicago two Design Excellence citations of merit for the IDEA Commons (right), an interactive library space that opened in November 2011. The citations were in the categories of distinguished building and interior architecture. The IDEA Commons was designed by David Woodhouse Architects....
Crain’s Chicago Business, Oct. 26

2012 Carl Sandburg Literary Awards
The Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Public Library Foundation hosted the 13th annual Carl Sandburg Literary Awards dinner at the UIC Forum on October 17. Emcee Bill Kurtis introduced more than 65 noted authors, all with ties to Chicago, to the crowd of 700. Playwright and novelist Don DeLillo (Cosmopolis, Underworld) was honored with the Carl Sandburg Literary Award for Fiction, and biographer Walter Isaacson (Steve Jobs, Einstein: His Life and Universe) won the Carl Sandburg Literary Award for Nonfiction. South Korean author Nami Mun (Miles From Nowhere) won the 21st Century Award....
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 26

2012 Scotiabank Giller Prize
Will Ferguson has won the $50,000 (Can.) Scotiabank Giller Prize for his novel 419, published by Viking Canada/Penguin Canada. He accepted the award at a nationally televised gala October 30 in Toronto. The jury said 419 “points in the direction of something entirely new: the Global Novel. It is a novel emotionally and physically at home in the poverty of Lagos and in the day-to-day of North America.”...
Publishers Weekly, Oct. 31

Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize
The winner of the 2012 Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, first awarded in 1967, was announced on October 24: It’s Frank Cottrell Boyce for The Unforgotten Coat (Walker), a magical and compelling story about two Mongolian refugee brothers adapting to a very different life in Liverpool, England. The story examines the effects the immigration system has on children. The £1,500 ($2,405 US) prize is the only award of its kind judged by writers....
The Guardian (UK), Oct. 24

2012 Information Book Awards
Can We Save the Tiger? (Walker), by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Vicky White, was the overall Children’s Choice and Judges’ Choice in the 2012 Information Book Awards, announced in London on October 22. The awards, sponsored by the School Library Association, celebrate the importance of outstanding nonfiction books for children and young adults. Winners are also selected in three age categories....
School Library Association, Oct. 22

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Target and Todd Oldham unveil renovated school library
The Target Corporation and The Heart of America Foundation unveiled a state-of-the-art library (right) and Target Meals for Minds food pantry at P.S. 21 in Staten Island, New York. As part of its 2012 Target School Library Makeover program, the retailer is unveiling new libraries at a total of 32 in-need elementary schools across the country. Creator and designer Todd Oldham helped to redesign the space by incorporating his signature style throughout the library....
Target Corporation, Oct. 26

Brentwood will keep Uncle Bobby’s Wedding
Trustees for the Brentwood (Mo.) Public Library held a special meeting October 22 and voted to keep Uncle Bobby’s Wedding in its children’s collection. The library was responding to a written challenge from a Brentwood resident, who did not like the book’s subject matter, which involves a young guinea pig and her beloved uncle, who is going to marry....
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Book Blog, Oct. 25

Memphis library card only gets voters a provisional ballot
Voters who are showing up at Shelby County, Tennessee, polls with only a Memphis library card as their photo ID are being given provisional ballots. Lawyers for the city of Memphis responded to an appeal filed by Tennessee election officials who are seeking to overturn a court ruling that allowed voters to use the photo ID issued by the Memphis Public Library at the polls....
Associated Press, Oct. 29

Nook accessibility lawsuit settled
A lawsuit against the Free Library of Philadelphia filed in May with the assistance of the National Federation of the Blind by four blind patrons has been resolved by the parties. The plaintiffs filed suit because the library began lending Nook Simple Touch e-readers, devices that are completely inaccessible to blind patrons. The library has agreed to purchase 10 accessible e-readers to supplement the devices it has already purchased, and within four years will use only accessible e-reading devices....
National Federation of the Blind, May 2, Oct. 23

Lawyer can use library plaza for health care info
An Indiana attorney and a Fort Wayne library that he claimed violated his free speech rights have reached an agreement that will allow him to set up a display about federal health care law on the building’s plaza. Attorneys for David Kolhoff and the Allen County Public Library filed paperwork withdrawing their dispute October 26 in US District Court in Fort Wayne. Kolhoff sought to use the library plaza to educate the public on health care law and its requirements....
Munster (Ind.) Times, Oct. 27

