Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Atlas of New Librarianship

The Atlas of New Librarianship shows a publication date of May 31, 2011 but the book seems to be shipping now.
Table of contents for the book.
Companion website to the book.

The Library War.

Is it me, or has the library war already started? Because I keep reading about how the old library is dead and the new library needs building. That print has been mortally wounded and now those inbred and bastard children fight to be the next ruler. We have our own Game of Thrones (this week on HBO, which I have neither read nor seen, so whatever connection I make, is purely accidental) in the fantasy library world of Bibliotania (yeah, you come up with a better name):
  • We have the Knowledge Facilitators, once loyal to the throne but now impatient for political change so long as the office remains in their control.
  • We have the Transliterates, plotting with foreign armies or mercenaries, anyone who can bring swift wealth and power.
  • We have the Digital Natives, spoiled, selfish, corrupt, unable to see beyond their immediate desires, but who command a great army.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

100 articles that every librarian should read

Over at Ruminations, Con is thinking about a link that she retweeted today from  @clairebrooks entitled 100 Articles that Every Journalist Should Read.
Con is riffing on this and wonders whether collaboratively we can get together 100 articles that you would:

  recommend to anyone working in a library, who is thinking about the future of libraries and their role in building this future?
        I have my own list of articles that I think all librarians should read – well those that are interested in the same things as me, anyhow. Some are there because they offer a perspective from outside the library echo-chamber, some are there because they represent large-scale research that breaks away from the “how we done it good” that characterizes much library literature. Some are toolkits for equity of access.  Most items are on it because they are a good read by themselves – clear, logical and interesting writing that makes me think of more questions, rather than feel like I have just read all the answers.

        I see very little literature on my list about management or philosophies of librarianship. There is little about taxonomy, cataloguing, corporate librarianship and knowledge management. I guess they are outside my interests.
My list has an Australian slant, and leans toward:
  • equity of access to information and library resources
  • the impact on libraries of shared data on the internet
  • how library users find research information
  • format changes – the rise of online video, ebooks, transliteracy and DRM
  • how librarians and libraries are preparing for the future
       I have created a Zotero group for sharing articles that people recommend, 100 articles every librarian should read . The library of references is here, 100 articles that every librarian should read library .It is public, so anyone can look at it. Some of my links go through my university library’s link resolver, but it is easy to work out what they should be.  If  you have (or make!) a Zotero account, then you can add your own candidates. We can then pare them down to just 100. If you are blogging this or want to contribute to the list in another way, please pop over to Con’s post Day 14 #blogjune Library Futures Reading List and leave a comment there.

       So – I have around 40 items on my list. I am sure that only about a quarter of them would make it to a definitive list of “must reads” for EVERY librarian. What would you keep? What is missing?

MY LIST OF MUST-READS FOR LIBRARIANS

I have asterisked *** those that I think you should read RIGHT NOW. 
  • Berners-Lee, T., Hendler, J., & Lassila, O. (2001). The semantic Web: a new form of Web content that is meaningful to computers will unleash a revolution of new possibilities. Scientific American, 284(5), 34.
  • Gow, V., Brown, L., Johnston, C., Neale, A., Paynter, G., & Rigby, F. (2009). Making New Zealand Content Easier to Find, Share and Use. Museums and the Web 2009. Presented at the Museums and the Web 2009, Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics,. Retrieved from http://www.archimuse.com/mw2009/papers/gow/gow.html
  • Holland, M. (1997). Diffusion of innovation theories and their relevance to understanding the role of librarians when introducing users to networked information. The Electronic Library, 15(5), 389-394. doi:10.1108/eb045587
  • King, D. L. (2009). What is a Digital Branch, Anyway? Building the Digital Branch: Guidelines for Transforming Your Library Website, Library Technology Reports, 45(6), 5-9.
  • Levine, R., Locke, C., Searles, D., Weinberger, D., & McKee, J. (1999). The Cluetrain Manifesto. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from http://www.cluetrain.com/
  • Morville, P. (2005). Information Interaction. Ambient Findability (pp. 43-63). O’Reilly Media, Inc.
  • Oldenburg, R. (1999). The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community (3rd ed.). Da Capo Press.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Libraries are not in the construction business

