This is how the New York Public Library sorts their books

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/04/24/this-is-how-the-new-york-public-library-sorts-books/

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/books/22library.html

Three Libraries win awards for programs with cutting edge technology

Contra Costa's program is interesting? Like Redbox for libraries. Take the self-service machines popping up in libraries and putting them in other settings like grocery stores and big box stores, etc. It reaches people who don't usually come into the library.

I thought this article was a nice read and tied into what we are doing and learning in class.

http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2010/march2010/cuttingedge_wo.cfm


The Winners

Library-a-Go-Go, Contra Costa County Library, Pleasant Hill, Calif.

The Library-a-Go-Go service uses fully automated touchscreen materials-lending machines to provide stand-alone library services in non-library environments. For more information: http://ccclib.org/locations/libraryagogo.html

Course Views [Library Tools] Project, North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries, Raleigh, N.C.

The NCSU Libraries implemented a cutting-edge service in response to the difficulty of creating and maintaining enough “course pages” – recommended resources for specific courses and assignments – to meet students’ needs. The Course Views system provides pages for all 6,000 courses offered by over 150 departments at NCSU. For more information: www.lib.ncsu.edu/dli/projects/courseviews.

Digital Amherst, a project of the Jones Library, Amherst, Mass.

Digital Amherst provides digital historical and cultural materials—photographs and other images, articles, lectures and multimedia presentations—to Amherst locals, scholars and tourists. For more information: www.digitalamherst.org/.

As a side note .. I found this interesting news article about an upset patron over library weeding. All the comments after the article from librarians are the best part

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/92/2010/april/26/library-books-end-up-in-trash.html

iPad or Kindle?

According to the Los Angeles Times, there actually is a difference between reading on the iPad or Kindle. Reading on an iPad before bed keeps you awake because it emits its own light. Light-emitting devices help the brain to stay alert. Devices like Kindle, on the other hand, use a technology known as e-paper, which does not emit its own light and simulates the look of a printed page. This means that you can read on Kindle in the sunlight, and it doesn't put you to sleep. 

So whether you read to fall asleep or stay awake, now you know which eReader to choose. However, the paperback still has its own advantages. In case you do fall asleep, you know that it will not break upon falling out of your hand. 

The Building Process for the new Central Library downtown started

The City Council has endorsed the 'schoolibrary" concept with two floors dedicated to a charter school. We are finally getting a more accessible central library Downtown!

Find out how you can help support this project by clicking on this site

https://www.supportmylibrary.org/centrallibrary/aboutproject

More interesting library news:


Rhode Island librarian testifies before Congress

http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/04/22/rhode-island-school-librarian-testifys-before-congress-prepared-testimony-available/

House of Reps pass resolution for National Library Week

http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2010/april2010/nlwresolution_wo.cfm

Singapore reading rate sky high
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20100427-212682.html

Compare that to Tunisia ...
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/04/27/feature-02

School Librarians Know

According to eschoolnews.com, school librarians are working at improving the standards for learning this fall. The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) has released a set of “Standards for the 21^st Century Learner.” These new standards seek to take account of the changes in the present student's learning environment.

In light of the challenges presented by budget cuts, the “Standards for the 21^st Century Learner” focus on the learning process itself. These standards, while applicable to every century, deal with tendencies that are particularly associated with the technologies of the present era.

To overcome the passive or plagiaristic tendencies of television and the Internet, the AASL is seeking to implement an inquiry-based process for learning, emphasizing creativity and encouraging critical thinking at an earlier age.

These skills are necessary for any generation, but in our Information Age, there is a real temptation to let the technology do the thinking for us. School librarians recognize the help and the harm technology presents and are seeking to educate students accordingly. 

Intelligent rants about e-books

Print is dying. Digital is surging. Everyone is confused.

Good Riddance.

As the publishing industry wobbles and Kindle sales jump, book romanticists cry themselves to sleep. But really, what are we shedding tears over?

We’re losing the throwaway paperback.
The airport paperback.
The beachside paperback.

We’re losing the dregs of the publishing world: disposable books. The book printed without consideration of form or sustainability or longevity. The book produced to be consumed once and then tossed. The book you bin when you’re moving and you need to clean out the closet.

These are the first books to go. And I say it again, good riddance.

Once we dump this weight we can prune our increasingly obsolete network of distribution. As physicality disappears, so too does the need to fly dead trees around the world.

You already know the potential gains: edgier, riskier books in digital form, born from a lower barrier-to-entry to publish. New modes of storytelling. Less environmental impact. A rise in importance of editors. And, yes — paradoxically — a marked increase in the quality of things that do get printed.

From 2003-2009 I spent six years trying to make beautiful printed books. Six years. Focused on printed books. In the 00s.

And I loved it. I loved the process. The finality of the end product. I loved the sexy-as-hell tactility of those little ink and paper bricks. But I can tell you this: the excitement I feel about the iPad as a content creator, designer and publisher — and the potential it brings — must be acknowledged. Acknowledged bluntly and with perspective.

With the iPad we finally have a platform for consuming rich-content in digital form. What does that mean? To understand just why the iPad is so exciting we need to think about how we got here.

I want to look at where printed books stand in respect to digital publishing, why we historically haven't read long-form text on screens and how the iPad is wedging itself in the middle of everything. In doing so I think we can find the line in the sand to define when content should be printed or digitized.

This is a conversation for books-makers, web-heads, content-creators, authors and designers. For people who love beautifully made things. And for the storytellers who are willing to take risks and want to consider the most appropriate shape and media for their yarns.

For the rest see: http://craigmod.com/journal/ipad_and_books/

iPads and Libraries

An iPad is a tablet computer designed and marketed by Apple. Its meant for internet browsing, media consumption, gaming, and light content creation. The stylus is your finger. It has a multi-touch screen that is LCD. It runs specific iPad applications as well as those written for the iPhone and iPod touch, including e-book readers. Some people thinkif the app wall Apple has is used with iPads instead it would be the perfect installation for libraries. The iPads could dispaly hundreds of different e-books. Because the size and weight of the iPad it could have alot of innovative uses like teaching aids in school and interactive wallpaper in clubs. This device can really open up a whole new world for libraries. There a many uses for the iPad that a library can do. Libraries can upload their website or library realted websites on a few iPads and leave these out on their displays for patrons to use inside the library. The iPad really can really be a beneficial adition to libraries all over the world. Even artists are sketching on iPads. The iPad can be useful to anyone. This device will pave the way for new technologies.