National Children's Book Week - TCCL - Books to Treasure

Books to Treasure is a yearly celebration of National Children's Book Week! The illustrator for this upcoming event, November 16-17, 2006 is Lisa Campbell Ernst. Tulsa City County Library System will be out in the community signing up second graders for special library cards, illustrated by Ernst, as part of the Books to Treasure program. Every second grader in Tulsa County will receive their own Ernst book, as youth and children's librarians visit area schools around the county of Tulsa. A bibliography is included this year to tie in with the Oklahoma Centennial celebration! The Anne & Henry Zarrow foundation has sponsored this event for the past four years!

Opera tips its hat to Tulsa Libraries

UrbanTulsa.com | Curtains Up!

The season opens with The Little Prince (Oct. 7, 13, 15 in Tulsa and Sept. 22-24 in Norman), an adaptation of the 1943 book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It’s the most translated book in the world after the Bible, the Torah and the Koran. Crawford says this opera is a tip of the hat to Tulsa’s library and literary culture. Also, it’s a perfect introduction for children to the Opera.

In the story, a pilot is stranded in the Sahara Desert and meets the Little Prince, a wanderer from the planet Asteroid B-612. His planet is being overtaken by enormous baobab trees, and they might eat his beloved flower, Rose. She instructs him to leave the planet, seeking wisdom in other worlds, and then return to her.

During his travels, the Little Prince meets many characters, including a Lamplighter who recommends he visit Earth. There, he is introduced to a snake who claims he can send the boy back to B-216 with just one touch. Before he leaves, the Little Prince tells his companion, the Pilot, not to worry--he will not die, for his body is just a shell. The snake strikes and the Little Prince disappears, leaving the Pilot and the audience together to ponder the little boy’s soul. The theme is “anything essential is invisible to the eye,” and Crawford says it’s an important message for children as well as adults to learn.

“Sometimes we adults need a refresher course,” she said.

Another uniqueness to point out is that The Little Prince is composed and produced by women, an incidence that is almost unparalleled.

“In our industry, it is actually quite unprecedented to have the composer, set designer, director and conductor be a female team,” Crawford said.

Starring in The Little Prince is 12 year-old Graham Phillips as “the little prince” and David Adam Moore as “the Pilot.”

Libraries hold key to growth of the ‘knowledge economy’: report

If this is true for UK libraries there's a good chance it's true for USA libraries.

EGov Monitor | Libraries hold key to growth of the ‘knowledge economy’: report

England’s public libraries are playing a crucial, but often overlooked, role in the growth of the knowledge economy, a new study has found.

The report, ‘Public Libraries in the Knowledge Economy’, commissioned by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), shows libraries play a central role in communities’ economic vitality.

MLA’s Senior Libraries Adviser Andrew Stevens said the report, by The Local Futures Group, makes a strong case for promoting public libraries as economic development partners, particularly in relation to the knowledge economy.

“The challenge is now for local authorities to make the most of that expertise by ensuring they involve their libraries as partners in economic development activities,” Mr Stevens said.

“The report shows that libraries are helping local communities to develop new skills, particularly in hard-to-reach groups and those who may otherwise be left behind in the drive to position the UK as a ‘knowledge economy’,” Mr Stevens said.

Every library authority surveyed by the report’s authors provided learning and skills support in basic skills, family learning and education for young people.

Print this book

C|Net These books are free

Google Book Search now offers PDF files of scanned books that can be downloaded and printed for free, Google announced on Wednesday.

Readers can find the books by choosing the "Full view books" option on the Google Book Search home page before they activate their search. Once they have chosen a book from the results page, a download button is clearly visible on the top-right corner of the page.

The PDFs are offered only for those books that fall into the public domain and are intended for personal use.

"We use very conservative rules to comply with international copyright laws," Google spokeswoman Megan Lamb said.

A book's availability depends on the country from which the user is accessing the site. Google blocks users from works that are not yet in the public domain for their country, Lamb said.

A carefully worded note on usage from Google, included as the first page of each downloaded PDF file, explains what "public domain" means and how it can vary by country. Google also notes that users are responsible for following their own country's copyright laws.

"Make noncommercial use of the file. Refrain from automated querying. Maintain attribution. Keep it legal," Google lists as usage guidelines.

Many of these titles have been available for a long while from Project Gutenberg.

`Challenged' books drop to all-time low

Found via Lisnews

Chanllenged books drop to all-time low

The number of books threatened with removal from library shelves dropped last year to its lowest total on record, with 405 challenges reported to the American Library Association.

The ALA has been tracking efforts to pull texts since the early 1980s, when it helped found Banned Books Week as a celebration of free expression. The 25th annual "Banned Books" program takes place Sept. 23-30, as libraries and bookstores highlight works that have been removed or faced removal.

Challenges have gone up and down over the past few years, but overall have dropped by more than half since Banned Books Week was started. Judith Krug, director of the ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom, cited a couple of possible factors for the decline: Librarians are better prepared to organize community support on behalf of a book, and would-be censors are focusing more on online content.

