The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | July 31, 2013

Apps and autism
Barbara Klipper writes: “In recent months there has been an ongoing conversation in the youth services world about apps. Tablets loaded with preselected apps are available to users of some public libraries, either for on-site use or for circulation. This conversation is timely and useful, but it’s incomplete unless we expand it to include a discussion of how librarians can use apps to serve children with autism. There are several ways to integrate apps for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in a public library setting.”...
American Libraries feature

Enabling access, engagement, and efficiency
Marshall Breeding writes: “Technology, as always, was on display at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago. As a general trend, technologies for standard operations seemed a bit more in tune with current needs this year. It was a conference absent major or surprising announcements. Rather than news of mergers and acquisitions, more subtle changes were apparent. Transitions made in previous years continued to evolve, as evidenced by increased business integration, brand consolidation, and more unified product development strategies.”...
American Libraries feature

On My Mind: Analog ideas, digital activism
Andy Woodworth writes: “Standing outside the ice cream freezers at the local grocery store, a notion struck me from out of the blue: ‘There ought to be a library-themed Ben & Jerry’s flavor.’ Alas, to this day, this has not come to pass. But this single serendipitous thought on an otherwise uneventful evening shopping trip is a testament to the surprising things that lead people down the path of library advocacy and activism.”...
American Libraries column, June

Bridging the Digital Divide
Karen Muller writes: “Popular wisdom says if you want to learn how to use your latest piece of consumer technology, you find an 8-year-old to teach you. What this means for libraries is that besides being able to keep track of the latest in readers’ advisory, cataloging rules, or the financial policies of our governing bodies, we must also be able to work with library users wherever they are on the technology continuum, from total novice to tech-savvy 8-year-old. Here we look at recent titles that help us stay up to date with both technology and library services.”...
American Libraries column, June

New American Libraries Live session
Marshall Breeding will moderate a panel discussion on “Discovery Services: The Future of Library Systems” on American Libraries Live, August 1, at 1 p.m. Central time. Panelists include Anya N. Arnold (Orbis Cascade Alliance), Andrew Nagy (Serials Solutions), and Brad Jung (Innovative Interfaces). Sign up here. As an audience member, you will have the opportunity to participate in the live discussion via chat, Twitter, and Facebook....
American Libraries Live

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Stripling unveils Declaration in Nashville
ALA President Barbara Stripling unveiled the “Declaration for the Right to Libraries” during a July 30 signing ceremony at Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library. The Declaration is the cornerstone document of her presidential initiative, “Libraries Change Lives,” which is designed to build and sustain support for America’s right to libraries of all types—academic, special, school, and public. Stripling’s initiative will focus on transformative library practices in literacy, innovation, and community engagement....
ALA Public Relations Office, July 30

ALA seeks candidates
The ALA 2014 Nominating Committee is soliciting nominees to run on the 2014 spring ballot for the offices of ALA president-elect and councilor-at-large. The deadline for completing the candidate biographical form is August 16. The committee will select two candidates to run for president-elect and no fewer than 51 candidates for the 34 at-large Council seats to be filled in the 2014 spring election. Nominations may be sent to any member of the committee....
Office of ALA Governance, July 26

Luol Deng named honorary chair of Library Card Sign-Up Month
This September, Chicago Bulls two-time NBA All Star Luol Deng (right) will encourage children to get the most important school supply of all: a library card. As the Honorary Chair of Library Card Sign-up Month, Deng has donated his image to a print and digital public service announcement. ALA will place the PSA in magazines and on websites to remind parents and educators that a library card is a key tool in achieving academic success....
Campaign for America’s Libraries, July 30

Looking for ALA standards and guidelines?
This list includes documents titled “standards” and “guidelines” as well as other documents of a similar nature entitled “statements,” “rules,” and “criteria.” Its intent is to present ALA’s official standards and guidelines, as well as additional documents prepared and endorsed by various ALA units for the purpose of helping others improve library service. See Library-related Acronyms as needed....
ALA Library

COA accreditation actions
The ALA Committee on Accreditation has granted continued accreditation status to LIS programs at the following schools: University of Alberta, University of Maryland, University of North Texas, and University of Pittsburgh. An accreditation decision at Southern Connecticut State University is pending....
ALA Office for Accreditation, July 26

