The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | July 10, 2013

Understanding social capital
Laura Solomon writes: “During the Save Ohio Libraries movement in 2009, some libraries in Ohio jumped into Twitter. Undoubtedly, they saw it as another avenue for getting the word out about the imminent and catastrophic budget cuts being proposed by Ohio’s governor. However, two major factors prevented them from really using Twitter as an effective rallying tool. The first was simply a lack of followers. The second was a lack of social capital.”...
American Libraries feature

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Declaration for the Right to Libraries
ALA President Barbara Stripling writes: “My presidential initiative, titled ‘Libraries Change Lives,’ focuses on increasing public understanding of the value of libraries, especially in the realms of literacy, innovation, and community engagement. As part of this effort, we have planned a campaign called ‘America’s Right to Libraries’ and developed a ‘Declaration for the Right to Libraries’ (PDF file) to serve as a strong public statement of the value of libraries for individuals, communities, and our nation.”...
Advocacy University

Groups urge Attorney General to release surveillance reports
On July 8, ALA and the Association of Research Libraries, along with 21 other good-government groups, sent a letter (PDF file) to the US Department of Justice urging Attorney General Eric Holder to make public any reports by Inspector General Michael Horowitz regarding the collection of Americans’ telephone records under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. If the Office of the Inspector General has not previously conducted a full review of this program, the letter asks it to do so....
Association of Research Libraries, July 9

Maps the RDA way
Did you attend the program “Maps the RDA Way” at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago? Do you have questions now that you’ve come back? Or were you unable to get to the session and want some information? If so, you are in luck. There will be a follow-up webinar on July 22 that will start with the questions the program didn’t address but will also provide time for new questions. Register here....
Map and Geospatial Information Round Table, July 9

Using Twitter for marketing and outreach
ALA TechSource announces a new workshop on “Using Twitter for Marketing and Outreach” featuring Andy Burkhardt. This 90-minute workshop will take place on August 8. This workshop will empower participants to build a consistent, effective library Twitter presence that creates value for library users and promotes the library, its resources, and its services. Another new TechSource workshop is “Harnessing New Content with Web Service APIs” on August 1....
ALA TechSource, Aug. 9

Readers advisory, and other workshops
ALA Editions announces a new workshop, “Rethinking Readers’ Advisory: An Interactive Approach” with Rebecca Howard and Laura Raphael. This 90-minute workshop will take place on August 7. By using a form-based approach to Readers’ Advisory, librarians can develop RA services that are more efficient and more responsive to patrons’ needs. Other new ALA Editions offerings are the workshops “Dealing with Difficult Patrons” on September 19 and “Serving Deaf Patrons in the Library” on September 18 and 25; and the four-week facilitated eCourses “Planning and Preparing for RDA” beginning August 5, “Ebooks: What Librarians Need to Know Now” beginning September 3, and “Demystifying Copyright: How to Educate Your Staff and Community” beginning September 9....
ALA Editions, July 9

The 2013 guide to the Newbery and Caldecott Awards
Updated to include the 2013 award and honor books, The Newbery and Caldecott Awards: A Guide to the Medal and Honor Books published by ALA Editions gathers together the books deemed most distinguished in American children’s literature and illustration since the inception of the renowned prizes. This new 2013 edition features a new essay by former ALSC President Ellen Fader on the 75th anniversary of the Caldecott....
ALA Editions, July 3

A new approach to preschool storytime
According to recent research, using a selected book in a number of consecutive preschool storytimes, but presenting it differently each time, can help children learn new skill sets. Transforming Preschool Storytime: A Modern Vision and a Year of Programs by Betsy Diamant-Cohen and Melanie A. Hetrick presents a new approach to storytime, one that employs repetition with variety to create an experience that helps children connect and engage with the story on a higher level.”...
ALA Neal-Schuman, July 9

Books for young people with special needs
Matching children with special needs to books and stories that will motivate and engage them, Remarkable Books about Young People with Special Needs by Alison M. G. Follos is a valuable resource for any parent, grandparent, caregiver, or teacher who lives or works with young people who have disabilities. Published by Huron Street Press, the book describes more than 100 stories featuring characters who have disabilities....
Huron Street Press, July 3

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Chicago and murder mysteries
Julie Cai writes: “Mystery authors Claire O’Donohue, Frances McNamara, and David Walker explored the reputation of Chicago and why it is a great backdrop for mystery novels on Saturday afternoon of the 2013 ALA Annual Conference. Chicago has a reputation for having corrupt politicians and a high crime rate. Unfortunately, recent headlines prove that Chicago is still living up to that reputation.”...
AL: The Scoop, July 5

Competition on the Graphic Novel Stage
Julie Cai writes: “ALA’s Graphic Novel Stage opened Friday night with ‘Comics Quickfire!’ a fast-paced game where two volunteers choose a team of professional cartoonists and battle against each other for glory. Anne Drozd, Raina Telgemeier, Matt Phelan, and John Green participated in the game hosted by Dave Roman. The volunteers playing were Samantha from Boston and John from Chicago. Sam and John chose their teams, and it was women vs. men.”...
AL: The Scoop, July 5