"There's only so much energy to spend on situations or concerns outside the home," Krug told The Associated Press during a recent interview. "A large majority of our challenges deal with what children are reading in schools and many adults are now so concerned about what's on the Internet that they have refocused."

The ALA defines challenges as "formal, written complaints filed with a library or school requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness." For every challenge listed, about four to five go unreported, according to the library association, which sponsors Banned Books Week along with the American Booksellers Association and others in the publishing community.

The number of works actually pulled has also decreased over the past quarter century, from more than 200 in 1982, to at least 44 last year...

Free Resources: Instructional Classification Toolkit for School Library Media Specialists

Free Resources: Instructional Classification Toolkit for School Library Media Specialists

The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association, published a set of new advocacy tools developed to address the issue of the categorization of school library media specialists as "non-instructional."

The Instructional Classification Toolkit was designed to help school library media specialists advocate their role as educators within their schools and districts, as well as to provide talking points for use in opposing the "65 percent solution" legislation that threatens funding for school library media services on the state level.

The legislation, under consideration in many states, requires that 65 percent of all funding for schools be spent on "direct classroom instruction." Supporters of the proposed bill are urging states to use the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) categories to define direct classroom instruction. In that categorization, expenses for school library media services are listed as "support services - instruction," which excludes them from the proposed funding formula.

The Instructional Classification Toolkit contains an extensive FAQ section, a link to the AASL position statement on instructional classification, a sample op-ed piece, sample letter to the editor and a fact sheet. The toolkit is located online at http://www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslproftools/toolkits/.

Tulsaworld.com | Library Books: Out of the Nook: Schools rediscover libraries

Library Books: Out of the Nook: Schools rediscover libraries

Voter-approved bond issues have transformed TPS media centers into useful resources for students.
When Terri Lewis began her career in education 15 years ago, her job title was "library assistant in the school cafeteria" -- because that was where the books were kept.

A few shelves along a perimeter wall was where students came to check out books, but only when there were enough books to go around and when it was not lunchtime.

"You could only have 'library' time if they weren't eating lunch," said Lewis, who is now a certified library media specialist at Mark Twain Elementary School. "And if a Boy Scout troop or some other group had met in the cafeteria the night before, it wasn't uncommon to find a hot dog or some other crazy thing tucked into the shelves."

Even worse than the lack of dedicated space, however, was the extreme lack of funding for materials, Lewis said.

"We got $400 for books each year back then, which did nothing. Now we get between $3,000 and $4,000, and just trying to keep current on the curriculum is still quite difficult, because a good nonfiction book costs about $20," she said.

School libraries in Tulsa Public Schools are undergoing a renaissance thanks to a wave of voter-approved

bond issues that began a decade ago.

So far, a total of $34.43 million from 1996, 1999, 2001 and 2005 bond issues has been dedicated to library resources and the renovation and new construction of facilities.

Between 1996 and 2001, 52 school libraries were constructed or underwent major remodeling. The 2005 bond issue included funds for an additional eight major library building projects.

Now, students have access to a large collection of books and electronic resources, and classes can visit libraries more frequently because so many of them are large enough to accommodate more than one class.

Be sure to read the entire article!

American Chronicle | EPA begins closing libraries

EPA begins closing libraries before Congress acts on plan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving ahead this summer to shut down libraries, end public access to research materials and box up unique collections on the assumption that Congress will not reverse President Bush’s proposed budget reductions, according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). At the same time, EPA’s own scientists are stepping up protests against closures on the grounds that it will make their work more difficult by impeding research, enforcement and emergency response capabilities.

In an August 15, 2006 document entitled “EPA FY 2007 Library Plan,” agency management indicates that it will begin immediately implementing President Bush’s proposed budget cuts for the next fiscal year, which begins in October, without waiting for Congress to act. The memo describes what EPA terms “deaccessioning procedures” (defined as “the removal of library materials from the physical collection”) for its network of 26 technical libraries. Under the plan —

• Regional libraries, located in Chicago, Dallas and Kansas City, serving 15 Midwestern and Southern states will be closed by September 30. Other regional library hours and services will be gradually reduced;

• Public access to EPA libraries and collections will end as soon as possible;

• As many as 80,000 original documents which are not electronically available will be boxed up (“put their collections into stasis,” in the words of the EPA memo) and shipped for eventual “digitizing.”

EPA scientists represented by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, had previously sent a “Demand to Bargain” on the issue, but EPA managers dismissed that demand as premature. The August 15th EPA memo, however, shows that the union concern was far from premature. On August 16, the AFGE National Council of EPA Locals filed a formal grievance demanding that all library closures be put on hold until affected scientists can negotiate the matter as required in the collective bargaining agreement, writing:

McAlester News-Capital | C'mon! Read a book!

McAlester News-Capital | C'mon! Read a book!

Sauro smiles, recalling her elation at getting the position of head librarian in McAlester.

“I put a sign up at the library in Savanna saying ‘I got the job!’”

After arriving in McAlester, Sauro quickly grew fond of her new city.

“I liked it immediately. I loved the weather,” she said, recalling the frigid winters in Illinois. “People here were so friendly.”

