From the Article:
Librarians tend to be creative people, and what other profession that librarianship could be encouraging for writers? We are surrounded by books, technology, and people providing the opportunity to not only write for the profession but also to produce poetry, novels, short stories, and creative nonfiction for children and adults.
Source: American Libraries, June/July, 2009
It is the largest rare book collection in North America, housed in the largest library in the world, a “huge theme park of materials,” as he describes it. The division contains some 850,000 items—including Charles Dickens’ walking stick, the contents of Abraham Lincoln’s pockets on the night he was assassinated, and The Bay Psalm Book, published in 1640, the first book printed in what became the United States.
Source: Finebooks & Collections
Hat Tip: LC Blog
The American Library Association’s (ALA) Public Information Office (PIO) continues to obtain coverage about the surge in library usage during tough economic times.
More than 900 placements on this topic have appeared on TV, radio, Web sites and in print. More than 800 million people have seen, heard or read stories about the surge since fall of 2008, when PIO began its media outreach efforts.
Source: ALA
From a Summary:
The 2009 edition includes 60 articles and other submissions provided by more than 50 contributors from librarians in government agencies, courts, and the military, as well as from professional association leaders, LexisNexis Consultants, and more.
The document was compiled by Marie Kaddell from LN.
Direct to Full Text (181 pages; PDF)
Source: LexisNexis
In an ongoing effort to make its digital educational, historical and cultural resources available to web users across a broad spectrum of platforms, the Library of Congress today launched “The Library of Congress on iTunes U.”
At its inception, the Library’s iTunes U site includes historical videos from the Library’s moving-image collections such as original Edison films and a series of 1904 films from the Westinghouse Works and original videos such as author presentations from the National Book Festival, the “Books and Beyond” series, lectures from the Kluge Center, and the “Journeys and Crossings” series of discussions with curators.
It also includes audio podcasts, including series such as “Music and the Brain,” slave narratives from the American Folklife Center, and interviews with noted authors from the National Book Festival; and classroom and educational materials, including 14 courses from the Catalogers’ Learning Workshop.
The LC Blog has more info:
A nice bonus, for those in the know, is that the content is downloadable and even includes materials such as PDFs.
Direct to Library of Congress on iTunes University
Note: Link opens in iTunes App.
Source: Library of Congress & LC Blog
See Also: Library of Congress Launches YouTube Channel (From April, 2009)
From the Article:
With increasing demands on their time, librarians seek speedier, easier ways to create library course pages and subject research guides. Many libraries have turned to LibGuides, LibData, and other content management systems (CMS) to meet this need.1 Add to this mix, Library à la Carte, formerly Interactive Course Assignment Pages (or ICAP) Tool. Created by librarians and a programmer at Oregon State University (OSU) Libraries, Library à la Carte is a CMS originally designed to create course pages. Library à la Carte was recently enhanced to build subject pages. This open source tool is freely available to all libraries.
Direct to Library à la Carte Web Site
Source: C&RL News
A new American Library Association (ALA) Web site — Get a Job!, http://getajob.ala.org — offers library-job seekers advice, resources, links, best practices and real-life examples. Full of advice for finding a job in the current tough economy, it features information from a range of ALA divisions and units, as well as links to information about general best practices in job seeking.
“New graduates and members looking for jobs in a tough employment market have asked what the association can do to help them; the Get a Job! Web Site was developed with the help of members to do just that,” said ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels. “From JobLIST to mentoring opportunities, the new Web site brings together ALA resources as well as true life success stories and advice from HR directors and library staff to provide a one-stop resource for job seekers.”
The ALA accelerated the Web site launch in response to the current urgency of many members’ and other library professionals’ job searches. The site is a work-in-progress, where library professionals and support staff will find advice on how to use social networking tools in a job search, what to do if you’re laid off, budgeting assistance, networking techniques and strategies for researching the economy and jobs in various parts of the United States.
Source: American Library Association
From the Summary/News Release:
The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has issued the Public Libraries Survey (PLS) report for fiscal year 2007. This is the second PLS report released since IMLS was given responsibility for the annual survey, which includes information on population of service areas, service outlets, library collections and services, library staff, and operating revenue and expenditures.
