We don’t need rules that limit professional growth and advancement.
Bookstores and libraries I totally agree with Francine Fialkoff about the essential nature of print-on-paper books and the bookstore (“Publisher-Librarian Dialog,” Editorial, LJ 8/11, p. 8). The bookstore is a very special kind of experience. More...
HAVING JUST JOINED SAN JOSÉ State University’s (SJSU) all online SLIS, I read with great interest the new report from Pew Internet and American Life, “The Digital Revolution and Higher Education.” Pew interviewed over 1000 More...
Leadership for change saves us from the slow death of entrenchment.
LJ's Editor-in-Chief responds to the latest Authors Guild suit.
Having a strong mentor during your first few years as a librarian can provide a safety net of advice, encouragement, and caution for a newly minted professional. Such a relationship would be even better if More...
Open source lessons Our library has been using open source software for the past ten years and has used the Koha ILS (integrated library system) for the past five years (David Rapp, “Open Source Reality More...
AL isn’t LJ, and LJ isn’t AL.
Issues with ebooks Thank you for your honest and refreshing take on one of the reasons I waited 20 years between American Library Association (ALA) memberships (Heather McCormack, “ALA Annual 2011: Louisiana Deep-Fried Angst,” LJ More...
THE BRIGHT, NEW YOUNG LIBRARIANS graduating from our LIS programs are the best news in this awful period of library decline. Every semester my classes at Pratt Institute in New York and Dominican University in More...
Google-like searching We, too, have noticed an overall decrease in book circulation at my institution—a small private liberal arts college (Rick Anderson, “Print on the Margins.” LJ 6/15/11, p. 38–39). However, ebooks don’t seem to More...
Librarians aren’t all on the same page when it comes to ebooks, nor are publishers, writes Francine Fialkoff. But it’s worth remembering that they are natural allies in the book world.
Unqualified? I am writing to express my support, and appreciation, for Francine Fialkoff’s Editorial “Can Bankers Keep Our Books?” (LJ 2/15/11, p. 8). Her point is well made that our industry has many excellent library More...
Support for our profession has to come from all of us.
Feeling depressed about scholarly publishing, Barbara Fister channels Ambrose Bierce.
Editor-at-Large John Berry asks: How did we survive predigital days with such sparse communication?
When asked how they use the library, a panel of undergraduate students speakers offered a variety of striking, honest, and emotionally charged views, writes Michael Stephens.
Libraryize it Googling may be one of the first steps a librarian may use to answer a question, but it is by no means the only place a librarian looks for a complete answer—to completely More...
Shake the view that service to the poor is a gift from above...
A core contingent informs the show’s hottest trends.
If you’re not learning about the people you’re trying to serve, asks Aaron Schmidt, how can you ascertain whether new ideas are worth pursuing? Try out a simple project to get you started on patron
The pleasure of books On my way back [to my seat] on a transcontinental flight, I observed several different ereaders under the same overhead illumination, resting comfortably on the laps of fellow passengers. I also More...
I may finally be over my scandinavian/ European/Singapore library envy. For years, librarians who traveled to these places touted them for being far ahead of U.S. libraries in service. They were there first with self-check, More...
Students starting graduate school who want to work in libraries with stacks filled with books may be aiming for the wrong profession, says Michael Stephens.
I’m one of them Francine Fialkoff’s editorial was very disappointing (“Can Bankers Keep Our Books?,” LJ 2/15/11, p. 8). Her premise that our public libraries must be led by librarians was not substantiated. There were More...
The public library was not created as a free bookstore, writes John Berry, or as a building full of books, nor was it a community center set up in an abandoned storefront to entertain the
The ten New Landmark Libraries set the bar for ideas to build on.
Our profession has known for a long time that the traditional reference model is flawed. Aaron Schmidt gives a few pointers on how to start on the path toward an improved the reference experience.
Shortsighted! If publishers could prohibit libraries from loaning print books multiple times without paying more, they would (bit.ly/e0a7fO). Legally, they can’t—not with a purchase. Digital books aren’t purchases, they are licensed, and everything, including the More...
Public and academic librarians can learn a lot from each other.
As Amazon colonizes public libraries, Barbara Fister thinks about the need for public spaces.
Students starting graduate school who want to work in libraries with stacks filled with books may be aiming for the wrong profession, says Michael Stephens.
Why make a deal with the devil when library solutions are emerging?
