The e-newsletter of the American Library Association | October 30, 2013

In Practice: Community creativity
Meredith Farkas writes: “Today, libraries of any type can help give their patrons a voice and make their creative work accessible to the world. A small number of public and academic libraries have made Espresso Book Machines (right) available for community publishing. These print-on-demand machines can print and bind a quality paperback book in just a few minutes. They can print anything from novels to zines to cookbooks to photo travelogues. Some libraries also offer layout and design services in conjunction with the printing, but these also come at a cost.”...
American Libraries column, Sept./Oct.

Will’s World: What about the children?
Will Manley writes: “From my 40 years of laboring in the library vineyard, I have known many library directors who hated kids.... I’m sorry, who didn’t value children. Kids are not programmable. There is no convenient ‘kid app.’ They are noisy, disruptive, obstreperous, and cantankerous. They pull books off the shelves in droves. They pee, poop, vomit, spill stuff into computer keyboards, destroy books, swallow puzzle pieces, and get lost. Plus, they smell funny.”...
American Libraries column, Sept./Oct.

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Make it @ your library launches
Make it @ your library, a new website tailored to librarians interested in implementing makerspace projects in their libraries, has been launched by ALA and Instructables, an online community for DIY enthusiasts. Make it @ your library connects users to projects, based on library-specific search criteria. With a link to the new website, librarians can easily identify and select Instructables DIY projects that are cost-, age-, and content-appropriate for specific communities....
Public Information Office, Oct. 28

David Baldacci to speak at Midwinter
Bestselling author David Baldacci (right) is passionate about literacy and reading, believing that “the ability to read is the foundation for everyday life.” He and his wife Michelle have created a foundation to combat illiteracy in the United States. ALA Midwinter Meeting attendees will have the opportunity to hear him speak about the range of his work when he joins us as an Auditorium Speaker on January 26....
Conference Services, Oct. 24

Surprise bonus play: Extra games
Jenny Levine writes: “It’s a good day for International Games Day donations. Thanks to the generosity of another sponsor, IGD libraries in the USA will be getting more games than we initially expected. USAopoly has just informed us that they will be shipping US libraries one extra game! In addition to the promised copies of the fast-paced vocabulary game Tapple, each recipient will receive a copy of the spatial strategy game CrossWays.”...
International Games Day @ your library, Oct. 25

World Book Night titles announced
On April 23, 2014, thousands of bibliophiles will give away half a million books in the United States to celebrate World Book Night. Here are all 35 of the titles that will be given away. The number is an increase from previous years’ 30 titles, allowing more authors and publishers to be represented. If your library wishes to take part, you can apply to become a library distribution site through January 5....
GalleyCat, Oct. 25; World Book Night

The American Dream on the road: Berwyn Public Library
John Amundsen writes: “On October 22, the Office for Library Outreach Services visited its second library, this time to Berwyn (Ill.) Public Library in Chicago’s suburbs. Over half of the population in the area served by BPL speaks English as a second language. To meet this need, BPL received funding from The American Dream Starts @ your library initiative, which it used to increase its adult literacy collection, purchase technology (including iPads and a smart screen), and provide citizenship courses in the library.” Watch the video (6:39)....
OLOS Columns, Oct. 28; YouTube, Oct. 28

A history of GLBTRT
Denise Rayman writes: “The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table is a group with many firsts. Formed during the 1970 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago as the ‘Gay Liberation Task Force,’ a part of the larger Social Responsibilities Round Table, it was the first profession-based gay organization. In 1971, it established the first award for gay literature, now called the Stonewall Award. That same year it also published the first gay bibliography, which was a response to the lack of gay-positive books in libraries.”...
ALA Archives Blog, Oct. 24

Going beyond book sales
Regardless of the scope or complexity of library fundraising, successful efforts are always about forging and strengthening relationships with the range of stakeholders throughout the community. In Beyond Book Sales: The Complete Guide to Raising Real Money for Your Library, editor Susan Dowd and her team from Library Strategies, a consulting group of the Friends of St. Paul (Minn.) Public Library, share proven strategies that have brought in more than $1 million annually....
ALA Neal-Schuman, Oct. 28

Google search secrets
In Google Search Secrets, published by ALA Neal-Schuman, Christa Burns and Michael P. Sauers reveal tricks and tips for effective Google searches, showing how to get the most out of the service. It includes ready-to-use instructions on how to go beyond the simple search box and top results to get library users the answers they need, fast, as well as straightforward guidance on using filters to refine search results....
ALA Neal-Schuman, Oct. 29

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Philadelphia Music Walk of Fame
Frankie Avalon, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Dick Clark (right), John Coltrane, Patti Labelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Joan Jett. Step by step, name by name, Philadelphia’s musical history comes alive on the Walk of Fame. View 106 bronze plaques as you journey through Philadelphia’s unique musical landscape. From early jazz, blues, gospel, and rock through funk, pop, and hip-hop, they are all here, along the Avenue of the Arts (on Broad Street between Walnut and Spruce Streets). Here’s the full list of honorees and a map....
Philadelphia Music Alliance

Philly Soul
Philly Soul was one of the most popular forms of soul music in the early 1970s. Building on the steady groove of Hi Records and Stax/Volt singles, Philly soul added sweeping strings, seductive horns, and lush arrangements to the deep rhythms. As a result, it was much smoother and slicker than the deep soul of the late 1960s, but the vocals remained as soulful as any previous form of R&B. Philly Soul was primary a producer’s medium, as Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell created the instrumental textures that came to distinguish the genre....
AllMusic