The report includes a number of key findings to assist the library community, and policymakers, at the local, state, and national level, in making decisions to better their communities.
[Snip]
+ The growth in per capita circulation from FY 2006 to FY 2007 was a continuation of the steady growth that has occurred since FY 2000. Per capita circulation grew from 6.4 materials per person to 7.4 materials per person from FY 2000 to FY 2007, an increase of 16 percent.+ Nationwide, visits to public libraries totaled 1.4 billion, or 4.9 library visits per capita, a small increase from the 4.8 visits per capita that were made during FY 2006. As in the case of per capita circulation, this is a continuation of a larger, longer upward trend. Per capita visitation increased from 4.2 to 4.9 between FY 1998 and FY 2007, an overall increase of 17 percent.
+ In FY 2007, total nationwide circulation of public library materials was 2.2 billion, or 7.4 materials circulated per capita; these were slight increases from the 2.1 billion total materials and 7.3 materials per capita that were circulated during FY 2006.
+ Internet terminals available for public use in public libraries nationwide numbered 208,000, or 3.6 per 5,000 people. These were increases from the previous year’s figures of 196,000 total terminals and 3.4 terminals per 5,000 people.
+ Nationwide circulation of children’s materials was 739.7 million, or 34 percent of total circulation during FY 2007. Attendance at children’s programs was 59.0 million in FY 2007, up from 57.6 million the prior year.
Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services
Janice Lachance, the CEO of the Special Library Association, reports on research conducted for the organization. Very interesting reading.
Source: SLA Executive Connections
You can follow the Smithsonian Institution Libraries Twitter feed here.
Btw, they also have a blog and a Facebook page, and a YouTube channel.
The Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship, convened jointly by the OCLC Board of Trustees and Members Council to represent the membership and inform OCLC on matters concerning shared data, has issued its final report [Our Emphasis] recommending that the proposed Policy on Use and Transfer of WorldCat Records be withdrawn and a new policy drafted.
In May, Jennifer Younger, Review Board Chair, and Edward H. Arnold Director of Hesburgh Libraries, University of Notre Dame, presented a report to OCLC Members Council recommending that the proposed policy be formally withdrawn and a new policy should be drafted. “We affirm that a policy is needed, but not this policy,” said Dr. Younger.
The dialogue and debate surrounding OCLC’s record use policy have demonstrated some of the great strengths of the OCLC cooperative—that we are indeed a membership organization, that our members are vocal, and that we listen to the membership,” said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. “Soon we will announce a new initiative to develop a record use policy that reflects both the rights of individual libraries and the needs of the cooperative to sustain and grow WorldCat for future generations.
Direct to Full Report (17 pages; PDF)
Source: OCLC
The CASLNetwork is an online community for school library specialists working in or for Canadian schools. CASL has created this network so that teacher librarians, library technicians, and school library staff across the country can meet, discuss issues, ask questions, find answers, form groups either by province or territory or by themes like advocacy and literacy skills, and post relevant pictures and videos. In moving on to a Web 2.0 platform, CASL is looking to meet the needs of its membership by offering a multi-faceted communication tool so that they can participate in the process rather than simply receiving information.
Source: CASL (via Canadian Library Association)
Direct to Issue (44 pages; PDF)
Articles Include:
+ Practicing Law Librarianship: A View to Abridge
+ Public Relations: Moving the Library
+ “A Day in the Life of the Law Library Community” Photo Contest Winners
+ What’s on the Library’s Mind? Facebook’s place in the law library
+ Free PACER
+ Much More
Source: American Association of Law Libraries
It appears that the BL science page has had a makeover. You can review the new page here.
From the Web Page:
The British Library’s collection of scientific, technical and medical information is one of the world’s foremost resources, providing researchers with access to a vast array of content.
These science pages will help you find the information you need and discover the range of services and activities that we provide.
Source: British Library
A group of SLA members are circulating a petition for the creation of a new SLA division, focusing on ways to organize and structure information so that content is accessible and useful. The proposed Taxonomy Division would offer a practical context for exploring issues and sharing experiences related to planning, creating, maintaining and using taxonomies, thesauri, authority files, and other controlled vocabularies and information structures.
Direct to Learn More/Sign Petition
Source: Special Libraries Association Blog
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