No outlets, no support In response to Harold N. Boyer’s “No free electricity” (Feedback, LJ 3/1/11, p. 10), I can understand budgetary concerns pertaining to the digital generation’s use of outlets at the library. I More...
A more democratic ALA John Berry’s “Eroding ALA Democracy” (Blatant Berry, LJ 2/15/11, p. 10) highlighted some of the issues emerging throughout the American Library Association (ALA) as we grapple with the theory and realities More...
Patrons think of our websites and our online catalogs as one ball of wax. Maybe we should finally start thinking of them that way, too, says Aaron Schmidt.
As the new Colorado model for ebook lending shows, neither licensing nor a cap on ebook lending is the last word.
Barbara Fister reflects on what libraries and news organizations have in common.
There's little guidance for academic librarians on dealing with the media, says Steven Bell, but we can change that.
Nobody can help The economy is in the pits. Federal and state budgets are in crisis. Public libraries are government agencies, and many are suffering from budget cuts and layoffs. Library employment is not thriving. More...
The rich trove of ideas in the 2011 Horizon report will spark your thinking about change in education, learning, and libraries, says Michael Stephens.
Librarians must stand in solidarity with the embattled public employees of Wisconsin as they struggle to hold on to the collective bargaining rights they have earned and won over decades. It is not just simple More...
It may take the whole community, including librarians, to fix it, says Steven Bell.
Barbara Fister tweaks the title of the AAUP's new report.
Barbara Fister ponders the limits of "give 'em what they want."
A small step toward reducing waste, says Steven Bell, is better for us and our libraries than taking no step at all.
Focus on the heart I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed reading “Heretical Thoughts” by Michael Stephens (Office Hours, LJ 12/10, p. 72). As an academic librarian, it is easy to get More...
At LJ , we may never have had so many budget-focused news stories as in this past year. We’ve chronicled cuts to individual libraries in funding, hours, services, staff, and buildings around the country. The More...
Aaron Schmidt compares the benefits of full-scale redesigns vs. small-scale changes.
American higher education is facing the problem of too much supply and too little demand. Steven Bell thinks Europe's M&A experience could offer some solutions.
Barbara Fister wonders when scholars will finally rethink their assumptions.
To make the most of our investment in knowledge, says Barbara Fister, it takes a village—and a village leader.
If we ever needed a stimulus for exploring change and putting the learners first, Steven Bell says, these new "no need for college" movements make a pretty good one.
Coasting, in library school and in our jobs, is not an option, says Michael Stephens.
An abandoned librarian I completed my MLIS from an American Library Association (ALA)–accredited program in 2005. My MLIS cost me $30,000-plus. Since then I have not obtained temporary or permanent employment as a professional librarian. More...
In tough times or good, libraries need librarians at the helm.
Virtual participation must not be second-class membership.
Steven Bell is wondering if this is the new buzzword of 2011.
Barbara Fister thinks about the limits of customer service.
We think of the academic library as a safe, secure haven, says Steven Bell, but crime happens everywhere on campus.
Barbara Fister thinks it's time to explain them to publishers.
The economic climate may give libraries their biggest opportunity yet to get into the broadband debate and avoid being passed over in an increasingly mobile connected world, as well as to make the case for
Creativity or heresy? Michael Stephens’s Office Hours column has conjured up intrigue and inspiration for me.... The quandaries and questions he poses are ones that many (if not most) library managers, administrators, and project coordinators More...
We have a responsibility to make carbon reduction part of our mutual mission, says Louise Schaper, former Executive Director of the Fayettevile Public Library, AR.
A beautiful sign isn’t enough to save a library or make it relevant to its community, especially if it communicates a broken policy. It will, however, do something more subtle but important when it contributes
The digital book world is not about what publishers will do next, says Barbara Fister, it's about what readers and writers do next.
A new book claims that college students actually learn little. Steven Bell wonders how the academic librarian community should respond.
If you haven't read the 2010 Project Information Literacy Progress Report from Alison J. Head and Michael B. Eisenberg, you should. “Truth Be Told: How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age” More...
In Dean Marney’s curious article “The Internet Is Not All or Nothing” (BackTalk, LJ 11/1/10, p. 32) regarding the Internet, filters, yoga, and the North Central Regional Library (NCRL) court case in Washington State, he More...
Picking up on a trend in higher education, Steven Bell suggests we might want to improve student research skills by going retro.