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts
The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, 300 South Broad Street, is the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, regarded as one of the best in the world. Kimmel Center is also the home venue of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Philadanco, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and a performance series known as Kimmel Center Presents, which hosts a variety of jazz, classical, and world pop performers. Here are the performances scheduled for January....
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Top 10 restaurants
Lily Cope and Joey Sweeney write: “Philly’s rapidly evolving restaurant scene holds plenty of adventurous new stuff to try as well as the old favorites. Here we serve up a mix of the two. The wildly successful Cheu Noodle Bar, 255 South 10th Street, offers a range of traditional Asian dishes with the chef’s own spin. The menu of small plates includes dumplings that change daily, veggies such as Szechuan long beans, and barbecued pig tails. The intimate space even features a wall made from the contents of instant ramen noodle packets.”...
The Guardian (UK), Sept. 24

Mayor passes sweeping LGBT reform
New legislation aims to make Philadelphia one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the world, according to Mayor Michael Nutter. The bill, which Nutter signed into law October 24, mandates that all new or renovated city-owned buildings include gender-neutral restrooms in addition to men’s and women’s bathrooms, offers tax credits to companies that provide LGBT-inclusive employee benefits, amends the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance to be inclusive of gender identity, and offers some relationship recognition rights for same-sex couples....
The Advocate, Oct. 28

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Academic library trends and statistics
ACRL has published 2012 Academic Library Trends and Statistics, the latest in a series of annual publications that describe the collections, staffing, expenditures, and service activities of academic libraries in all Carnegie classifications. The three-volume set includes Associate of Arts institutions, Master’s colleges and universities/Baccalaureate colleges, and Research/Doctoral-granting institutions. The individual volumes for Associates Colleges, Masters/Baccalaureate, and Doctoral-Granting institutions are also available for purchase separately....
ACRL Insider, Oct. 30

Young adults and the future of libraries
Alan Inouye writes: “The Fall 2013 issue of Young Adult Library Services features the future of libraries. I have an article in this issue that takes a big-picture view. Given this opportunity to contemplate a bit, after stepping back I converged on four trends that will shape the future of libraries. The profound challenge for the community of YA librarians extends far beyond enabling library services today; it also includes developing a framework for information services that will serve young adults for decades to come.”...
District Dispatch, Oct. 29

Launch into STEM programming with LPI
Interested in providing more hands-on STEM programs in your library but need ideas on how to start? ALSC has partnered with the Lunar and Planetary Institute to help you with just that. LPI’s Explore program invites librarians to open doors to the universe to children—no prior experience in science is required. Check out how these three youth services librarians have launched into STEM programming with help from LPI....
ALSC Blog, Oct. 28

Confessions of a reference librarian
On October 28, RUSA debuted its first week-long interview session as part of its IAmRUSA series. Each week IAmRUSA features a different interviewee, of whom participants to ask questions about their professional careers, their passions, and anything else involving librarianship. Hosted by ALA Connect, anyone interested may join the IAmRUSA community; participants do not need to be RUSA members....
RUSA, Oct. 29

Storytellers to weave flights of fancy at AASL conference
Three master storytellers will share their craft as part of AASL’s 16th National Conference, November 14–17 in Hartford, Connecticut. Performers Carol Birch, Bill Harley, and Valerie Tutson will appear at the storytelling festival and help attendees celebrate the everyday and fantastic in a casual evening of traditional and original tales. Read more about the event online....
AASL, Oct. 29

United for Libraries’ Gala Author Tea
Lisa Scottoline (right), Sue Monk Kidd, Laura Lippman, and Cristina Henriquez will be among the featured authors at United for Libraries’ Gala Author Tea, sponsored by ReferenceUSA, on January 27 at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. Authors will discuss their writing life and forthcoming books. United for Libraries will recognize the winners of the 2013 National Friends of Libraries Week Awards during this event....
United for Libraries, Oct. 29

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ALSC and PLA receive Early Literacy grant
ALSC and PLA have received a three-year National Leadership Project Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The $499,741 grant will be used to support “Bringing Home Early Literacy: Determining the Impact of Library Programming on Parent Behavior,” a research project that will examine how early literacy programming offered by public libraries affects parent behavior and engagement during their children’s most formative years. See the full list of IMLS early literacy grants totaling $4.3 million....
PLA, Oct. 29; Institute of Museum and Library Services, Oct. 29

ALA recognition awards and grants
Nominate yourself, colleagues, or your library for a 2014 ALA recognition award or grant. Unless otherwise noted, the deadline is December 1. For general information about these and other ALA awards, visit the ALA awards page....
Office of ALA Governance, Oct. 29

Nominations for Immroth and Oboler awards
The Intellectual Freedom Round Table is seeking nominations for its John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award and Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award. The Immroth award honors intellectual freedom fighters in and outside the library profession who have demonstrated remarkable personal courage in resisting censorship. The Oboler award honors the best published work in the area of intellectual freedom. The deadline for both is December 1....
Office for Intellectual Freedom, Oct. 28

Win $1,000 with a MAE Award
YALSA members who have run an exceptional reading or literature program in the 12 months leading up to December 1 are eligible to apply for the MAE Award for Best Literature Program for Teens, which recognizes an outstanding reading or literature program for young adults. The MAE Award is sponsored by the Margaret A. Edwards Trust. Applications must be submitted online by December 1....
YALSA, Oct. 29