Cool comics I discovered at ALA Annual Conference
Torsten Adair writes: “Like comic book conventions, the centerpiece of ALA Annual Conference is the exhibits hall. So, amid the Graphic Novel Pavilion and Artists Alley, a karaoke fundraiser for political PAC for libraries, and the usual stuff that happens at conferences, I wandered the floor and discovered new titles. The following new releases are in random order.”...
The Beat: Comics Culture, July 6

Maker Monday mania
Julie Cai writes: “I’d like to think I can hold my own when it comes to do-it-yourself projects, but when I walked into the Maker Showcase on Monday, I found my level of ignorance alarming. Yes, there were amazing crafts, including cross-stitching, rock star jewelry, paper crafts, felt animals, and keepsake boxes. But there were also projects involving Arduino boards, Raspberry Pi, 3D printers, wood workshops, and other activities I never had growing up.”...
AL: The Scoop, July 5

LITA’s Top Tech Trends panel
The Top Tech Trends panel hosted by LITA at every ALA conference always generates high interest. The panel (1:26:21) at Annual Conference in Chicago featured Lorcan Dempsey, Char Booth, Aimee Fifarek, Sarah Houghton, Brewster Kahle, Clifford Lynch, and Gary Price....
LITA; YouTube, July 3

Annual Conference videos
Watch excerpts of presentations by authors Ann Patchett (part 1, part 2, and part 3), Alice Walker (part 1 and part 2), Temple Grandin, and Ping Fu. You can also view exclusive interviews with actress Octavia Spencer, authors Khaled Hosseini and Jessica Hopper, and comics authors Anne and Jerzy Drozd. Also, watch Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor winner Judith Platt. All the 2013 Annual Conference videos can be accessed on the ALA YouTube site, and an overview is here....
YouTube, June 29–July 7

The 12 best movie scenes from Chicago
Now that you have seen the wonders of Chicago, you might want to extend that experience through the medium of cinema. Chicago has been well-represented over the years in film. Here are a dozen scenes from films that put the city’s best foot forward....
Chicagoist, July 3

Sinclair Lewis home to become a Literary Landmark
United for Libraries, in partnership with the Minnesota Association of Library Friends and the Sinclair Lewis Foundation, will designate the boyhood home of Sinclair Lewis in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, a Literary Landmark on July 16. The ceremony will be one of the linchpin events at Sauk Centre’s “Sinclair Lewis Days,” an annual, week-long festival celebrating the community and its most famous native son....
United for Libraries, July 9

YALSA’s Reads 4 Teens
The YALSA Reads 4 Teens recommended reading list for teen patrons is now available for purchase as a digital download through the ALA Store. Reads 4 Teens is a collection of the best in the latest teen literature and includes 32 customizable pamphlets and 10 bookmarks, each featuring a different theme or genre. Themes that are sure to get your teens reading include “Adventures in Time,” “Could you Survive,” “Around the World in 60 Books,” and “Wrapped in Romance.”...
YALSA, July 9

PLA’s train the technology trainer course
The popular PLA interactive online course, “The Accidental Public Library Technology Trainer,” returns October 28–November 22. This four-week blended-learning program is designed for public library professionals who have unexpectedly found themselves responsible for technology training of users or staff at their library. Librarian, author, and trainer Stephanie Gerding will be the guide. Register by October 25....
PLA, July 3

Become a confident grant writer
Sharpen your edge with a new four-week online course, “Winning Grants for Your Library,” from PLA. This course runs from September 9 to October 4 and includes online discussions and webinars, independent activities, and personal feedback. Grants expert Stephanie Gerding will lead the interactive program. The deadline to register for this course is September 6....
PLA, July 3

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Waukegan Public Library wins PLA award
The Waukegan (Ill.) Public Library has been awarded the 2013 PLA Upstart Innovation Award, which recognizes a public library’s innovative and creative service program to the community. Waukegan won for its “Bus to Us” field-trip program, which brings thousands of elementary school children to the library throughout the year for engaging, curriculum-guided visits....
Waukegan (Ill.) Public Library, Feb. 21

Urban Libraries Council awards
Corinne Hill, the director of the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Public Library who is ushering in significant innovation, and Susan Adkins, a Seattle library champion who pushed for a secure stream of revenue, received top awards at the 2013 Urban Libraries Council Annual Forum. Hill received the Joey Rodger Leadership Award, which provides $5,000 to strengthen skills through a structured professional development program. Adkins was given ULC’s Urban Player Award in recognition of her civic leadership on behalf of the library....
Urban Libraries Council, July 9

IDS Project wins Innovation Award
The Information Delivery Services Project has won the Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative’s 2013 Innovation Award for its Regional User Group development. Headquartered in New York State, the IDS Project is a mutually supportive resource-sharing cooperative whose 73 members include public and private academic libraries, the New York Public Library, and the New York State Library. The Regional User Groups grew out of a need to expand the capacity of the IDS Project Mentor Program to foster the development of best practices....
Rethinking Resource Sharing Initiative, July 8

BCALA “Reading Is Grand!” grants
During the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, Jerome Offord Jr., president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, announced four libraries as recipients of 2013 “Reading Is Grand! Celebrating Grand-Families Telling Our Stories @ your library” grants. The program is a celebration of the important role grandparents play in the lives of children. Each grant-winning library will receive $500 to supplement its “Reading Is Grand!” program....
ALA Office for Literacy and Outreach, July 3