Screencasting for an audience of one: crazy, right? To record and narrate on-screen actions takes time and specialized equipment, has a significant learning curve, and calls for an arresting voice like Leonard Cohen’s. Putting in
To realize the Enlightenment ideal of a universal digital library, writes Wayne Bivens-Tatum, librarians and their professional organizations must lobby for genuine copyright reform.
Retailization of research or reallocation for openness? Barbara Fister knows which one she'd choose.
Steven Bell looks back at some of the significant trends in higher education in 2010, and shares some thoughts on what lies ahead in 2011.
We've gotten in the habit of tacking on new services and taking on new responsibilities, and that may not be the right approach, says Aaron Schmidt.
The public library is a high priority in Chicago government.
Nancy Pearl joins the short list of LJ's great librarians.
Few jobs in archives Both Stephanie Maatta (“Stagnant Salaries, Rising Unemployment,” LJ 10/15/10, p. 22–29) and Francine Fialkoff (“Sold on a Graying Profession,” Editorial, LJ 11/1/10, p. 8) mention “potentially ‘hot’ specializations including archives.” I More...
A chat with a university librarian about the skills new librarians should have.
The conversation about body scanning of air travelers turned sour and fatuous.
The LJ Design Institute was a needed shot in the arm.
Andy Woodworth calls for those in libraries of all types to rally together and act on behalf of any and all libraries.
I NEVER THOUGHT I’D BE WRITING ABOUT THE benefits of online education, although many librarians I admire have completed their LIS degrees online and many of the better graduate library schools have respected online programs. More...
They support libraries! Really? These are the people who are not going on vacation, they are not buying brand names, they are not buying new clothes and fancy toys (Francine Fialkoff, “Shame on the Antitaxers,” Editorial, More...
Like it or not, says Steven Bell, we academic librarians need to rethink the negative perceptions we have of online learners.
No personal loss is greater than the death of a close, trusted friend, upon whom you depend for all that friends do for each other. The passing of Norman Horrocks is both a terrible personal More...
Fees aren’t worth it I’m glad Beth Dempsey politely points out that charging nominal fees for library services is often not worth the trouble (“For [Love] or [Money],” LJ 9/15/10, p. 20–23). Libraries should be free, More...
Barbara Fister and a colleague decided to find out.
At least three nights a week, after working as a library director, I teach power yoga. Sometimes when the class is breathing into an uncomfortable twisting position, I ask them to look behind them and More...
New grads aren't having much luck dislodging the competition to score jobs—because the game is rigged.
Barbara Fister thinks open access requires serious investment, especially in hard times.
There are multiple diversities, says Steven Bell, but we also need to promote the skills needed to foster a diversity of opinion.
WELCOME TO “OFFICE HOURS,” a new space in Library Journal where we’ll explore what’s happening in library and information science education. In the coming months we’ll talk about the ongoing discourse about LIS schools; research More...
By embracing how libraries can and do drive the ebook revolution, you can only help make a more robust future for ebooks and for publishing itself.
Not through politicians I read with great interest John Berry’s column on how libraries can tap popular support by going directly to the voters (Blatant Berry, LJ 9/1/10, p. 8). Here in New York State, the More...
Steven Bell thinks the path to reaching the students may be through their parents.
Barbara Fister questions why we still fall for the supersize option.
Academic librarians, says Steven Bell, can contribute to more robust media about higher ed.
Those who need it least get conference subsidies, but John Berry has a proposal.
Trumpeted "changes" I find it curious that if a library does not adopt many of the "changes" trumpeted in recent issues of LJ and charges a minimal fee for services, that library is branded as More...
In Colorado, and elsewhere, saving on taxes trumps saving services.
Barbara Fister wonders how to COPE with author fees and other monsters.
Steven Bell looks at the ugly side of higher education.
Support LSSC! The goal of a national paralibrarian certification, sponsored through the American Library Association (ALA), has been on the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA) Paralibrarian Section agenda for almost ten years. ALA and the team that More...
Barbara Fister wonders if we are asking the right questions when we choose which beans to count.
What is it with the library profession and our obsession with individual titles? Is it insecurity? Fear? Elitism? Maybe the focus on titles is not entirely our fault. Perhaps the variety and inherent inconsistency found More...
Norman Oder, departing as News Editor, reflects on 14 years.
Some Labor Day thoughts from Barbara Fister.
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