Picture books about tender topics
A reading specialist, an outreach librarian, and a children’s librarian combine their considerable expertise in Tender Topics: Picture Books about Childhood Challenges, an essential guide for parents that brings reading, early literacy, child development issues, and picture books together. Dorothy Stoltz, Elaine Czarnecki, and Buff Kahn offer an authoritative collection of appropriate picture books that makes broaching difficult subjects easier....
Huron Street Press, July 30

How to communicate professionally
An updated and expanded third edition of the training guide Communicating Professionally: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians, by Catherine Sheldrick Ross and Kirsti Nilsen, is completely revised with new sections outlining the opportunities offered by contemporary communication media. With more resource information on cross-cultural communication, including new applications of communication principles and recent research-based material on communication in general, the manual even covers fundamental skills such as listening, speaking, and writing....
ALA Neal-Schuman, July 26

An updated guide to teaching information literacy
In this updated, expanded second edition of Information Literacy Instruction that Works: A Guide to Teaching by Discipline and Student Population, editor Patrick Ragains has asked more than 20 library instructors to share their best practices for reaching out to today’s unique users. Readers will find strategies and techniques for teaching college and university freshmen, community college students, students with disabilities, and those in distance learning programs....
ALA Neal-Schuman, July 26

A call to transform YA services
A vigorous call to action that encourages LIS students, researchers, and practitioners to question some of the underlying assumptions of their discipline, Transforming Young Adult Services initiates an open discussion about how YA professionals perceive young adults. Editor Anthony Bernier and his contributors explore the question of what an LIS-specific vision of young adults should be. This book offers a wide array of provocative positions with implications for libraries in literacy initiatives, YA space, intergenerational interactions, and civic life....
ALA Neal-Schuman, July 30

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PLA’s Spring Symposium session archive
On March 20, PLA offered a full-day Virtual Spring Symposium with educational programs across four subject tracks and a thought-provoking keynote with futurist Garry Golden. A selection of these one-hour programs is now available for on-demand purchase....
PLA, July 31

LLAMA webinar on leadership styles
LLAMA is offering a leadership webinar, “It Worked for Steve Jobs But Will It Work For You: Finding Your Leadership Style,” presented by Steven J. Bell (right) on August 21. The webinar will expose participants to a range of leadership styles in order to identify what works best for an individual leader. Register online....
LLAMA, July 29

RUSA seeks ideas for online courses
RUSA is looking for proposals for webinars and online courses on highly relevant subjects such as ebooks, library programming and outreach, technology advisory, reference services, collection marketing, and leading a book group. The proposal period will be open through September 1. Submit webinar proposals using the online proposal form; there is a separate submission form for online courses....
RUSA Blog, July 30

ASCLA online learning proposals
ASCLA invites subject matter experts and experienced librarians with knowledge to share to submit proposals for ASCLA webinars and online courses to be presented between October 2013 and August 2014 as a part of the division’s outstanding online learning offerings. Proposals will be accepted through September 1....
ASCLA Blog, July 30

LITA is looking for program proposals
The LITA Program Planning Committee is now accepting innovative and creative proposals for the 2014 ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. It is looking for full-day preconference ideas as well as 90-minute conference presentations. The focus should be on technology in libraries, whether that’s use of, new ideas for, trends in, or interesting and innovative projects. Submit a proposal by August 25....
LITA Blog, July 26

YALSA and Blink promote Teen Read Week
Blink, a new young adult imprint of Zondervan, is now an official sponsor of Teen Read Week, October 13–19. By sponsoring Teen Read Week, Blink is aiding in YALSA’s continued efforts to help libraries engage teens through reading and literature. Blink will help support a free webinar on trends in YA literature for anyone who joins the online Teen Read Week community....
YALSA, July 24

More great websites for kids
ALSC has added 10 more outstanding websites to Great Websites for Kids, its online resource containing hundreds of links to exceptional websites for children. Great Websites for Kids features links to websites of interest to children 14 years of age and younger, organized into diverse subject headings. There is also a special section with sites of interest to parents, caregivers, and teachers....
ALSC, July 29