ARL awarded grant to develop shared-access ecosystem
The Association of Research Libraries has been awarded $50,000 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to help develop the proposed SHared Access Research Ecosystem (SHARE). The initiative will build a cross-institutional coordination framework for the long-term management and preservation of—and expansion of access to—the results of academic research. Through SHARE, university libraries can enhance the public discovery and reuse of articles and data that result from public funding....
Association of Research Libraries, Oct. 23

Florida library awarded Best Buy grant for teen robotics program
Martin County Library System in Palm City, Florida, has received a Best Buy Children’s Foundation Community Grant to establish a teen robotics program. The $3,200 grant will provide teens with opportunities to develop technology skills that will inspire future education and career choices. The program will teach teens about computer hardware and software components, basic computer programming, and basic robotics assembly and execution....
Martin County (Fla.) Library System, Oct. 23

New York Public Library’s 2013 Library Lions
The New York Public Library’s annual Library Lions Gala, recognizing individuals for their outstanding achievements in the fields of art, culture, scholarship, and letters, will be held at the library’s landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on November 4. This year’s honorees are Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, journalist Katherine Boo, novelists Junot Diaz and Marilynne Robinson, and composer Stephen Sondheim....
New York Public Library, Oct. 8

UK Library Design Awards
Augustine House Library and Student Services Centre at Canterbury Christ Church University and the McClay Library at Queen’s University Belfast (right) are the joint winners of the 2013 Society of College, National, and University Libraries (SCONUL) Library Design Awards. The Ayr Library at University of the West of Scotland and Scotland’s Rural College took the honors in the smaller buildings category....
Designing Libraries, Oct. 30

2013 Canadian Children’s Literature Awards
The winners of the 2013 Canadian Children’s Literature Awards, presented by TD Bank Financial Group and the Canadian Children’s Book Centre, were announced October 22 at an event in Toronto. British Columbia author Polly Horvath won both the inaugural Fan Choice Award and the $30,000 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award, the richest prize for Canadian children’s literature, for her novel One Year in Coal Harbor....
Quill and Quire, Oct. 23

ILAB Breslauer Prize for Bibliography
Jon Gilbert, a bookseller with Adrian Harrington Rare Books in London, has won the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers’ Breslauer Prize for Bibliography with his book on Ian Fleming’s works. Gilbert’s Ian Fleming The Bibliography was published by Queen Anne Press in 2012. The $10,000 prize is handed out every fourth year to the most outstanding scholarly book about books. Gilbert was kind enough to answer some questions....
AbeBooks ReadingCopy, Oct. 23

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Maywood library closes
The Maywood (Ill.) Public Library (right) closed its doors October 26 and will not reopen until funding can be secured. Employees say it will affect hundreds of people who come every day to read, study, and look for jobs. The Maywood Public Library District, which is separate from the village, is more than $500,000 in debt. Dozens of angry residents filled the library October 27 to hear board members explain the situation....
WGN-TV, Chicago, Oct. 27

Alamogordo stops buying books
A disagreement over how the Alamogordo (N.Mex.) Public Library was doing business prompted Otero County officials to cut its funding. The county commission announced October 17 it would stop funding the library, meaning a loss of $33,000, about half its annual budget, which is primarily used for new books, CDs, and DVDs. To make up for it, the library might have to start charging county residents to check out books....
KRQE-TV, Albuquerque, Oct. 28; Alamogordo (N.Mex.) Daily News, Oct. 26

School district retains Dog in the Night-Time
The Riverside School District in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, rose to a challenge against one of the books in its high school library and decided on October 25 to keep the book on the shelves. At a school board meeting earlier in the month, Gary Butler had spoken on behalf of a sophomore at Riverside Junior Senior High School, challenging the inclusion of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon on summer reading lists....
Scranton (Pa.) Times-Tribune, Oct. 26

Few complain about censorship in Massachusetts libraries
A new survey of records at more than 1,000 school and public libraries in Massachusetts shows fewer than 20 libraries have faced even a single challenge to their collections since 2010, and only twice did librarians agree to put a book out of easy reach of children. In fact, many of the librarians contacted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers had to dig deep into their archives to find public requests for censorship....
Boston Globe, Oct. 25

Tucson schools’ new policy draws state concern
The approval for use of seven books previously removed from Tucson Unified School District classrooms after the elimination of Mexican American Studies is raising a red flag. The books, which were adopted as supplemental materials October 22 by a 3–2 vote by the TUSD Governing Board, will now be used in English, American history, and world history classes at the middle- and high-school levels. But the Arizona Department of Education is concerned whether the decision could be an attempt to return to practices found to have violated Arizona’s statutes in 2011....
Tucson Arizona Daily Star, Oct. 23–24

University of Utah library closes over bed bugs
First spotted October 22 on the University of Utah’s Marriott Library’s third floor, bed bugs were later uncovered in upholstered seating areas on the first and second floors, so the entire library was closed over the weekend to annihilate the bloodsuckers with 140-degree heat treatment. The first floor reopened to students on October 28, and the rest of Marriott, declared free of bed bugs, reopened October 29....
Salt Lake Tribune, Oct. 29; Daily Utah Chronicle, Oct. 29

New culinary library opens in New Orleans
New Orleans, renowned as a top food destination, got a different type of five-star culinary attraction on October 30, when the Southern Food and Beverage Museum’s Culinary Library and Archive officially opened. The library, at 1609 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, will be the biggest culinary collection in the South, with almost 12,000 noncirculating cookbooks....
New Orleans Times-Picayune, Oct. 30

