ALA will be hosting new students during SI orientation at Dominick's. Join us on Tuesday, August 29th from around 5:30 to 7. Dominick's is at 812 Monroe St - from South U, go down Tappan, turn right onto Monroe, and Dominick's will be on your left. You'll get a chance to talk about what you want ALA to do this coming year, talk about LIS courses, or just chill out and try to avoid saying the word "library" for 20 minutes in a group of SI students (good luck!).

Via Web4lib:

Today the Johnson County Library (http://www.jocolibrary.org) in Kansas announced a new series of online professional development opportunities for librarians. They will be offered on the third Friday of each month. The series will be offered through the OPAL collaborative (http://www.opal-online.org). The dates, start times, and brief descriptions of each event in the series are listed below.

For current information about these and all upcoming OPAL online programs, please visit http://www.opal-online.org/programs.htm. These online programs are open to all librarians and library users worldwide. There is no need to register.

Friday, April 21, 2006 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and 3:00 p.m. GMT:

Getting Along with IT Staff

David King, Acting ITS Director, Kansas City Public Library will be the presenter. Ever noticed that your co-workers' eyes start glazing over when you describe that custom XML app? Or, ever notice your network administrator's face start to turn red as you ask yet again for a "simple" explanation of why the Internet stopped working? This session covers the basics of how to jump communication hurdles between techies and non-technical staff. The problem is defined along with the steps to take, including what to do with jargon, how to handle training sessions, how to simplify describing a solution to non-technical staff, and how to describe technical problems and projects clearly. Gain some understanding of how techies and non-techies think and some strategies to improve communication in your work environment. This program is part of the Librarian's Continuing Education Seminar Series, sponsored by the Johnson County Library. This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium.

Friday, May 19, 2006 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and 3:00 p.m. GMT:

Project Planning with Love and Logic (Models)

Whitney Davison-Turley, Digital Projects Specialist, University of Kansas Medical Center Libraries will be the presenter. From the largest grant proposals to the smallest project plan, using logic models can help you develop stronger and more successful projects with assessment and evaluation built in at every step. You will love the way that logic models allow you "plan backwards and implement forwards," keeping the focus on the real impact of your program and causing all activities to feed directly into that impact. This program will discuss what a logic model is, show examples of using a logic model for writing a project plan or grant proposal, and provide resources for additional information. This program is part of the Librarian's Continuing Education Seminar Series, sponsored by the Johnson County Library. This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium.

Friday, June 16, 2006 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and 3:00 p.m. GMT:

Teen Services: Ten Ways to Give Up Control and Encourage Engagement.

Tricia Suellentrop, Youth Services Manager, Johnson County Library will be the presenter. “For teens, by teens, with teens.” Teen librarians say it all the time, but what does it mean for the everyday service delivered, on the floor, and at the desk? Encouraging teen-managed services isn’t always easy; it can be time consuming, stressful and thrilling for you and the teens. But the benefits are amazing. Learn how to give up control and encourage teen-managed library services. This program is part of the Librarian's Continuing Education Seminar Series, sponsored by the Johnson County Library. This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium.

Friday, July 21, 2006 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and 3:00 p.m. GMT:

Jennifer Mahnken, Adult Programming Manager, Johnson County Library will be the presenter. Planning adult programs for your library? This program will give you some ideas for programs, things to consider when planning, and ideas for promotion. This program is part of the Librarian's Continuing Education Seminar Series, sponsored by the Johnson County Library. This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium.

Friday, August 18, 2006 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and 3:00 p.m. GMT:

Delivering Top-Notch Technology Training for Your Patrons

Brenda Hough, Technology Coordinator at the Northeast Kansas Library System, Michael Porter (aka Library Man), Training and Support Coordinator at OCLC Western, and Rebecca Richardson, Technology Training Specialist at the Purdue University Libraries will be the presenters. More libraries are offering technology training for staff and patrons. Learn how to use interactive techniques to address varying skill levels, adapt to multiple learning styles, and deliver technology with greater impact. This program is part of the Librarian's Continuing Education Seminar Series, sponsored by the Johnson County Library. This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium.

Friday, September 15, 2006 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and 3:00 p.m. GMT:

Donna Lauffer, Associate Director for Branches, Johnson County Library will be the presenter. Libraries can be key partners in helping to build their communities and/or to help engage citizens in decision-making. This session will introduce you to public forums using the model of deliberative dialogue. Find out how your library can be a community resource for citizens input on issues that affect everyone. This program is part of the Librarian's Continuing Education Seminar Series, sponsored by the Johnson County Library. This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium.

