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Chicago’s Columbia College was one of many organizations holding “read-outs” of banned and challenged books during Banned Books Week 2015, September 27–October 3. Students, library staff, and other participants took turns reading aloud from banned books, including James Joyce’s Ulysses, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian....
AL: The Scoop, Oct. 2; Banned Books Week YouTube channel |
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 Registration and housing are now open for 2016 ALA Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits in Boston, January 8–12. “The conversation starts here” every year at Midwinter Meeting, offering the usual gold-standard networking, updates, exhibits, future-focused discussions, innovators, thought leaders, and high-profile speakers....
Conference Services, Oct. 1 |
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 Deb Logan writes: “After attending our first national conference in 2000, Liz Deskins and I wrote the article, ‘Liz and Deb’s Trip to ALA’s Annual Conference: Gentle Tips for Future Attendees.’ Fifteen years later, many of our tips still work and a few need a little updating. Here are some of our best recommendations for getting the most out of the exhibit hall.”...
Knowledge Quest blog, Oct. 1 |
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US Education Secretary Arne Duncan (right) plans to step down from his Cabinet position in December, leaving the Obama Administration more than a year before the president’s term will end, according to two administration officials. Duncan, who has led the nation’s education policy since the beginning of Obama’s presidency, has come under increasing criticism from both the left and the right. The president has selected John B. King Jr., who currently acts as deputy secretary of education, to replace him....
Washington Post, Oct. 2 |
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Erik Stallman writes: “On September 30, the re:Create Coalition sent a letter to Congress regarding Copyright Office modernization. As the letter notes, while we all share the goal of helping the office meet the administrative and policy challenges of a digital age, there are diverse views of how to accomplish that goal. Recently, proposals for modernizing the Copyright Office have morphed into conversations about moving the office from the Library of Congress.”...
Center for Democracy and Technology, Sept. 30; Re:Create blog, Sept. 30 |
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OCLC printed its last library catalog cards on October 1, officially closing the book on what was once a familiar resource for generations of information seekers who now use computer catalogs and online search engines to access library collections around the world. This final print run marked the end of a service that has steadily decreased over the past few decades as libraries have moved their catalogs online....
OCLC, Oct. 1 |
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Larry Nix writes: “In 1904 (October 17–22) ALA held its annual conference in conjunction with the World’s Fair in St. Louis. Most of the attendees of the conference stayed at the Inside Inn, the only hotel located inside the fairgrounds. I was recently able to obtain a postcard (right) of the hotel, a special hold-to-light card. According to George Eberhart, there were 26 former and future ALA presidents in attendance at the conference, including Melvil Dewey, Herbert Putnam, and Gratia A. Countryman.”...
Library History Buff Blog, Oct. 2; July 7, 2011; CentenniAL Blog, June 19, 2007 |
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Terri Simon (right) has been hearing impaired her entire life, and she spent her 29 years working as a support staffer for Manatee County (Fla.) Public Library without any help. She’s an expert lip reader whose main function at the library is customer service. So when Simon approached the library administration about the possibility of allowing her to bring in a service dog, she received some surprised looks. But she felt having a service dog might help some patrons realize she is hearing impaired.”...
Manatee County, Florida, Sept. 1
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Sascha Segan writes: “More than 194 million Americans now surf the web and run apps on their little handheld computers. With such a huge market, it’s no wonder that there are hundreds of different models to choose from. Here at PCMag, we review every smartphone released on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, and many of their sub-brands such as Boost, Cricket, MetroPCS, and Virgin. These 10 are our top picks across all of the smartphones available in the US today.”...
PC Magazine, Sept. 30; ComScore, Sept. 3
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Looking for some good web tools to use to create educational video collages? This collection has you covered. It features a number of popular tools and mobile apps to use with students to create, edit, and share video collages. The common thing among all of these video editors is that they are easy and simple to use with no advanced video editing knowledge required. Some of these tools work on Chromebooks as well....
Educational Technology and Mobile Learning, Sept. 30 |
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In June and July, OverDrive conducted a user survey (PDF file) of nearly 17,000 people to understand patron behavior when it comes to using ebooks and other digital media at public libraries. The survey showed that readers are using library digital collections and record numbers of ebooks and audiobooks are circulating. Users of all types of digital content rank device compatibility as their most important criteria, followed by ease of use, value, and content availability....
OverDrive Blogs, Sept. 30 |
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Carli Spina writes: “Horror is not a genre I frequently focus on in my reading, but my research for this month’s post introduced me to some great stories that I wouldn’t normally read and some authors and artists whose works I had not previously encountered. If you are a fan of scary stories or are simply looking for something to read on Halloween, this list will help you find the perfect horror story.”...
YALSA The Hub, Oct. 2 |
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MaryKate Jasper and Charlie Jane Anders write: “Do you want a science fiction or fantasy epic that stretches your brain like taffy and ties it into strange irregular shapes? Forget television or movies: Books are where the really off-kilter stories are told in speculative fiction. Here are 10 super-weird SF books that are considered part of the canon. For example, Ubik by Philip K. Dick: Most often found in science fiction class syllabi, Ubik is also used as an example of late-1960s paranoia about reality and government or corporate control of life.”...
io9, Sept. 30 |
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