NYPL hires firm to promote renovation plan
Robin Pogrebin writes: “The New York Public Library is paying a prominent lobbying firm $25,000 to help promote the library’s controversial renovation plan. The library has enlisted the Parkside Group, whose team will be led by Evan Stavisky. A revised design by the architect Norman Foster was expected this fall, but the library announced that those plans had been delayed.”...
New York Times: ArtsBeat, Oct. 23–24

California libraries offer meals to hungry kids (PDF file)
Public libraries in Fresno, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, and San Diego provided 21,000 summer meals and literacy activities for hungry children and teens last summer. The libraries were part of the California Library Association’s and California Summer Meal Coalition’s “Summer Lunch at the Library” program, which was developed to keep kids healthy and engaged while school is out....
California Library Association, Oct. 28

Coney Island branch reopens, post-Sandy
Sasha Goldstein writes: “The last of Brooklyn’s Sandy-slammed libraries has finally reopened, and it incorporates a fitting symbol of the superstorm that devastated six branches. When officials cut the ribbon on the restored Coney Island branch October 23, they also showed off the coolest part of the gleaming facility: a ceiling that incorporates dozens of planks (above) from the historic boardwalk that was also destroyed by the storm.”...
New York Daily News, Oct. 23

Lake City lawsuit dismissed
A civil lawsuit filed by the former director of the Lake City (Minn.) Public Library against the city and several city officials has been dismissed. In her suit filed in 2012, Sheryl Mooers alleged she was wrongfully fired and sexually harassed and that the city violated opening meeting laws. On October 8, Wabasha County District Court Judge Terrence Walters dismissed the claim with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled. But Mooers’s attorney plans an appeal....
Rochester (Minn.) Post-Bulletin, Oct. 28; KTTC-TV, Rochester, Minn., Oct. 28

Former Toronto staffer treated unfairly by immigration
A judge has ruled that the Canadian government acted in bad faith in dealing with former Toronto Reference Library Assistant Douglas Gary Freeman when it labeled him a terrorist and linked him to the Black Panther party. Federal Court Justice Anne Mactavish, who reviewed Ottawa’s blocking of Freeman’s application to reenter Canada, dismissed claims he was a security threat. In 1969, Freeman had wounded Chicago police officer Terrence Knox and later fled to Canada. When his story leaked out, he was extradited to the United States and pleaded guilty in February 2008 to one count of aggravated battery....
Toronto Star, Oct. 24

Turning 400-year-old maps into 3D video games
UK students are transforming historic maps into 3D video game environments. A number of teams battled it out to win a national initiative that invited them to use maps and engravings from the British Library’s archives to craft a video game. Pudding Lane Productions, a team of six second-year students from De Montfort University in Leicester, took first prize in the Off the Map challenge with a game set in 17th-century London. It was based on a map of the City of London after it was ravaged by the Great Fire, which started on September 5, 1666....
Daily Mail (UK), Oct. 28; British Library: Digital Scholarship Blog, Oct. 29; Pudding Lane Productions, Aug. 27

Jabba the Hutt now works at Cardiff Central Library
Legendary Star Wars villain Jabba the Hutt has a new job working as a librarian in Cardiff, Wales. Toby Philpott (right), the movie puppeteer who operated alien villain Jabba in Return of the Jedi, has given up intergalactic crime to start a new life teaching computer courses in Cardiff Central Library. “I can go shopping and no one ever recognizes me as Jabba, which is a good thing,” he said....
South Wales Evening Post, Oct. 24

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USA Freedom Act would bar NSA’s bulk phone metadata collection
Lawmakers proposed legislation October 29 that would effectively end the NSA’s bulk phone metadata collection program, which includes the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centers worldwide. The proposal (PDF file) has support from Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate, as well as from civil rights groups. But the USA Freedom Act’s passage into law remains uncertain. The bill (PDF file) is a radical revamp of the USA Patriot Act and would rewrite section 215—also called the “library provision”—and impose new limits on section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act....
Wired: Threat Level, Oct. 29; Washington Post, Oct. 30; District Dispatch, Oct. 30

Healthcare.gov update
American consumers’ initial experience on the Healthcare.gov website has been inadequate and unacceptable, a key administration official overseeing the troubled launch told a congressional panel on October 29. Marilyn Tavenner (right), director of the agency in charge of setting up the online insurance exchanges, said the administration was determined to repair the glitches, but experts were still diagnosing the problems and have much work ahead. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius apologized October 30 for the troubled roll-out....
Reuters, Oct. 29; ABC News, Oct. 30

E-rate survey highlights need for broadband
Laura Devaney writes: “Nearly one-third of school districts (29%) did not apply for federal e-rate assistance because they assumed the program would have insufficient funds for their needs, according to a new survey (PDF file) on school e-rate and broadband needs from the Consortium for School Networking. Almost half of responding districts (43%) said none of their schools are equipped to meet the goal of having 100 Mbps of internet access per 1,000 students, as things are today.”...
eSchool News, Oct. 29

Internet Archive boosts its encryption
Zach Miners writes: “The Internet Archive, the online repository of millions of digitized books, wants to shield its readers from the prying eyes of others—like the government’s. On October 24, the nonprofit announced new privacy protections to make it more difficult to see users’ reading behavior by implementing the encrypted web protocol standard HTTP Secure and making it the default. Most users will soon be using the secure protocol, which is designed to protect against eavesdropping.”...
PC World, Oct. 25; Internet Archive Blog, Oct. 25