Goldwater Library coming to Mesa
Downtown Mesa, Arizona, will be home to a library honoring the legacy of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater (1909–1998, right). The establishment of the Barry and Peggy Goldwater Library and Archives was announced October 23. The $30 million research and education center is expected to contain not only the Goldwater archives but papers from other Arizona politicians and artifacts from Goldwater’s life....
Phoenix Arizona Republic, Oct. 23

Gun found inside donated book
An employee at the Valparaiso branch of the Porter County (Ind.) Public Library made a shocking discovery in late October after cracking open a donated book. A copy of Robert Stone’s novel Outerbridge Reach was hollowed out and contained a historic-looking handgun. The weapon was described by police as a gold, wooden-handle, .31 caliber, single-shot, black-powder handgun. Donation records are not retained, so the donor remains unidentified....
Valparaiso (Ind.) News, Oct. 26

Travis letter to return to the Alamo for an exhibition
After months of negotiations and weeks of increased media interest, commissioners of the Texas State Library and Archives voted October 24 to loan William Barret Travis’s 1836 “victory or death” letter to the Texas General Land Office for display from February 23 to March 7 at the Alamo, which the land office oversees. The exhibition will mark the first time the letter has returned to the place it was written nearly 177 years ago....
Liberty County (Tex.) Vindicator, Oct. 29

60 Minutes features missing National Archives treasures
Precious historical artifacts like the Wright Brothers airplane patent, the bombing maps for the nuclear attack on Japan, the original eyewitness radio report of the Hindenburg disaster, and photos taken by the astronauts on the moon are just some of the items stolen from the National Archives. So much of our past has been pocketed by thieves that the National Archives has formed a recovery team to get them back. 60 Minutes’ Bob Simon reported (14:11) October 28 on this alarming trend....
CBS: 60 Minutes, Oct. 28

Rural libraries face dwindling revenue
Across the country, small-town and rural public libraries face financial struggles including flat or decreasing revenue, increasing costs, and rising demand for services such as internet access. Some libraries are responding by cutting hours and services or getting by with smaller staffs. The library in Seneca, a branch of the Neosho-Newton County (Mo.) Library, is now slated for closure. In fact, it was supposed to close on November 1, but a petition drive from residents prompted the library board to agree to keep it open through June to look at funding options....
Joplin (Mo.) Globe, Oct. 27

Stanford Libraries get a budget injection
Following sharp budget cuts in recent years, Stanford University’s libraries will experience a significant funding increase this academic year. The university allocated an additional $1 million to the $19.5 million library materials budget. Although the increase in funds has different implications for different collections, the addition will enable the library system to recover some of its lost purchasing power....
Stanford Daily, Oct. 25

Connellsville 1903 Carnegie library declared haunted
A Pittsburgh paranormal research organization has deemed the historic Connellsville (Pa.) Carnegie Free Library (right) haunted. “This place is haunted. There’s no doubt in my mind it’s tremendously haunted,” said Shawn Kelly, the founder and the lead investigator of the Pittsburgh Paranormal Society. The 109-year-old library, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was built over the site of the former Connell Graveyard. The Santa Ana (Calif.) Public Library also sits on a former graveyard and is said to be haunted....
Fayette (Pa.) Daily Courier, Oct. 29; Orange County (Calif.) Register, Oct. 26

Illinois high school librarian on Jeopardy!
A librarian at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois, had the opportunity to appear on the popular afternoon game show Jeopardy! Ana Peso was chosen to appear on the show almost a year after taking the online test and being asked to audition. Her episode will air on December 31. Although unable to discuss the specifics of her game because of a confidentiality agreement, Peso said she is focusing on the experience itself, which was both exciting and nerve-racking....
Northbrook (Ill.) Patch, Oct. 29

