Vast Active Library and Information Science blog. From a recent library science graduate in Wellington, New Zealand. A focus on reference and current awareness tools and issues, especially free, web-based resources.

 
"For a variety of reasons - the economy, access to technology and a change in marketing philosophy - libraries are happening places again."

Another positive article, pointing to rising circulation in (US public) libraries, reminding readers that the internet hasn't replaced libraries (and pointing out that libraries were quick to embrace the 'net), and describing the increasing use of marketing techniques to improve service - "this is something a business would do". (I can think of at least one of my lecturers who would be very pleased to read those words).

From The Daily Herald (Chicago).


| posted by Simon at 2:26 PM

 
"Librarians do more than keep records. Often, they serve as visionaries in schools, said Jane Matthews, Franklin Community School Corp. K-12 library media coordinator."

Cool quote from an article about the declining numbers of librarians in Indiana school libraries, at a time when more information is available than ever, and circulation of books is up.

From The Daily Journal.

| posted by Simon at 10:21 AM

 
A solution to the problem of libraries being offered bundles of journals, containing many titles that they don't want?

"Now HighWire Press, the librarian-led journal aggregator from Stanford University, has launched a new subscription program called Shop for Journals (http://highwire.stanford.edu/shopforjournals). Initiated by a group of scholarly society publishers participating in HighWire, the new pricing/subscription model offers an alternative to the �Big Deal� packages and allows librarians to create their own packages using tiered pricing tied to library type."

From Information Today.

| posted by Simon at 10:16 AM

 
Nicely written article from The Scotsman, summarising the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, which extends legal deposit in the UK to digital information (both webpages and CDs). The article manages to cover concerns such as preservation, selection, and copyright.

Also interesting to note the other countries that have gone down this path:

The French government has issued a directive to ensure its national library collects all electronic material [which the UK won't be doing]. Norway, Finland and Denmark also have similar models, while Germany has new draft legislation in place.

| posted by Simon at 9:11 AM

 
"Public libraries, once considered solely as book-lenders, are beginning to supplant town halls, churches and schools as the main gathering place of local communities, say officials from the Vermont Department of Libraries."

From The Battleboro Reformer, Vermont.

Very cool article about the changing role of libraries in the internet age. They're not just about books in a locally-held collection, but can take advantage of interlibrary loan to increase the collection. Access to the internet is an obvious plus, with one library mentioned in this article having the only broadband access in its area. The article also discusses the role of libraries in spurring economic growth.

| posted by Simon at 12:50 PM

 
School board cuts funding that paid for school librarian. School has no librarian. Books are sitting around in boxes, with children unable to take them out. Volunteers are "filing" the books. But more books, brought through a grant, "cannot be placed out until they are logged into the new computer system." Let's fervently hope that they don't ask these parent volunteers, dedicated though they surely are, to catalogue the new books.

From The Tribune-Chronicle, Ohio.

| posted by Simon at 12:33 PM

 
School is being refurbished. Sub-contractor takes books and equipment into storage. Contractor goes bust, leaving sub-contractor unpaid. Sub-contractor refuses to release books. Children have no access to books or library equipment.

From The Scotsman.

| posted by Simon at 12:30 PM

 
Long discussion on Slashdot about this article from technewsworld.com, about libraries selling unwanted books on eBay, instead of the good old used book sale. Some good comments from slashdotters concerned at the possibility that libraries are actually getting rid of material that may be valuable to researchers, and advocating for more public funding for libraries. Which seems appropriate, as most of the mentions of libraries I see in the US media tend to be articles bemoaning their lack of funding, or describing how student volunteers are helping academic libraries to maintain opening hours.

Of course, weeding collections is an important and necessary part of library collection development. (Yep, I'm writing an assignment on this at the moment, and I'm pleased that I've finally managed to track down a copy of the 4th edition of Slote's Weeding library collections seeing as it seems to be considered the definitive text).

| posted by Simon at 12:25 PM

 
You follow?

"Librarians rock. That reputation they have involving buns, sensible shoes and shushing people is merely a cunning ruse, developed over centuries, to conceal their real lives as radicals, subversives and providers of extreme helpfulness." Taken from this article from the New Zealand Herald.

The article's a round-up of various library weblogs, including mine (heh - I knew my status as the only (listed) NZ library weblogger would bring me fame and fortune one day).

It starts by discussing the Michael Moore Stupid White Men incident, and then points to some blogs. Now, here's where I'm a bit disappointed: look who's listed.

• The Bellydancing Librarian


• The Modified Librarian


• Naked Librarian


• Anarchist Librarians


• Lipstick Librarian


• Laughing Librarian


• Ska Librarian


• Biblia, The Warrior Librarian


• Conan the Librarian

Notice what these all have in common? None of them are serious library blogs (except the Anarchist Librarians and me, and you can see why we were included). Where were Steven and Jenny and Marylaine and Gary Price and Jessamyn (apart from the Naked Librians page)?

Sigh. Less "interesting use of new(ish) technology by worldwide group of information professionals" and more "stereotype: anti-stereotype". Such is life.