Must-know privacy tips
Ian Paul writes: “Your online privacy is best protected when you keep an iron grip on the information you’re handing out. If your info is on a server somewhere, it’s not truly yours. You can take some simple precautions to minimize the amount of personal information that you have online. If nothing else, this article can help you make better decisions about the information you share with the services you love.”...
PC World, Oct. 25

10 steps you can take against internet surveillance
Danny O’Brien writes: “One of the trends we’ve seen is how, as word of the NSA’s spying has spread, more and more ordinary people want to know how (or if) they can defend themselves from surveillance online. But where to start? Here are 10 steps you can take to make your own devices secure. You won’t be completely safe from spying. But every step you take will make you a little bit safer than average.”...
Electronic Frontier Foundation, Oct. 25

What’s up with the Georgia State lawsuit?
Kevin Smith writes: “Is it just greed? Is that what is behind the lawsuit over e-reserves and copyright infringement that publishers continue to pursue against Georgia State University? The Copyright Clearance Center, which is helping to bankroll the GSU lawsuit, paid out a record amount of royalty monies to rightsholders in FY 2013. Royalties paid by the CCC have increased by more than $35 million in the past three years alone. So why the lawsuit?”...
Scholarly Communications @ Duke, Oct. 29; Copyright Clearance Center, Oct. 29

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When 3D printing goes wrong
Signe Brewster writes: “It’s been a long time since I felt so helpless learning a new skill. If you miss a basketball shot, you keep shooting until you make it. If you don’t know why your iPhone is acting funny, you Google the problem. But when you’re working with a 3D printer from 2010 that’s been modified over and over again by hackers, no one on the internet has experienced exactly the same problem as you. You’re on your own.”...
GigaOM, Oct. 25

How to use multiple monitors to be more productive
Chris Hoffman writes: “Many people swear by multiple monitors, whether they’re geeks or just people who need to be productive. Why use just one monitor when you can use two or more and see more at once? Additional monitors allow you to expand your desktop, getting more screen real estate for your open programs. Windows makes it very easy to set up additional monitors, and your computer probably has the necessary ports.”...
How-To Geek, Oct. 28

Top 10 time-saving tech tips
Tech specialist David Pogue shares 10 simple, clever tips (5:45) for computer, web, smartphone, and camera users. Yes, you may know a few of these already, but there may well be at least one that you don’t....
TED Talks, Apr. 26

Barnes & Noble Nook GlowLight
Jamie Lendino writes: “Barnes & Noble on October 30 announced the Nook GlowLight, a brand-new $119 e-ink e-reader that appears to be a significant upgrade from the 18-month-old Nook Simple Touch With GlowLight. The new model measures 6.5 by 5.0 by 0.42 inches and weighs 6.2 ounces, which is over an ounce lighter than Amazon’s latest Kindle Paperwhite, and roughly equivalent to Kobo’s svelte, if flawed, Aura reader. You can feel the weight difference pretty easily.”...
PC Magazine, Oct. 30

The five best travel routers
Alan Henry writes: “If you’re hitting the road and taking your gadgets with you, a good travel router will help you share the Wi-Fi in your hotel, office, or anywhere else with all of them. The best ones do it with no hassle, easy setup, and small form-factors that slip nicely in a carry-on bag. Some even keep your gadgets charged while they’re connected. Here we look at five of the best.”...
Lifehacker, Oct. 27

Virtual Town Hall wrap-up
Alan S. Inouye writes: “More than 700 librarians, publishers, and media representatives participated in the ALA Virtual Town Hall on Ebooks October 23. ALA President Barbara Stripling led a discussion that highlighted the Association’s successes from the past two years and its plans to address the challenges ahead. View the archived town hall and download the Power Point presentation.”...
AL: E-Content, Oct. 29

HarperCollins to try alternative to Amazon
Paul St. John Mackintosh writes: “HarperCollins is planning to sell its ebooks directly to customers through its own ‘end-to-end e-commerce and direct-to-consumer distribution solution.’ Accenture, a management consulting and technology services company, will operate the new platform for them. Yes, it’s a Big Five publisher’s attempt to create its own-brand, own-list alternative to Amazon’s Kindle Store, the Kobo Store, and the Nook Book Store. The launch began October 30, starting with titles by C. S. Lewis.”...
TeleRead, Oct. 30

How HathiTrust handles 11 million volumes
Jennifer Zaino writes: “Launched by the Committee on Institutional Cooperation and the 11 libraries of the University of California system, the HathiTrust Digital Library is collectively undertaking preservation with access. Today it has more than 80 partners, more than two dozen of whom are depositing content in its repository. HathiTrust is fast heading to 11 million digitized volumes, up from 2 million at its formal debut in October 2008.”...
EdTech Magazine, Oct. 28

DPLA Bookshelf launches
At its DPLAfest on October 24–25 in Boston, the Digital Public Library of America introduced a new way to browse more than a million online books it has added to its collection. DPLA Bookshelf lets the user scroll a visual representation of a bookshelf that provides all the instantaneous power the digital world provides. DPLA Bookshelf was created by the Harvard Library Innovation Lab, based on its Stacklife project....
DPLA Blog, Oct. 24

DPLA to train public librarians in digital technologies
The Digital Public Library of America announced October 24 that it has received a $990,195 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to pilot a national-scale training system for public librarians. Under the grant, DPLA will collaborate with its service hubs—regional digital library partners located in states and regions in the United States—to build curricular resources and implement hands-on training programs that develop digital skills and capacity within the staffs of public libraries....
DPLA Blog, Oct. 24