United for Libraries offers on-site consulting
United for Libraries is offering libraries, trustees, and Friends a budget-friendly alternative to on-site consulting—Skype sessions. If you have Skype capabilities and are interested in learning more, contact United for Libraries at (800) 545-2433, ext. 2161, or email united@ala.org....
United for Libraries, July 30

Sinclair Lewis home Literary Landmark ceremony
United for Libraries, in partnership with the Minnesota Association of Library Friends and the Sinclair Lewis Foundation, designated the boyhood home of Sinclair Lewis in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, a Literary Landmark on July 16. The ceremony was one of the linchpin events at the town’s “Sinclair Lewis Days,” an annual, week-long festival celebrating the community and its most famous native son....
United for Libraries, July 30

Using Barbara Fister as a case study
ACRL has published Finding a Public Voice: Using Barbara Fister as a Case Study, edited by Danielle Theiss and Diane Kovacs. This eclectic volume shares vivid examples of how academic librarians, inspired by the writings of noted library leader and blogger Barbara Fister, are engaging with others and blazing a leadership path for the profession on such topics as information literacy, scholarly communication and e-publishing, librarian career adaptability, and healthcare privacy rights....
ACRL, July 26

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University of Minnesota to host 2014 Arbuthnot Lecture
The 2014 May Hill Arbuthnot Committee has chosen the University of Minnesota’s Children’s Literature Research Collection as the site for the 2014 May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture featuring Andrea Davis Pinkney (right), a bestselling writer of more than 20 books for children and young adults. Minnesota’s CLRC is one of the world’s great children’s literature research collections....
ALSC, July 24

2013 PR Xchange and Best of Show Awards
Kathy Dempsey writes: “The PR Xchange and Best of Show duo has become a staple of my ALA Annual Conference Sundays because it’s one of the main events where library promoters gather. The PR Xchange is scheduled smartly; it has three main activities: the actual exchange of PR materials, vendor tables, and the awards. The Best of Show awards recognize the very best public relations materials produced by libraries in the past year. Photos of all the winners have been placed on Flickr this year, allowing everyone to see the good stuff.”...
The ‘M’ Word: Marketing Libraries, July 25

Penguin Young Readers Group grant
ALSC is accepting online applications for the 2014 Penguin Young Readers Group Award. This grant, made possible by an annual gift from Penguin Young Readers Group, provides a $600 stipend to up to four children's librarians to attend ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas. The deadline for submissions is October 18....
ALSC, July 29

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Six Miami-Dade branches could be saved
An updated plan for cuts to the Miami-Dade (Fla.) County budget would keep open six of 22 public libraries initially slated for closure. The tentative change would save the Culmer, Lakes of the Meadows, Lemon City, Little River, Opa-locka, and Shenandoah branch libraries, bringing the total number of library closures to 16. Administrators have been drafting alternatives to make the budget cuts a little less painful, but a final plan won’t be approved by county commissioners until two public hearings on the budget in September. Watch the Friends video (4:11)....
Miami Herald, July 30; YouTube, July 30

Jackson County to float special library tax district
Library supporters in Jackson County, Oregon, are exploring the creation of a special tax district that would keep libraries open in Ashland, Jacksonville, and other communities. Cathy Shaw, a former Ashland mayor and library supporter who prepared voter prediction models for the proposal, said the county will survey likely voters on such a funding strategy. The county is seeking a new way to fund libraries in the face of a $6.7 million budget gap for the year, due to declines in federal timber payments, property tax revenue, and interest income....
Ashland (Oreg.) Daily Tidings, July 26

Glendale kills its cat collection
Brittany Levine writes: “In its heyday, the extensive collection of cat-related books at the Glendale (Calif.) Public Library was deemed the largest in the nation. At one point, the collection had more than 4,000 feline-related books, cat magazines, photographs, and calendars. But Glendale is giving up its claim, selling off valuable books, trying to unload others. News of the retreat made cat enthusiasts hiss.”...
Los Angeles Times: L.A. Now, July 29

Patrons rally for popular children’s librarian
About 60 parents, children, and community members staged a rally outside the public library in Epping, New Hampshire, on July 26 to support a well-liked children’s librarian who had been fired after nearly a decade on the job. Tracie Wilkins, known to most kids as “Miss Tracie,” was let go from her part-time position at the Harvey-Mitchell Memorial Library on July 16, but the reasons for the firing haven’t been made public....
Manchester New Hampshire Union-Leader, July 26

