I HATE the slogan, “Librarian: The Original Search Engine.” It is on a coffee mug that was given to me as a gift by a family member, and it seems to appear in my Facebook news feed every month or so. I find it problematic as an attempt to promote the services of librarians or … Read more You would not say, “Astronomers: The Original Telescope”
Still time to enroll in December’s classes: December 2012 Introduction to RDA Instructor: Melissa Adler | Credits: 1.5 CEUs | Cost: $175 The Mechanics of Metadata Instructor: Grace Agnew | Credits: 1.5 CEUs | Cost: $175 Game-Based Learning in Library Instruction Instructor: Scott Rice | Credits: 1.5 CEUs | Cost: $175 Introduction to XML Instructor: … Read more Upcoming Classes
I recently did an interview with Courtney Mlinar, instructor for three courses with Library Juice Academy: Introduction to Health Science Librarianship, Consumer Health Information, and Embedded Librarianship, the latter of which starts on December 1st. In her interview she explains what the class is about and what experiences led her to her teaching it. The … Read more Interview with Courtney Mlinar
An article by Josh Wallert went up on Nov. 8 at the Design Observer Group’s Places: Forum of Design for the Public Realm, titled, “State of the Commons: Wikipedia, Flickr, and the Public Domain. It’s a good, though brief, read on the state of the public commons for visual documentation. Excerpt: For better and worse, … Read more State of the Commons: Wikipedia, Flickr, and the Public Domain
I have just done an interview with Robert Chavez, instructor for two courses with Library Juice Academy: Introduction to XML and Introduction to the Semantic Web. Robert talks about the content of these two courses, how he sees them being used by librarians, what is on the horizon for the profession from his perspective and … Read more Interview with Robert Chavez
I have just done an interview with Grace Agnew, who will be teaching a class for Library Juice Academy in December called, “The Mechanics of Metadata.” It’s a technical skills class that I think would be good for a lot of academic librarians who want to learn the nuts and bolts of cataloging in digital … Read more Interview with Grace Agnew
I have just done an interview with Annie Downey for the Library Juice Academy news blog. Annie is teaching a class next month called, “Techniques for Creative Problem-Solving in Libraries.” This was an interesting interview and should be an interesting two-week class. Productive techniques that in my opinion make work more fun, too.
ACRL has embarked on the important, even urgent, initiative to support academic libraries in articulating and demonstrating their value to their institutions at a time in which higher education in general finds itself constantly defending its value. Accountability at numerous levels, from our federal government to our university boards of trustees, is the clarion call … Read more Academic Libraries, Information Literacy, and the Value of Our Values
If you can make it to the Boston area on Saturday, November 17, head to the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. The wonderful Boston collective of Radical Reference is putting on a symposium called “Practical Choices for Powerful Impacts: Realizing the Activist Potential of Librarians.” It features a panel of “librarians who use … Read more Critical Librarianship Symposium on the Activist Potential of Librarians
Kevin M. Kruse has an Op-Ed in today’s New York Times: The Real Loser: Truth. It is about how American politics may have turned a new corner thanks to the Romney Campaign’s gamble that politicians can lie with impunity and come out ahead. Kruse says what a lot of people are thinking, but omits an … Read more On the Romney Campaign’s Disdain for Facts
George Eberhart of American Libraries magazine has written an article about the role of libraries during Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath: “Libraries Weather the Superstorm.” He summarizes the damage done to libraries by the storm (to the extent that we know about it at this point), describes some budding efforts to repair damage and rebuild … Read more Libraries and Hurricane Sandy
Late Night Library One for the Books Campaign FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A PLEDGE CAMPAIGN SUPPORTING INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLERS AND PUBLISHERS PORTLAND, OR, October 22, 2012—Responding to the US Department of Justice vs. Apple case set to go to trial in June of 2013, Late Night Library has announced the One for the Books! campaign in support … Read more Late Night Library One for the Books Campaign