Now they're coming after the librarians

From Daily Kos:

Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) is, as I suspect most people know, a Teahadist moron. But it takes a special kind of moron to piss off librarians. That’s exactly what she did this morning, with the announcement that she would introduce a bill in Congress, mandating that,

“The Librarian of Congress shall continue to use the terms ‘Alien’ and ‘Illegal aliens’ in the Library of Congress Subject Headings in the same manner at they were in effect during 2015.”

Libraries'... ultimate purpose is not simply to be a storehouse of books, but to make those books useful to patrons. Now, “useful” can mean different things to different people, but for catalogers, one of the chief qualities of usefulness is simply: discoverability. No matter how “useful” a book may be in terms of its literary or informational qualities, if it cannot be found among the thousands of other books held by a given library, it’s not particularly useful at all.

In order to fulfill this mandate, catalogers maintain library catalogs...

When it comes to topical discovery, one of the most important tools that cataloging librarians have at their disposal is the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), which is a suite of controlled vocabularies that enable catalogers to record the “aboutness” of a given work. Because “natural language” is more or less inexact, the terms in the LCSH serve to cut out some of the noise by selecting certain terms as “preferred” and recording other, “non-preferred” terms as cross references...

Now, of course, providing subject access is, ultimately, a language game. And language, like libraries themselves, is an ever-changing organism...

Job opening: Manager, Adult and Outreach Services - Upper Hudson Library System (Albany, NY)

The Upper Hudson Library System (UHLS) has a challenging opportunity for a creative library professional to join our team. We are a cooperative library system headquartered in Albany, NY, providing services to enhance, support and connect the 29 independent public libraries in New York’s Albany and Rensselaer Counties.

Our new colleague will collaborate with UHLS staff and our member libraries to provide System services focusing on:
• adult services support and continuing education
• e-content collection growth and management
• resource sharing services (delivery, inter-library loan, etc.)
• outreach services

We are looking for a professional who:
• is passionate about public library service
• is ready to be a strong leader in helping our member libraries make a difference in their communities
• understands and seeks to further the important role public library systems play in strengthening library service

You should be able to demonstrate through your skills and experience:
• the ability to plan and organize multiple priorities effectively and efficiently
• resourcefulness and creativity as an approach to both relationship building and problem solving
• the ability to work effectively with other people in a variety of situations
• a confident and effective public presentation style
• an awareness of current trends in public library services, especially in digital collections and resource sharing
• engagement in professional organizations and activities

You must have:
• an MLS/MSIS degree from an ALA accredited institution; and
• a New York State Public Librarian’s Professional Certificate; and
• a valid driver’s license; and
• at least 5 years of relevant professional experience working in a public library, two years of which must include supervisory responsibilities.

This is a full-time position with a competitive benefits package, including participation in the NYS Retirement System. The starting salary range for this position will be $58,000-$63,000, depending on experience and qualifications.

Please submit a cover letter, resume, and the names and contact information for three professional references via e-mail to searchcommittee@uhls.org.The review of applications will begin on June 8, 2015, and continue until the position is filled.

Librarians Versus the NSA

Under the Patriot Act, the government can demand library records via a secret court order and without probable cause that the information is related to a suspected terrorist plot. It can also block the librarian from revealing that request to anyone. Nor does the term “records” cover only the books you check out; it also includes search histories and hard drives from library computers. The Muslim-American who uses a library computer to correspond with family abroad, or the activist planning a demonstration against police brutality—those digital trails are vulnerable to surveillance, along with everyone else’s.

The government’s power to vacuum up our personal details seems unstoppable, but a lot of it depends on how much we give away. Alison Macrina wants librarians and library users to be less complicit.

More from The Nation.

Read APL children's librarian Christina Stenson-Carey's blog

A community of readers

“I sha’n't be gone long.—You come too.”
from “The Pasture” by Robert Frost

When I was a new children’s librarian I had the opportunity to listen to Sharon Creech, the Newbery Medal winning author, speak at a staff meeting. She used the above quote from Robert Frost to invite her audience on a short journey through all her wonderful books. Similarly, I would like to invite you along with me on this blogging journey.

As a librarian, the very best part of my job is talking with readers about books.

More from the Times Union.

She is the children's librarian at the branch nearest my home.

BDSM and beheading videos: The evolving role of the librarian

No job is without its perils, and for a college librarian today, one of those just might be having an associate dean overhear you explaining to a student how to create a more accurate BDSM scene for a photo shoot inspired by “Fifty Shades of Gray...”

It was awkward, but part of my job as a librarian is to help patrons research a topic, whatever that topic might be. Google has many people convinced that librarians are no longer necessary — probably the same people who predicted our demise when the personal computer was first introduced. Yet we librarians are still here, providing free resources, information and computer access to our communities. The profession is evolving, of course: adapting to new technology and, more significantly, being reshaped by culture...

