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ALA President Jim Neal writes: “I am pleased to report that, on July 13, the House Appropriations subcommittee that deals with library funding (Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies) voted to recommend level funding in FY2018 for the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS, $231 million), likely including $183 million for the Library Services and Technology Act, as well as $27 million for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy program. But we have not saved FY2018 federal library funding yet.”...
District Dispatch, July 13 |
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Elliot Harmon writes: “On July 12, the internet went all out in support of net neutrality. Hundreds of websites featured pop-ups suggesting that those sites had been blocked or throttled by internet service providers. Some sites got hilariously creative—Twitch replaced all of its emojis with that annoying loading icon. Netflix shared GIFs that would never finish loading. Library advocates posted more than 1,000 comments. Together, we painted an alarming picture of what the internet might look like if the FCC goes forward with its plan to roll back net neutrality protections.”...
Electronic Frontier Foundation, June 30, July 12; Battle for the Net |
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Sponsored Content
Research and teaching increasingly depends on a mix of content types beyond traditional scholarly journals, a recent ProQuest survey finds. The survey demonstrates that library collections with a variety of content sources align more closely to changes in user needs and expectations—with the most dramatic shift in the demand for multimedia content. In 2014, only 39% of respondents were incorporating video as part of their information gather. In 2017, use has rocketed up to 71%. Read the white paper to view the full research findings. |
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Toronto’s city librarian says her department did its due diligence and sought legal advice before deciding to allow a memorial service for a lawyer of Holocaust deniers to proceed. Vickery Bowles (right) said they felt they couldn’t deny library access to people based on views and opinions expressed by individuals in the past. The memorial service for Barbara Kulaszka was held at the Richview branch on July 12. The librarian turned lawyer had represented such Holocaust deniers and white supremacists as Ernst Zündel, Arthur Rudolph, Imre Finta, and Marc Lemire....
CBC News, July 13; Toronto Public Library, July 13 |
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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on July 12 celebrated the opening of the new children’s library at the Harold Washington Library Center but warned parents that they might not recognize it right away. The new 24,000-square-foot space on the second floor named after English author Thomas Hughes includes play areas and a Maker Lab designed to allow kids to explore the cutting edge of computer-aided design. It will serve as the flagship early learning center, with 14 satellite locations at branches throughout the city....
DNAinfo Chicago, July 12 |
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Emily Deruy writes: “Librarians at UC Berkeley are holding workshops for students on what to do with the information they collect using drones. At Stanford, they’re experimenting with virtual reality. And across the Bay Area, as more coursework moves online, universities are reimagining their libraries. ‘We’re like fish,’ said Sonoma State University Librarian Karen Schneider. ‘If we don’t keep swimming, we die.’ And more librarians are embedding with faculty and staff in other departments.”...
San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, July 10 |
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Ellen Pritikin Polito confirmed in an email that she is the woman whose long-lost purse (right) recently was found after more than 50 years inside a wall at the Glencoe (Ill.) Public Library. But she has no clue how the black leather clutch got there, probably in 1960. Contractors located the purse in the course of installing an enhanced HVAC system at the library. Inside the purse were a tube of red lipstick, two photos, and a dental appointment slip made out to “Ellen Pritikin.” Polito, who will turn 71 this summer, now lives in Berkeley, California....
Highwood (Ill.) Daily North Shore, July 11; Glencoe (Ill.) Public Library, July 12 |
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Jamie LaRue writes: “I received an email from a self-described library watchdog. He wrote in response to a thoughtful presentation called ‘It’s Not “Just Part of the Job”: Breaking the Silence on Sexual Harassment in the Library’ by Katie McLain and Amanda Civitello (right) of the Waukegan (Ill.) Public Library. He wrote that ‘harassment is caused by people having viewed the unfiltered internet while in the library.’ But that’s speculation, not fact. People are responsible for unwanted or criminal action, not the internet.”...
Intellectual Freedom Blog, July 12; AL: The Scoop, June 27 |
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Loretta Gaffney writes: “For many students, Google is the internet: It is their gateway to the web, it curates their online experience, and it structures the results of their internet searches. Google is everywhere. Paradoxically, however, Google is so ubiquitous that it is hidden in plain sight. For most students, it is invisible. This is why, when asked to draw the internet, they draw Google. Google as a corporate entity, with economic and political interests, is not visible to them as researchers. To be fair, it is not visible to many adults either.”...
Knowledge Quest blog, July 14
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Abigail Phillips writes: “The New Members Round Table panel at ALA Annual Conference in Chicago wasn’t my only panic attack during a presentation, but it has been my worst. I realize that some stress and nervousness is healthy. I’m sure that I’ll always be nervous when I present. In my last post, I described my panel experience as a ‘stressful event.’ But, oddly enough, I didn’t expect to be that stressed. Here are some suggestions for lowering the stress levels of presenters at a conference.”...
Abigail Leigh Phillips, July 6, 11; Psychology Today, Dec. 18, 2016
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Ian Paul writes: “The Raspberry Pi craze is a little over five years old, and it shows no sign of stopping. What began as a stripped-down, uber-cheap, credit-card-sized PC meant to teach programming to children has morphed into a go-to solution when you need a diminutive workhorse PC. But the Raspberry Pi’s biggest claim to fame is the hardware-hacking craze it set off. Curious? Here’s everything you need to know about the Raspberry Pi.”...
PC World, July 14
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Signe Pike writes: “In researching early medieval history for an upcoming trilogy, I discovered just how much inspiration George R. R. Martin has taken from our past. The heart of Game of Thrones spans the globe—the magic, lore, and laws of early medieval Ireland and Britain; historical events and legends of Hawaii; as well as China, the jungles of South America, and beyond. So there’s no need to feel any surreptitious guilt for tuning in this Sunday.”...
Book Riot, July 13
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Eugenia Williamson writes: “War for the Planet of the Apes opened July 13. Rise of the Planet of the Apes from 2011 was arguably the best Hollywood film of the past decade. Is it a socialist parable of workers triumphing over greedy capitalists? A CGI retelling of Julius Caesar? Search me! I’m just thrilled when apes beat up jerks. To celebrate War for the Planet of the Apes, I bring you eight novels with sentient, sapient apes. If none are at hand, read Kafka’s A Report to an Academy online for free.”...
The Booklist Reader, July 13; The Kafka Project
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