2013 Boccaccio Prize for Fiction
Irish author Catherine Dunne has won the prestigious Giovanni Boccaccio International Prize for Fiction for her novel The Things We Know Now, which explores the loss of a child through suicide. This year’s prize celebrates the 700th anniversary of the Italian novelist’s birthday. Dunne will receive the award on September 14 in Boccaccio’s birthplace of Certaldo Alto, Florence, Italy....
RTÉ Ten, July 4

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Hillary Clinton gets a Little Rock library
The library in Little Rock honoring Bill Clinton’s presidency is no longer the only one bearing the family name. Hillary Rodham Clinton has a library in the Arkansas capital to call her own. The former US and Arkansas first lady read The Very Hungry Caterpillar at the July 8 ceremony to celebrate the Hillary Rodham Clinton Children’s Library and Learning Center. The Central Arkansas Library System voted June 27 to name the facility after the longtime children’s advocate....
USA Today, July 8; Arkansas Blog, July 8; KUAR-FM, Little Rock, July 7

Quebec library destroyed in train wreck
As the ruins of the only library in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, continued to smoulder—longer than some other buildings that were destroyed with it on July 6 when a runaway freight train carrying crude oil derailed and caused several explosions downtown—Gilles Blouin reflected on the impact of the human and material loss on a community that is larger than most people realize. The loss of the library’s historical material is staggering, he said....
Montreal (Quebec) Gazette, July 9

Topeka mulls concealed-carry options
Adding the equipment and staffing necessary to keep concealed-carry weapons out of the Topeka and Shawnee County (Kans.) Public Library would cost less than an extra $2 on annual property taxes. But board members and executive staff who discussed the library’s options during a July 8 retreat were more concerned with how metal detectors and armed guards would affect the peaceful environment that library patrons currently enjoy....
Topeka (Kans.) Capital-Journal, July 8

Update on Urbana weeding
The Urbana (Ill.) Free Library board announced July 9 that it would seek “early separation” with Library Director Deb Lissak. The decision came in the wake of a major weeding of the adult nonfiction collection that Lissak later said was a “misstep.” Thousands of books had been marked for removal from the stacks (about 42% of adult nonfiction titles) and many were shipped to Better World Books, although some of those will be returned to the shelves. The library is taking steps to make its meetings more accessible after patrons called for more transparency....
Champaign-Urbana (Ill.) News-Gazette, July 9

School librarians endangered in Florida
Lauren Barack writes: “School media specialist positions are being hit hard across the Sunshine State, with school librarians finding their positions renamed—and, in some cases, their jobs reassigned or terminated—for the coming 2013–2014 school year. From Citrus County to Pasco County, some of Florida’s school districts have completely changed the way they now view the role of a media specialist.”...
School Library Journal, July 9

Lawsuit filed to block NYPL renovation
A group of scholars and preservationists, including a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, have filed a lawsuit to prevent the removal of century-old book stacks from the New York Public Library’s landmark building on Fifth Avenue as part of a planned $300 million renovation. The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on July 3, seeks a court injunction to stop the library from proceeding with preparatory or demolition work, and to bar city officials from providing funding for the renovation....
Wall Street Journal: Metropolis, July 4

Ole Miss archive preserves the blues
On August 16, 1938, blues pioneer Robert Johnson died just outside Greenwood, Mississippi. “We have his death certificate,” said Greg Johnson (no relation), curator of the Blues Archive at the University of Mississippi’s J. D. Williams Library. “It’s a certified copy. The original is on file in Leflore County.” The archive helps document Mississippi’s native music that grew out of slave spirituals and work songs and became the foundation of rock ’n’ roll....
Tupelo Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, July 7; Ole Miss News, Apr. 17

A bright spot in Pennsylvania’s library budget
Public libraries will receive $53.5 million in state funding under Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s 2013–2014 budget. The subsidy remains unchanged from previous years, but there is one bright spot: the small increases earmarked for a statewide initiative for database research. A near $250,000 infusion to this line item means public libraries will benefit from purchases made at the state level on their behalf. And the State Library will receive an $11,000 increase....
Harrisburg (Pa.) Patriot-News, July 1

From Summer Reading to Polar Plunge
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Chicago Bears player Israel Idonije say they’ll jump into Lake Michigan next March 2 if Chicago children read 2 million books this summer. Chicago Public Library Commissioner Brian Bannon will also take the Chicago Polar Plunge, a benefit for the Special Olympics. Emanuel said July 3 that jumping into the icy lake “gives new meaning to the phrase ‘Reading is cool.’”...
Associated Press, July 4

Pima County’s Books on Wheels
The Pima County (Ariz.) Public Library, through a partnership with the Pima County Bike Ambassadors, has made it convenient for homebound book lovers to enjoy good reads through a monthly delivery service called Books on Wheels, recently started at three Tucson branches. About a year ago, Karen Greene, the adult-services librarian who launched the program, was working with the Pima County Department of Transportation on another library program and suggested having bike ambassadors deliver books to patrons....
Tucson Arizona Daily Star, July 8

Library of Virginia rethinks its use of space
When the Library of Virginia moved into its new building in 1997, the digital era was in its infancy. Now the library is rethinking its use of space, with help from New York architectural firm HMA2 hired by the library foundation. Librarian of Virginia Sandra G. Treadway describes the process as “a great opportunity. We want the building to become more alive, to be more inviting from the first moment you walk in from the street.”...
Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch, July 8

