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Hage and Neal to run for ALA presidency |
Christine Lind Hage, director of the Rochester Hills (Mich.) Public Library, and James G. “Jim” Neal, university librarian emeritus at Columbia University in New York City, have filed as petition candidates for the 2017–2018 presidency of ALA. Hage and Neal will join presidential candidates Sara Laughlin and Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, along with treasurer candidates Patricia “Patty” Wong and Susan Hildreth, in a candidates’ forum on January 9 during the 2016 ALA Midwinter Meeting and Exhibits in Boston....
Office of ALA Governance, Sept. 9, 29 |
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 Marshall Breeding writes: “In a move that alters the business dynamics of the library technology sector, ProQuest has announced that it will acquire Ex Libris in a deal expected to close in later in 2015. Ex Libris, under the ownership of Golden Gate Capital since November 2012, will become a wholly owned business of ProQuest. This merger significantly extends ProQuest’s offerings of technology-based workflow and resource management tools and places a broader portfolio of products under the responsibility of Ex Libris. Following the close, a new business group will be formed called Ex Libris, a ProQuest Company.”...
AL: The Scoop, Oct. 6 |
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 John Carlo Bertot and Paul T. Jaeger write: “This year marks the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which mandated inclusion and equal participation for people with disabilities in many aspects of society. Libraries were often the first social or government institutions in many communities across the nation to recognize the humanity of people with disabilities and provide services to promote their rights and equality.”...
AL: The Scoop, Oct. 5 |
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Max Lewontin writes: “In 2012, the Library of Congress issued a ruling that cellphone unlocking would now be a violation of US copyright law. The ruling rankled many cellphone users, prompting a sharp rebuke from some members of Congress and the Obama administration, which eventually reversed the decision two years later. Librarians and other groups are raising questions about the library’s stewardship of the US Copyright Office.”...
Christian Science Monitor, Oct. 5 |
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Farhad Manjoo writes: “A new feature, called Moments, attempts to transform Twitter’s chaotic timeline into a series of narratives that are easily navigated by people who aren’t indoctrinated into the service’s strange rituals. When you open Twitter on your phone or on the web, you will now see a new Moments section alongside the standard timeline. Tap it and you’ll be taken to a half-dozen or so headlines pointing to the big events currently being discussed on Twitter.” Lance Ulanoff offers a few more practical details....
New York Times, Oct. 6; Mashable, Oct. 6 |
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Katrina Schwartz writes: “Despite the increasing emphasis on technology as a learning tool in the classroom, many school districts still aggressively filter the internet that teachers and students can access. While the federal Children’s Internet Protection Act requires that schools filter for pornographic images, many districts are over-filtering. It’s common for school districts to block social media, chatting services, online games, and video services.”...
KQED News: Mind/Shift, Sept. 30 |
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Sereena Hamm writes: “Book tasting is a great way to showcase your school library collection to both avid readers, reluctant readers, and those in between. The idea is simple. In a book tasting, the library is into a restaurant experience, but instead of serving a three-course meal with food, students sample three different books to decide if they’d like to read them and to expand their reading tastes. The goal is that students will leave with at least one title of a book that they are excited about.”...
Teen Services Underground, Oct. 6 |
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Helen Adams writes: “One of the principles of intellectual freedom is to provide access to information and learning resources to all students, and this includes students with print disabilities. Help is available to eligible students through Bookshare, the world’s largest accessible online library currently making over 296,000 educational titles available to its members. Eligible users must be certified by competent authorities as having one of three types of disabilities.”...
Knowledge Quest blog, Oct. 6
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Phil Bradley writes: “Search Google, YouTube, and Wikipedia straight from the page with the Napoleon add-on. Simply install it onto your Chrome browser, and when you find a word or a phrase on a webpage, just highlight it, right mouse click, and see the results. You can then scroll through until you get the information that you want. It will save you a lot of time and is a great way to do a multisearch while still on the page.”...
Phil Bradley’s Weblog, Oct. 6
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Jim Fisher writes: “You bought a drone. And you’re probably chomping at the bit to get the battery charged and take it out for the first test flight. But before you do, you need to be aware of the rules and regulations that the Federal Aviation Administration has put in place for flying drones in the US. And you should also be aware of your rights and the rights of those around you.”...
PC Magazine, Oct. 2 |
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Imogen Russell Williams writes: “Antiheroines don’t feature in a lot of kids’ or young adult fiction. But at long last, I’ve noticed some mean girls—not quite a monstrous regiment, but a sinister strike force, at least—popping up in YA fiction. In her first novel, Pretty Bad Things (2010), CJ Skuse sketches a bright, acidic portrait of Paisley, one half of the teen Wonder Twins, who go on a crime spree through Vegas en route to find their long-lost dad.”...
The Guardian (UK), Oct. 1 |
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Scott Rader writes: “Conventional wisdom says libraries should offer games where the largest numbers of players can play simultaneously. I wonder how many libraries own Wiis for this reason. Multiplayer games are terrific. They get teens involved. They can create community. However, I implore librarians to not ignore single-player titles for their libraries. Video games are often lauded for their increasingly complex storytelling. This is something librarians can and should get behind.”...
YALSA The Hub, Oct. 5; GamesRadar, Nov. 8, 2013 |
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Katy Kelly writes: “In graduate school, one of my professors showed our class a photo of a reference desk lovingly decorated with paper ghosts and small pumpkins for Halloween. The professor then asked, ‘Is this a place where you would want to ask an academic research question?’ Opinions about library holiday decor aside, there are clever ways you can promote services, collections, and staff around a Halloween theme. Here is a list of my favorite examples from academic libraries.”...
Programming Librarian, Sept. 29 |
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