Sauro has done more than make new friends since moving to McAlester. She’s also worked hard to make the McAlester Public Library the best it can be.

Over the past fiscal year, which began on July 1, 2005 and ended on June 30 of this year, the library checked out 139,185 items — an average of 465 per day.

“That’s books, CDs — everything,” Sauro said.

Library workers answered 16,800 reference questions and helped make 22,114 hours of Internet use available.

The library has 8,923 registered patrons, not counting the people who just walk through the door.

Sauro holds a stack of papers more than two inches high from people who have come in to use the Internet over the past year. Since they were often visiting or passing through McAlester and didn’t have or need a library card, they filled out a user’s form.

“They’re from California, Alabama, Texas, Nevada, Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona — even Guam,” she said, leafing through a few of the forms at random.

My Very Educated Mother....

This is rather timely since the Oklahoma school textbooks most recently under review were the Science, Technology, and Math topics...

From C|Net : Textbook publishers grapple with Pluto demotions

If you're looking for the most accurate information about the solar system, the Internet trumps science textbooks.

Once upon a time, Pluto was a planet. Then it maybe wasn't a planet. Then it was a planet, but only if somewhere between three and 100 other chunks of space rock were counted as planets. And now, finally, a conclusion has been reached thanks to new standards devised by the International Astronomical Union (IAU): Pluto isn't a planet. It's a "dwarf planet," as opposed to a "classical planet" like its eight former brethren.

Such fundamental changes to what kids are taught don't happen very often. It's like dropping Australia off the list of continents. Wikipedia got the change right away. So did other Internet resources. Now try correcting the millions of science textbooks, standardized tests, films and even solar system models that will be used in a classroom this fall.

"It's so significant because this is one of those times where it's a subject that reaches all grade levels," said Rebecca Bondor, vice president and editor-in-chief of Scholastic Classroom Magazines, which publishes 23 magazines geared to kindergarten through 12th grade educational audiences. "Children from first grade on up are going to be relearning some very huge things that they learned before."

No matter how quickly a publisher can roll out new editions of its earth science, astronomy, or general science texts, tight state educational budgets complicate the situation. A state's department of education will typically order new course materials every five or six years, said David Hakensen, vice president of public relations at Pearson Education. Since Pearson has no plans to offer physical updates to its existing texts--such as stickers or supplemental pages--the states that ordered new science textbooks for the impending academic year most likely won't be getting new, eight-planet versions for another half decade.

Librarians at the gate

From the Nation, Librarians at the Gate -- please be sure to read the entire article:

Courage, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. And in an era of increasing controls on the gathering and dissemination of information, many Americans are unaware of the courageous stands librarians take every day.

The day-to-day challenges librarians face are inherent in the job description: defending access to controversial or banned books, staving off budget cuts, and creating and expanding programs to draw more citizens into one of the few remaining genuinely public commons in American life. While the ethic of secrecy often prevails in the gathering and dissemination of corporate and governmental information, the work of a librarian is imbued with just the opposite. Be it in the capacity of archivist, reference librarian or information technology professional, a common thread is the profession's dogged commitment to safeguarding books, research and information to make knowledge more widespread, not less.

In the past few years this dedication has become more important than ever. With the federal government ever more intent on spying on its own citizens, and on classifying, concealing and manipulating larger swaths of information and intelligence, librarians and library custodians are on the front lines protecting freedom of inquiry and our right to privacy. And where right-wing groups, both local and national, have campaigned for censorship, librarians have also stepped up to the plate to defend minority points of view in their collections. Anecdotes there are aplenty, too many to document here. The following are but a few profiles of courageous individuals in the field who exemplify the democratic values and the independent spirit of the profession.

Do you judge a librarian by her/his cover? Yes you do.

Found this via boingboing...

Perhaps this is why some reference desks get more traffic than others or some librarians get asked more questions than others?

Snap judgments decide a face's character, psychologist finds

We may be taught not to judge a book by its cover, but when we see a new face, our brains decide whether a person is attractive and trustworthy within a tenth of a second, according to recent Princeton research.

Princeton University psychologist Alex Todorov has found that people respond intuitively to faces so rapidly that our reasoning minds may not have time to influence the reaction -- and that our intuitions about attraction and trust are among those we form the fastest.

"The link between facial features and character may be tenuous at best, but that doesn't stop our minds from sizing other people up at a glance," said Todorov, an assistant professor of psychology. "We decide very quickly whether a person possesses many of the traits we feel are important, such as likeability and competence, even though we have not exchanged a single word with them. It appears that we are hard-wired to draw these inferences in a fast, unreflective way."
...
The research, Todorov said, explores some of the same topics addressed in "Blink," the recent best-selling book by New York journalist Malcolm Gladwell about the rapid cognition our minds experience when making decisions quickly, especially those based on first impressions made in the "blink" of an eye. Gladwell, who is often described as a type of popular sociologist, has said the impetus for his book was the rapid judgments people made about him because of his long hair.

Your pictures are needed

Old Family Photos Sought For Centennial Celebration

Haul out the family picture album. Explore the local newspaper's photo archives, or check that old box of negatives you've been meaning to organize. You may discover an image that's destined to be part of Oklahoma's centennial celebration.