Digital portals to local community history
Bill LeFurgy writes: “Given the popularity of 71 Digital Portals to State History from September, I thought it would be useful to extend the conversation to the local level. Unlike the earlier post, we did not have the services of an intern to do the research, so the starting list is shorter. But we were able to quickly pull together this list of 39 county, municipal, and other local institutions that provide online access to unique digital resources useful for studying the history and culture of their communities.”...
The Signal: Digital Preservation, Sept. 23, Oct. 25

Amazon launches weekly literary e-journal
Amazon on October 30 launched “a literary journal for the digital age,” Day One, which will publish the work of one writer and one poet each week. An annual subscription will normally be $19.99 but is $9.99 for “a limited time.” Issues will be delivered automatically to your Kindle or Kindle app. The first issue features the short story Sheila by Rebecca Adams Wright, and the poem Wrought by Zack Strait....
GigaOM, Oct. 30; Amazon.com, Oct. 30

Educator plans first deaf culture digital library
The Deaf World Library and Museum would be the first digital resource to offer access to relevant historical materials through a single online portal. Bryan Eldredge (right), director of the American Sign Language and Deaf Studies at Utah Valley University, received a grant of $50,000 in October from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to help plan the library. Eldredge said he hopes someday ebooks and interactive photographs of physical objects could be used in deaf schools to teach students about their culture....
KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, Oct. 29

Why Netflix or Spotify for ebooks can work
Jeremy Greenfield writes: “Many publishing industry observers don’t think that Oyster or Scribd or any other ‘Netflix or Spotify for ebooks’ will work in the consumer marketplace. Why? The rights issues are very complicated. Agents and authors may not go for it. Publishers may not go for it. Consumers may realize that it’s not worth their money. Yet, companies like these keep on popping up.”...
Forbes, Oct. 29

Who’s who in ebooks
Brandi Scardilli writes: “Just as books don’t magically appear on library shelves, ebooks don’t automatically pop up in a library’s online catalog. Librarians work with ebook vendors to get e-content into the e-readers of their patrons. With the many e-lending options now on the market, here are five of the big ones with a few of their major features for cross comparison. At the end of the article, check out the handy reference chart.”...
Information Today, Oct. 1

World Book offers new ebook platform
World Book is making many of its popular educational titles available in ebook format and accessible through a unique interactive platform, World Book eBooks. The ebook collection includes beautifully illustrated, engaging titles that contain such multimedia features as videos, audio, and games. World Book’s ebook platform includes a customized online viewer that provides an optimal reading experience for students of all ages....
World Book, Sept. 17

2014 Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits, Philadelphia, January 24–28. Three outstanding Auditorium Speakers not to miss at ALA Midwinter Meeting: bestselling authors David Baldacci, Wes Moore, and Matthew Quick.

10 books about sports that even non-fans should read
Jason Diamond writes: “Not only am I a fan of the franchise, but I also consider the 1985 Chicago Bears the greatest single-season football squad to ever hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy, so I could see how one could chalk up to bias my judgment that Rich Cohen’s Monsters is one of the finest books on the sport that I’ve ever read. If you have an open mind, there are more than a few books like Monsters that will entertain and educate true fans, as well as people who wouldn’t know LeBron James if he walked past them dribbling two basketballs.” Amie Wright recommends some baseball books for kids....
Flavorwire, Oct. 29; New York Public Library Blog, Oct. 24

A resurgence of board books
The humble board book, with its cardboard-thick pages, gently rounded corners, and simple concepts for babies, was once designed to be chewed as much as read. But today’s babies and toddlers are treated to board books that are miniature works of literary art. Booksellers say that parents are flocking to these books, even if the idea that a 2-year-old could understand Moby-Dick seems absurd....
New York Times, Oct. 26

YA books that changed our lives
Julie Bartel writes: “A couple weeks ago CNN ran ‘Young Adult Books That Changed Our Lives,’ featuring members of the digital newsroom talking about an interesting array of ‘books that have stuck with them since adolescence.’ It got me thinking: What YA books would I pick?” Among Bartel’s choices is the Betsy-Tacy series. “I wanted nothing more than to jump into their world head first. When I found out the entire series was based on the author’s life, that I could go to Deep Valley and climb the Big Hill, that I could visit Betsy’s house, it was a lot like finding out that Hogwarts was a real school and I could go there!”...
YALSA The Hub, Oct. 29; CNN, Oct. 7

Books for National Disability Employment Awareness Month
Carli Spina writes: “October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Despite legal efforts to eliminate discrimination and to increase access to education and job training, only 20.5% of people in America who have disabilities are employed. But many people remain unaware of this inequity. Raise your awareness about disability employment by reading one of these books that highlight characters with disabilities in the workplace.”...
YALSA The Hub, Oct. 29

50 books to inspire artists
Emily Temple writes: “Donna Tartt’s third novel, the glorious, sprawling, Dickensesque romp The Goldfinch, was released October 22. The book is backboned by its eponymous painting and is much concerned with art of all kinds. To celebrate its release, we’ve put together a list of 50 books for artists. Some of these books are about visual art, some are visual art in themselves, others just strike us as the kind of thing that might keep an artist up at night.”...
Flavorwire, Oct. 22

NYPL shares monthly lists of most popular books, ebooks
The New York Public Library will be sharing monthly lists of the books most checked out at its 91 locations, beginning with the top adult fiction and nonfiction books in July, August, and September 2013. The check-outs include both paper books and ebooks. The library will unveil each month’s top books during the second week of the following month, and the lists can be found at nypl.org....
New York Public Library, Oct. 28