Haiti’s BiblioTaptap
BiblioTaptap, Haiti’s first bookmobile service, launched in summer 2012, thanks to Libraries Without Borders and its partners (National Library of Haiti, the Haitian National Bureau for Books, and the Foundation for Knowledge and Freedom). LWB plans to launch two more before January 2013. Named after Haiti’s “Tap taps” (“quick, quick”)—colorfully painted buses or pickup trucks that serve as shared taxis—BiblioTaptaps are fulfilling a critical need for access to information and reading materials since the devastating earthquake of 2010....
AL Focus, Oct. 25

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Supreme Court divided on Kirtsaeng case
Jennifer Howard writes: “The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments (PDF file) on October 29 in a key copyright-infringement case (Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons), with justices asking pointed questions about the resale and reuse of protected works. Many of the questions homed in on possible consequences for individual buyers as well as libraries and other institutions, but did not suggest which way the court was leaning. The outcome has significant implications for publishers, academic libraries, and almost anyone who resells, lends, or displays copyrighted material made and bought outside the United States.” A decision in the case, Docket No. 11-697, is expected by summer 2013....
Chronicle of Higher Education, Oct. 29; CNET News, Oct. 29

Jailbreaking now legal for smartphones, but not tablets
Timothy B. Lee writes: “When Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in 1998, it gave the Librarian of Congress the power to grant exemptions. LC announced the latest batch of exemptions on October 25. For the next three years, you’ll be allowed to jailbreak smartphones, but not tablet computers. You’ll be able to unlock phones purchased before January 2013, but not phones purchased after that. It will be legal to rip DVDs to use as an excerpt in a documentary film, but not to play it on your iPad. None of these distinctions makes very much sense.”...
Ars Technica, Oct. 25

New study: School librarians boost student test scores
Having access to a full-time, certified school librarian means better outcomes for Pennsylvania’s public school students, according to new research from the Colorado-based RSL Research Group. The researchers examined the 2010–2011 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests in reading and writing for students in grades 3–11 and tracked outcomes for students based on five school library factors. Overall, the greatest impact on student test scores was seen from having a full-time, certified librarian....
Education Law Center, Oct. 23

The romance of browsing
Bohyun Kim writes: “The traditional library space packed with stacks and carrels does not serve today’s library users well. As more and more library resources are moved to the convenient realm of the web, libraries have focused on redefining the library space. However, some patrons say that browsing a library’s physical collection in the stacks led them to many serendipitous discoveries, and that in their tiny, uncomfortable carrels, they were completely absorbed with their own thoughts as they read through a pile of books and journals undisturbed by the worldly hustle and bustle.”...
ACRLog, Oct. 29

To share or not to share
Rick Anderson writes: “Those who argue for the ongoing necessity of something substantially like traditional interlibrary loan in the online realm generally base their arguments on the need to preserve our traditional rights under the first-sale doctrine. But I think this argument constitutes what philosophers call a ‘category mistake.’ First-sale is about what may be done with physical copies. In the digital realm, what is typically referred to as ‘sharing’ is actually copying—sometimes legal and sometimes not.”...
Library Journal: Peer to Peer Review, Oct. 25

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Tech Talk

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50 great mobile apps for libraries
Sarah Houghton writes: “At the Internet Librarian conference, Richard Le and Tom Duffy gave a presentation on 50 mobile apps that are useful for libraries. Apps have changed the way we search for and access information. The mobile platform is the preferred way to access information on the go. We can integrate information and add value to our work with better and richer content. Most of the apps featured today are free.”...
Librarian in Black, Oct. 24

The 10 best features in Windows 8
Alexandra Chang writes: “The wait is over: Windows 8 has arrived. After many, many months of talking about Windows 8, Microsoft officially released the new operating system on October 26. With this exciting new era for Microsoft comes a huge list of changes to Windows. Not only is the interface totally different, there are several new features and capabilities. Here are our 10 favorites, plus one that gets honorary mention.” Michael Muchmore points out that there is a steep learning curve, and David Pogue says that it’s really two operating systems in one....
Wired: Gadget Lab, Oct. 25; PC Magazine, Oct. 25; New York Times: Pogue’s Posts, Oct. 25

Google now has devices in three sizes
Brian X. Chen writes: “With the addition of its new iPad Mini, Apple offers touch-screen devices in three sizes. Now Google is matching that by introducing a tablet that is meant to compete directly with the larger iPad. On October 29, Google unveiled the Nexus 10, a 10-inch tablet it developed with Samsung, and a new phone, the Nexus 4, that it made with LG. Google also said it would upgrade its seven-inch tablet, the Nexus 7, to include a cellular data connection.”...
New York Times: Bits, Oct. 29