Fire closes Albuquerque branch
A character on the charred cover of a preschool book seemed to be holding his nose to the pungent smell of smoke hanging over burned books July 3 outside the North Valley branch of the Albuquerque Bernalillo County (N.Mex.) Public Library. Firefighters quickly put out the fire that broke out at about 6:30 a.m. in the children’s section. The county fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause of the fire, which occurred while the library was closed....
Albuquerque (N.Mex.) Journal, July 4

Vinyl lending library opens in London
In an empty shop beside a luxury kitchen shop on a residential street in Stoke Newington, North London, Elly Rendall and Sophie Austin have opened the Vinyl Library (right), a volunteer-run, nonprofit, vinyl-only lending library stocked entirely with donations from the public. Since Rendall and Austin announced the plan, the Vinyl Library’s Facebook page has gained more than 2,000 members and they have been inundated with offers of donations....
The Guardian (UK): Music Blog, July 1

Tel Aviv launches beach library
The city of Tel Aviv, Israel, inaugurated a new library July 9 at the Metzitzim Beach, near the city’s port, allowing tourists and beachgoers to check out books for free during their leisure time there this summer. The library, which consists of a two-wheeled cart stationed on the promenade, contains 523 books in five languages: Hebrew, Arabic, English, Russian, and French. Visitors can also use their tablets to connect to free Wi-Fi and download electronic reading material....
Jerusalem Post, July 9

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This student project could kill digital ad targeting
Kate Kaye writes: “Meet Rachel Law, a 25-year-old graduate student from Singapore, who has created a game that could literally wreak havoc on the online ad industry if released into the wild. Her creation, called Vortex, is a browser extension that’s part game, part ad-targeting disrupter that helps people turn their user profiles into alternate fake identities that have nothing to do with reality. Players can effectively confuse the technologies that categorize web audiences into running-shoe buyers, in-market auto buyers, or moms interested in cooking and football.” Watch the video (5:19)....
Advertising Age, July 3; Vimeo, June

The Osama bin Laden raid documents
Lauren Harper writes: “What could possibly compel the government to go out of its way to hide the official record on the most important raid in history? It’s hard to fathom, but a recent Associated Press article by Richard Larner shows that the Pentagon is doing just that by sending all its records on the Osama bin Laden raid to the CIA, effectively sealing them into the ‘FOIA black hole’ of government secrecy.”...
Unredacted, July 8; Associated Press, July 8

Librarian bans book to teach a lesson
Betsy Gomez writes: “Librarian Scott R. DiMarco is proud to admit that he banned a book from his library at Mansfield (Pa.) University. But he isn’t an unapologetic censor: He did it to teach his community a lesson about ‘the arbitrary and capricious nature of censorship.’ After DiMarco posted a two-sentence memo announcing the ban on Facebook, the negative response from students, faculty, and alumni was immediate.”...
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, July 5; College & Research Libraries News 74, no. 7 (July): 368–369

Why censoring games won’t stop gun violence
In June, the Media Coalition issued a 13-page report, Only a Game: Why Censoring New Media Won’t Stop Gun Violence (PDF file), in response to recent claims that media causes violence. The report looks at social science research studying the link between aggressive behavior and video games with violent images and finds that the data on the claimed harms of violent video games are highly contestable, and even those that can be found are negligible and short-lived....
Media Coalition

The NSA and the end of privacy
Chandra Steele writes: “This might be the end of privacy. By releasing one warrant, four slides, and a few minutes of video about his motivation for doing so, Edward Snowden has opened up a firestorm of debate about what personal data is out there—and who is looking at it. The fact that two major entities—government and multinational corporations—are interested in data comes as no surprise. What has been a jolt is just how much data is shared between them.”...
PC Magazine, July 1

Un-American affairs
Barbara Fister writes: “Has my country changed so thoroughly that we’re beyond the point of no return? I simply can’t buy the notion that the terrorist threat today is so much greater that we should no longer expect the government to be anything but secret, brutal, and all-powerful. That security is more important than the Bill of Rights. That sweeping laws approved by secret courts should be allowed to change our legal framework fundamentally. Odd though it may seem, I’m going to bring this around to my professional responsibilities as a librarian.”...
Inside Higher Ed: Library Babel Fish, July 8

Parallel tracks, parallel successes
Kevin Smith writes: “The two lawsuits currently going on that involve the scanning of books for the Google Books project, one against Google directly and the other against the HathiTrust, raise very similar issues. In both cases, the two major issues are fair use and the posture of the plaintiffs who are bringing the cases in the first place. The Authors Guild is now the major plaintiff in both cases.”...
Scholarly Communications @ Duke, July 3

Sendak sequel pulled from Kickstarter
Laura Hazard Owen writes: “Fifty years after Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are was first published, a London-based author and illustrator hoped to issue a sequel to commemorate Sendak’s death this year. They took to Kickstarter in the hopes of raising £25,000 to print their book, Back to the Wild. But the project has been pulled from Kickstarter after HarperCollins issued a DMCA takedown notice.”...
paidContent, July 5