10 crazy literary conspiracy theories
Nolan Moore writes: “From Elizabethan England to the 21st century, people have made weird claims about books and the folks who wrote them, ranging from secret identities to dastardly deeds. For instance, did Charlotte Brontë kill her sisters? According to criminologist James Tully, author of The Crimes of Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte was jealous of her sisters’ fame, so she teamed up with her father’s curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls, and poisoned Anne and Emily along with their brother Branwell.”...
L:stverse, Oct. 27

Haldeman-Julius publications
This gallery of Haldeman-Julius Pocket Series and Little Blue Book wrappers offers a pictorial history of the 50+ years that the Haldeman-Julius booklets were published. To gain an in-depth understanding of how the wrappers have been categorized, check out the article, “Classifying the Various Pocket Series and Little Blue Book Wrappers.” If you wish to explore these wrappers more closely, make use of the Database of Haldeman-Julius Pocket Series and Little Blue Book Titles. Find some background on publisher E. Haldeman-Julius here....
Haldeman-Julius Gallery; Believer magazine, Sept. 2008

Impact Survey
The Impact Survey is an online survey tool designed specifically for public libraries that want to better understand their communities and how people use their public technology resources and services. Written and validated by research staff at the University of Washington Information School, the Impact Survey allows libraries to collect data on technology use to support advocacy, fundraising, and internal planning. The tool will be free until October 2014, after which a small annual fee will apply to sustain the program....
Impact Survey

Leaders needed at rural libraries
Natalie Binder writes: “You’ve always wanted to work in a public library. You believe in service, citizenship, and community. You value relationships; when you imagined being a librarian, you imagined participating in local government and getting to know your patrons by name. You want to make a big impact—not just in your career, but in people’s lives. You want to be a generalist, not a specialist. And when you started library school, you wanted to be a traditional, book-based community librarian. If that sounds like you, you may be a rural librarian at heart.”...
Letters to a Young Librarian, Oct. 24

Dear aspiring librarians
Jacob Berg writes: “Library Journal has some useful data on MLIS programs. In particular, they list placement rates and salaries by type of library and organization as well as a breakdown by geography. MLIS programs are a very gendered experience; the ratio of employed male to female 2012 graduates is worse, across the board, than 1:2.5. Though men are employed at a lower rate than women upon MLIS completion, their salaries tend to be higher. Do not choose MLIS programs based on the US News and World Report rankings. And read this too.”...
BeerBrarian, Oct. 24; Library Journal, Oct. 17; Gavia Libraria, Aug. 14

The MLS as amplifying degree
Topher Lawton writes: “The MLS is an amplifying degree. As in, a degree with the sole purpose of exponentially increasing the knowledge and skills of the person who earns it. The way I see it, studying library and information science doesn’t only allow us to do library things. The degree, when done well, allows us to do everything better, from research to instruction to lifehacking and beyond.”...
Hack Library School, Oct. 28

The anatomy of Google’s dynamic Search Engine Results Pages
Do you know your SERP? That stands for Search Engine Results Page. In the case of Google, it can be pretty hard to keep up. Google has multiple SERPs, with some elements that may only appear if your search is deemed especially local or shopping-oriented, or perhaps if Google thinks it has a direct answer. The folks at Moz have done a fantastic job creating a Mega-SERP for Google, a single results page that includes many different types of elements that might appear....
Search Engine Land, Oct. 15; Moz Blog, Oct. 10

The role of news on Facebook
According to an October 24 Pew Research Journalism Project report (PDF file), some 16% of Facebook users say getting news is a major reason they use Facebook. But the vast majority of people, 78%, who get news on the platform encounter news on Facebook mostly because they are on the site for other reasons. And news on Facebook is not seen as unique; 75% say that the news they see on Facebook is news they encounter in other places. Young people 18–29 account for 34% of Facebook news consumers....
Pew Research Journalism Project, Oct. 24

Random House acquires Figment
Random House Children’s Books has acquired Figment, an online writing community for teens founded by Jacob Lewis and Dana Goodyear in 2010 that has attracted more than 300,000 users. The site allows teens to develop as writers; since its launch it has shown itself to be an effective marketing and promotional platform for the YA marketplace. The site will continue under the same name and with the same focus, continuing to be open to titles from other publishers....
Publishers Weekly, Oct. 29

You can’t read just one
Bonnie Swoger writes: “For undergraduate students, finding one scholarly article on their topic often seems to be enough. But science doesn’t work that way. Just as experimental scientists can’t rely on the results of just one experiment to prove something, relying on just one information source for knowledge is a sure way to end up with unreliable information.”...
Scientific American: Information Culture, Oct. 29

IUPUI launches Center for Digital Scholarship
Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis has opened a Center for Digital Scholarship (right). The center works to provide open access to IUPUI scholarship, research data, and the university’s cultural heritage. With Kristi L. Palmer as director, the center disseminates unique scholarship, data, and artifacts created by IUPUI faculty, students, staff, and community partners....
IUPUI Newsroom, Oct. 25

Library Publishing Directory, first edition
Published in October, the 2014 edition of the Library Publishing Directory provides a snapshot of the publishing activities of 115 academic and research libraries, including information about the number and types of publications they produce, the services they offer authors, how they are staffed and funded, and the future plans of institutions that are engaged in this growing field. Download the Open Access version (PDF or EPUB) or order a print copy via Purdue University Press....
Library Publishing Coalition