The thing I love about my profession is that I am always learning. A patron approaches me with a question, and in helping them I discover worlds I never knew existed.

More from the Washington Post.

The Librarians Are Doing PowerPoint Comedy

PowerPoint comedy” sounds like an oxymoron, but librarians love it.

Events called “PowerPoint karaoke,” or “battle decks” have been popping up in comedy clubs and corporate retreats, mixing the familiar but unloved style of PowerPoint talks with improvised comedy. In these events, the subject of a Page One story in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal, participants must give an impromptu speech – a sermon about singer Kanye West or a business pitch for robot vending machines – to accompany slides the presenter hasn’t seen before.

These goofball events have gained a foothold with professional improv comedians, office workers who have endured too many dull PowerPoint presentations, and librarians. Several state library associations, the Association of College and Research Libraries and the American Library Association host competitive PowerPoint karaoke events at their annual conferences.

More from the Wall Street Journal.

Librarians & Libraries in Comic Books

LIS workers of all categories are quite commonly utilized in fictional settings, as main and supporting characters, as well as for incidental run-ins with those primary persons.

How exactly are those info-professionals portrayed, in both personality and in comportment? Does it depend on the medium, whether in film or novel, or sequential art? Are secondary characters more likely to be shown as negative librarian stereotypes than primary protagonists?

More from INALJ

10 of the Coolest Librarians Alive

Face it: most librarians are probably cooler than you. After all, their job is to wrangle books, attract readers, and then get the two together — one of our own favorite activities. Though for many years, the librarian stereotype was a severe old lady who couldn't stand excessive noise, the mold has changed (to the extent that even the New York Times has noticed).

Now, many librarians are punk-rock agents of social change, complete with tattoos, tech savvy, and new ideas to get books to the people. Meet just a few of the very coolest librarians alive — and since we know there are hundreds out there, add your favorite book lender (or yourself) in the comments.

"I would like to see a librarian on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine," Porcaro says. "I want to see a librarian on Jersey Shore, in Kanye West’s entourage, and on the coaching staff of the New York Jets. I want to see the first librarian elected President of the United States. Don’t forget, Casanova was a librarian."


More at Flavorwire.

Google’s slow fade with librarians

Librarians have been interested in the Google Books project since it began in 2004. It was a heady time to be an information worker. Google used to actively court libraries, and librarians. They showed up at our conferences in 2005, tossed a lot of money around, pumped us for information, talked big talk about partnerships and the beautiful music we could all make together.

They added a librarian resource center to Google. It had a pretty cool URL, and a picture of a library on it. They knew our weaknesses. Things looked serious.

They whispered sweet nothings in our ears about how much we all had in common in a special newsletter just for librarians...


MORE from MEDIUM.com.

20 heroic librarians who save the world

If information is power, then there's no hero mightier than a librarian. Librarians are superheroes, adventurers, explorers and invaluable guides to other heroes. Here are 20 amazing librarians who save the world every day!

As Spider Robinson writes in The Callahan Touch, "Mary Kay is one of the hidden masters of the world — a librarian. They control information..." So here are 20 librarians... who might be a lot of help if you're in a tight corner.

More from IO9

8 Surprising Facts About Your Local Librarian

What you may not know about your local children’s or young adult (YA) librarian could fill, well, a library.

“Librarians are much more than stuffy ladies who check out books,” says Katherine Peery, a former children’s librarian in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who now teaches first-year librarians at the University of Texas, Arlington. “In fact, there is a science behind selecting materials and using them to engage children in reading and the world around them,” she says.

Yup — it’s called library science for a reason. And the staff manning the YA desk? They know more about what tweens and teens are plugged into than you think, making them an invaluable resource.

More from Read Brightly

Imagining the Design of the Library That Does Everything

The traditional image of the library as a quiet repository for the written word is less true today than it has ever been. Arguably, libraries have never been merely homes for books, but carry with them an aura of intellectualism that reflexively expands. Today, libraries fulfill myriad roles: community hubs, co-working spaces, depositories for local resources, information, and creativity. They offer children's storytimes, de facto babysitting for older kids, job training, ESL classes, discussion groups, safe space for tutoring, elder care, and more.

This month's proposal for The Architect's City hitches a piggyback ride on last week's symposium, organized by New York's Center for an Urban Future in collaboration with The Architectural League of New York, sharing architects' and designers' takes on the future of the branch library in New York City. Attendance at New York's three library systems—Brooklyn, Queens, and New York, which includes the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island—is rising. Citywide, circulation spiked 59 percent in the last decade.