Individuals and organizations throughout the state are encouraged to submit photos to "Oklahoma Image," a set of traveling exhibits that will celebrate Oklahoma's 100th birthday in 2007.

The Oklahoma Department of Libraries (ODL) is sponsoring four thematic exhibits that will tour the state's public libraries throughout the year. Following the main tour, the exhibits will be available to schools, museums, libraries and community organizations.

Project manager Susan Feller said ODL will consider photo submissions from any era. "We certainly want to see photos from Oklahoma's early days of statehood," Feller said, "but the pre-statehood period and more modern times also need to be represented. We're looking for photos that capture the spirit of our state and its people."

"Oklahoma Image" is modeled after a project ODL sponsored 25 years ago as part of Oklahoma's 75th anniversary celebration. That project featured many historic photographs drawn from private collections. The agency is again asking the public's help in adding new images. "It's our goal to promote the holdings of institutions and individuals through the state," Feller said. "Some of our finest photos may be in private collections, and the Centennial offers an ideal opportunity for us to share these images with each other."

The photographic exhibits will feature four different themes: "Main Street," "The Good Life," "Growing Up in Oklahoma," and "The Land We Belong to is Grand."
The project will include additional resources to help libraries with public programming. A CD-ROM of photographs will also accompany each exhibit. "The compact disk will let us share many more photos than we could with the traditional exhibit alone," Feller said.

To submit a photo for consideration, e-mail a scanned image to sfeller@oltn.odl.state.ok.us, or mail a copy to Susan Feller, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, 200 N.E. 18th Street, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105. Include your contact information, including name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. All submissions will receive a response. Signed photo releases will be required for photos that are accepted for inclusion in the exhbits or CD-ROMS. Appropriate credits will be included with each photograph. All original photos will be returned.

Photos should be e-mailed or post-marked by Sept. 8.

"Oklahoma Image" is made possible by a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. Additional partners include the Chambers Library Archive at the University of Central Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Historical Society, the University of Oklahoma Western History Collections, the Oklahoma Humanities Council, the Oklahoma Department of Education, the Oklahoma Museums Association, and The Oklahoman.

Job Posting | SWOSU

Director of Libraries

Qualifications

MLS from ALA-accredited institution; minimum 5 years academic library experience; strong operational knowledge of information technologies; a clear vision of the emergent role of an academic library and information technology; strong oral and written skills; demonstrated capacity to work with faculty and to manage staff and budgets; demonstrated awareness and understanding of current trends in librarianship and library and information management
Preferred Qualifications

Experience with new and emerging technologies, including online library systems, database development, and providing library support for distance education; experience with administrative modules of Endeavor Library System; experience with metadata and its use in web-based platforms; earned doctorate or other additional advanced degree; scholarly accomplishments and professional involvement at the state and national level.
Responsibilities

* Reports to the Provost and Academic Affairs Unit
* Directly supervises the librarians
* Envisions and implement services and technologies to meet the needs of a diverse academic community
* Supports professional development among library faculty and staff
* Establishes effective communication within the library, lead and motivate team building, and foster a collegial and collaborative working environment for both the Weatherford and Sayre campuses
* At his/her discretion serves at the reference desk, assists in library instruction and acts as library liaison to an academic department
* Work closely with appropriate librarians in configuring administrative functions of the Endeavor ILS
* Maintains and monitors materials, operating, and equipment budgets, as well as other resources allocated to the library
* Completes annual performance evaluations of library faculty and submits them to Human Resources
* Assesses and compiles data on library services for reports and strategic planning activities
* Monitors the preparation of library data for university academic departments accreditation reports
* Work with the appropriate university departments to enhance libraries’ technical infrastructure and expand library services to campus and distance education users
* Spokesperson and advocate for the library within the academic community, state, and region
* Member of the Administrative Council and Academic Advisory Council, Chair of the Library Advisory Committee, SWOSU library representative on the Oklahoma Council of Academic Library Directors, heads the Library Leadership Team, and serves on other library teams and campus committees as needed
* Other duties as assigned

Visit HERE for more info!

Scholarship and Academic Libraries (and their kin) in the World of Google

Folks over at LibLisc are looking at Scholarship and Academic Libraries (and their kin) in the World of Google , in FirstMonday

Abstract
The prospect of ubiquitous digitization will not change the fundamental relationships among scholarship, academic libraries, and publication. Collaboration across time and space, which is a principal mechanism of scholarship, ought to be enhanced. Reforms in copyright law will be required if the promise of digitization is to be realized; absent such reform, there is a serious risk that much academically valuable material will become invisible and unused. Ubiquitous digitization will change radically the economics that have supported university–based collections of published material. Scholars and scholarly institutions (including libraries and university presses) must assert vigorously claims of fair use and openness.

Was Melvil annoying?

Is Melvil Dewey annoying or not? You decide by voting here.