Harvard crowdsources document transcription
Harvard’s Ernst Mayr Library is partnering on Purposeful Gaming, a project that makes a game out of transcribing historical documents, led by the Missouri Botanical Garden and supported by an IMLS National Leadership Grant. Ernst Mayr staff members are working on 2,000 pages of diaries and field notes by naturalist William Brewster (1851–1919). The goal of the Purposeful Gaming project is to both test the efficacy of gaming as a transcription tool and improve access to digital texts....
Harvard Library, Oct. 23

Host an Anime Con
Carrie Rogers-Whitehead writes: “If you know teens, you know they are into anime. There are numerous ways to channel your teens’ love of anime into library programming: Host an anime club or participate in Free Comic Book Day and art contests. But what if you want to go even bigger? How about putting on a library Anime Con (convention)? Libraries around the country have done this.”...
Programming Librarian, Oct. 29

Use your library as writing headquarters
Erinn Batykefer writes: “National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner, and for those dedicated writers out there who will spend November writing an entire novel, we’ve pulled together a month of tips and tricks that will make the herculean task of writing 50,000 words in 30 days a bit easier—with the help of the library, of course. Consider these perks of making your library headquarters for NaNoWriMo.”...
The Library As Incubator Project, Oct. 29

30 reasons why searching for obituaries is like finding gold
Kenneth R. Marks writes: “You won’t get rich when you find an obituary, but your genealogy research will benefit and your family history research will get richer. This article discusses 30 different pieces of information you can find in an obituary. Start by poring over the ones that you already have. I’ll bet you can find some info in them that you didn’t know you had.”...
The Ancestor Hunt, Oct. 23

Online genealogy tools
Andrew Tarantola writes: “While nature and nurture certainly play the primary roles in our development as individuals, it’s only through the study of one’s ancestry that we develop a more complete view of ourselves as how we fit into the larger scope of human history. Luckily, tracing one’s roots is easier than ever thanks to these internet tools.”...
Gizmodo, Oct. 26

The secret of National Geographic’s maps
Jimmy Stamp writes: “Before the 1930s, the maps of the National Geographic Society were true works of art and painstakingly hand-lettered. But the unpredictable nature of movable type was unacceptable to the society, whose exacting standards left little latitude for imprecision and illegibility. A former surveyor for the US Geological Survey and the society’s first chief cartographer, Albert H. Bumstead (1875–1940), worked to find an alternate solution to create a mechanical type that wouldn’t break down or blur together when it was enlarged or reduced.”...
Smithsonian: Design Decoded, Aug. 2

Instant WayBack URL
Karen Coyle writes: “On October 24, I attended festivities at the Internet Archive, where they made several announcements about projects and improvements. One that particularly struck me was the ability to push a page to the WayBack Machine and instantly get a permanent WayBack URL for that page. This is useful in a number of ways, including linking to a page that you think has a limited lifetime.”...
Coyle’s InFormation, Oct. 25

Internet Archive opens a historical software collection
Matt Novak writes: “The Internet Archive recently launched its Historical Software Collection, which has the mission of making old programs accessible (including plenty of games) that were originally released for platforms like Atari 2600, Apple II, and Commodore 64. Software itself isn’t new to the archive, but it has spent the past couple of years making these programs playable in-browser.”...
Paleofuture, Oct. 28

Halloween-ish records from the National Archives
Mary Krakowiak writes: “Halloween is right around the corner, and at the National Archives we are well-versed in the creepiest, weirdest records of the federal government. Here’s our list of favorites that are sure to make you shudder with fear,” among them an 1843 patent for a Life-Preserving Coffin (above) that allows you to be heard if you wake up and the lid is closed. The National Museum of American History is also showcasing its macabre holdings....
NARAtions, Oct. 25; O Say Can You See?, Oct. 29

Maps of Zombieland
Frank Jacobs writes: “The rising tide of evil, the relative safety of a few sanctuaries: These are the two main vectors of zombie cartography. In the first category, the epidemiological map shows the outbreak and spread of the disease. But unlike John Snow’s famous cholera map, there is nothing even remotely remedial about it. In the second category, the survivalist map, mapping the disease has become pointless: It’s everywhere. The world is now divided into zombies and survivors.”...
Big Think: Strange Maps, Oct. 26

Northwestern’s Death Collection
Northwestern University Library’s Death Collection outmacabres Halloween because it’s real—76 boxes filled with artifacts of death. Coffin plates, embalmers’ chalk, funeral-gown advertisements, postcards depicting executions and murder scenes, sheet music for death songs: They are all archived in the Michael McDowell Death Collection in the Deering Library’s special collections....
Chicago Tribune, Oct. 28

The Brooklyn Witch Project
Jaime Lutz writes: “The Brooklyn (N.Y.) Public Library is putting the trick back into trick-or-treat. A group of crafty librarians fabricated news stories, filmed a fake documentary, and lied to this newspaper, all to make it appear that the central library at Grand Army Plaza is haunted. The elaborate hoax began in 2011, when the library released a documentary (13:03) about the ghost of 6-year-old Agatha Cunningham, who went missing at the landmark book depository in 1977 and whose ghost now haunts the stacks in the building’s sub-basements. Or so the story goes.” Be sure to read the comments. The library also had a mock display about the ghost....
Brooklyn (N.Y.) Courier, Oct. 25; YouTube, Oct. 29, 2011; The Magpie Librarian, Oct. 6

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