An op-ed piece over at Florida Today discusses taking a closer look at the ideology behind book banning and the approaches used. \”All of us are censors at some level, rejecting various kinds of material every day, and many parents try to monitor the reading, listening and viewing habits of their children. It\’s important that a careful review process is used to assess controversial work. That kind of review spells the difference between responsible oversight and knee-jerk reaction to controversial expression. With calls for censorship increasing in this country, Americans need to keep that distinction very much in mind.\” Read More.
September 2002
Library Policy Shafts Students
A student, angry about a return policy at the Georgia Technical college is condemning the school library\’s seemingly lopsided practice of charging $2.50 per day in overdue fees for books when the normal rate is supposed to be $.50. Read it.
That Strange Hissing Sound
Ron Force writes \”The Wall Street Journal has an Opinion column by Lisa Singh on turning the library into a coffee house to attract users:
\”…the Starbucks effect goes beyond mental stimulation. It is, so to speak, a way of life, suggesting leisure rather than study and entertainment rather than work. It is in the general culture, whether there is a Starbucks nearby or not. One librarian I know says that she spends most of her time these days telling patrons to pull up their pants, put on some shoes and stop cracking gum, in between signing them up to use the computers, in front of which they often idle the hours away on Yahoo chat or even, occasionally, some porn site.
In many ways, you can sympathize with the attempt of library administrators to make their buildings \”relevant\”–especially to the young. It is probably a losing proposition, but you can understand the logic. Little wonder that so many look to Barnes & Noble–and Starbucks–for inspiration.\”
\”
What I wish patrons would understand about library
Jerry Kuntz, Electronic Resources Consultant at Ramapo Catskill Library System writes: \” Recently I\’ve been involved in rolling out new public catalog software
(for about the 8th or 9th time in my career). This time we had a little
limited flexibility in customizing the interface, so we created an online
survey.
That survey ran its course for about 6 weeks, and some of the comments we
got are the same ones I heard at every library I\’ve worked in, no matter
what brand of software was being used. When we took the survey down I put up
a page explaining some things about it, but that got me thinking about all the
things I wish we could communicate to our patrons better about library
technology.
Here is my list of the top ten things I wish library users knew what we
do:\”
Read on for his list, maybe you can add to it…
Jerry Kuntz, Electronic Resources Consultant at Ramapo Catskill Library System writes: \” Recently I\’ve been involved in rolling out new public catalog software
(for about the 8th or 9th time in my career). This time we had a little
limited flexibility in customizing the interface, so we created an online
survey.
That survey ran its course for about 6 weeks, and some of the comments we
got are the same ones I heard at every library I\’ve worked in, no matter
what brand of software was being used. When we took the survey down I put up
a page explaining some things about it, but that got me thinking about all the
things I wish we could communicate to our patrons better about library
technology.
Here is my list of the top ten things I wish library users knew what we
do:\”
Read on for his list, maybe you can add to it…\”1. There is no national electronic interlibrary loan network for public
libraries that can deliver any existing title. Even State and regional ILL
networks are automated with very limited technology, and exist by
cooperation, not mandate.
2. The Library of Congress is not a national lending library. It does not
have every recent title published.
3. Public libraries don\’t have programmers on their staff developing the
integrated library software. They license the software from vendors that
specialize in that business.
4. If security measures aren\’t imposed on public computers, they break
very quickly.
5. You can\’t do everything on a secured computer that you may be able to
do on a machine at home.
6. Automated library catalogs with nice features that allow you to place
hold requests, check your library record, etc. are tied into a whole
integrated system that includes the circulation and inventory control. The
library catalog with these features can\’t [yet] be purchased independently
of the whole software system.
7. The library may consider the functionality of the circulation,
inventory control, acquisitions, serials, etc. parts of the integrated
system to be just as important–or even more important–than the catalog.
8. Just because the computer says it\’s available and on the shelf doesn\’t
mean that it is.
9. All recently published books do not exist in electronic format. The
Library of Congress does not have a collection of copyrighted electronic
texts that anyone can access.
10. Libraries that have licensed the few copyrighted works that are
available electronically can not grant access to those works to users of
other libraries.\”
Jerry can be reached by email at: jkuntz at ansernet.rcls.org
WV State Seal redone with Librarian & Filmmaker
Steve Fesenmaier tells us about a story he found on Landmark Studio for the Arts site.
\”About ten years ago the largest newspaper in the state of West Virginia, the Charleston Gazette, did a story on the history of filmmaking in the state. David Vick, the graphics editor, redid the state seal showing a miner and a farmer with the state motto, \”Montani Semper Liberi\”, with a film librarian, Steve Fesenmaier, on the left, and Robert Gates, a filmmaker, on the right, replacing the state motto with \”Semper cinema liberi.\” This new version of the state seal has been posted on the website for the Landmark Studio for the Arts\’ upcoming WV Filmmakers Film Festival. It may be the ONLY state seal ever redone with a librarian.
Forrester ad angers N.J. librarians
SomeOne sent over more on Douglas Forrester, and his brush with librarianship. This Story that says Forrester\’s assertion that he was a librarian angered the 1,500-member New Jersey Library Association, which wrote him a Sept. 9 letter disputing his job experience.
Forrester spokesman Tom Rubino said Wednesday that the ad is truthful.
\”That was his title when he worked at the library as a student at Harvard University,\” Rubino said. \”There was no intent to belittle librarians at all.\”
\”He was a librarian the way my cat is a librarian,\” said White, a registered Democrat who said friends in New York first told him about the ad. \”I mean just because you work in a hospital, does that mean you\’re a doctor?\”
The Infography online reference resource
SomeOne writes \”Should librarians use college professors rather than search engines to guide the search for information? Professors are posting citations to superlative sources about their subject specialties at The Infography.
It\’s a treasure trove for reference and acquisition librarians. Not surprisingly, most of the research recommendations are to books and journals rather than to web sites. \”
Their info page says \”This reference tool enables a student, librarian, or teacher to identify superlative sources of information about a subject of inquiry, viewed through the lens of expert opinion. The subject specialists who select the citations published in The Infography are professors and other scholars who know the literature about their subjects of expertise, who know which information sources are seminal for research.\”
University bans controversial links
James Nimmo, and about a dozen other people, pointed the way to This CNET Column on The University of California at San Diego, which has ordered a student organization to delete hyperlinks to an alleged terrorist Web site, citing the recently enacted USA Patriot Act.
School administrators have told the group, called the Che Cafe Collective, that linking to a site supporting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) would not be permitted because it violated federal law.
MD develops online reference classes
From Federal Computer Week:
The Maryland Library Partnership, a coalition of public libraries, is developing an e-learning course that it hopes will help libraries across the country provide better service.
The course is intended to teach librarians how to answer questions from patrons more effectively and how to improve their customer relations in general. It\’s an extension of a three-day course that has been in use for 20 years that required librarians to attend classroom and face-to-face training sessions and that has been the basis for similar training courses nationwide . . .
A test of the new course is planned for January and should be available to libraries in Maryland in spring 2003. It will then be offered for sale to libraries in the rest of the country later next year.
Saskatoon librarians serve strike notice
From The Saskatoon StarPhoenix:
Saskatoon public library workers gave 48-hour strike notice Monday and will start job action Wednesday with a noon-hour rally at City Hall.
The move came after members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees rejected the library board\’s offer of four per cent increases for each year in a two-year contract, said union local president Gwen Thomson . . .
The union is demanding a pay equity plan to eliminate gender-based wage discrimination, Thomson said.
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