I don’t read a lot of blogs so I don’t know, but I would guess this story is being blogged like crazy: Yesterday the Washington Post reported a Bloomberg National Poll: “Poll shows Americans don’t know economy expanded with tax cuts.” The story starts: The Obama administration cut taxes for middle-class Americans, expects to make … Read more Americans largely mistaken about Obama’s record… librarians included?
Many large institutions, such as universities, are beginning to contract their email services out to Google. At the university where I work, we are in the process of switching our accounts over to Google now. All of our students, faculty, and staff will access their university email accounts through a Google interface. In order to … Read more Institutions are switching to Gmail, but are they discussing the fine print?
Beyond Article 19: Libraries and Social and Cultural Rights Editors: Julie Biando Edwards and Stephan P. Edwards Price: $28.00 Published: October 2010 ISBN: 978-1-936117-19-2 Printed on acid-free paper Beyond Article 19: Libraries and Social and Cultural Rights addresses the subject of libraries and cultural rights, a topic that has received relatively little attention in the … Read more Beyond Article 19: Libraries and Social and Cultural Rights
As the more civic-minded among us have observed, the American Right has mostly rejected rational discourse in favor of strategic communication. There is a reason for it that has to do with more than a calculation of what will be most effective, or a fear that rational discourse will “prove them wrong,” though that is … Read more The underlying reason that the American Right will always be irrational, and a couple of ideas as to why the problem is presently so acute
McAfee Site Advisor is red-flagging ebsco.com and ebscohost.com. Something to do with detecting malware. Does anybody know what that is about? Ebsco’s response so far is that they are “working to resolve it.” No explanation forthcoming and no denial. I’m concerned and wondering what they are putting onto our computers, however it ends up being … Read more McAfee Site Advisor Red-Flagging Ebscohost
Recently I have rubbed some people the wrong way by speaking frankly about the problem of ignorance in civic life and people’s lack of concern and lack of shame regarding it. I argued that we should not be trying to increase voter turnout when Americans feel so little responsibility in the way of self-education on … Read more Christine O’Donnell is just what I’ve been talking about
“Library, Inc., by David Goldstein, in the new Chronicle Review, begins: From industry-backed research to CEO-style executive salaries and perquisites, the influence of corporate America on universities has been the subject of much popular and scholarly scrutiny. University libraries have largely escaped that attention. Yet libraries, the intellectual heart of universities, have become perhaps the … Read more Library, Inc. (Chronicle Review)
Lincoln Cushing wrote this cool article on old school (mid-20th century) printing technology: Cranking It Out, Old-School Style: Art of the Gestetner”. Lincoln is a librarian who had a previous career doing printing and graphic design for community groups. Every society has its pecking order, and printing is no exception. Equipment matters. At the top … Read more The art of old school (mid 20th century) printing technology
I just read and enjoyed this paper by MaryBeth Meszaros, “Who’s In Charge Here? Authority, Authoritativeness, and the Undergraduate Researcher,” in Communications in Information Literacy, vol 4, no. 1 (2010). It paints a more pessimistic picture of GenY students than we usually see. I wonder how GenY optimists would respond to her argument. I tend … Read more Undergraduates and the crisis of cognitive authority
Michael Bugeja wrote in Inside Higher Ed (a month ago – sorry for not blogging it sooner) about the proposed discontinuation and reorganization of the journalism school at the University of Colorado at Boulder: “Half-Truths on a J-School.” Readers will notice parallels between what journalism schools and library schools have been facing. I think it … Read more J-Schools in question – a familiar story
I am very serious in the view that we should not be trying to increase voter turnout, in this or any election. Let me explain why. Most of us have the idea that voter turnout rates are a measure of the success of our democracy. If people are “participating,” by voting, then the will of … Read more Get out the books, not the vote
Today’s Chronicle of Higher Education has a piece about “link rot” within scholarly journal articles, which was the topic of our recent book by Michael Bugeja and Daniela Dimitrova, Vanishing Act: The Erosion of Online Footnotes and Implications for Scholarship in the Digital Age. Bugeja is interviewed in the article, which is titled, “A Modern … Read more CHE interviews Michael Bugeja
Our full list of books is now available in e-book form, in the Adobe Digital Editions format. We have links from our site to the Powells.com page for each e-book. We recommend Powell’s as a retailer, as they are a union shop and an amazing brick-and-mortar Portland landmark as well. Adobe Digital Editions e-books can … Read more LJP e-books: Proof that we don’t hate change
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 7, 2010 Press Contacts 202-653-4630 Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov Mary Minow Appointed to IMLS Advisory Board Washington, DC-On October 6, Mary Minow of California was appointed to the National Museum and Library Services Board (NMLSB). Minow was nominated by President Obama on April 26 and confirmed by the Senate on September 29. … Read more Mary Minow Appointed to IMLS Advisory Board
Sometimes people on the left respond to the “war on terror” by saying words to the effect that “war is terrorism,” to point out that killing innocent people is killing innocent people, whether it is done by a state or by a terrorist group. The main weakness to that argument is that it has an … Read more October 6th, 1976
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