 Libraries are not in the construction business


Social constructionism, constructivism, post-structuralism, standpoint epistemology, deconstructionism….ever heard of these? Chance are, if you’ve taken a look at some of the recent literature in the philosophical aspects of librarianship, you’ve come across these and/or similar theories. Variously lumped together under the aegis of postmodernism, these theories are distinct, yet they are united through a common belief that we have no epistemic access to a mind-independent reality. Some of these theories go even further and claim not only that we can’t know anything about the world outside of ourselves, but that there isn’t even an objective, mind-independent reality at all—reality is subjective. In effect, these theories advocate various forms of relativism. I’ve criticized this type of relativistic thinking in previous posts, but perhaps it’s time to clarify. Specifically, I want to explain why relativism, in all of its forms, is harmful to librarianship. This type of thinking is self-refuting, it impedes learning, it disenfranchises those who most need our help, it obstructs social progress, and it erodes the value of libraries in society.

L for Library (by Marie Lebert, translated by Jane Golding)

       A decidedly humorous account of my professional life in Normandy and Jerusalem at the end of the twentieth century, before I discovered the internet and left for San Francisco. The first part concerns the city library in Granville, with its dust and old books, before it was transformed into a beautiful media library. The second part concerns two libraries in Jerusalem, one with its cardboard boxes and the other with its computers. This account was inspired by an older version that was published in a printed magazine. It is dedicated to my colleagues past and present.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Old City libraries in Hyderabad India cry for attention


Old City libraries in Hyderabad cry for attention
Housed in dilapidated buildings with infrequent supply of electricity, shortage of staff and facing space crunch due to increasing number of old books, the government libraries in the Old City are crying for urgent attention.
Hyderabad district has about 90 libraries of which 40 are located in the Old City, reflecting that once this part of the twin cities had a vibrant reading culture. Today, the condition of these libraries is a deterrent for visitors.

How digital technology makes the library invisible to scholars

Nobody cares about the library: How digital technology makes the library invisible (and visible) to scholars


In an information landscape increasingly dominated by networked resources, both sides of the librarian-scholar/student relationship must come to terms with a new reality that is in some ways more distant and in others closer than ever before. Librarians must learn to accept invisibility where digital realities demand it. Scholars must come to understand the centrality of library expertise and accept librarians as equal partners as more and more scholarship becomes born digital and the digital humanities goes from being a fringe sub-discipline to a mainstream pursuit. Librarians in turn must expand those services like special collections, support for data-driven research, and access to new modes of publication that play to their strengths and will best serve scholars. We all have to find new ways, better ways to work together. 

Why Are We Boycotting Elsevier?


Walking away isn't always easy. It means we won't be able to submit our work to many journals, some of them with strong reputations. We may have to turn down review requests from friends who serve as editors. We may have to explain to tenure and promotion committees that our choices were made to further knowledge, and furthering knowledge is at least as important as building our reputations. This is why we should congratulate all those who are willing to put their tenure on the line to do the right thing.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Free Online UGC NET Guide in Library and Information Science

Hi my dear friends,

    We designed and develop a "Free Online UGC NET Guide in Library and Information Science" over the fallowing (http://www.netugc.com) website. The guide book consists of more than 250 articles on each and every topic of the NET syllabus. It also provides objective questions and answers in accordance with the latest UGC Norms. This is a complete guide to National Eligibility Test (NET) Examination of the University Grants Commission in Library and Information Science. While using the guide book kindly use the Search Button / Box to Locate theInformation or use the Navigation / Browsing Options Located in the Right Hand Side Bar.

   I would love to have constructive feedback from the well-wishers also will be highly obliged if you kindly forward this guide book to the NET aspirants.
 
Thanking you,