Why he might be annoying

* He invented a system for nerds.
* He was obsessed with simplified spelling and even shortened his first name by removing the last two letters.
* He sometimes spelled his last name 'Dui,' which happens to be the acronym for 'Driving Under the Influence.'
* He organized librarian conferences (starting in 1876), the biggest geek meetings to take place before Star Trek Conventions (which began in 1972).
* He cut his employees' salaries in half, claiming that he needed money to hire more workers.
* He was accused of and investigated for illegal business practices on several occasions. He ran a restricted Lake Placid recreation resort, barring Jews from admittance.
* He was forced to step down from some esteemed positions because of his reputation as a womanizer and a bigot.
* He developed retirement communities in New York and Florida, which is ironically the two states where most retired Jews live in America.
* He looked like James Lipton from 'Inside the Actor's Studio.'

Why he might not be annoying

* He's a librarian's wet dream.
* He grew up in a poor family.
* He had a stellar work ethic and spent a lifetime influencing education reform.
* He worked as a librarian at Amherst College and Columbia College (later became Columbia University).
* He opened the first library school while working at Columbia College (1887).
* The United States Government sent him to London's International Library Conference as a delegate (1897).
* He created jobs for crabby old ladies.

Want to learn more about Melvil? Try checking out some of these or read this short essay over at americanheritage.com.

Free Resources: Toolkit from ETS and SETDA to Help Educators Leverage Data

Free Resources: Toolkit from ETS and SETDA to Help Educators Leverage Data

ETS and the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) have released a free informational toolkit of resources that will assist educators at the state, district, and school levels to leverage available data to impact teaching and learning.

The toolkit, called "Using Data for School Reform," includes the following:
* Independent research conducted by ETS that supports the need for statewide data systems, which SETDA members can use to make their case to state-level policy makers
* A policy recommendation regarding data for the reauthorization of NCLB
* Case studies on statewide data systems from five states
* Leadership documents and sample templates that help state-level tech directors explain the benefits of why statewide data systems are so important to the success of schools today including the opportunity for cost savings, individualized instruction, and consistent reporting methods

"Many states are moving to statewide data systems, but to date only a few districts and states are truly using data to change teaching and learning," said SETDA's Executive Director, Mary Ann Wolf, PhD. "As states develop plans for data infrastructure, the end goal should always be about increasing student achievement."

"Using Data for School Reform" is one component of SETDA's 2006 Leadership Summit Toolkit and is available free online at http://www.setda.org/content.cfm?sectionID=265.

Retired UCO librarian dances around the subject

Edmond Sun | Step, hop, step hop

Local librarian explains love

A thunderstorm raged outside, but rain didn’t dampen the spirits of about 20 folk dancers taking part Monday evening in a weekly gathering at Oklahoma City’s Unitarian Church.

One of the dancers was Carol Barry, an Edmond resident and retired University of Central Oklahoma librarian, who has been involved in folk dancing since 1984.

“A friend of mine said she was going folk dancing (back then) and asked me to go,” Barry said.

“She didn’t stay with it long, but I’ve been dancing ever since.”

...

Barry said the camaraderie of the group is an important part of the experience.

“They are like my extended family,” she said.

But as a retired librarian, she also appreciates the educational value of the international folk dancing.

“It broadens your appreciation for the music and dance of other cultures,” she said. “It’s very educational, and it’s a very family oriented thing. People will bring their kids.” ...

Oklahoma Librarian publishes book

New Title: Legal Ethics: A Legal Research Guide

Associate Director for Faculty, Research & Instructional Services, Oklahoma City University Law Library, Lee Peoples has just published Legal Ethics: A Legal Research Guide (2006). It is available from W.S. Hein (ISBN: 0-8377-3606-4 | $53).

Visit the first link above for a description of the book.

Newest Okie Readin' to Y'all

James Garner joins Governor and First Lady Henry, Kristen Chenoweth and Toby Keith as Read Y'all stars.

I'm curious to know which Oklahoman's would you, dear reader, like to see on a Read Y'all poster? My pick would be the The Flaming Lips. Not sure on who some other famous Oklahoman's are? Try this site for some names.

OCLC in the Onion

Just saw this little article via the new NexGenLib over at Google groups.

Dewey Decimal System Helpless To Categorize New Jim Belushi Book

August 14, 2006 | Issue 42•33

DUBLIN, OH—Members of the OCLC Online Computer Library Center’s Editorial Policy Committee, which oversees the Dewey Decimal System library classification system, were no closer Monday to assigning a definitive call number to the recently published Jim Belushi book Real Men Don’t Apologize. "With all due respect to the author, we remain unsure how to categorize this particular work," said committee chair Leslie Buncombe, who, despite repeated readings, still wasn’t sure if Real Men was "an actual book." "What is it? Autobiography? Self-help? We can’t even tell if it’s fiction or nonfiction," Added Buncombe: "Too bad it can’t be shelved by its ISBN number. Maybe it’s Fantasy Biography? I don’t even think there’s a code for that." If no decision is reached within the week, librarians may be forced to shelve it in the "phantom zone" between Jenny McCarthy’s book of marriage tips and novels in which a cat helps solve a mystery.

© Copyright 2006, Onion, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Onion is not intended for readers under 18 years of age.