A beginner’s guide to CSS
Lauren Hockenson writes: “The beauty of Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, is that it makes implementing design on a website super-simple. Where traditional style manipulations with HTML would lead to sifting through the code of multiple web pages to keep everything consistent, CSS makes sweeping transformations across every corner of a website. Here’s the foundation you’ll need to be well on your way with this new language.”...
Mashable, Oct. 24

How to buy a gaming desktop
Joel Santo Domingo writes: “What kind of desktop will it take to run high-end 3D games? If you have deep pockets, your answer could be a custom-built hot rod from an elite boutique PC manufacturer such as Alienware, Falcon Northwest, or Voodoo Computers. If you’re not made of money, a couple of well-informed choices will go a long way toward helping you get the right gaming rig, even if it’s from a standard PC vendor.” Here are the 10 best gaming desktops....
PC Magazine, Oct. 25

Security implications of librarians creating apps
Peter Murray writes: “Should librarians be learning how to develop software? This theme has come up in the past few years and I think it is a good thing. There is one thing that has me worried, though, in the enthusiasm to teach ad hoc software development skills to everyone that is interested in learning: security. When you are creating apps to be used by others, you take on the responsibility of accounting for all the things that could go wrong.”...
Disruptive Library Technology Jester, Oct. 28

10 things you didn’t know Dropbox could do
Matt Petronzio writes: “Free of charge (with a paid upgrade option), Dropbox lets you upload your files to folders accessible anywhere there’s an internet connection. It eliminates the hassle of emailing yourself attachments and running into size limits. There are several ways to amp up your user experience. You can ‘favorite’ files for offline reading, upload documents via URL, or download torrents remotely so they’re ready by the time you get home.”...
Mashable, Oct. 26

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E-Content

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Random Penguins ahead
Christopher Harris writes: “In a rare glimpse behind the curtain, this weekend we heard a bit more about the owners of two of the Big Six publishers. Bertelsmann, owner of Random House, and Pearson, owner of Penguin, stepped into the spotlight as they announced the intended merger of their two trade publishing houses October 29. So who are these two companies? Assuming approval by regulators, the new Penguin Random House will dominate trade publishing; it will control more than a quarter of the US market.” Graphic designer Todd Goldstein speculates on what the logo might look like (above) after the merger. Richard Curtis examines the implications of the merger for publishing staff and authors....
AL: E-Content, Oct. 29; Reuters, Oct. 29; The Guardian (UK), Oct. 29; Digital Book World, Oct. 29

School libraries move to digital resources
Laura Devaney writes: “As schools move from printed textbooks to digital materials and digital learning environments, school libraries are adapting to keep pace. Abilene Christian University has transformed its learning spaces to encourage students to collaborate and create. One of the biggest parts of the library is the learning studio, which is a place where students can go to create different digital resources such as audio and video recordings, multimedia pieces, or link up to share ideas and brainstorm.”...
eSchool News, Oct. 30

EPUB: The best format for the Kindle Fire
Nate Hoffelder writes: “The Kindle Fire HD is Amazon’s flagship device, so one might expect that Amazon’s own native apps would be the best at their tasks—on this tablet, anyway. That is not true. Whether through a deliberate design decision or mere indifference, Amazon has made it really hard to download and read DRM-free ebooks on the Kindle Fire HD. You can download an ebook and open it, but if you want it to show up in your personal docs, you will need to use a file manager to copy the ebook from one folder to another.”...
The Digital Reader, Oct. 28

Why are ebooks riddled with typos?
Laura June writes: “Ebooks are apparently lousy with typos. This is not a minor issue, and it doesn’t seem to be an isolated one, either. Though I’ve only had my Kindle for three weeks, I’ve noticed that the book I’ve been reading, Foucault’s Pendulum, has many typos. This isn’t an out-of-copyright, cheaply made book from a fly-by-night press. This is marketed and published as a 2007 edition of the 1988 book by Mariner, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin. Many of the typos appear to be casualties of the OCR process.”...
The Verge, Oct. 26