Report accuses Walkerton library director of mishandling funds
The former director of the Walkerton-Lincoln Township (Ind.) Public Library allegedly mishandled tens of thousands of dollars, cutting himself unauthorized paychecks and spending public funds on personal dining and travel. State auditors said Scott Klingerman (right), a former library board member who served as interim director from February 18, 2010, to May 2, 2013, owed the library nearly $96,000. The report comes about two months after the library abruptly closed for several weeks amid an investigation by the FBI and state police....
South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, July 25

Hotels add a library as an amenity
Amy Zipkin writes: “Some hotels are giving the humble book another look, as they search for ways to persuade guests, particularly younger ones, to spend more time in their lobbies and bars. They are increasingly stocking books in a central location, designating book suites or playing host to author readings. While the trend began at boutique hotels like the Library Hotel in New York, the Heathman Hotel (above) in Portland, Oregon, and The Study at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut, it is expanding to chain hotels.”...
New York Times, July 29

Library money could be redirected to new jail
The council of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, held a special meeting July 26 to give public notice it will vote August 27 to hold an election that would rededicate 1 mill of the library tax and half of the library board’s general account to building a new jail. Parish libraries ended 2012 with a $12.7 million fund balance. Library Board Director Laura Sanders said the board is against having any of its money reallocated, especially after state aid was cut in 2012....
Houma (La.) Today, July 27

Banned books to vanish from Gadsden library shelves
Patrons who want to read a banned book from the Gadsden (Ala.) Public Library or the Austin Meadows Library at Gadsden State Community College had better hurry. Books that have been challenged through the years because of content or language won’t be on those libraries’ shelves from August 26 through September 23, the beginning of Banned Books Week. Gadsden Public Library Director Amanda Jackson said that taking the books out of circulation will make the idea real to patrons....
Gadsden (Ala.) Times, July 27

Creating the Library of the Future in Greece
Dionisis Kolokotsas writes: “The Stavros Niarchos Foundation is investing €560 million to build a Cultural Center which will host the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera. As part of the project, the Foundation is also funding ‘Future Library,’ an effort that aims to transform public libraries into media labs and hubs of creativity, innovation, and learning, attracting many groups who now spend little time there—entrepreneurs, students, the unemployed, and immigrants. So far, nine municipal libraries are participating from all over Greece.”...
Google Europe Blog, July 25

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Ranganathan killed the library theorist
Matthew Ciszek writes: “Much has been written on the Five Laws of Library Science in the nearly 60 years since Ranganathan posited them. Librarians and scholars have sought to broaden, refine, or update the laws, and some have confused the laws as a ‘philosophy of librarianship.’ I would argue that when Ranganathan posited these five normative principles as laws, he effectively shut the door on further debate within the profession about the nature of librarianship.”...
A Blog on LIST, July 29

Change looks impossible when you start
Connie Williams writes: “A while back I got riled up about the state of school librarians. Their disappearance from schools is more than troubling; it’s a downright disaster. So I joined my state school library association, listened to all the folks in leadership, and began to learn about how to make change. It’s not fast, and it’s not easy. Here is the Cliff Notes version of how to meet with your legislator.”...
District Dispatch, July 29

How copyright made mid-century books disappear
Rebecca J. Rosen writes: “A book published during the presidency of Chester A. Arthur has a greater chance of being in print today than one published during the time of Ronald Reagan. Copyright advocates have long (and successfully) argued that keeping books copyrighted assures that owners can make a profit off their intellectual property, and that that profit incentive will ‘assure [the books’] availability and adequate distribution.’ The evidence, it appears, says otherwise.”...
The Atlantic, July 30

Embargo or perish
Ry Rivard writes: “Even though the American Historical Association is warning that young scholars could be denied book deals and therefore tenure-track jobs if they do not keep their dissertations off the internet, the actual danger of such career hampering remains hard to quantify. One recently published study (PDF file) suggests some publishers reject material that is already available online. AHA Vice President Jacqueline Jones said while press editors may say they are not turning down books because the material has been posted online, the acquisition editors on the ground are doing so.”...
Inside Higher Ed, July 24, 26; College and Research Libraries, July 2013, p. 368–380

