Latest News
Notable Government Documents 2011: Past as Prologue
The more things change, the more they remain the same—or do they? While history was brought to bear in numerous respects during the past year, some significant changes occurred on the government information landscape. That said, this year’s list of notable titles reflects an enduring interest in aspects of the past mirrored in current reality.
Library Evangelists: At South by Southwest Conference, Librarians Cross Disciplines
If you want to change the world, you need to be in the right place at the right time. You need a good idea, vision, motivated peers, and the determination to make a difference.
This year, a small and mighty group of librarians put this formula to the test as they organized an international movement to participate, educate, and advocate at South by Southwest Interactive, the leading conference for innovative, technology-driven ideas, applications, and entrepreneurship.
Powerful Partnerships: Introduction and Best Practices | Library by Design
Marriage. That’s how many librarians describe collaborative efforts with other organizations to fund and construct new library buildings, including joint-use facilities, to serve their communities.
Powerful Partnerships: Shared Sites | Library by Design
Libraries have long shared acreage with other organizations as part of a civic campus, but today’s partnerships provide more than a convenient location for government services.
Powerful Partnerships: Shared Buildings | Library by Design
Libraries sharing buildings with centers of recreation and learning report that their partners bring exposure to new users. Libraries are also forming partnerships to share buildings with other agencies focused on education, such as colleges and historic societies. In the East Bay Area of California, the Lafayette Library and Learning Center building is shared by the library and the Glenn Seaborg Learning Consortium, a partnership of 12 education, science, and arts institutions.
Patron Profiles
"Public Library Power Patrons Are Your Best Customers"
LJ's Barbara A. Genco presents key findings from Patron Profiles at Tools of Change 2012
Upcoming Webcasts
Authority, Connectivity, and Discovery: The Evolving Role of Reference in the Wiki Age
The proliferation of free online resources has caused user habits and expectations to change drastically in the last decade, and there is no doubt that they will continue to evolve along with technology trends and advancements. Publishers, specifically reference publishers, have needed to meet these demands and have striven to exceed them – delivering new and innovative ways to access authoritative facts quickly, easily, and accurately. Some now deliver the next step in the research experience – providing effortless pathways beyond the facts and figures of free resources or standard reference, making the user’s journey into encyclopedias, scholarly works, and journal articles effortless and seamless. These publisher initiatives have the potential to revolutionize the role of reference in the library, and the way reference is used by researchers at every level.
Why are traditionally-published reference resources still necessary? What are publishers doing to make them accessible, usable, and discoverable in the library and on the free Web? How are these changes impacting reference’s presence in the library? How are user habits affecting how reference is published, developed, and utilized? Register now to hear our esteemed panel, including Oxford University Press’ Robert Faber, Editorial Director for Reference (UK), Dave Tyckoson, reference librarian and Associate Dean at California State University, Fresno, and Dinah Birch, Professor of English Literature and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at the University of Liverpool and Editor of the newest edition of the classic Oxford Companion to English Literature, 7th Edition, on a panel moderated by Library Journal and School Library Journal Reference Editor Etta Thornton, as they tackle the topic of the ever-changing role of, and need for, authoritative reference in today’s libraries in the “Wiki age.” Register now!
More Webcasts:
- Cataloging at the Crossroads: Challenging the Only Show in Town
- eBooks: a New Paradigm in Douglas County, or a New Twist on the Past?
- Rediscover the Nineteenth Century: The creation and organization of Nineteenth Century Collections Online
- Business Books 2012
- Reference: Marketing What You Bought
- Creating a LibraryAware Community: Making print materials work for you
- eBooks: New Models, New Tools & New Approaches–A Discussion of Emerging Options
- Christian Fiction Spring Book Buzz
Blogs & Columns
Building A Future Vision
I’m sitting at the airport in Columbia, South Carolina, thinking about libraries. I’ve spent a great day with around 40 library directors throughout the Palmetto State who gathered together to wrestle with big issues. Melanie Huggins, director of … [Read More...]
Big News, Y’All!
This week we made a big – organizational and personal – announcement: I have been selected as CML’s new Chief Customer Experience Officer. The CXO, for short. Wow! Let me be clear. I do not have an MLS. I have not worked in libraries prior … [Read More...]
Taking the Sting from Group Projects | Peer to Peer Review
I hated group projects when I was a library-school student. Oh, did I hate them! Slackers going unpunished, poor communication, floundering, missed deadlines causing panic, what's not to hate? Now that I'm teaching library school, I assign group … [Read More...]
Taking It To The Streets | From the Bell Tower
There’s a new trend in higher education – academics for the layperson. It’s catching on as a popular social activity. Would the public want to learn more from academic librarians? Though the primary mission is to serve their students and … [Read More...]
A Proposal to Buy Out OverDrive | Backtalk
By David Rothman OverDrive recently got the big “get” of the library e-book world, the Harry Potter series. This Cleveland-based distribution service now offers J. K. Rowling's darlings in text and digital audio to thousands of libraries and … [Read More...]
Library Journal Social Club