Friday, October 20, 2006 beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific, and 3:00 p.m. GMT:

Grant Writing 101: Developing Winning Proposals

Erica Reynolds, Web Content Manager, Johnson County Library will be the presenter. Have a terrific project, but need money to implement it? Learn how to find funding opportunities, review proposal guidelines, develop budgets, avoid common pitfalls, and develop successful proposals. This program is part of the Librarian's Continuing Education Seminar Series, sponsored by the Johnson County Library. This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium.

And by the way, don't forget to check out Higher Ed Blog Con 2006 going on right now!

From Ars Technica (of all places) comes this informative article on a study group convened by the Library of Congress to examine the impact of copyright law on libraries' ability to archive digital resources:

The purpose of the Section 108 Study Group is to conduct a reexamination of the exceptions and limitations applicable to libraries and archives under the Copyright Act, specifically in light of the changes wrought by digital media. The group will study how Section 108 of the Copyright Act may need to be amended to address the relevant issues and concerns of libraries and archives, as well as creators and other copyright holders. The group will provide findings and recommendations on how to revise the copyright law in order to ensure an appropriate balance among the interests of creators and other copyright holders, libraries and archives in a manner that best serves the national interest. The findings and recommendations will be submitted by mid-2006 to the Librarian of Congress.

The group is soliciting public comments through April 17. If you care about libraries' rights under the Copyright Act you may want to review the current law, read the Federal Register notice (PDF) and submit a comment to the study group.

Thursday, April 6, beginning at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 2 p.m. Central, 1 p.m. Mountain, noon Pacific and 7 p.m. GMT:

Ten Top Technologies for Librarians in 2006

What trends should librarians be watching? What's the next big thing? Join librarian and Tame the Web blogger Michael Stephens for a discussion of ten technologies to be aware of in 2006 and beyond. We'll touch on user-centered planning, changes to integrated library systems, conversations, communities, and the Cluetrain. Sponsored by the Alliance Library System.

This OPAL event will be held in the Auditorium. To attend, go to the OPAL auditorium, type your name and click to enter the online room. A software applet will download to your computer as you enter. If you have a PC microphone you can interact via audio, but it is not necessary as you will be able to chat via text.

The program is free; no registration is required. The program will last approximately one hour. For more information on this and other OPAL programs contact OPAL coordinator Tom Peters at tapinformation@yahoo.com.

[Via Web4Lib]

Please join ALA @ SI for a tour of the brand new Ann Arbor District Library branch located in Pittsfield Township! Eva Davis, Branch Services Manager for the library system, will be conducting our tour. Eva will field questions, but if you have a more complicated question that might require some research, please post the question in the comments section.

To continue our exploration of Pittsfield Township, afterwards we'll go next door to the Ann Arbor Ice Cube for some ice skating.

Tour of AADL Pittsfield Branch
Saturday, April 1st at 12 PM (Noon)
Meet us there, or if you need a ride (or can provide one) come to the Espresso Royale on South University by 11:40 AM. Please RSVP for a ride by Friday, March 30th to nscholtz at umich dot edu .

Public Skate at the Ann Arbor Ice Cube
Saturday, April 1st from 1:15 PM to 2:35
Admission to public skating is $4, and skate rental is $3. The first ten people to RSVP will have their admission fee covered by ALA. RSVP to nscholtz at umich dot edu .

Via boingboing, an interesting article from PLoS Medicine describes low-tech solutions being adopted by African doctors to keep their medical knowledge up-to-date:

The BTL is “a ready-to-use documentation module” [4] of about 150 WHO and non-WHO books and manuals fitted into a blue metal trunk (Figure 1). The materials are arranged and filed in such a way that users can easily identify the ones that they need. Fourteen topics have been chosen using a basic classification code, e.g., General Medicine and Nursing (100), Community Health (110), and these codes are written on each filing box.

This one comes off a tip from Jake Glenn, SI student and ULA at the AA&E; Library.

On April 14th at the AADL Superpatron Ed Vielmetti with a gang of extras will host the first ever Library Camp an “unconference” which will follow open-space guidelines.

Here's the link to the orginal article
http://www.blyberg.net/2006/03/07/2006-library-camp-a-library-20-unconference/

And here's the link to the Super Patron's blog.
http://vielmetti.typepad.com/superpatron/

The SirsiDinex Institute, a free "ongoing forum for professional development in the library community," is sponsoring an hour-long web seminar on the interactive web and libraries.

This particular seminar, The 2.0 Meme, is being held 11am-noon EST on February 22 (that's right before our library facilities panel!)

If you'd like to participate, go to the Institute website to register. Or, if you'd just like to check out what was discussed later, the Institute has a complete archive of conference proceedings saved as .wmv files.

Yahoo! UI Library is a collection of open-license JavaScript tools for building dynamic, interactive websites. I haven't had time to fool around with this yet, but it looks like something that might appeal to beginner and more experienced web designers alike.

I think it's interesting that the word "library" has begun to be used so broadly (but correctly, I think) to describe any kind of organized collections of materials on the Web, particularly educational, free materials like these.