Do you google...err....yahoo!... err...use a search thingy?

Fun little story over at slashdot about Google (notice big "G") sending out letters to preserve their name.

When will library catalogs get to the point that the noun-name of the catalog becomes the verb? Did you endeavor that book? Or how about federated searching? Did you webfeat that topic to see what's all available?

Hmmm just doesn't have the same ring does it? Maybe if we came up with snappy names for our search engines in libraries they would get more use...

Here's some random silly made-up words that you are welcome to use for your libray catalogs:
(librarystories takes no responsiblity for the effectiveness of any of these words. And apologizes if any libraries actually use these words already to promote their services)

• bibite
• bonbib
• librize
• oopine
• dueek
• autoeek
• ootible
• outoot
• aquaigle
• tribleh
• ackion
• anniack

The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age

Found this via boingboing

The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age

Abstract:
This foundational white paper reports on a year-long study by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, examining the relationship between copyright law and education. In particular, we wanted to explore whether innovative educational uses of digital technology were hampered by the restrictions of copyright. We found that provisions of copyright law concerning the educational use of copyrighted material, as well as the business and institutional structures shaped by that law, are among the most important obstacles to realizing the potential of digital technology in education.

Drawing on research, interviews, two participatory workshops with experts in the field, and the lessons drawn from four detailed case studies, the white paper identifies four obstacles as particularly serious ones:

* Unclear or inadequate copyright law relating to crucial provisions such as fair use and educational use;
* Extensive adoption of digital rights management technology to lock up content;
* Practical difficulties obtaining rights to use content when licenses are necessary;
* Undue caution by gatekeepers such as publishers or educational administrators.

The white paper concludes with some discussion of paths toward reform that might improve the situation, including certain types of legal reform, technological improvements in the rights clearance process, educator agreement on best practices, and increased use of open access distribution.

Cites & Insights looks at library blogs

Looking at liblogs: the great middle ground (pdf):

from the article

My conclusions, such as they are, appear scattered throughout this long essay.

The major conclusion: As liblogs proliferate, they offer many more voices worth listening to. If you can’t find twenty or thirty blogs on this list that intrigue you enough to subscribe to, you either have a lot of feeds already or have narrow interests within the library field.

Given the broader scope of this year’s look, I can predict that some blogs will disappear or change (actually, one has already been declared closed and two
or three changed names since this study began—I even helped suggest the name in one case: …the thoughts are broken… is now Off the Mark).

I’ve heard enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that blog readership has grown quite a bit. That may reflect ease of use via aggregators (with people subscribing who’ve never heard of “RSS”); it may also reflect the quality of library-related blogs.

I cited the title of the post with the most comments for each blog that has any comments. What conclusions can be drawn from those titles? Other than the obvious—new jobs, marriage, graduation from library school, homebuying and other major life
events draw lots of comments—I’ll leave that exercise to others.

Highsmith Toy Recalled

Found this via Lisnews

I'm not sure if any libraries in the state used these toys as promotional items but you might want to take a look in your supply closests. I tried a Google News search but didn't see any mention of Oklahoma libraries.

The distributor of the toys, Highsmith Inc. conducted tests on these toys and found that they had 0.277 percent lead, at least five times more than the 0.06 permitted through federal rules.

Okie book drama feature on BBW poster

Banned Book Week is fast approaching and ALA has all their material available for purchase.

There are three posters available for purchase an adult, young adult, and children's poster. All three have a circus theme and show challenged books in animal cages. The theme for this year is: "Read Banned Books: They are your ticket to freedom."

Greg, of SHUSH, pointed out that King and King is featured on ALA's children's poster this year.

Normally I wouldn't have issues with the books highlighted on ALA material for BBW. But I have to say, from a purely literary perspective, I'm disappointed King & King was selected to appear on the children's poster. And before either side gets up in arms please let me explain.

The adult poster contains the following text at the bottom:

See the terrifying and threatening "1984"
Marvel at the amazing "Invisible Man"

While the YA poster reads:

Wonder at the fearsome and terrifying "Iceman"
See the spectacular "Wizard of Oz"

Lastly the children's poster highlights:

Marvel at the threatening "Anastasia Krupnik"
View the breathtaking "King and King"

Aside from Iceman (which I haven't read) the other books listed on the posters are amazing works of literature. They are either classics or the authors have proven themselves to be respected and capable of writing material that will have a lasting affect. I'm not saying King and King isn't a good book but the author, Linda de Haan, isn't even in the same league as the author of Anastasia Krupnik, who is Louis Lowry.

ALA chose to use K&K for one reason -- to make a statement -- and they don't have to deal with the aftermath.

I'm disappointed that ALA went this route -- considering all the other books that are out there, with strong literary merit, that have been challenged and could have proven the dangers of censorship much more...Am I writing off Banned Book Week? No, I still believe that it's an important event to mark -- I'm just disappointed in ALA's judgment.

GTR Newspaper | Jarman Students Help Library

Jarman students help library

Students at Jarman Elementary School, 9015 E. 79th St., are receiving an education in library science by volunteering their time as media specialist assistants.

