You may have seen this already, but I have to share it: Bound to the Word: Guardians of truth and knowledge, librarians must be thanked for their role as champions of privacy, literacy, independent thinking, and most of all reading. “President -Elect Barack Obama keynoted the opening general session at the ALA Annual Conference in … Read more Barack Obama on libraries
I am a big Netflix user. Netflix has a library of about 100,000 movies that users can watch. Because of the size of the library, much of their business comes from customers who have a strong interest in film and want to see movies that they’ve read about in books and are not otherwise easy … Read more The Netflix Prize – not what’s needed
This from ARLIS-L: Dear Colleagues, We have the very sad responsibility to report that Judith Hoffberg passed away peacefully at home on Friday, January 16, 2009 after a short battle with leukemia. In 1972, Judy, along with a group of notable librarians founded the Art Libraries Society of North America at a meeting in Chicago, … Read more Judith Hoffberg
A little self-promotion here. A few things coming up: On Saturday, March 7, I’ll be giving the keynote lecture at the Fourth Annual SIRLS Graduate Student Symposium at the University of Arizona. On Wednesday, March 18th, I’ll be doing a poster session at the Midwest Library Technology Conference, at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. … Read more Upcoming presentations and publications by Rory Litwin
The most frustrating thing about eight years of Bush Administration nefariousness and stupidity, from a librarian’s point of view, was their attitude of secrecy and contempt for the public. It is important for government to be open and transparent, and to avoid rather than seek corrupt relationships with moneyed interests. In that regard the Bush … Read more Obama’s Policy Agenda on Government Ethics
This is semi random, but I thought it might be interesting to see what comes to your minds in answer to the question: What is your favorite Wikipedia page? I actually have a favorite page, one that I like to go back to repeatedly. It’s not necessarily a good summary of my interests as a … Read more Library Juice Readers: What is your favorite Wikipedia page?
There is a great article in today’s Chronicle of Higher Education about today’s students, how they think, and why: Wake Up and Smell the New Epistemology, by Tim Clydesdale. I think what it says has a lot of applicability to anyone working with students, and especially information literacy instructors.
Personal Archives and a New Archival Calling:Readings, Reflections and Ruminations Author: Richard J. Cox Price: $35.00 Published: January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-9802004-7-8 Printed on acid-free paper In Personal Archives and a New Archival Calling: Readings, Reflections and Ruminations, Richard J. Cox argues that personal archives might be assuming a new importance in society. As the technical … Read more Richard J. Cox – Personal Archives and a New Archival Calling
If you’re a Twitter user, feel free to follow me @rorylitwin. I just signed up for it. The feed won’t be too busy, and will be just a bit personal, in that I will actually answer that “what are you doing” question in a concrete way from time to time, and I will say what … Read more Tweets
Library Juice Press is offering a discount to reading groups – groups of library students or active professionals. This is ideal for the PLG student chapters or even the ALA student chapters out there, students who want to read a book together and discuss it. The discount is 25% off on four or more copies … Read more LJP Reading Groups
The new issue of the SRRT Newsletter is out. It’s issue 164/165, January 2009. A new editor takes the reins with this issue, Myka Kennedy Stephens. It’s got a new look but the content is so far consistent with previous issues – conference calendar, task force reports, minutes, resolutions, message from the coordinator, book reviews, … Read more New SRRT Newsletter
New article by Lincoln Cushing: Privatizing the Commons: The Commodification of New Deal Public Art. Lincoln Cushing is an important person in the world of political graphic art, having put together books on Cuban poster art and Chinese propaganda posters, both very enjoyable and interesting books. Lincoln is a librarian who had an earlier career … Read more Privatizing the Commons: The Commodification of New Deal Public Art
Editors K.R. Roberto and Toni Samek have extended the deadline for contributions to the Celeste West festschrift. The new deadline is February 2nd.