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Why other public libraries should follow Chicago’s lead
Signe Brewster writes: “Chicago Public Library opened a maker lab in its downtown facility on July 8. Most maker spaces carry a membership fee of $50–$200 a month or are located in an institution like a university, where you are required to be a student or staff member to access equipment. A free lab that is open to the public is a novel concept. A $249,999 grant will sustain its operation through the end of 2013, at which point it will be reevaluated.” CPL Commissioner Brian Bannon offers a video preview (3:28)....
GigaOM, July 8; WGN-TV, Chicago, July 8

Aeroponics makerspace
Beth Filar Williams writes: “Arizona State University Libraries is creating a custom aeroponics system (right) to demonstrate how things grow using sustainable technology. They are using a Custom Aeroponics technology that uses no soil or standing water, but sprays the plants with water and nutrients. It apparently saves water and maximizes plant growth, with computer-controlled lighting and watering cycles.”...
Going Green @ your library, July 9

Advice for solo library technologists
Eric Phetteplace writes: “I am an emerging technologies librarian at a small library in the middle of a cornfield (Chesapeake College, Maryland). There are three librarians on staff. The vast majority of our books fit on one floor of open stacks. Being so small can pose challenges to a technologist. When I’m banging my head trying to figure out what the heck ‘this’ refers to in a particular JavaScript function, to whom do I turn? While I still have a lot to learn, I want to share some strategies that have helped me thus far.”...
ACRL TechConnect, July 8

Software as a monthly rental
David Pogue writes: “There’s a new reason for Photoshop to be famous. Photoshop is now the biggest-name software that you can’t actually buy. You can only rent it, for a month or a year at a time. If you ever stop paying, you keep your files but lose the ability to edit them. The price list is stunningly complex, but you get the point: The dawn of Software as a Subscription is now upon us. Adobe says that it will regularly slip in new features as soon as they’re ready.” This post generated much reader feedback. Some of it was astonishing. But are the new features worth it?...
New York Times: Personal Tech, July 3; New York Times: Pogue’s Posts, July 5; Ars Technica, July 9

Seven Photoshop alternatives
Michael Muchmore writes: “Let’s face it: Nothing is going to completely replace Adobe’s flagship Photoshop image-editing software. But if you just need basic, standard Photoshop features—adding text, glows, drop shadows, overlay layers, or sharpening—the actual application from Adobe is overkill. If you really want to save money, there’s a lot you can do for free, and even in some cases, in a web browser.” On the other hand, here is the best way to buy photo-editing software....
PC Magazine, June 21, July 3

The 11 best iPhone photo-editing apps
Michael Muchmore writes: “If the iPhone weren’t a phone, it still would be a pretty awesome camera. The pocket device’s built-in GPS can tag your photos’ precise location, and its wireless connectivity means you can send your photos from anywhere anytime. Software developers of iPhone apps have taken these capabilities and run with them. The main criterion for choosing a photo-editing app is whether you just want to quickly fix up your image and share it right away or you’re willing to spend the time to perfect it.”...
PC Magazine, May 6

The revamped Flickr
Michael Muchmore writes: “Flickr holds 1,000 times what you get with a free Picasa account (which offers 1GB) and it can hold over 400,000 8-megapixel photos or over 200,000 16-megapixel images. In sheer volume of photo-sharing activity, Instagram has overtaken Flickr, but that service, with its limitation to square mobile phone photos, can’t match Flickr’s website capabilities, vast number of interest groups, full resolution, and organizational tools.”...
PC Magazine, May 22

A Drupal CMS built for librarians
Blake Carver writes: “LISHost has launched a new library website creation tool, LibraryCMS. LibraryCMS is a cloud-based Content Management System delivering a suite of fully integrated, enterprise-class, customer-driven website development applications. This turnkey solution allows libraries to create an attractive and easy-to-use, hosted library website, fully supported by our team of librarians.”...
LIS News, July 8

The ultimate website design guide
Ellyssa Kroski writes: “Whether you’re building your first website or redesigning an existing one for your organization, this all-in-one guide (with 115 tools and resources) will get you started with tools and resources for creating a modern website.”...
iLibrarian, June 26

23 apps I can’t live without
Paul Sawers writes: “At last count, I had 135 apps installed on my mobile phone. At its peak, that number might be somewhere nearer to 200, but every once in a while I have a spring cleaning. Of those 135 apps, I only use about half with any kind of regularity, and out of those perhaps less than half I would call my linchpin apps. I thought I’d run through the 20 or so apps that I use most regularly, and explain why I love them so much.”...
The Next Web, July 4

Judge: Apple conspired to raise ebook prices
A federal judge on July 10 found that Apple violated antitrust law in helping raise the retail price of ebooks, saying the company “played a central role in facilitating and executing” a conspiracy with five big publishers. US District Judge Denise Cote ruled that Apple is liable for civil antitrust violations, more than two weeks after closing arguments. Five publishers accused of conspiring with Apple had already settled with the government in the case. Apple said it would appeal. Laura Miller has some background on the case....
New York Times, July 10; Los Angeles Times, July 10; TechCrunch, July 10; Salon, July 1

Can libraries survive the ebook revolution?
Dylan Scott writes: “Facing higher prices and limited access to ebooks from the major publishers, Jamie LaRue (right), the man charged with running the Douglas County (Colo.) Library, has inspired a national movement to promote smaller, digitally based presses and self-published authors. More than 20 years ago, when LaRue took over the library system, few people outside that patch of Rocky Mountain wilderness south of Denver knew who he was.”...
Government Technology, July 3