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Today’s computer commons is tomorrow’s card catalog
Steven J. Bell writes: “Anyone who worked in an academic research library in the 1970s–1980s remembers the vast amount of library real estate devoted to the physical card catalog. In my own place of work, where the catalog used to sit one now finds a field of personal computers—all of them hardwired desktops. But in another 10 years, I believe academic librarians will once again be in search of a purpose for all the space created by the removal of obsolete desktop computers.”...
ACRLog, July 29

13 ed-tech tools for writing
Being able to write clearly is an essential skill for all students. With these simple online writing tools and apps, students get to practice writing informally in settings that won’t be too daunting. This information comes from Common Sense Media and its new Graphite service, a free collection of teacher-written reviews of websites, apps, and digital games for the classroom....
eSchool News, July 26

App of the week: Fax Burner
Wendy Stephens writes: “While faxing is a technology that might seem behind the times, whether it’s a W-9 or some other documentation related to employment or enrollment status, we’ve all had patrons who needed something scanned rather desperately to get requisite documentation to agencies or organizations that required that format. On those occasions, I’ve used Fax Burner, with excellent results.”...
YALSA Blog, July 31

Chromecast hacks and workarounds
Adriana Lee writes: “The bad news for Chromecast hopefuls is that the $35 device has sold out nearly everywhere. But there’s also good news: Because people swooped in to snag the device so quickly, all sorts of useful workarounds are already making their way across the web. For new owners and potential customers interested in what this cheap streaming dongle can do, here are a few Chromecast tips to get you started.”...
ReadWrite, July 30; New York Times: Personal Tech, July 31

Reduce the risk of data loss on USB drives
Tessa Miller writes: “You know what sucks? Putting your résumé, portfolio, essay, photos, whatever, on a USB stick, bringing the stick to the print shop, and discovering that your data is dead. Don’t let it happen to you. These superusers at Stack Exchange offer tips on keeping your USB data intact.”...
Lifehacker, July 26

The best wireless mouse
Wes Fenlon writes: “The Anywhere MX was slightly redesigned in 2012, so we spent about six hours checking around for new competition and a week using the new model to see how it fared. It’s still the mouse we’d get. But before I explain why, let’s talk about trackpads. Tech writers are fond of declaring the mouse dead. All it takes is a look at Windows 8 or Apple’s OS X (or a smartphone or tablet’s touch gesture controls) to see the future.”...
The Wirecutter, July 31

The best graphics cards for gaming
Joel Santo Domingo writes: “3D gaming on PCs is a serious business. Geeks from around the world crow about complex shaders, the ability for their system to manage smooth frame rates at higher resolution, and eye candy settings involving anti-aliasing, shadow rendering, and tessellation. For the purposes of this story, there are three levels of graphics card we want to highlight: Mainstream Enthusiast, High-End Enthusiast, and Insanity.”...
PC Magazine, July 24

Regular expressions in a library context
Bohyun Kim writes: “Despite its notational appearance, regular expressions (regex) is an extremely handy tool you can use to clean up or manipulate textual data. The best way to learn regex is to start using it right away every time you run into a problem that can be solved faster with regex. To give you an idea, I offer some uses for regex that several librarians generously shared with me.”...
ACRL TechConnect Blog, July 31

Montgomery County calls for fair ebook pricing
The Montgomery County, Maryland, council unanimously passed a resolution July 23 urging state and federal authorities to help public libraries obtain fair prices for ebooks. The resolution makes Montgomery County one of the first state (after Connecticut) or local jurisdictions to make more equitable ebook pricing a formal policy....
Governing, July 24; Library Journal: InfoDocket, June 12

Choice E-Collection offers free de-duping
The Choice E-Collection is the first collection of ebooks made up exclusively of titles reviewed by ACRL’s Choice magazine. Currently consisting of several hundred titles spanning the entire liberal arts and sciences curriculum, the collection presents titles from a growing list of publishers and now features a free de-duping service that allows a library to determine within 48 hours which titles it already owns....
Choice, July 29