The future of E Ink
Jeremy Wagstaff writes: “E-readers initially benefited from their reflective displays, which can be read in sunlight and require very little power. But the success of Apple’s iPad, improved backlit displays, power-saving technologies, and smaller tablets all point to one thing: The e-reader has become a transitional technology. Electronic paper companies like E Ink are scrabbling for new ways to sell the technology, or in some cases are pulling the plug entirely.”...
Reuters, Oct. 28

An open letter to ebook retailers
Joanna Cabot writes: “Dear Ebook Retailers: Please, can we have a return to common sense sometime soon? I buy my books (except when I read library books, which I pay for via taxes). I reward content creators for their labors, which I make use of. But in return, I am asking—pleading—to be treated in return like a real person, and given the trust to use my purchased content sensibly, and with some allowance for real life.”...
TeleRead, Oct. 26

Reclaiming the lost publishing mojo
Joseph Esposito writes: “The people at Google are not the only ones who walked through university libraries and wondered why all those books were not online. Librarians have been saying it for 15 years or more. Why didn’t publishers listen? In digitization, librarians were primarily interested in preserving their collections as print books wore out or got lost; Google had a different agenda. What the librarians wanted would not have disrupted publishing; what Google wanted potentially changes everything.”...
The Scholarly Kitchen, Oct. 23

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ALA Midwinter Meeting, Seattle, January 25–29. “News You Can Use” will offer critical updates at Midwinter on what’s new in research, surveys, legislation and regulation, the newly elected administration, tech trends, digital content, and ebooks, provided by ALA divisions, offices, and organizations such as Pew and IMLS. Get details and updates at the ALA Midwinter website, join the Facebook Event, and track the tag #alamw13.

White House Photographers Provide Eyes of History Libraries Foster Civic Engagement College Graduates Have Much Lower Unemployment Rate than Rest of Country Margarita Engel: 'I just can't imagine living without libraries' (video) Fifty Years of Great Villains in James Bond Films Fearful Increase in Polio Causes Americans to Rally to Eradicate Disease Join Us on Facebook Subscribe to our Newsletter

Rousing Reads: The wild and poetic life of Westerns
Bill Ott writes: “I’m hooked on Westerns. Not the genre-blends that are popular today—the cowboy romances and the zombie Westerns—but the real thing: novels set in the Old West, featuring hard-drinking, rugged individualists who are good at doing the things that must be done and doing them with grace under pressure. Except for the setting, that definition also works for hard-boiled crime novels. One genre’s high-plains drifter is another’s private eye walking the mean streets.”...
American Libraries column, Nov./Dec.

It’s adventure time
Julie Bartel writes: “‘Adventure’ is one of those genre labels that gets murkier and less precise the longer I think about it. I start out excited to write about stories of exotic locales, heart-pounding action, and danger, danger, danger, and end up wondering if half of all contemporary YA fiction couldn’t be classified as ‘adventure.’ When I think about adventure fiction, I think about Armstrong Sperry, or the authors who inspired him like Robert Louis Stevenson and Jack London, or those that followed him like two-time Newbery Award winner Scott O’Dell.”...
YALSA The Hub, Oct. 24

A stormy weather reading list
Emily Temple writes: “If you live anywhere on the East Coast or thereabouts, we imagine you’ll be staying inside for a while, so we’ve put together an essential stormy weather reading list to get you in the hurricane mood and keep you busy while the weather rages. The lights might go out, but books don’t run out of batteries. Just don’t forget the candles.”...
Flavorwire, Oct. 28

The next big thing in manga
Nicole Dolat writes: “Manga isn’t disappearing, it’s just transitioning. For fans who still want to devour manga in print form, there is still manga to be found in libraries and bookstores. But manga now has a major presence in the digital realm. Several months ago Shonen Jump launched its fully digital publication, Shonen Jump Alpha (SJA). For those of you with app-friendly devices, there are handy manga apps ready to help you purchase, read, and download your favorite series. My preferred apps at the moment are Viz Manga, Crunchyroll, and Yen Press.”...
YALSA The Hub, Oct. 26

