According to this story in the Daily Texan, all the books are being removed from the Undergraduate Library at UT-Austin to make way for more computers and study spaces. Says Fred Heath, Vice Provost and director of the University Libraries, “We are getting the books out, in order … to build a 24/7 learning space with more room for students and more technology.”
Samantha
Indy Library Part II – Keep ’em in the dark, its just the public.
More on the Indianapolis Library building project, behind schedule and over budget–Cortez writes “If we don’t admit the problems maybe no one will notice? http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID
“Our position is: Library Board needs to clearly communicate to the public a new deadline for completing the Central Library project.”
ProQuest CFO resigns?
An Anonymous Patron writes “ProQuest Company has added a news release to its
Investor Relations website.
Title: ProQuest Company Announces Resignation of Chief
Financial Officer
Date: 5/6/2005 5:00:00 PM
For a complete listing of ProQuest News Releases, Please go
to this url:
http://ir.ccbn.com/ir.zhtml?t=PQE&s=400“
The Entry Level Gap
As noted in AshtabulaGuy’s Journal, LJ has an insightful article on the challenges new librarians face as they try to secure that first professional position. Some interesting tidbits discussed include the fact that only about 11% of advertised positions are entry level, full time professional positions; and even with these positions librarians with several years’ experience are applying and getting the jobs over new grads. From my perspective as a new librarian, I’m glad to see a piece that finally ‘tells it like it is.’ What do others think?
Taft’s Ohio Budget To Face Counter-Proposal
AshtabulaGuy writes “Mark Tuscano reports in this morning’s edition of Ashtabula’s own The Star Beacon that local State Senator Marc Dann (a Democrat from Liberty Township in Trumbull County) as well as State Senator Eric Fingerhut (a Democrat from the City of Cleveland in Cuyahoga County) have drafted a counter-proposal to the executive budget proposal made by Governor Bob Taft that was pored over by the Ohio House. Senator Dann stated last week in an unplanned phone call to WFUN AM Today with Roger McCoy that he considered the budget passed by the Ohio House to be a “train wreck”. Although it appears that cuts to libraries present in the version passed by the Ohio House are being kept in the Dann-Fingerhut counterproposal an additional conundrum for libraries is also presented. A “Local Government Innovation Fund” is being proposed in the Dann-Fingerhut counter-proposal that would restore funds cut from local governments (including libraries) if they would undertake to consolidate three or more separate local governments. Based upon press reports such conceivably also includes libraries which would mean that three or more library districts would have to consolidate to have funds restored to them by way of the Local Government Innovation Fund. In light of local governments discussing such in Cuyahoga County and right after Syracuse University announced that it would partner with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) to offer a further Ohio opportunity for graduate librarianship studies, Christine Borne wrote to consider the Syracuse-CWRU matter as well as practical effects of consolidation.
Considering all of such it is also important to note that that The Star Beacon also mentions in an Associated Press piece that Ohio is also facing a looming population decline which may cut into readership and patronage down the road for Ohio libraries.”
AshtabulaGuy writes “Mark Tuscano reports in this morning’s edition of Ashtabula’s own The Star Beacon that local State Senator Marc Dann (a Democrat from Liberty Township in Trumbull County) as well as State Senator Eric Fingerhut (a Democrat from the City of Cleveland in Cuyahoga County) have drafted a counter-proposal to the executive budget proposal made by Governor Bob Taft that was pored over by the Ohio House. Senator Dann stated last week in an unplanned phone call to WFUN AM Today with Roger McCoy that he considered the budget passed by the Ohio House to be a “train wreck”. Although it appears that cuts to libraries present in the version passed by the Ohio House are being kept in the Dann-Fingerhut counterproposal an additional conundrum for libraries is also presented. A “Local Government Innovation Fund” is being proposed in the Dann-Fingerhut counter-proposal that would restore funds cut from local governments (including libraries) if they would undertake to consolidate three or more separate local governments. Based upon press reports such conceivably also includes libraries which would mean that three or more library districts would have to consolidate to have funds restored to them by way of the Local Government Innovation Fund. In light of local governments discussing such in Cuyahoga County and right after Syracuse University announced that it would partner with Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) to offer a further Ohio opportunity for graduate librarianship studies, Christine Borne wrote to consider the Syracuse-CWRU matter as well as practical effects of consolidation.
Considering all of such it is also important to note that that The Star Beacon also mentions in an Associated Press piece that Ohio is also facing a looming population decline which may cut into readership and patronage down the road for Ohio libraries.”
George Will decries librarians needing grief counselors after flood
Anonymous Patron writes “George Will wrote an article denouncing therapy and using Boston Public Library as an example of this. I am curious about the facts behind this incident. Did Boston Public really hire grief conselors? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61
Lack of purpose haunts students
An editorial from the Detroit News says that a lot of the problems educators (and librarians!) have in reaching teens and college students has to do with a lack of purpose in their lives. From the article:
Academic concerns have been replaced by personal ones, the kind that can’t be fixed with private tutors and more homework. Without hesitation, the professors agreed, the biggest problem with young people today is that they lack a sense of purpose. And, the professors insisted, this might have something to do with the fact that these kids don’t lack for much else.
Chilling mystery: Why don’t Mexicans read books?
From the Christian Science Monitor, an interesting read on the problems faced by bookstores and publishers in Mexico, where sales of 3,000 make a book a bestseller.
Teaching Students to Swim in the Online Sea
A nice pro-information literacy article from the New York Times explains the importance of knowing how to use information resources and suggests that people outside librarianship need to get more involved in promotion, creating standards, etc.
A little bit broken, a little bit perfect
Another column about the information literacy movement and how it doesn’t work in the current academic environment. From the column:
Certainly, it is too simplistic to argue that all students need is Google and an Internet connection to complete a research project that passes academic muster. However, are offline critical thinking skills so very different from online critical thinking skills? Students will always need to be able to identify the presence of misinformation or to identify the characteristics of ‘reputable’ or ‘reliable’ documents and to isolate and understand bias. This is called “understanding,” and it’s not something that one course can teach or one test can measure.
Recent Comments