Hoopla: Netflix for library users?
Laura Hazard Owen writes: “Hoopla wants to make borrowing material from a library as convenient as streaming content on the web. The company, which launched to the public June 24 after several months in beta, offers patrons of participating libraries access to on-demand streaming movies and TV shows, as well as audiobooks and music that can be streamed or downloaded. There’s no waiting, and patrons don’t have to remember to return the digital materials: After a set period of time, they expire. Titles can be streamed on Hoopla’s website or its iOS and Android apps.”...
GigaOM, July 24

Data curation’s dirty little secret
Dorothea Salo writes: “When the Research Data Services group I helped inaugurate worked out a response process for data-management-plan assistance requests, we were careful to respect the disciplinary expertise among our members. After all, even in late 2010 it was a truism that the barrier skill for helping researchers manage data was disciplinary expertise. Data curation’s dirty little secret is that this isn’t always true. It isn’t even often true.”...
Library Journal: Peer to Peer Review, June 27

2014 Midwinter Meeting, Philadelphia, January 24–28. Registration and housing will be open October 1.
2014 Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, June 26–July 1. Registration and housing will be open January 14.
(Bundle registration for 2014 Midwinter Meeting and Annual Conference opens September 9.)

Amazon quietly slashes book prices
Laura Hazard Owen writes: “Amazon is facing an unusual opponent in the battle for the lowest book prices online: Overstock.com, which in late July announced a promotional campaign to sell its books ‘at least 10% below Amazon.com’s prices.’ While that promotion was only supposed to last for a week, Overstock has decided to continue it for longer. In response, Amazon is slashing its own prices on print books, sometimes below the prices it’s charging for Kindle books. Overstock does not sell ebooks.”...
GigaOM, July 29; Overstock.com, July 25

Steampunk 101
Beth Carswell writes: “It’s okay if you don’t really get steampunk. I’m sure you’ve heard the term; maybe you have a vague notion that it involves goggles and hot air balloons and the inner workings of clocks, and perhaps time machines and top hats. It’s a specific genre, born of science fiction and Victorian sensibilities together. If you want examples, of course, head to the books. We’ve put together a list of some of the best steampunk books out there.”...
AbeBooks’ Reading Copy, July 24

YA recommendations for adult skeptics
Jessica Miller writes: “I’m always amused at the reactions I get from those who are just learning that I’m a youth services librarian and that I specialize in teen services. There are a few who view the idea with disdain. These are the adults to whom I then proceed to describe my job in enthusiastic detail, just before launching into a full-scale personalized book recommendation that I’m sure they were not at all prepared to accept. Here are some sample scenarios.”...
YALSA The Hub, July 30

The Wolverine through books
Jennifer Rummel writes: “Over the weekend, I had a chance to see the new Wolverine movie, and it was everything I’d hoped for. I’m a big fan of the X-Men movies and Wolverine in general. It takes place after the X-Men trilogy, following the death of Jean, which destroys Logan. Here’s a look at the movie through books, both fiction and nonfiction.”...
YALSA The Hub, July 31

50 states, 50 novels: A literary tour of the USA
If you are currently sitting on your front porch, looking for an escape to anywhere in America, be it the Everglades in Florida, the beaches of Southern California, or even the cold, merciless terrain of Alaska—then worry not. QwikLit has found some of the finest works of contemporary literature the United States has to offer, and placed them all on one comprehensive list, state by state....
QwikLit, July 24

Spoil this
Elizabeth Burns writes: “Spoilers are a funny thing. Well, maybe not spoilers so much as how people react to them and what they mean. In a nutshell, a spoiler is something about the plot of a book, movie, or TV show. The term implies, in a way, that this somehow spoils the reader or viewer experience. But does it? I suggest not—but I also suggest that people wanting to avoid spoilers should not be dismissed.”...
School Library Journal: A Chair, a Fireplace, and a Tea Cozy, July 29

Russian crime novel features fake Swedish blurbs
Since Amazon eclipsed the bookstore, fake online book reviews have become ubiquitous. But Eksmo, a publishing company in Moscow, has taken it a step further. It included fake quotes from fake newspapers on the cover of a “Swedish” crime novel released this summer. Krasny Tsvet Boli, or Red is the Color of Pain, by Eva Hansen (pseudonym) has been selling well in Russia. There’s no indication, however, that the novel was written in Sweden or even translated from Swedish....
The Atlantic Wire, July 30; New York Times, Aug. 25, 2012