Discovered via the inimitable BoingBoing.

Once again, librarians are under attack in the op-ed section of prominent papers around the country. This time, a writer in the opinion section of the Wall Street Journal writes blasting the ALA on issues of user privacy and hypocrisy. Please read the article here (link thanks to Amy A.): http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110007945.

While this one seems to lack a solid argument as well, it is certainly more accusatory than Cravatts' raving, and draws into question the leadership of our national organization. I haven't had time to look into these assertions about the Cuban independent libraries issue, but regardless, it is unrelated to the efforts ALA has taken to prevent unauthorized access to private user information.

Like Cravatts, this author (currently unknown -- it seems our online subscription to the WSJ at UM does not include indexing of the op-ed pieces) is upset that Director Glick-Weil of the Newton libraries stood firm, not allowing the FBI to scour patron computers without a warrant. S/he depicts "fork-tongued" librarians as snakes, and like so many desperate to defend the Bush Administration's PATRIOT Act, tries to confuse readers by tying in an unrelated issue to Glick-Weil's actions. Would she agree with Glick-Weil's waiting for a warrant if the ALA defended Cuban librarians? I doubt that would have changed the author's opinion on Glick-Weil's actions. Why, then, bring up the Cuban independent librarians?

Given, the Cuban situation is one that I know little about, and I am going to see what I can find about it -- but for now, it is beside the point. Why is it wrong for librarians to defend patron privacy when no warrant is presented? Does it make us, "the loudest worriers," ... UNAMERICAN? Perhaps we are the "last bulwark defending our most cherished civil liberties." In this situation, who else would have?

Comments welcome --

Eric

Proposed legislature in Iowa would withhold state funding if a public library does not “eliminate access to pornography on the public library’s computer equipment.”
Here's a link to the article:
http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2006abc/february2006a/iowafilter.htm

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Conservatory for what I thought was a very insightful and interesting tour. I'm glad David was able to provide us with an insider's look at the collection with an angle on the information issues surrounding it. Please pose your comments about the tour here -- I'll pass them along to David to show how much we appreciated his time.

Also, the internships available at MBGNA this summer can be read about in this MS Word document. ALSO: Now in snazzy PDF!

The Canton Public Library Tour is this Saturday!

-- Eric

How about that alliteration! SOCHI has announced a possible peer portfolio review session on their blog. If you would like to get some constructive criticism on your portfolio, OR if you are looking to create a portfolio, bring a laptop or paper prototype with your ideas and designs to this session and receive feedback!

SOCHI and ALA officers are gauging interest in this kind of event, so please post comments here or there if you would like to see this happen!

-- E

I officially wanted to open this blog to comments on Richard Cravatts' article in the Boston Globe entitled "When Librarians Protect Terrorists" (2/6/2006). For those of you that have not read this article, read the full text online at http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/02/06/when_librarians_protect_terrorists/.

Of the remarks he makes in the article, none have really seemed to incite librarians' wrath more than this quote:

"More to the point, why are librarians, whose professional training concentrates on mastering the use of the Dewey Decimal System, making any decisions that affect law enforcement?"

True, Cravatts' comments show how uninformed he is about library education, but the questions that follow this one bring up some points to consider:

"By whose authority and with what knowledge are they defining and granting constitutional rights to their patrons? Where have they received training in emergency response, domestic security, and thwarting terrorist threats?"

Aside from his comments about the DDS, does Cravatts have a point here? Do librarians have formal training in ethical decision making? Feel free to post your own opinion on Kathy Glick-Weil's actions and your response to Cravatt's questions on our own training and abilities as defenders of freedom.

-- Eric

From Joan Durrance:

Jenna Hartel, a student of Marcia Bates, will be coming to SI next Tues (Feb 14) to give a talk. A light lunch is available.

Time: Tuesday Feb 14. 12:00. Ehrlicher Room, West Hall (4th Floor)

A Recipe for the Study of Everyday Life Information Phenomena: Serious Leisure + Visual Research = The Culinary Home Library

Jenna Hartel, Doctoral Candidate
Department of Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

Abstract

This presentation introduces a theory, method, and emerging results from the author's dissertation research into information phenomena in the hobby of gourmet cooking. Serious leisure (Stebbins, 1982; Hartel, 2003, 2005) is a framework that identifies information-intensive forms of leisure and facilitates their systematic investigation. Visual research is an ethnographic approach to capture evidence of information phenomena in everyday life, enabling careful analysis of information practices, resources, and spaces. Through this combination the general features and biblio-mechanics of culinary home libraries are illuminated. The "recipe" is adaptable and has potential for the study of a large, unexplored, information-rich swath of everyday life.

To supplement this presentation, an exhibit "Cooking Up a Home Library" is on display Mon & Tues at the West Hall 3rd Floor stairwell landing.