Douglas County price comparison, July
The Douglas County (Colo.) Libraries report for July (PDF file), comparing library ebook prices with consumer ebook prices, shows that libraries still have a long way to go, as they are paying up to 550% more for ebook editions of the top 20 Amazon bestsellers than consumers....
Library Research Service News, July 10

What librarians need to know about ebooks
ALA Editions will hold a session of its popular facilitated eCourse, “Ebooks: What Librarians Need to Know Now and for the Future” with Mirela Roncevic. This four-week eCourse will begin on September 3. Topics include defining ebooks and understanding how they work, where ebooks are available, and how ebooks are used in libraries. Participants will need regular access to a computer with an internet connection....
ALA Editions, July 9

OverDrive looks to schools
It’s no coincidence that as more readers turn to tablets for reading, Garfield Heights, Ohio–based ebook distributor OverDrive is also growing. The company that turns books into downloadable digital files grew from about 40 employees to more than 200 in just seven years. Now the company has its sights on new markets like schools that want to capture the next generation of readers....
Cleveland (Ohio) Plain Dealer, July 5

Law ebook advocacy
Joe Hodnicki writes: “Have ebooks uprooted the traditional B2B relationship between legal publishers and institutional buyers? You bet they have. Just like the general trade publishing industry, major legal publishers are concentrating on direct sales to the individual customer, even when that customer is not paying the invoices. OK, call me cynical, but our library holdings now include several ebooks because they are only available bundled with our print book standing orders. None can be made available for e-lending unless I want to pay extra for that.”...
Law Librarian Blog, July 8

Dutch libraries go to court
Glyn Moody writes: “Many publishers have the crazy attitude that ebooks shouldn’t be lent by libraries, and that it should be made harder for people to access literature in these places if it’s in a digital form. In the Netherlands, public libraries have had enough of this, and are taking legal action over the issue.”...
Techdirt, July 9; Future of Copyright, June 18

Ebooks are booming in Russia
Despite the recent decline in reading in Russia and the stagnation of the local book market, interest in ebooks continues to grow. A recent infographic released by RBTH indicates that 70% of Russia’s readers read ebooks, with 50% turning to ebooks in the last three years and 23% in the last year alone. However, according to representatives of Eksmo, Russia’s largest publishing house, up to 95% of all downloads of ebooks are pirate copies....
Quartz, July 9

Look back at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference, enjoyed by 26,362 attendees and exhibitors. Enjoy the comprehensive American Libraries Direct coverage. Get the Cognotes highlights here. Looking for handouts? Here they are. Or check out our Tumblr and Pinterest pages. See you in 2014!

Join the ALA Virtual Conference, July 24–25.

Internet book fetishists
Rachel Arons writes: “A perennial topic of conversation among people who debate literature on the internet is the relative importance of books as physical objects. Foremost among defenders of the printed book are those who extol the sensual pleasures of reading and maintain that it is impossible to experience those pleasures digitally. In a related, but separate, camp are those attracted not to the tactile pleasures of books but to their beauty as objects.”...
The New Yorker: Page-Turner, July 8

Book paintings by Ekaterina Panikanova
Russian-Italian artist Ekaterina Panikanova creates densely layered paintings across large spreads of old books and other documents, resulting in artwork that blurs the lines between painting, installation, and collage. She creates strange and whimsical scenes by painting on the insides of books and other vintage papers with black ink and moving these elements around. Much of what you see here was from her second solo show “Un, due, tre, fuoco” earlier in 2013....
Colossal, June 11; Flavorwire, June 14

An American bookshelf in London
Phyllis Richardson writes: “Russian-born architect Andrei Saltykov came up with the idea for this highly functional work of wall art after living in Washington, D.C., while working on a building for Richard Rogers. He saw a map of the country made from license plates and eventually put the concept to use as a bookshelf in his new house in London. The shelf, which hangs in his living room, is also ideal for a geography lesson.”...
Dwell, Oct. 2012

28 things you should know about YA fiction
Chuck Wendig writes: “As always, this is not meant to be my bold-faced proclamation about This Particular Thing, but rather, 28 hopefully constructive and compelling talking points and thought bullets about the topic at hand. It is not meant to be gospel etched into stone, but notions—sometimes controversial—worth discussing. Let us begin.”...
terribleminds, June 4

How YA literature challenges gender norms
S. E. Smith writes: “Librarians are the pushers of the book world. Growing up in the house of an academic-turned-bartender-then-academic-again, it was inevitable, of course, that I’d be reading wildly age-inappropriate books almost as soon as I became literate. But it was my middle school librarian who introduced me to science fiction and fantasy after she saw me curled up in the corner on a rainy day with a copy of Rebecca and thought I might enjoy something of a slightly different flavor.”...
Thought Catalog, June 25