Most beautiful book covers of 2012
Eric Limer writes: “Ebooks are convenient and all, but there’s nothing quite like an awesome, physical book cover to really get you stoked to dive into an old-school tome. The words inside are important, but there’s something to be said for a really nice piece of shelf-candy too. Every year, the Design Observer and the American Institute of Graphic Arts whip up a list of the year’s best cover designs. Here are 11 of our favorites.”...
Gizmodo, July 30

What happens online in 60 seconds?
Have you ever caught yourself finding it harder and harder to concentrate on one task? Even if you’re just looking through vacation photos on Facebook, you’re also scrolling through Twitter, reading a news article, and constantly flicking through tabs and windows. Even when you are concentrating on something that needs to get done, you might also be talking to someone on Skype. Apparently you are not the only one. UK rewards program Qmee found out exactly what happens online in an average minute....
Qmee, July 24

How email is swallowing our lives
Jennifer Senior writes: “According to a 2012 study from McKinsey Global Institute, the average worker in the knowledge economy spends 28% of his or her time reading and answering email. The conventional wisdom may be that our email use is going down. And among younger people, that’s true, as instant messaging and communication through social networks replaces it. But not at the office. The spooky part is, this irrepressible need we feel to monitor our email accounts may be harder to control than we think.”...
New York, July 31; McKinsey & Company, July 2012; UC Irvine Today, May 3, 2012

Make your website more compelling
Mark Tobias writes: “Unfortunately, far too many websites feature an information architecture and content strategy more akin to the Dewey Decimal System than to today’s user needs. Dewey’s classification of books into searchable sections of the library is an excellent service for researchers and library lovers, but it’s a poor match for the online organization of information. The Google experience is intuitive, highly personalized, and user driven—no two searches are alike. Here are four guiding principles.”...
ReadWrite, July 31

Twitter to add button for reporting abusive tweets
Vindu Goel writes: “Twitter announced July 29 that it would add a button to report abusive tweets to all major versions of its software, making it easier for users to report offensive messages that have been posted on the site. The announcement follows an online petition campaign urging Twitter to make such changes.”...
New York Times: Bits, July 29; Twitter UK Blog, July 29; Change.org

Semantic bookmarklet for bioscience researchers
Researchers, students, and librarians working in the fields of life and biomedical science are invited to test and give feedback on a new tool designed to help read scientific literature more efficiently. The free tool is a semantic bookmarklet (currently in beta form) developed by AQnowledge that can identify significant words on scientific website pages and provide links to further information, including laboratory resources. AQnowledge has also created a scientific PDF reader that performs a similar role....
LIBER, July 31

Save your community money and announce it
David Lee King writes: “The photo on the right is from a gas station at a local grocery store. They put up a sign at the gas station showing how much money they saved Lawrence, Kansas, via their fuel points program. How cool would that be to use one of those library value calculators, add everything up for a year, and share how much money the library has saved the community in books, videos, and events attended?”...
David Lee King, July 24

“But I don’t have time to blog”: Three responses
Richard Byrne writes: “Earlier this month at the Authentic Learning Workshop I was asked, ‘What do you say to teachers who say I don’t have time for a blog?’ I offered a few responses and here they are.”...
Free Technology for Teachers, July 30

10 beautiful medieval maps
This is a list by Medievalists.net of the best medieval maps—10 maps created between the 6th and 16th centuries that offer unique views into how medieval people saw their world. The maps are arranged chronologically, which helps to reveal some of the changes that took place during the Middle Ages in how people created maps....
Medievalists.net, July 28

An elephant in the bindings
Laura Nuvoloni writes: “This small but intriguing tool (right) is found on the beautiful early Renaissance bindings of four incunabula at Cambridge University. It shows a four-legged animal with a long protruding nose carrying a square basket on its back, which is covered with a tasseled rug, and flying a flag bearing a cross. The origin of the image of a war elephant for the binding tool is unknown. The image harks back to medieval representations of elephants in Western Europe.”...
Incunabula Project blog, July 30

