Collection Evaluation for The Unseen University Library  (with apologies to Sir Terry Pratchett) Introduction The goal of this analysis is to evaluate the overall usability of the Unseen University Library, located in Ankh-Morpork, Discworld. As many quantitative analysis methods are unworkable ...

Drag queen storytimes and other LGBT programs are meant to create safe spaces for the queer community. The librarians running them are getting death threats.

O ur nation’s history plays a huge role in the way we perceive underrepresented groups. From slavery to segregation, to the inequality in compensation for women and people of color, to the refusal to wed same sex couples, discrimination and opposition has plagued the United States for decades. Since the Civil Rights Movement, discrimination towards underrepresented groups has shifted from overt acts to subtle and semiconscious manifestations called  microaggressions.  These manifestations reside in well-intentioned individuals who are often unaware of their biased beliefs, attitudes, and actions. They can lead to inequities within our relationships and affect our work productivity.

This is a rough transcript of the plenary session presented to the California Academic & Research Libraries conference on April 15, 2018. The full paper is available with the conference proceed…

Library unions are as diverse as libraries themselves. The landscape is complex, but this overview looks at the commonalities all library workers should know.

This week, instead of answering each letter individually, I shall increase the level of difficulty by answering all the letters with one universal, overarching clapback.

Author(s): Brown, Jennifer; Ferretti, Jennifer A; Leung, Sofia; Méndez-Brady, Marisa L | Abstract: In this article, we seek to seed an honest conversation about how librarianship needs to meaningfully address systems of structural oppression in order to actualize diversity and inclusion initiatives at large. We will investigate issues of recruitment, retention, education, and mentorship within the library and information science profession through the lens of our experiences as women of color, and as early-career librarians; we will also weave relevant insights reflected from within the literature to support our narratives. Central to this work is an understanding of the barriers that people of color (POC) face in our workplaces and the profession at large; we will discuss this at length throughout. Finally, we will conclude with recommendations on how the profession, as a whole, can do better at retaining and supporting its marginalized workforce. This is a call to action for librarians at every level to hold themselves accountable for the ways in which they are complicit within systems of oppression and inequality. Concurrently, this article aims to generate momentum in coalition building as a tool for POC attempting to navigate the overwhelming whiteness evident within the profession.

Inside the Seward Park Library in Manhattan.

This paper is about how libraries can legally lend digital copies of books. It explains the legal and policy rationales for the process— “controlled digital lending”— as well as a variety of risk factors and practical considerations that can guide libraries seeking to implement such lending.  We write this paper in support of the Position Statement on Controlled Digital Lending,  a document endorsed by many libraries, librarians, and legal experts.  Our goal is to help libraries and their lawyers become more comfortable with the concept by more fully explaining the legal rationale for controlled digital lending, as well as situations in which this rationale is the strongest.

There has been a lot of talk about ALA's (previous) specification of including hate groups in meeting rooms. But while there has been a lot...

I sometimes think I live in a constant state of outrage because I read the news. Every day, there’s something new. I occasionally divorce myself from the constant barrage by going on a news-holiday…

Den amerikanska biblioteksföreningens, American Library Association, uppdatering av sina riktlinjer för folkbibliotekens mötesrum gav i somras upphov till en het debatt i den amerikanska folkbiblio…

It would feel strange if a library started taking fingerprints of patrons who entered and exited just for the purpose of matching them against a state or federal database containing fingerprints of criminals.

A presentation about web tracking, web analytics, and web privacy in academic libraries.

Just beyond the automatic sliding doors of the Robert W. Van Houten Library, you’ll find shelves teeming with books, dissertations and literary journals, a front…