More from Curbed
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Training L.A. librarians to teach science

Longtime Boing Boing pal Tara "Tiger" Brown co-founded LA Makerspace, the first kid and family-friendly makerspace/hackerspace in Los Angeles. Today, she shares word of a terrific new crowdfunding project:

The LA Makerspace has a Kickstarter to raise money to train LA Public Librarians how to run workshops in electronics, robotics, programming, film and Minecraft. We have all sorts of staggering stats around why we need to outside the school system for kids to learn anything...90% of Los Angeles Unified School District 8th graders test below proficient in science and 82% are below proficient in math. It's insane.

And we have more info on why hands-on learning like with maker workshops like the ones we run can improve all of that.

We are providing professional development for librarians because our vision is for every librarian at all 73 LA Public library branches to be trained in running workshops which means that you can go to your local library and take these free workshops and gain amazing skills.



More from BoingBoing

To the despair of librarians everywhere, marginalia has marched on

Were you one of those students who, despite your teachers’ warnings, continued to write in your books? If so, you have a lot of company—some of it illustrious (no pun intended). And now, there are a number of efforts going on around the world to capture these scribbled snippets of wisdom.

The notion of “marginalia,” or making handwritten notes and drawings in the margins of book pages, dates back as far as the Middle Ages. Presumably, monks made random drawings and notes to relieve the tedium of the manuscripts they were copying. Once mechanical printing started, marginalia really took off as scholars of the day held debates with the books they were reading—not so different from comment sections on websites.

See more at Simplicity.

There's also a discussion taking place on Reddit.

LIBRARY WORKERS: FACTS & FIGURES

Libraries and library staff provide essential services for schools, universities, and communities. Americans use libraries for free, reliable, and organized access to books, the Internet, and other sources of information and entertainment; assistance finding work; research and reference assistance; and programs for children, immigrants, and other groups with specific needs, just to name a few.

This fact sheet explores: library staff in the workforce, diversity within the professions, educational attainment of library workers, the role of women in the professions, issues of pay and pay equity, and the union difference for library staff.

An Overview of Library Professionals and Libraries

 In 2013, there were 194,000 librarians, 39,000 library technicians, and 87,000 library assistants. Generally, the definition of “librarian” is a person who holds at least a master’s degree in library science or meets state teaching license standards for being a school librarian.
“Library technicians” assist librarians in the acquisition, preparation, and organization of materials “and assist users in locating the appropriate resources.”
“Library assistants” are similar to library technicians, but may have fewer responsibilities.

 From 2007 through 2013, library employment among librarians and library technicians and assistants shrank from 380,000 to 320,000.

MORE from HERE.

Librarians on the vanguard of the anti-surveillance movement

The American Library Association's code of ethics demands that library professionals "protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality" and they've been taking that duty seriously since the first days of the Patriot Act.

The history of libraries in the post-9/11 fight is a proud and honorable one, with librarians putting their jobs and honor on the line to stand up for the right of people to conduct intellectual inquiry without government surveillance, and to stand against secret wiretaps that come with perpetual gag orders.

More from BoingBoing.

Radical Librarianship: how ninja librarians are ensuring patrons' electronic privacy

Librarians in Massachusetts are working to give their patrons a chance to opt-out of pervasive surveillance. Partnering with the ACLU of Massachusetts, area librarians have been teaching and taking workshops on how freedom of speech and the right to privacy are compromised by the surveillance of online and digital communications -- and what new privacy-protecting services they can offer patrons to shield them from unwanted spying of their library activity.

It's no secret that libraries are among our most democratic institutions. Libraries provide access to information and protect patrons' right to explore new ideas, no matter how controversial or subversive. Libraries are where all should be free to satisfy any information need, be it for tax and legal documents, health information, how-to guides, historical documents, children's books, or poetry.

More from BoingBoing.net

Librarians & Libraries in Comic Books

[Library] workers of all categories are quite commonly utilized in fictional settings, as main and supporting characters, as well as for incidental run-ins with those primary persons.

How exactly are those info-professionals portrayed, in both personality and in comportment? Does it depend on the medium, whether in film or novel, or sequential art? Are secondary characters more likely to be shown as negative librarian stereotypes than primary protagonists?

More HERE.

Comics: A Once-Missed Opportunity

"...During the 1940s and 1950s, comics were the most popular form of reading for young people in the United States, despite widespread disapproval for the medium by librarians and other guardians of reading tastes. Beyond simply reading comics, young people also used comics as a basis for developing participatory cultures. For instance, adolescents published fanzines and entered into political discourse about comics. This paper highlights some of these early examples of participatory cultures around comics to urge today’s librarians to reflect on what media and technology-based practices we may be neglecting to nurture among contemporary adolescents…"

More from ALA, By Carol L. Tilley, Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Librarian Shaming on Tumblr

A place for those of us in libraryland to come clean.