[edit] I had a closer look through the Ska Librarian and Laughing Librarian sites, and they do contain at least some "serious" information (gosh, what a value judgment). Although the Ska Librarian's site is only tangentially related to his profession - and you can see he was included because "gay skinhead librarian with weird taste in music" makes more interesting copy than "average (wo)man with interesting things to say about new developments in library and information science"[/edit]

[edit]I've had to correct HTML errors five times in this post. Lamer.

| posted by Simon at 8:35 AM

 
New Zealand national electronic resources consortium.

These last few days I've been very excited about the PER:NA project, sponsored by the National Library of New Zealand. PER:NA stands for Purchasing Electronic Resources: a National Approach. What the National Library has done is negotiate a consortium deal that covers every library in New Zealand. All sizes. All sectors. School, public, academic, special. Everybody is included.

The idea is that as many libraries as possible sign up for the consortium, which gives us access to some quality general information sources, supplied by Ebsco and Gale. We get access to full-text and bibliographic databases containing business, health, news, and general reference sources, both serials and monographs.

A quick flick-through shows me I could save quite a significant sum by signing up, and gain access to titles I wouldn't have a chance of purchasing any other way. And my customers (colleagues, staff, whatever) like the idea too (which is really what's important). Looks like we are good to go.

I'm really pleased by this. Let's hope it's the beginning of something even bigger, and well done the National Library.

| posted by Simon at 6:07 PM

 
Look no further than the MLS Graduate Student Resume Database. Open to all recent (within last 6 months) MLS graduates, the service is provided by the Association of Research Libraries, and linked to their diversity program.

This looks great. Exactly the sort of thing I need, if I'm planning on working in the US after I graduate. And at the moment, that's a definite option. Obviously, it's only of relevance if you're looking for work in the USA ;-)

First seen on Neat New Stuff I Found on the Web This Week, for which no praise can be too high.

| posted by Simon at 6:01 PM

 
"When several users look at the same book page they can see the AR image from their own viewpoint and when one flys into the virtual model, the other users see her as a virtual character in the scene."

HIT Labs, based at the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand) have launched a 3-D children's book. Here's the press release, and here's more on the book.

| posted by Simon at 5:55 PM

 
Justice Ministry staff are now sending text messages to remind people that fines and payments are due. Nice idea. Simple, and will hopefully have an effect on the youth market, as they intend.

| posted by Simon at 5:50 PM

 
What hope do the rest of us have?

Citing increasing prices (and limited use), Harvard University libraries are cutting the number of journals they subscribe to. (The Harvard Crimson Online). While the article claims that 90% of the use comes from 10% of the journals (which sounds exaggerated, the usual rule quoted is the "20%/80% rule), that leaves aside the fact that the other journals still make some contribution to the body of knowledge. And if Harvard is cutting these subscriptions, who, anywhere, is going to be able to afford them?

| posted by Simon at 5:42 PM

 
Pravda writes that Russia's five largest libraries have created a "virtual summary catalogue of their bibliographic descriptions and full-text electronic resources". The project is supported by the British Council and the European Union. The new catalogue will have three million records.

Cool!

| posted by Simon at 5:37 PM

 
The New York Post reports that a 60-year-old school librarian, under investigation for allegedly assaulting two students, has claimed she was sexually assaulted by the investigator. She has now been arrested for 'concocting' that claim.

Possibly not what we really need to improve the professional image of librarians, etc etc.



| posted by Simon at 5:34 PM

 
OK, I'm posting this a day or two late...

Amazon teams up with British Library (The Scotsman, 25 November).

Interesting thing here, which I didn't realise - the scheme will enable Amazon to sell books published before 1970. Up until now, Amazon only sold books with ISBNs (only introduced in 1970 - I didn't know that, either). This seems like a great example of how we can work with commercial operators for everyone's benefit. (I hope the BL is reaping some benefit from this).

| posted by Simon at 5:30 PM

 
First seen on The Resource Shelf, a ranking of global access to Information and Communications Technology. Probably inevitably, the Scandanavian countries top the list, with South Korea being the only country from outside that group in the top five. Canada, the US, and the UK hold 10, 11, and 12, and New Zealand is down nine places to 21, two behind Australia. We score very highly in the knowledge category (access to education, adult literacy), so it looks like we are being let down by things like broadband access and mobile phone ownership.

I wonder if that has anything to do with the high prices of those services here, compared to most developed countries?

Link to report.

| posted by Simon at 8:51 AM

 
Article from Time on 25 must-read graphic novels. Scarily, I've only heard of a handful of them - the Batman Dark Knight novels, Maus, Robert Crumb's work, From Hell, Sandman, and I haven't read any of those. No mention for Watchmen or V for Vendetta which is a pity.....

| posted by Simon at 1:12 PM

 
Unless you get the people side right first. Nothing earth-shattering here, but I'm mentioning it because it's another Work Foundation report (my former employer) and I used to work with the co-author who's quoted in the article.

From BBC News.

| posted by Simon at 1:06 PM

 
I liked this. It explains why writers should still (hey!) use the library for their information gathering needs, rather than relying on Google and the 'net exclusively. Benefits of libraries discussed include classification, selection of authoritative sources, the ability to search controversial materials without fear of an invasion of privacy, and the presence of information experts. Not sure I like the article's dismissive tone towards bloggers, though. The list of ten cool library manuevers for writers is, um, cool too.

Originally seen on librarian.net.

| posted by Simon at 12:44 PM