“The students are doing a wonderful job and are very motivated to help in the media center,” media specialist Jessica Hilton says.

“They work before and after school each day and, as a bonus, we all eat lunch together in the media center every Tuesday.”
Some of the fifth graders have been selected to serve for a 9-week period in which they help check out books and shelve/re-shelve materials. They also assist students in the lower grades in the selection of books.

“The program has really rejuvenated the enthusiasm for our media center,” says Principal Patti Pitcock. “They also have adopted a shelf where they help to keep books and materials organized and in the proper order, and they love checking out books because of a scanner they get to use. Ms. Hilton has been extraordinary in coordinating our older students to become media center ambassadors.”

I always feel like someone is watching me...

Everytime I teach a class to college students about performing research on the WWW I try to impress upon them the ease by which their movements can be tracked, monitored, and observed.

I show them voyeur search sites, such as Metaspy or SearchSpy.

I show them an IP address and how you can look up where the IP is coming from.

I show them how you can look up who owns a particular website so they can check for bias or conflicts of interests. (Although this method isn't a guarantee)...

Now AOL has showen the world and their customers how much more is tracked.

C|net : AOL's disturbing glimpse into users' lives

AOL's publication of the search histories of more than 650,000 of its users has yielded more than just one of the year's bigger privacy scandals.

The 21 million search queries also have exposed an innumerable number of life stories ranging from the mundane to the illicit and bizarre.

For its part, AOL has apologized for a researcher's disclosure of the massive database and has yanked the file from its Web site. It was too late: The database already had been mirrored.

That database does not include names or user identities. Instead, it lists only a unique ID number for each user. What that means is that it's possible to view the search terms that users of a single account typed in while using AOL Search during a three-month period. (Google, Yahoo, and MSN Search aren't included.)

From that massive list of search terms, for instance, it's possible to guess that AOL user 710794 is an overweight golfer, owner of a 1986 Porsche 944 and 1998 Cadillac SLS, and a fan of the University of Tennessee Volunteers Men's Basketball team. The same user, 710794, is interested in the Cherokee County School District in Canton, Ga., and has looked up the Suwanee Sports Academy in Suwanee, Ga., which caters to local youth, and the Youth Basketball of America's Georgia affiliate...

Chickasha to have author speak

Chickashanews.com | Author to speak in Chickasha

Carolyn Hart, an Oklahoma mystery writer, will be visiting Chickasha on August 10, 2006. She will be the featured speaker at the Friends of the Chickasha Public Library summer book review luncheon that will be held at USAO's Regent's room. Mrs. Hart will be reviewing her latest book Dead Days of Summer the 17th addition to her Death on Demand Series.

The Death on Demand series is set in a mystery bookstore on an idyllic South Carolina sea island. Annie Darling is the main character and owns the bookstore. Her and her mystery reading customers are always stumbling on to murders to solve. In her latest adventure, Annie finds her husband Max missing. Once found he is accused of murder. The book follows Annie and her cohorts as they try to clear Max and find the true murderer.

Carolyn writes two other mystery series. Her harder edged Henrie-O series features retired newspaper woman Henrietta O'Dwyer Collins. There are now 8 books in this series. Her newest series features the late Bailey Ruth Raeburn, of Adelaide, OK will begin being published in fall of 2007.

Schools fixing library problems

Muskogee Phoenix | Area schools fixing problems

Officials at three area school districts cited for minor deficiencies by the State Department of Education say they have corrected the deficiencies in time for the start of the 2006-07 school year.

As part of its annual accreditation last week, the State Board of Education accredited 53 Oklahoma school districts with one deficiency and 29 with more than one deficiency. The board did not withhold accreditation of any public or private school or career/technology center and cited fewer schools with deficiencies for the 2007 school year than it did for 2006.

Muskogee County schools cited for deficiencies were:
• Webbers Falls: Oklahoma history teacher without proper credential or endorsement.

• Oktaha: Library does not meet state board regulations and seventh-grade math teacher without proper credential or endorsement.

• Warner: Library does not meet state board regulations.

The districts were accredited with their deficiencies.

...

In Oktaha, a librarian and a computer science teacher left the district shortly before the start of the 2006 school year, superintendent Jerry Needham said.

“Librarians are very difficult to find,” he said, adding that the school managed to find staff to cover the librarian shortage.

I hope superintendent Needham contacted OUSLIS for recent graduates.

SLIS Facts | During the fall of 2004, 230 students were enrolled in LIS courses, including 146 graduate and 84 undergraduate students.

SLIS students have come from more than twenty-five nations, forty U. S. states, and one hundred thirty-six Oklahoma cities and towns.

SLIS programs are designed for working adults. Courses meet once per week during the late afternoon and in intensive weekend sessions. Interactive digital videoconferencing technology is used to link students and faculty in Norman and Tulsa. The World Wide Web plays a significant and increasing role in the delivery of LIS courses.

Pika-pika Learn!