Time to prepare for school again
Lizz Zitron writes: “If you are a public librarian: What relationship do you have with neighborhood schools? Academic librarians are most likely not thinking about orientation yet, but a really good, engaging program requires planning. Many school librarians probably feel overwhelmed by the number of schools they are now required to serve in less hours with fewer resources. All good reasons why a good plan, thought out now, can get the school off to a meaningful start.”...
The Outreach Librarian, July 31

Students unlikely to use print books for research
Drew DeSilver writes: “Was it really that long ago when students began their research papers by hitting the library stacks? Apparently so. In a 2012 Pew Research Center survey of almost 2,500 middle- and high-school teachers, just 12% said their students were ‘very likely’ to use printed books (other than textbooks) in a typical research assignment—just behind the 16% who said their students would be very likely to consult research librarians.”...
Pew Research Center: FactTank, July 30

Prison literature
Melissa Morrone writes: “What many don’t realize is that the vast majority of incarcerated people are in state prisons, where they are subjected to the arbitrary policies of the state department of corrections, including with regard to reading materials. We should keep in mind that at least 95% of all state prisoners will be released at some point, and how we approach crime and punishment says a lot about our collective humanity. Former and possibly future prisoners are likely users of your library.”...
Library Juice, July 28; OLOS Columns, Feb. 2, 2007; New York Times, Sept. 26, 2011; Bureau of Justice Statistics, July 30

LC races to preserve TV history
There are moments on television that define America, and the record of many of them are stored in a vault in Culpeper, Virginia. But these videotapes, some 50 years old, are deteriorating, and there is a race to preserve the history they contain. The tapes are being preserved and stored at the Library of Congress conservation campus. LC is able to digitize more than 500 tapes a week. The old tapes that remain only play on machines from the same era, and now there’s just one company left in the US that maintains them....
CBS News, July 30

A rare book by another Obama
Erin Allen writes: “The Library of Congress holds a rare book written in 1959 in Kenya by the father of the 44th US president. The author’s name, listed on the title page, is familiar even if the language is not: ‘olosi gi Barack H. Obama.’ The language is Luo, an African tribal dialect. Otieno, the Wise Man was a three-volume series produced by the Kenya Adult Literacy Program and published by the East African Literature Bureau to promote literacy, health, good farming practices, and citizenship. Volume 2 was written by Obama Sr.”...
Library of Congress Blog, July 26

LC acquires Lilli Vincenz papers
Gay civil-rights pioneer Lilli Vincenz (right) has donated to the Library of Congress her collection of papers, photographs, 16mm films, and memorabilia, collected over a period of 50 years in the gay and lesbian civil-rights movement. Vincenz was one of the first lesbian members of the original Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., a gay-rights organization, and the first editor of its newsletter, The Homosexual Citizen. The collection of some 10,000 items documents both her personal biography and the larger gay rights movement....
Library of Congress, July 25

RDA structure
Salman Haider writes: “RDA is divided into 10 sections: sections 1–4 cover elements corresponding to the entity attributes defined in FRBR and FRAD; sections 5–10 cover elements corresponding to the relationships defined in FRBR and FRAD. The initial chapter in each section sets out the functional objectives and principles underlying the guidelines and instructions in that section, and specifies core elements to support those functional objectives.”...
Resource Description & Access (RDA), July 26

Ms. Pac Man in the library
Justin Hoenke writes: “I’ve had great success with video gaming in libraries over the past five years, but I’ve never been able to fully capture the spirit of the video game arcade. Setting up a home video game console in a library sort of replicates the video game arcade experience. But there’s just something about standing around those old wooden cabinets that’s lost with console gaming. That’s why in May I obtained an original 1981 Ms. Pac Man arcade machine for the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Public Library.” And here’s another way to bring Pac-Man into your library....
Medium, June 27; International Games Day @ your library, July 29

Lego librarians
Joe Hardenbrook writes: “How do we know when librarians have hit the big time? Lego has introduced a Lego Librarian, part of its minifigures series line. OK, so it plays into several librarian stereotypes, but I would expect nothing less. The Lego character must be easily identifiable to the public. So how might we portray other librarians in Lego form? I decided to take a stab at it and had a bit of fun. Maybe you even know a few of these. So here’s my satirical take.”...
Mr. Library Dude, July 24

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