April 2007

This Week in LibraryBlogLand (April 30, 2007)

This Week in LibraryBlogLand
week ending April 29

……….

David Lee King writes about technology and librarian/library resistance to change. Comments from John Blyberg (blyberg.net) and Sarah Houghton-Jan (LibrarianInBlack).

Jessamyn West (librarian.net) writes about a painful experience with downloadable audiobooks.

ALA’s State of America’s Libraries 2007: comments from Jessamyn West (librarian.net).

Sarah Houghton-Jan (LibrarianInBlack) explains how to talk to IT about instant messaging and security.

BLOGGING

Tasha Saecker (Sites and Soudbytes) asks, should there be a Library Blogging Code of Conduct?

Matt Raymond (Library of Congress Blog) asks, are blogs “serial publications and should they get ISSN numbers?

THE LIGHTER SIDE

Video by Haunted Love: Librarian [I love it!] (via)

Matt Raymond (Library of Congress Blog) writes about filming at the Library of Congress.

META

In case anybody had noticed that, lately, This Week in LibraryBlogLand is shorter than in used to be: yes, it’s shorter, mainly because of a slight change in philosophy. Instead of striving to cover every single blog on my list (and kicking myself when I don’t), now I just cover the ones I can get to. Some weeks there are more, some weeks there are fewer. On weeks when I don’t do a complete review, I try to vary the ones I do hit. In general, I aim for complete reviews, but sometimes Life (and too many interesting posts!) get in the way. Thanks for your indulgence.

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This Week in LibraryBlogLand (TWiL) appears on lisnews.org every Monday. [Feeds]

This Week in LibraryBlogLand
week ending April 29

……….

David Lee King writes about technology and librarian/library resistance to change. Comments from John Blyberg (blyberg.net) and Sarah Houghton-Jan (LibrarianInBlack).

Jessamyn West (librarian.net) writes about a painful experience with downloadable audiobooks.

ALA’s State of America’s Libraries 2007: comments from Jessamyn West (librarian.net).

Sarah Houghton-Jan (LibrarianInBlack) explains how to talk to IT about instant messaging and security.

BLOGGING

Tasha Saecker (Sites and Soudbytes) asks, should there be a Library Blogging Code of Conduct?

Matt Raymond (Library of Congress Blog) asks, are blogs “serial publications and should they get ISSN numbers?

THE LIGHTER SIDE

Video by Haunted Love: Librarian [I love it!] (via)

Matt Raymond (Library of Congress Blog) writes about filming at the Library of Congress.

META

In case anybody had noticed that, lately, This Week in LibraryBlogLand is shorter than in used to be: yes, it’s shorter, mainly because of a slight change in philosophy. Instead of striving to cover every single blog on my list (and kicking myself when I don’t), now I just cover the ones I can get to. Some weeks there are more, some weeks there are fewer. On weeks when I don’t do a complete review, I try to vary the ones I do hit. In general, I aim for complete reviews, but sometimes Life (and too many interesting posts!) get in the way. Thanks for your indulgence.

………………..
This Week in LibraryBlogLand (TWiL) appears on lisnews.org every Monday. [Feeds]

San Francisco, Shame onYou!

Out of all American cities, I thought you could hold on to an independent bookstore.

From Publishers Weekly:
San Francisco, I’m giving you a time out. Sit in the corner and think about what you’ve done. No, not that corner. The other one;the darker one. Shame on you. You’ve shot yourself in the foot. Out of all the cities in the U.S., I thought you could hold on to an independent bookstore. You gave me hope. You are a city of composting, bike riding, free-to-be-you-and-me do-gooders. But I was wrong. I don’t like being wrong, and now I am cross. Don’t give me those puppy dog eyes. You know what you did. You killed Cody’s.Article continued here.

School Shooting Book Now Tragically Timely

Publishers Weekly has a story about The Shooting Game: The Making of School Shooters

The book, published by Seven Locks in March 2006, looks back over 30 years of such shootings, putting them in historical and social context. From his home in Eugene, Ore. Lieberman told PW that he was already revising his book when he heard about rampage at Virginia Tech, the most deadly school shooting in U.S. history. He said he wrote The Shooting Game for school administrators, parents, law enforcement and others trying to make sense of the shootings. “I realize the book could make a difference if people knew about it,” said Lieberman. Article continued here.

Author Paretsky Recalls That Toledo Library Told Her to Tone Down Talk

In her new book (Library Journal interview here), Chicago writer Sara Paretsky (author of the V.I. Warshawski mysteries) who spoke at Authors! Authors! four years ago says she was asked in advance by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library to rein in her political remarks on the night the United States invaded Iraq.

Library officials vehemently deny the charge, which seems now to boil down to a difference in what each party recalls.

Clyde Scoles, library director, said the library has never censored writers who appear at Authors! Authors!

“I find the whole thing very interesting and kind of sad,” said Mr. Scoles, adding that he and his staff were “totally floored” to read Paretsky’s essay in the Tribune. Report from Toledo Blade.

Robots…The New Librarians

The LA Times reports: “It’s not often that a librarian is warned to stay away from the bookshelves because of high voltage and that students aren’t allowed to roam freely through the stacks – but it’s becoming more common.

At Chicago State University only robots are allowed to browse most books and archives. Books are supplied with RFID chips, and to get a particular book, students and faculty must log onto the library’s website from home or school and place an order for a title.

Once the order is received, the library’s computer system directs a robotic crane – dubbed “Rover” by the librarians – to retrieve one of more than 6,300 bins. Each bin holds the equivalent of four bookshelves.

The crane then brings the bin to a workstation at the front of the warehouse, where a HUMAN BEING–a librarian–picks up the book.

Some drug info ‘too much,’ mom says

David Rothman spotted This Associated Press piece on a parent whose 15-year-old learned from a school library book how to sniff nail polish remover wants books with such specific drug information removed.

At the very least, Sherri Walter and her mother, Stephanie Kelly, say certain books should be flagged and require parental permission before they can be checked out by their children.

“This information is too much,” Kelly said.

“They cave pretty fast at that age.”

A Day in the Life: Career Options in LIS

Filipino Librarian writes “What can you do with a degree in library and information science? The 95 chapters in A Day in the Life: Career Options in Library and Information Science cover the many possibilities, whether inside or outside the library. Excerpts available online include those from less traditional positions like multimedia librarian, distance education librarian, Internet trainer and web marketing coordinator. Check out the table of contents for other job titles.

Some of the contributors are well-known author-bloggers, like Jessamyn West, Steven Cohen and Judith Siess, who have already written about this new book on their blogs. But the best post, so far, is by Katie Dunneback, who sent in her contribution with the very revealing title, “Chapter XXX: Adult Services Librarian.””

A New and Perhaps Surprising Library Blog

There’s a new blogger in the blogosphere…would you believe The Library of Congress?

Library of Congress launched the blog last Tuesday, April 24, which was its 207th birthday. Disclaimer aside, (“this blog does not represent official Library of Congress communications”) LOC Communications Director Matt Raymond plans to update the blog daily, and sees it as “a dialogue about the library” and its vast resources. Visitors also can post comments on the LOC blog.