Found via MM&I@SM

Pokémon USA has announced the release of Pokémon Learning League, a Web-based educational suite of animated, interactive lessons in language arts, math, science, and life skills for grades 3-6. Drawing upon current research and instructional strategies, the program is aligned with state and national standards and is designed to help teachers reinforce concepts taught in the classroom.

Pokémon Learning League uses a variety of instructional techniques and activities to help educators adapt instruction to accommodate a range of student abilities and a multitude of learning styles. Through its animation and interactive lessons, the program illustrates key concepts in a way that is accessible and easy to comprehend, helping students who may not have fully grasped the material through other teaching methods, the announcement states.

Lessons are presented in a three-step format that provides guided and scaffolded instruction for students:

1) Watch: The lesson begins with a narrative-based animated segment in which students, along with the Pokémon characters, are introduced to the educational concept.

2) Try: Next, students collaborate with the characters to explore and interact with the material, receiving feedback and support to help deepen their understanding.

3) Apply: After practicing with the material, students have an opportunity to apply what they have learned to interactive challenges.

Throughout the program, Pokémon characters demonstrate creative problem-solving skills and prosocial behaviors such as teamwork and skill building to serve as models for students, according to the announcement. Each lesson is designed to be approximately 10 minutes in length and is accessible online. Students can move through the lessons at their own pace.

Educators and students can enjoy free online access to Pokémon Learning League until October 31, 2006. The program will be available to schools, households, and after-school programs on a subscription basis following the free trial period.

For more information, visit http://www.PokemonLearningLeague.com. A report detailing the research basis for the new product is available to view and download from the Pokémon Learning League homepage.

Job Postings | OLBPH

Librarian, E21D, Level IV, (Two Positions) Department of Rehabilitative Services, Oklahoma Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

Announcement #07-007

Librarian, E21D, Level IV. May be filled at Level III-E21C, Level II-E21B or Level I-E21A

Essential Functions: Provides reader services to visually impaired patrons by approving applications and helping patrons access all library services. Perform other library services as needed. Must be willing to preform all job related travel. Probationary period (or trial period if applicable) is required.

Education and Experience Requirements: Level I - Master's Degree in library science from a program accredited by the American Library Association. Level II – same as level I plus two years of professional library experience. Level III – same as level II plus two additional years of qualifying experience. Level IV – same as Level III plus one additional year of qualifying experience.

Monthly Salary Range: Minimum Midpoint Maximum

Level IV - Pay Band L $2,620.67 $3,494.25 $4,367.83

Level III - Pay Band L $2,620.67 $3,494.25 $4,367.83

Level II - Pay Band K $2,382.50 $3,176.67 $3,970.83

Level I - Pay Band I $1,982.67 $2,643.50 $3,304.42

Position opened until filled

To Apply: All Sources - Current State of Oklahoma employees with permanent status in the classified service or those having reinstatement rights: Submit three (3) complete sets of all of the following application materials:

1) a cover letter that MUST contain the recruitment announcement number or JOB # (whichever is shown above), title, class code, of the position of which you are applying; telephone number where you can be reached during office hours, your home mailing address, and your current classification and class code.

2) A completed Office of Personnel Management Personal Data Summary Sheet (OPM-4B), that clearly indicates how you meet the education and/or experience requirements. DRS requires applicants to provide copies of performance evaluations at the interview process. Applicants, who have no previous classified state service, in unclassified status OR currently in probationary status, must apply at the Office of Personnel Management www.ok.gov/opm

Send to:
Department of Rehabilitation Services
Attn: Personnel
3535 NW 58th Street, Suite 500
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73112

If you have any questions regarding this position or the application process, contact Kim Hudson at (405) 951-3454 or Tina Kershner at (405) 951-3527.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

Frederick G. Kilgour, founder of OCLC, dies at 92

Frederick G. Kilgour, founder of OCLC, dies at 92

Frederick G. Kilgour, a librarian and educator who created an international computer library network and database that changed the way people use libraries, died on July 31, 2006. He was 92 years old and had lived since 1990 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Kilgour is widely recognized as one of the leading figures in 20th- century librarianship for using computer networks to increase access to information in libraries around the world. He was among the earliest proponents of adapting computer technology to library processes. At the dawn of library automation in the early 1970's, he founded OCLC Online Computer Library Center and led the creation of a library network that today links 55,000 institutions in 110 countries.

"Fred Kilgour lived a rich life that was full of accomplishment," said Jay Jordan, OCLC President and CEO. "He leaves us with a great legacy and an exciting future. His innovations have vastly increased the availability of library resources for millions of people around the world. His vision continues to influence the evolution of research, scholarship and education in the digital age."

In 1971, he developed a database, WorldCat, that now contains more than 70 million entries for books and other materials and more than one billion location listings for these materials in libraries around the world, and it is available on the World Wide Web. It is regarded as the world's largest computerized library catalog, including not only entries from large institutions such as the Library of Congress, the British Library, the Russian State Library and Singapore National Library, but also from small public libraries, art museums and historical societies. It contains descriptions of library materials and their locations. More recently, the database provides access to the electronic full text of articles and books as well as images and sound recordings. It spans 4,000 years of recorded knowledge. Every 10 seconds a library adds a new record.