American Library Association Journals
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Library Cyberslacking
No full textA story about a man, a computer, and an aardvark. First, though, let’s talk about our bosses. Supervisors in libraries prefer to believe their employees are working. When I was a library administrator, I liked the idea that my employees were cataloging or buying books or whatever else it was I was paying them to do. It made me feel good as a manager—and gave me something to talk about with my boss. The reality—I knew, my boss knew, and my employees certainly knew even though we all pretended otherwise—was different. People were gossiping, chatting, visiting, drinking coffe
101 Seeds for Library Joy: Simple Practices for the Everyday
No full textEvery year I pick a word of intention—something to explore and guide, and in 2017, I picked the word “joy.” Little did I know how the word joy would transform my life. During that year, I started learning about positive psychology, its various techniques and neuroscience
Twenty Expert Perspectives on What Kids Need Now
No full textWonder Libraries: 20 Expert Perspectives on What Kids Need Now (Neal Schuman-ALA Editions, 2024), edited by Liz McChesney, was recently released; here the author introduces us to four of the contributors to share some of the thinking and research as well as the celebration of library professionals and librarians in the work
A Primer on Primers: How Children Were Taught to Read, 1800 to 1950
No full textBlending my professional interest in beginning readers with the opportunity to spend a month at the Baldwin Collection of Historical Children’s Literature at the Smathers Library, University of Florida, Gainesville, I chose to examine the collection’s extensive holdings of primers and other books designed to help children learn to read.I selected 1800 as a starting point as the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries witnessed the beginnings of a changed attitude toward children, their literature, and methods of learning to read. A number of enlightened philosophies would influence how children were taught to read into the next century
Get to Know ...
No full textHow many of us can say that we knew our chosen career atage sixteen? Beth Downing decided to become a librarianas a sophomore in high school. Originally, she aspired to be achildren’s librarian, but she ended up as an “accidental governmentdocuments librarian.” Beth first moved into a gov docsposition at the University of Wyoming when a staff member leftand Beth took over
Boosting the Identifier Ecosystem of the University of Colorado Boulder Faculty
No full textUnique author identifiers play a crucial role in scholarly communication, enabling the correct attribution of authorship and the promotion and discovery of scholarly works. Identifiers benefit both the individual faculty member and their campus community as well. Academic library catalogers play an essential role in ensuring a robust identifier profile for the faculty on their campus and in growing and maintaining the broader identifier ecosystem. This study provides the most thorough analysis to date of the faculty identifier ecosystem of an R1 public university, examining the prevalence of five identifiers among the university’s faculty and using this information to determine practical ways that its cataloging team can boost the local and global identifier ecosystem, as well as providing guidance to other cataloging agencies interested in a similar endeavor
An Homage to Books
No full textI saw this quote etched in stone at the Briscoe Western ArtMuseum during my spring break trip to San Antonio, TX. Thevenue was a former library; the author of the quote? RalphWaldo Emerson. The nineteenth-century American essayist and poet was one of the book world’s biggest advocates. Thankfully, today people still read his words and find them relevant
Lobbying Congress for Support of Libraries
No full textFederal databases are disappearing, or information in them,such as climate change and military women’s heroic deeds,are being deleted. A list of terms is used to delete data, includingwomen, female, tribal, Black, Hispanic, and nuclear power.For the complete list, go to the “U. S. Government InformationWeekly Roundup” managed by Kelley Smit
Outstanding Business Information Sources 2025
No full textEach year, the Business Information Sources Committee of the Business Reference and ServicesSection (BRASS) selects the outstanding business information sources published since May ofthe previous year. This year, the committee reviewed twenty-three entries; of these, two weredesignated as “Outstanding” and four as “Notable.” Works are examined for the following: ease ofuse; reputation of the publisher, author, or editor; accuracy; appropriate bibliography; organization;comprehensiveness; value of the content; currency or timeliness; uniqueness; quality and accuracyof index or cited references; and quality and usefulness of graphics and illustrations. This year’sselection of works covers a wide range of topics, including artificial intelligence, women whoshaped finance and retail, Spotify’s impact on the music industry, the challenges inherent in energytransition, and redirecting economic growt
Good Grief: Comfort Kits Aid Youth Dealing with Loss
No full textDeath happens. But families are often afraid or hesitant to talk about it with children.As a longtime writer in the funeral industry—and as a children’s librarian—I knew there was a niche in helping children deal with loss and grief