A history of EC comics
Royce Wilmot writes: “Mad Magazine, the subversive satire-laced magazine best known as the home of Alfred E. Neuman, has in its 60 years of existence become an American institution. The magazine’s original publisher, Educational Comics (EC), was founded by Max Gaines in 1945 and specialized in titles such as Picture Stories from the Bible. But EC eventually gained critical acclaim for its line of well-drawn, socially conscious, and often gruesome suspense, horror, and sci-fi titles. These comics played a central role in the comics scare of the 1950s, before being killed by the adoption of the Comics Code Authority.”...
Mental Floss, Oct. 26

Top 10 books with maps
Simon Garfield writes: “The joy and problem of choosing a Top 10 of anything mappy is that maps are everywhere—as ever-present in literature as they are functional in our daily lives and vivid in our imaginations. So what follows is a list of the moment—books on my radar as I write. That said, all of them are inspiring, entertaining, and original, and most of them are beautifully illustrated and useful. They will take you to places both familiar and unreachable, and to places you’ll be glad will never leave you.”...
The Guardian (UK), Oct. 24

11 book sequels you didn’t know existed
M. Asher Cantrell writes: “We get frustrated with Hollywood’s propensity for weird sequels that seem to have little or nothing to do with the original, but it just so happens that the practice is older than filmmaking itself. Here are several classic stories with strange follow-ups that you’ve never heard of, such as Joseph Heller’s Closing Time and Rudyard Kipling’s The Second Jungle Book....
Mental Floss, Oct. 11

Readers’ advisory on Facebook
Susan Brown writes: “Many libraries focus their Facebook posts on broadcasting program information and other library-related news. But Facebook, like all social media, should go beyond broadcasting and engage followers with content that compels them to interact. At Lawrence (Kans.) Public Library, we started improving our Facebook presence by deciding to position our page as a space for readers to talk about books, find book news, and get book suggestions. They could interact with us and each other. Here’s how we did it and how you can, too.”...
RA News Newsletter, Nov./Dec.

Schoolteacher needs library help
Colby Sharp, 4th-grade teacher at Minges Brook Elementary in Battle Creek, Michigan, writes: “We do not have librarians at our schools. Our elementary libraries are staffed by secretaries that are in charge of running one library in the morning and one in the afternoon. I see the amazing things librarians are doing across the country, and I am jealous. I want that for my students. Every chance I get, I bring up getting a librarian. I need anything that can help me convince a school district that a librarian is something that we desperately need.”...
sharpread, Oct. 30

LC offers Common Core lesson plans
Stephen Wasson writes: “The Common Core State Standards are on many teachers’ minds this school year, and the Library of Congress is ready to help. The library’s teacher resources are a great fit for teachers trying to meet key CCSS goals, including critical thinking, analyzing informational texts, and working with primary sources. Hundreds of free LC lesson plans, primary source sets, and presentations are now aligned to the CCSS. Visit the LC Teachers website.”...
Teaching with the Library of Congress, Oct. 24

27 sites with information about hurricanes
Julie Greller writes: “As I sit here on the first of two days off because of an impending hurricane named Sandy, I thought I would create a post or two in case I lose power. But the reality is that Sandy means business and the gusting winds happening right now are only a prelude of what’s to come.”...
A Media Specialist’s Guide to the Internet, Oct. 27

Read Across Lawrence for Kids
Rebecca Zarazan Dunn writes: “One book, one month, one town, and 2,500+ young readers. That pretty much sums up this past September in the children’s room at the Lawrence (Kans.) Public Library and our launch of the library’s first-ever Read Across Lawrence for Kids, featuring the middle-grade bohemian fantasy, The Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski. The intention was to bring together the kids of Lawrence, but in that experience was also found a ‘bringing together’ of the schools and the library.” Watch the claymation book trailer (2:46) the inspired kids created on the first day of RAL Kids....
ALSC Blog, Oct. 30

Google Maps enhances its terrain features
Google Maps now clearly shows terrain, color gradations to depict vegetation, and labels for natural land formations. This enriched visual data allows you to quickly and easily see where the great forests, deserts, and mountain ranges around the world begin and end. It also conveys how natural land formations can impact where, how, and why man-made developments like urban cities, dams, and bridges are made....
Google Lat Long, Oct. 26

