Librarians

Librarians Must Be Political

Beyond the Bullet Points: Political not Partisan
"Some folks have recently commented that in my presentations and writings I have a political agenda. They are right, but it is not what they think it is. I believe that librarians must be political. That is they must be aware of politics, aid their members in political pursuits, and actively participate in the political process. Now directors of libraries will see this as nothing new, but I believe that all librarians must be politically savvy. Why? Well, let’s start with my definition of politics: politics is the process by which a community allocates power and resources."

What not to study: The 20 university degrees with the highest unemployment rates

Obviously, your choice of degree affects your employability. There are other factors to consider, such as the popularity of the degree and the earning potential - all of which you can view here. But for a simple look, below are the 20 highest and lowest unemployment rates by degree."

Graduates of "library science," it seems, have one of the highest rates of unemployment. The post is based on 2010 Census data (via the Wall Street Journal). More...

[Thanks Von!]

Librarians vs. Archivists

Librarians vs. Archivists
Next week, city council’s finance committee is to consider the naming of the new archives and library materials building, the one Mayor Jim Watson had proposed to name for Charlotte Whitton and he now proposes to name for James Bartleman.

I understand that part of the reason for choosing Bartleman, aside from all his positive attributes, is that the building is both a library and an archives building, and the library fans and the archives fans each want their own champion’s name on the building. The librarians are damned if they’ll accept an archivist’s name and the archivists are damned if they’ll accept a librarian.

Herewith, a salvo just launched from the library side, which wants the building to be named for Claude Aubry, Ottawa’s first bilingual chief librarian.

As funding drops librarian taps volunteers, his own bank account

As government funding drops, Redwood City library head taps volunteers, his own bank account

Genesy — whose compensation ranks in the top 3 percent of city employees, according to state data — has written his share of personal checks, too. Over eight years, he has donated more than $50,000 to Project READ. He said he also donates as much as he can to the Library Foundation or “anything that has to do with kids and learning and getting our families that need our help, some help.”

A Pyschologically Healthy Library

The Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library recently received the Psychologically Healthy Workplace award from the Ohio Psychological Association. Leslie Hartley, adult services manager, accepted the award on behalf of the library. Kudos!

The application process for this award was part of the library’s ongoing wellness initiative, spearheaded by Hartley.

“The evaluation team was impressed by the library staff’s quick recovery and teamwork following the widespread economic meltdown of 2009, and their success in rebuilding their work teams and service model,” said Hartley.

The library’s award-winning wellness initiative, also recognized by Ohio, includes a demonstration garden, nutrition and exercise information, participation in charity events such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters Bowl-a-Thon and several 5K runs, and inclusion of the broader community in the library’s wellness activities.

The library’s wellness program is being nominated for a national Psychologically Healthy Workplace award as well.

Story from Chillicothe Gazette.

British Library newspaper archive puts 300 years of history online

British Library newspaper archive puts 300 years of history online
Sixty-five million historic newspaper articles, covering the most significant events over the last 300 years, are now fully available online from today in a new archive created by the British Library:
http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/

The Future of Information Access

The future of information access, part 1 and The future of information access, part 2... from Jill Hurst-Wahl. Earlier this month, Sean Branagan, who is the director of the Center for Digital Media Entrepreneurship in the Newhouse School of Public Communications, asked that she guest lecture in his class on the topic of the future of information access. The class is seeking input from a wide variety of industries on what the future may hold and its impact on communications (e.g., news). In her 1.5 hour lecture, she spoke about the following ideas, some of which are evident in today's environment...

Librarian's words are binding

A New Orleans librarian says that even in the Internet age, libraries perform a vital service to society.

Full article

CIA Ninja Librarians

NPR ran a piece called How Does The CIA Use Social Media? They mention how the CIA is following publicly available information like Facebook, Twitter, and foreign radio stations to gather information. They mention that some of their information gatherers are people with Masters of Library Science degrees. Later in the piece the researchers are referred to as "Ninja Librarians".

The Stand-Up Librarian Is 'Released' by Library Where She Was Employed

"So a comedian walks into a library and decides to work there …"

That's not my line. It's from Meredith Myers, the self-described Standup Librarian who just had something very unfunny happen to her.

She got fired from a West Hollywood library job that she loved.

But let's back up, all the way to Florida, where Myers discovered as a child that a library is a place to think, dream and figure things out. As an adult, she grabbed books on the PR business, leading to a 10-year career as a publicist. Then she checked out books on stand-up comedy and became a comedian. Then, about five years ago, she realized what she really wanted to be when she grew up. A librarian.

Here's what happened earlier this week: On the morning of Oct. 25, Myers told her library colleagues that The Times was interested in her story, and that metro feature editor Nita Lelyveld and a photographer might be coming by the library the next day. "They were excited about it and happy for me," Myers said of her colleagues.

But later that day, Myers learned that library officials had some concerns about the possibility of a story in The Times. A call was made to the county library's official spokesman, Ken Kramer. Faced with the possibility of an upbeat feature celebrating a hip, funny employee whose night job included stand-up bits in which she promoted the library, Kramer offered that she could go ahead with the interview, but she couldn't say that she was a page at the West Hollywood branch. -- Read More

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