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The talk of Washington and the library community is the recent recommendation by the president to completely eliminate funding for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which implements funding for the Library Services and Technology Act and the Innovative Approaches to Literacy program. Here are the top 10 things that you need to know about saving IMLS and more than $210 million in annual federal library funding that will be going on all year....
District Dispatch, Mar. 30 |
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ALA and ACRL continue the fight for an open internet for all, joining eight other organizations representing over 100,000 colleges, universities, and libraries nationwide in sending a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael O’Rielly, Sens. John Thune (R-S.Dak.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and Reps. Greg Walden (R-Oreg.) and Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) articulating Net Neutrality Principles that should form the basis of any review of the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order....
ALA Washington Office, Mar. 30 |
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Applications are open for the Freedom to Read Foundation Banned Books Week Grants, offered through the Judith F. Krug Memorial Fund. Each year, FTRF distributes grants to nonprofits to support activities that raise awareness of intellectual freedom and censorship issues during the annual Banned Books Weeks celebration (September 24–30). Libraries, schools, universities, and community organizations are encouraged to apply for grants at two levels: $1,000 and $2,500. The deadline to apply is May 12....
Freedom to Read Foundation, Mar. 29 |
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It doesn’t happen often, but since 2012, the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County library system has received nine complaints about a total of 13 different items. The complaints range from concerns about violence (Tras el Cristal) and sexual content (Inked magazine) to perceptions that content has been censored (For Whom the Bell Tolls), and in one case, a complaint that the content is too “stupid” for the library (Jackass: The Movie)....
KRQE-TV, Albuquerque, Mar. 30 |
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John Timmer writes: “On the federal level, it has been a bad couple of weeks for science. In a bizarre hearing held by the House Science Committee, the chair accused the entire climate science community of abandoning the scientific method. The state legislature in Idaho removed mention of climate change from its science education standards, even as the climate-change denialist Heartland Institute sent school teachers copies of a text that promotes a plethora of unscientific ideas about climate change.”...
Ars Technica, Mar. 29, 31; National Center for Science Education, Mar. 27; Spokane (Wash.) Spokesman-Review, Mar. 24; Frontline, Mar. 28 |
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Regina Sierra Carter (right) writes: “If you ask a group of children what they would like to become, you will receive an array of answers. However, few may say that they aspire to become librarians. Truth be told, I did not initially aspire to become one either. It was simply meant to be. I am a Black female scholar, researcher, educator, and librarian. As I was nearing the end of my doctoral studies, I was faced with a seemingly insurmountable question: what was I going to do with my life? As weeks turned to months, I had to decide.”...
Inside Higher Ed: GradHacker, Mar. 29 |
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Publishers believe that Russian individuals are behind the creation of a fake book parodying a manual for resisting President Trump and other leaders. The author, Yale historian Timothy Snyder, claims the listing is the latest attack in a series of efforts by Russians to undermine his work. A nonexistent coloring book by “Timothy Strauss” appeared as a listing on Amazon.co.uk with the same title as Snyder’s On Tyranny. The blurb, “lessons to Make World Great Again,” is used on pro-Putin posters in Russia....
The Guardian (UK), Mar. 29 |
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Judy Garland’s hit single “Over The Rainbow”; the original cast album of The Wiz; the rap group N.W.A’s seminal album, Straight Outta Compton; the Eagles’ 1976 greatest hits album; and the hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing” have been designated aural treasures worthy of preservation as part of America’s patrimony. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on March 29 named these recordings and 20 other titles to the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress because of their cultural importance. Read Hayden’s description of the picks and why she thinks the registry is so important....
Library of Congress, Mar. 29; Medium, Mar. 29
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John S. Bracken writes: “Over the last two years, Knight Foundation has funded 36 library innovation projects through two Knight News Challenges. As we closed our review of entries last spring in Miami, the library leaders in the room voiced a desire to learn more about what innovation means in a library context. Today, we’re introducing some of the results of that work and our efforts to strengthen the capacity of public libraries to meet digital age demands.”...
Knight Foundation, Mar. 30; Jan. 30, 2015; May 5, 2016
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Ray James writes: “ALA’s newly posted Q&A: Makerspaces, Media Labs, and Other Forums for Content Creation in Libraries could prove useful to school librarians, administrators, or boards who are considering adding a makerspace, tech lab, STEM or STEAM lab, media lab, exhibit and performance venue, or other physical and virtual spaces to their library. The Q&A emphasizes that it is not a policy template, but a source for answers to questions that are likely to be asked.”...
Knowledge Quest blog, Mar. 31
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Caitlin Huston writes: “In a moving black-and-white image, the original Tony and Maria from West Side Story bound across Central Park and into the 21st century. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts recently digitized negatives from the 1957 Broadway production of West Side Story and turned the stills into animated GIFs. Libraries across the US are increasingly making GIFs to expand access and usage of their collections and put a spotlight on their resources.”...
MarketWatch, Mar. 31; New York Public Library blogs, Feb. 22
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A new OCLC Research report, A Tour of the Research Data Management (RDM) Service Space, provides an overview of the RDM service space and sets the stage for further exploration of RDM at four universities around the world. The report is the first in a four-part series that focuses on decision-making at four institutions that have made different choices in confronting the realities of planning, developing, and deploying institutional RDM services in research universities....
OCLC, Mar. 30
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