A smarter dictionary for Google Translate
John DeNero and Minqi Jiang write: “Mahatma Gandhi tells us that ‘Love is the strongest force the world possesses.’ Love comes in many forms, and each has different translations. On October 31, we are introducing three new features to Google Translate (reverse translations, frequencies, and synonyms) that help to distinguish among translations of a word, because no love should ever be lost in translation.”...
Google Translate Blog, Oct. 31

Using Wayback Machine for research
Nicholas Taylor writes: “The Wayback Machine that many people are familiar with is the Internet Archive Wayback Machine, an archive of the entire web. Wayback Machine performs this feat by dynamically rewriting the links it encounters on archived webpages to point to other resources in the archive. It does an admirable job, but, with as much variation as it encounters between websites, it may have trouble replaying particular webpages or webpage elements. JavaScript-driven features, for example, are especially problematic.”...
The Signal: Digital Preservation, Oct. 26

Six biggest library annoyances and how to fix them
Doug Johnson writes: “Lifehacker had an article titled: ‘The Six Biggest Media Center Annoyances (and How to Fix Them),’ and I got excited thinking those smart people were going to help school media specialists become (even) more popular. The ‘media center’ being written about, however, was the home amalgamation of TV, amplifier, speakers, and various tuners, DVRs, etc.—not school libraries. But it is a great title that I have modified slightly for clarity to use for this post.” Johnson expands on one of his annoyances—excuses—here....
Blue Skunk Blog, Oct. 25

Participatory design in academic libraries
What do students and faculty most want from the library, and how would they redesign library space, if they could? Those questions guided 12 teams of library and IT professionals in research projects that they presented at a seminar on participatory design in academic libraries last May. The projects are reported in a new volume by the Council on Library and Information Resources, Participatory Design in Academic Libraries (PDF file)....
Council on Library and Information Resources

University of Alberta owns rare witch-hunting manuscript
Paula Simons writes: “His name was Johannes Tinctor—though he was also known as Jean Taincture—and he was Dominican monk and member of the Roman Catholic Inquisition, whose writings helped to launch a homicidal witch-hunting crusade throughout late medieval and early modern western Europe. His 1465 book, Invectives Against the Sect of Waldensians—a term Tinctor used synonymously with witches—was one of the first to document the wicked behavior of this supposed Satanic cult. It may be the single most valuable volume in the University of Alberta’s Peel Special Collections library.”...
Edmonton (Alta.) Journal, Oct. 26

Old librarians never die...
Marie J. Albertson, 82, is on an adventure-filled mission to experience all life has to offer in her later years. After retiring from the Library Development Office at the Indiana State Library in 2003, she set off on travels that included walking on the Great Wall of China, snorkling with sea lions off the coast of the Galápagos Islands, zip-lining in Australia, skydiving at the age of 75, and camping out in the Moroccan desert. Old Librarians Never Die: They Jump Out of Airplanes (Hawthorne, 2012) is a book filled with tales of her many trips. Watch the newscast (1:33)....
WXIN-TV, Indianapolis, Oct. 30

The $7 Facebook question
Scott Kleinberg writes: “Today, I had about $7 to spend. Option one was to buy a vanilla latte and a cookie. Option two was to buy a Facebook promoted post. This still-pretty-new feature pushes content higher in your news feed, increasing the likelihood of your audience seeing it. The coffee shop got my money. Facebook didn’t. And even if there’s a prolonged chocolate chip shortage, I recommend you make the same choice every time.”...
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 25

Nonviolent video games
Jacob Ratliff writes: “There’s always a discussion about how to find nonviolent video games (which I have issues with), but I wanted to create a list of nonviolent games for people that I could refer to if needed. The list will be ongoing, and I’d be happy to add any other suggestions that people have: Animal Crossing, Bejeweled, Dance Dance Revolution, Fold-it, Garbage Truck Simulator.”...
tl-dr, Oct. 30

10 most beautiful libraries in the United States
Jill Harness writes: “We already looked at libraries in all the major continents, but there were so many great ones in the United States that the article featuring libraries in North America had to leave many beautiful buildings out. Now is the time to share some of the stunning libraries that might not make it in the top 10 of North America, but definitely deserve your attention....
Mental Floss, Oct. 29

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