Literary summer camps
Leila Roy writes: “The Los Angeles Review of Books published a blog post recently on Camp Half-Blood, so naturally I started wondering if there are other literary camps (in addition to the other ones offered by BookPeople), and indeed there are. There are many summer camps devoted to reading and writing, but I’m focusing here on the ones that are geared more towards roleplaying. And the fun isn’t just for the younger set: There are camps for grownups, too, though they are heavier on the academics than the roleplaying.” Jeanette Solomon fantasizes about some hypothetical camps too....
bookshelves of doom, July 7; Los Angeles Review of Books, June 30; Book Riot, July 9

10 truly horrible beach reads
Jason Diamond writes: “I love Alissa Nutting’s Tampa, but I can’t extend that praise to whoever is responsible for the fuzzy black cover that feels like the shorn underbelly of a Muppet, collects random bits of fuzz, and also begs the hot summer sun to just beat down if taken outside. Tampa is a total anti-beach read. With that in mind, I’m in no way trying to discourage you from reading it or any of the other books on this list; I just suggest you do it in the comfort of your own home.”...
Flavorwire, July 2

25 audiobooks for your next road trip
Rachel Smalter Hall writes: “It’s road trip season, and The Audiophiles have a little going-away present for you to tuck in next to your beach towel and sunnies. We’ve been chatting with all the librarians we know to get the scoop on what they’re actually listening to and loving right now, and we’re so excited to see some amazing picks on the list, from literary fiction to humor, memoirs, travel, mystery, food writing, historical fiction, and YA.”...
Book Riot, July 8

10 books that need to become movies
Brent Lang writes: “From The Hunger Games to World War Z to the upcoming Divergent and Ender’s Game, the thirst for turning novels into popcorn and prestige fare is showing no signs of slowing down. So to help producers and studio insiders get a leg up on the competition—even as they are basking by the shore on Martha’s Vineyard or the Côte d’Azur—we’ve picked 10 fantasy novels, detective yarns, and incredible-true-stories that are just crying out to be made into movies.”...
The Wrap, July 5

Landmark US Supreme Court decisions: A booklist
Stevie Feliciano writes: “In June, the Supreme Court ruled Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. This decision means that legally married same-sex couples are now entitled to the same federal benefits as married opposite-sex couples. To celebrate this victory, I compiled a list of books about other landmark US Supreme Court decisions.”...
New York Public Library Blogs, July 2

Top five places to go if fiction were open for tourists
Jeanette Solomon writes: “In Jasper Fforde’s funny and odd Thursday Next series, reality and fiction are separate worlds that coexist. A special police force, Jurisfiction, must make sure that books conform to the same standards with every reading since, in Fforde’s universe, fiction is its own physical world that can actually be entered by people from the real world. Sometimes I think about where I’d like to go if I could Thursday-Next myself into the books I read. Here are my top five, all from fantasy lit.”...
Book Riot, July 3

Kansas Notable Books for 2013
A biography of President Dwight Eisenhower, a history of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, and novels set in the state and elsewhere are among this year’s 15 notable Kansas books. State Librarian Jo Budler announced the list July 8. It honors books published in 2012 by a Kansas author or on a Kansas topic. The Kansas Center for the Book selects the shortlist, and the state librarian chooses the final list....
Associated Press, July 9; Kansas Center for the Book, July 8

As competition wanes, Amazon cuts back on discounts
David Streitfeld writes: “Amazon, which became the biggest force in bookselling by discounting so heavily it often lost money, has been cutting back its deals for scholarly and small-press books. That creates the uneasy prospect of a two-tier system where some books are priced beyond an audience’s reach. It is difficult to track the movement of prices on Amazon, so the evidence is anecdotal and fragmentary. But books are one of the few consumer items that still have a price printed on them.”...
New York Times, July 4

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of school libraries
Jennifer LaGarde writes: “So, here’s what happened. First, ALA President Barbara Stripling created a ‘Declaration for the Right to Libraries’ (PDF file). Then Doug Johnson wrote a blog post outlining his initial thoughts on a ‘Declaration of Students’ Rights to School Libraries’—a remix of Barbara’s work with an emphasis on school libraries. My first thought was that even Doug’s rough draft was made of awesome, and this would make a cool graphic. So I made one (above).”...
The Adventures of Library Girl, July 5; The Blue Skunk Blog, July 4

WebJunction launches eHealth
Effective July 1, WebJunction has launched a project that will provide information to the library community regarding opportunities and resources to connect patrons to health and wellness information, as well as the health insurance marketplace. While the project is just getting under way, this summary and FAQ is intended to support state and public libraries in understanding initial priorities for this work....
WebJunction, July 5

The librarian shortage myth
Joe Hardenbrook writes: “‘Don’t blame library school if you cannot find a professional job. You are an information professional. Did you not research the state of the job market?’ I made that blunt point in a 2011 blog post. It’s generated many comments since then and struck a nerve with some readers. The librarian job crisis—both unemployment and underemployment—isn’t about library schools. In the words of political strategist James Carville: ‘It’s the economy, stupid.’”...
Mr. Library Dude, July 21, 2011; July 5

A sensible approach to sharing special collections items
Tiers for Fears: Sensible, Streamlined Sharing of Special Collections (PDF file), written by OCLC Research Program Officer Dennis Massie, presents strategies for providing efficient and affordable interlending of actual physical items from special collections for research purposes. Also included in the report are a model written sharing policy; a facilities “trust” checklist; and a flexible, tiered framework for making lending choices....
OCLC Research, July 8

