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Eric Hellman writes: “Libraries and their patrons are awash in data that really isn’t sensitive until aggregated, and the data is getting digested by advertising networks and flowing into Big Data archives. The scenario in which advertisers exploit a patron’s library usage is not only thinkable, it needs to be defended against. It’s a threat model that’s mostly unfamiliar to libraries. What breaches of user privacy are most likely to occur and which are most likely to present harm?”...
American Libraries feature, June 16 |
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Meredith Farkas writes: “Whenever I leave a job, I worry about projects I led or supported. When you put months or years into something you feel passionately about, it can start to feel like your baby. It is easier to leave a project behind when you know there are people equipped and committed to supporting it. It’s challenging to think of leaving as part of project planning, but here are some questions to consider that will make your project more likely to survive your exit.”...
American Libraries column, June |
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Only 10 presidents have had the opportunity to nominate a librarian of Congress, making the choice facing President Obama a difficult one. Names of potential replacements are already being mentioned by other librarians, researchers, and scholars: Michael S. Roth, the president of Wesleyan; Drew Gilpin Faust, the president of Harvard; Amy E. Ryan, the president of the Boston Public Library; Paul N. Courant, the former provost and librarian at the University of Michigan; Carla D. Hayden, the chief executive of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore; and Douglas Brinkley, the American historian....
New York Times, June 12
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Reforma has awarded ALA Councilor and Executive Board member–elect Loida García-Febo its Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award. García-Febo has represented IFLA at the Post-2015 development agenda meetings at the United Nations in New York, where she advocates for inclusion of access to information in the Sustainable Development Goals to be launched in 2016. Reforma has also awarded Madeline Peña the 2015 Arnulfo D. Trejo Librarian of the Year Award....
Reforma, June 9
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Sean Sandefur writes: “Over the past decade, Kansas has cut 25% of its public school librarians. There are no librarians in any of the Wichita Public School District’s high schools. Instead, they’re staffed with media clerks who look after the library, but aren’t required to have a teaching certificate or a degree in library sciences. School administrators say the cuts are due to a number of departments competing for limited dollars left in the budget.”...
KMUW-FM, Wichita, Kans., June 16
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Tempe, Arizona, residents can have their library fines waived and, at the same time, help keep the homeless hydrated this summer. Tempe’s Water for Fines program has already collected about 700 cases of water and waived about $13,000 in overdue library fines since May 1. The program was launched three years ago as a way for families who face tough economic times to have their fines lifted so that they can gain access to Tempe Public Library resources again....
Arizona Republic (Phoenix), June 16 |
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Donna Block writes: “What do you expect to happen when you shut a bunch of teens in a room for an entire rainy Saturday? I wasn’t sure when I arrived at Skokie (Ill.) Public Library at 9 a.m. on May 30 for its first ever Community Appathon, even though I’d attended several planning meetings. The event was inspired by the National Day of Civic Hacking and spurred into being by a library patron (Maker Mom Kim Moldofsky) and her teenage son. The turnout, 25 teens, made the event a success.”...
YALSAblog, June 16 |
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Airing regularly on CHLY-FM in Nanaimo, British Columbia, is Librarians on the Radio, a radio segment that features interviews with librarians and authors, as well as book talks and insight into what is going on at the Vancouver Island Regional Library. Hosted by VIRL librarians Jason Kuffler, Justin Unrau, and regular contributors Emily Orr and Patrick Seabold, the program recently received the 2015 Advocacy and Marketing Merit Award from the British Columbia Library Association....
Nanaimo (B.C.) News Bulletin, June 11; May 20, 2014 |
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In a study published in early June, Vincent Larivière, a researcher at the University of Montreal’s School of Library and Information Science, found that in the natural and medical sciences as well as the social sciences and humanities, five major publishers “account for more than 50% of all papers published in 2013.” Those publishers include Reed-Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, Springer, and Taylor & Francis. Larivière explains how the internet got academic publishing in this place, but could ultimately help save it....
Wired, June 15; PLOS ONE, June 10 |
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Chris Maddern writes: “Deep linking has become one of the hottest topics in mobile over the past year as dozens of startups have launched around using, improving, and discovering deep links. All of the big platform companies also have projects to own ‘the deep linking standard’ or the search index for mobile. So, what are deep links and where did they come from?”...
TechCrunch, June 12 |
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Sandy Stachowiak writes: “If you love all that Google has to offer but are not particularly fond of the browser extensions available, then this list is for you. Here are 10 great bookmarklets for Google that range from search options to very specific tasks. To use them, drag the bookmarklet link into your bookmarks toolbar. Then you can rename it to whatever you want just like any other bookmark. Then just click it whenever you need it.”...
MakeUseOf, June 11; Aug. 7, 2013 |
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Geri Diorio writes: “If you haven’t discovered the joys of audiobooks, summer road trips are the perfect time to dive into this medium. What could be better than having a book read to you? Have a talented, professional actor perform a book for you. But if you are traveling this summer with your family, choosing an audiobook can become complicated. You want a book that will be of interest to everyone, no matter their age, but you also want to avoid embarrassing plot lines.” Here are some suggestions....
YALSA The Hub, June 16 |
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