For daily ALA and library news, check the American Libraries website or subscribe to our RSS feed.
|
|
|
Architectural landmark Centennial Hall in Wroclaw, Poland, has hosted World Games athletes, Pope John Paul II, and the Dalai Lama. Now add to that list 3,000 library professionals representing 120 countries. “It is time for you, at this conference, to engage and explore,” said Donna Scheeder, president of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, to the crowd gathered for the Opening Session of the 2017 World Library and Information Congress on August 20. Day Two of the WLIC emphasized inclusion in libraries....
AL: The Scoop, Aug. 21–22 |
|
On August 21, during the World Library and Information Congress in Wroclaw, Poland, IFLA Secretary General Gerald Leitner unveiled a global platform to tackle the challenges of the future. Six questions—each with 10 possible choices—will help create a worldwide library road map that will unite the library field and make it stronger in the face of ever-increasing globalization. Voting will remain open until September 30....
IFLA Global Vision Discussion, Aug. 21 |
|
Sponsored Content
While traditional peer-reviewed journal content remains a staple resource for researchers, a recent ProQuest survey indicates that research and teaching is informed by a diverse mix of content types. Newspapers and news content, the data revealed, form a vital part of content needs, used by 72% of the 410 researchers who responded to our survey. An even higher percentage (88%) of researchers who also teach recommend newspapers to their students, indicating the value of newspapers for undergraduate research. Find out more about the changing information needs of researchers. |
|
|
|
Gavin Baker writes: “After nearly 20 years of advocacy by ALA, Congress has recently taken significant steps toward permanently assuring free public access to reports by the Congressional Research Service. Taxpayers fund these reports but generally have not been able to use these valuable aids to understanding public policy issues. Both House and Senate appropriators have recently approved language to provide public access to CRS reports.”...
District Dispatch, Aug. 18 |
|
A new Freedom Trail marker honors those who helped break down the doors of segregation in Jackson, Mississippi. Nine African-American students from Tougaloo College held a “read-in” at the old Jackson Municipal Library on March 27, 1961. When the all-white library staff told them to leave, they stayed, and when the police did the same, they didn’t move. Police arrested them and jailed them for two days. The Jackson Hinds Library System board decided to honor the Tougaloo Nine by funding the marker....
Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger, Aug. 17; American Libraries feature, June; MSNBC YouTube channel, Aug. 18 |
|
|
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a homicide that occurred in Springville, Alabama. Authorities have identified the victim as 46-year-old Michael Collins (right), a librarian at Odenville Middle School and area assistant football coach. The school website states that Collins has worked at Odenville for 10 years, the first four teaching 7th-grade reading, before spending the past six years as the school librarian....
Birmingham (Ala.) News, Aug. 21 |
|
A stone carving by a long-disused entrance to Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University depicted a hostile encounter: a Puritan pointing a musket at a Native American. When the library decided to reopen the entrance as the front door of the new Center for Teaching and Learning, said Head Librarian Susan Gibbons, she and the university’s Committee on Art in Public Spaces decided the carving’s “presence at a major entrance to Sterling was not appropriate.” The Puritan’s musket was covered with a layer of stone that Gibbons says can be removed in the future without damaging the original carving....
Yale Alumni Magazine, Aug. 9 |
|
Becky Lawton and Clarck Drieshen write: “Since antiquity, astronomers and astrologers have had a clear understanding of how and why eclipses occur, and they were able to predict their arrival using diagrams and tables. Eclipses were also described by medieval chroniclers, who often interpreted them as omens. A special kind of folding almanac, favored by medical practitioners, could be hung from its owner’s belt. This folding almanac (right), produced in the 15th century, contains a series of diagrams of the solar eclipse, based on the Kalendarium of John Somer.”...
British Library: Medieval Manuscripts Blog, Aug. 21 |
|
|
The Educopia Institute is helping the Digital Public Library of America develop two digital directories on African American and LGBT newspapers and periodicals. This is a field-wide collaborative effort to track and record crucial information about existing copies of these newspapers and periodicals. The institute is asking for participation from all types of libraries by filling out surveys on African American and LGBT holdings. The surveys will be available through September 30....
Educopia Institute, Aug. 22
|
|
Noah Lenstra writes: “A recently published story on NPR highlights an emerging trend in public libraries: providing opportunities for older adults to exercise and have fun together at the library. The story discusses the ‘Library Lanes Bowling League,’ a program that has been offered at multiple branches of the Brooklyn Public Library for years. Older adults are invited ‘to join a team, learn how to bowl using a Microsoft Xbox One, and compete with neighborhood libraries and senior sites.’”...
Public Libraries Online, Aug. 21; NPR: All Things Considered, July 4 |
|
|
The “Autism Welcome Here: Library Programs, Services and More” grant honors the work of Libraries and Autism: We’re Connected cofounder Meg Kolaya for her contributions in promoting inclusion. Each year, a total of $5,000 will be awarded. All types of libraries in the US or Canada are encouraged to apply. Proposals can fund projects and services directed to any age group. Applications will be accepted from September 1 through December 1....
Libraries and Autism: We’re Connected
|
|
Valerie Nye writes: “ACRL adopted the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education in 2016. The document provides six frames (concepts) that help librarians develop outcomes for student learning. While several of the frames could include a deep discussion of intellectual freedom issues, ‘Authority is Constructed and Contextual’ integrates judgment and academic freedom into a research concept. It is the frame that allows individuals and groups to privilege the information within their context of valued knowledge.”...
Intellectual Freedom Blog, Aug. 17
|
|
Eileen Bien Calabro writes: “Earlier this year, YouTube took another step into television streaming with the launch of YouTube TV, shortly after the introduction of YouTube Red, a slightly tweaked, ad-free YouTube experience. YouTube proper, of course, is the ad-filled people’s video service, providing endless cat videos, fan commentaries, and legit creative programming. YouTube TV competes with Hulu and Netflix, while YouTube Red simply enhances the experience you’re used to. Are either of them worth your money?”...
PC Magazine, Aug. 21; Oct. 21, 2015
|
AL Direct is a free electronic newsletter emailed every Tuesday and Friday to personal members of the American Library Association.
|
Send news and feedback: aldirect@ala.org
Direct ad inquiries to: mstack@ala.org
AL Direct FAQ: americanlibrariesmagazine.org/al-direct
All links outside the ALA website
are provided for informational purposes only. Questions about the
content of any external site should be addressed to the administrator of
that site.
AL Direct will not sell your email to outside parties, but your email may be shared with advertisers in this newsletter should you express interest in their products by clicking on their ads or content. If the advertisers choose to communicate with you by email, they are obligated to provide you with an opportunity to opt-out from future emails in compliance with the CAN-SPAM act of 2003. Read the ALA privacy policy.
American Libraries
50 E. Huron St.
Chicago, IL 60611
800-545-2433, ext. 4216
ISSN 1559-369X
|