A snapshot of US library consortia
A new report (PDF file) details the findings of a study OCLC conducted with US library consortia in 2012 to learn about the demographic makeup of their groups, their strategic initiatives, their groups’ challenges, and top methods for communicating with their members. Most library consortia have been in existence for more than 30 years....
OCLC, July

Looking back on the 1973 St. Louis archives fire
Marta G. O’Neill and William Seibert write: “By the time it was daylight on July 12, 1973, at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, one thing was painfully clear: The loss of records to fire and water was staggering. The fire had swept through the top floor of the building just after midnight and burned uncontrolled for more than 22 hours. About 73%–80% of the approximately 22 million individual military personnel files stored in the building were destroyed—records of former members of the Army, the Army Air Force, and the Air Force who served between 1912 and 1963.”...
Prologue: Pieces of History, July 10

Why librarians should get into the bookselling business
Baharak Yousefi and Shirley Lew write: “It may be sacrilegious and antithetical to everything libraries stand for (and as librarians, we appreciate this more than most), but we ardently believe it nevertheless: Libraries should get into the business of selling books. Now. The crisis in Canada’s once vibrant book industry is negatively affecting our reading lives and communities. Instead of being bystanders to this devastation, libraries have compelling reasons to seize the opportunity it presents.”...
Quill & Quire: QuillBlog, July 9

Update your Ancestry.com family tree with Shoebox
Sarah Perez writes: “Shoebox, the mobile photo archiving app that Ancestry.com acquired from San Francisco-based 1000memories last fall, has now gone live. The updated version, Shoebox 3.0, still allows users to scan in their old nondigital prints while also cropping and auto-flattening the images for the correct perspective. Now those photos can be mapped, tagged, and added to your family tree at Ancestry.com.”...
TechCrunch, July 4

Facebook rolls out a new search tool
Facebook is trying to make it easier to find that lost photo or restaurant recommendation and unearth other information buried within your social network with a tool it calls Graph Search. On July 8, the company rolled out the feature to its several hundred million users in the US and to others who use the American English version of the site. Experts say that Facebook’s technical achievement so far is impressive. Privacy could still be an issue, however, as more user data becomes easily accessible. Here’s how to protect yourself....
New York Times, July 7; Gizmodo, July 9

Digging into words with Wolfram Alpha
Even if you’re a pretty big word nut, you may not think of Wolfram Alpha as your go-to source for learning more about the English lexicon. The service just added over 50,000 new words to its dictionary, including archaic words such as pythonist (a conjurer or diviner) and technical terms like cosmochronometer, which refers to processes that are used to determine the age of stars....
Wolfram Alpha Blog, July 3

Kindergarten, here we come!
Abby Johnson writes: “This summer, I decided to do a storytime celebrating the kids who are about to start Kindergarten this fall. We really had fun and the parents appreciated it, many taking pictures throughout. Our schools start up again August 1, so I figured mid-July would be a great time to do it. Our newest library assistant is a former Kindergarten teacher, so I got some great ideas from her as I planned this program, and then we ran it together.”...
ALSC Blog, July 10

Bigfoot hunting and information literacy
Dana Knott and Kristine Szabo write: “The morning of May 25, 2012, the librarians at Columbus (Ohio) State Community College’s Delaware Campus Learning Center awaited with nervous excitement the arrival of more than 70 fourth-graders from the local Laura Woodward Elementary School for a campus-wide program to introduce them to a day of college. We knew that we needed a fascinating topic to engage the students, and one of our librarians with a son in elementary school suggested Bigfoot.”...
College & Research Libraries News 74, no. 7 (July): 346–348

“How to” books in the US National Library of Medicine
Michael Sappol writes: “The ‘how to’ is an ancient genre. There are Egyptian how-to texts (in hieroglyphics) on how to prepare mummies, Sumerian how-to’s (in cuneiform) on how to pray, Hellenistic how-to’s (in Greek) on how to do geometry, and Roman how-to’s (in Latin) on how to seduce people. The oldest English-language how-to at the National Library of Medicine dates from 1575: A Booke of the Arte and maner how to Plant and Graffe all sortes of
trees.”...
Circulating Now, July 9

How to create placemarks and tours in Google Earth
Richard Byrne writes: “One of my most popular posts in June was 18 Google Earth and Maps Lessons for K–12. In response, I received a bunch of requests for more information about Google Earth and Google Maps, including how to create placemarks and tours. I’ve shared these directions in the past, but it’s worth sharing them again.”...
Free Technology for Teachers, June 20, July 8

Maps: A tongue-in-cheek introduction
The Centre Régional de l’Information Géographique in southern France put together this informational video (3:38) that offers a whimsical introduction to “a new bio-optical knowledge recording and dissemination system, responding to the trade name ‘map.’” And don’t forget the map’s aesthetic dimension: “It can make an ornament for your home and can be transformed into various fancy objects that will improve your daily life.”...
YouTube, June 25

The seven worst Google Reader alternatives
Jason Gilbert writes: “Google Reader is officially dead. The web feed reader of choice for most of the internet has been sunsetted, and in Google Reader’s place are a variety of alternatives, many of them built and developed in a rush to replace it. But what about the worst replacements? Here are our choices for the seven poorest alternatives to Google Reader, now that it’s gone for good.”...
Yahoo! News, July 2

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