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Timothy Inklebarger writes: “Music archives based on genre, region, and even single artists are trending in the university library world, often for the resources and expertise such institutions bring to the table. The Cornell University Hip-Hop Collection and the Grateful Dead Archive at University of California, Santa Cruz, among others, have built substantial collections and are inspiring other schools to start their own. UCLA’s punk archive, for example, launched in 2013.”...
American Libraries Trend, May |
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Joseph Janes writes: “That sirocco you felt whizzing across the countryside a while ago wasn’t just an early promise of spring. It was the collective relieved sigh of a large chunk of the library world at the news that President Obama planned to nominate Carla Hayden to be the next Librarian of Congress. ‘Thank God,’ you could almost hear in the wind, ‘he picked one of us.’ Hayden would be the first professionally trained and experienced librarian in the post in more than 40 years.”...
American Libraries column, May |
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Downtown Orlando acts as the city’s cultural, historical, and commercial center. GPSmyCity offers a self-guided walking tour app for iOS devices that will take you through Lake Eola Park and then proceed with 14 museums, historic buildings, and other places of interest. Total distance is 3.5 miles (about 3 hours). An Android app, Orlando Map and Walks, comes with seven preloaded walking tours (museums, galleries, nightlife, and others) with navigation assistance....
GPSmyCity; Orlando Map and Walks |
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Joan S. Howland writes: “A positive development in the ongoing efforts to sustain and promote the value of ALA accreditation has been the formation of the Task Force on Accreditation Process and Communication and the Task Force on the Context of Future Accreditation. The efforts of the task forces and the Committee on Accreditation to improve procedures should be commended. However, I feel it is appropriate to draw upon the counsel of that often overlooked sage, Elvis Presley.”...
Prism 24, no. 1 (Spring) |
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Teens have all the information they want easily displayed on a pocket-sized device. Librarian Dan Neeves’s challenge is getting them to realize they might be wrong. To catch the attention of an elusive demographic for Siouxland Public Libraries in South Dakota, Neeves is going after teens where he knows he can find them—their screens. he released a teaser (0:53) May 17 on YouTube after planning to capture their attention with a parody music video. The full video is debuting May 20....
Sioux Falls (S. Dak.) Argus Leader, May 18
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The US has returned to Italy a letter written by Christopher Columbus in 1493 about his discovery of the New World that was stolen from a Florence library and unwittingly acquired by the Library of Congress. The letter, an eight-page litany of Columbus’s impressions about the people, flora, and fauna of the Americas that he had sent to Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, had been replaced at Florence’s Riccardiana library with a forgery that no one noticed until a few years ago....
Associated Press, May 18; Quotidiano.net, May 18 |
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A report (PDF file) released in April by the Government Accountability Office illuminates the extent to which school systems across the US are, once again, becoming more segregated. The report found that more than 60% of schools with high levels of poor students were racially segregated, which the report defined as being at least 75% black or Latino. Observers and advocates for school desegregation said the report should be a “huge warning sign” that needs to be addressed....
The Guardian (UK), May 20 |
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Nearly 9 million American youth drink alcohol, illegally and dangerously. Underage drinking costs communities billions annually. Ever thought about holding a town hall meeting to prevent underage drinking in your community? The US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration offers assistance to libraries. Learn how to plan your event and register by June 30 to receive a $500 planning stipend....
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration |
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Peter Bright writes: “The Windows 10 Anniversary update, due later this summer, represents a major landmark for Microsoft. As well as being a significant update for Windows 10 on the desktop and Windows 10 Mobile on phones, the release is also coming to the Xbox One. For the first time, the Xbox One will be running essentially the same operating system as desktop Windows. Critically, it will also be able to run many of the same applications as desktop Windows.” However, upgrade headaches have been reported. Here are some tips on diagnosing and treating Windows 10 update installation problems....
Ars Technica, Mar. 16, 30, May 20; New York Times: Personal Tech, May 18
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On May 23, the ALA Office for Research and Statistics and the Committee on Research and Statistics will host a free webinar on “Search Results are the New Black: How Students Make Decisions.” Deirdre Costello, principal UX researcher on EBSCO’s user research team, will talk about how user expectations are formed on the open web, how students make decisions about library resources, and why we all need to think about search results as one of the most important experiences for our users....
Office for Research and Statistics
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Leanne Mobley writes: “Makerspaces have been widely embraced in public libraries and K–12 schools, but do they belong in higher education? Are makerspaces a frivolous pursuit? I can’t help but notice a certain reluctance in academia towards making, playing, and having fun. Things like 3D printing and digital fabrication are an easy sell in higher ed, but littleBits and LEGOs prove slightly more challenging.”...
LITA Blog, May 18
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Tereza Litsa writes: “Here is an up-to-date list of all the available video or video-file search engines, audio and sound search engines, podcast directories, meme generators, and GIF finders available,” each with a one-sentence description of its usefulness....
Search Engine Watch, May 20
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