September 2010

Oxford Bibliographies Online: More Rant Than Review

Oxford Bibliographies Online: More Rant Than Review
Oxford is certainly adding value to the work of the scholars who write the content for the OBO. There is significant organizational work (anyone who has edited a scholarly journal knows all about the cat-herding involved) and technical work; I imagine the academics who edit the Subjects do most of the editorial work, and the peer reviewers are minimally compensated. The product looks good and should be easy to use (we haven’t requested a trial). But is Oxford adding value to the tune of $1000 per subject per year? My beloved Jenkins cost me about $40, in paperback (I bought a personal copy), and I don’t have to pay for it annually.

The Mission of Research Libraries

The Mission of Research Libraries
The mission of research libraries is motivated by the mission of research universities, which were founded to create new knowledge and disseminate it through publication. Sometimes this new knowledge has practical and commercial applications, and so often receives more funding, but that’s not necessarily the case. The mission to create new knowledge extends to every area of human experience, from the mundane and practical to the esoteric and purely abstract.

On the Great Myth of the Librarian Grays

On the Great Myth of the Librarian Grays
And so, in closing, yes, the cake is a lie. The profession may be graying, but gray doesn’t mean dead or retiring. There has been published work decrying this myth out for the better part of a decade or two, and older librarians remember being fed the same hogwash in the 70s. This does not mean you should be pushing your leaders down stairs in the hopes you’ll get their jobs. It does mean that you need to drink a great big glass of suck-it-up-atine, work extra hard at the job hunt (you know who I’m talking about – I am STILL seeing Comic Sans, clip art, and crappy cover letters, people), and developing skills needed in places other than libraries.

Steven Johnson: Where good ideas come from

People often credit their ideas to individual “Eureka!” moments. But Steven Johnson shows how history tells a different story. His fascinating tour takes us from the “liquid networks” of London’s coffee houses to Charles Darwin’s long, slow hunch to today’s high-velocity web.

The First-Person Prison Librarian

New book coming out in mid-October…”Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian” by Avi Steinberg.

Book summary from Edelweiss: Avi Steinberg is stumped. After defecting from yeshiva to Harvard, he has only a senior thesis essay on Bugs Bunny to show for his effort. While his friends and classmates advance in the world, he remains stuck at a crossroads, unable to meet the lofty expectations of his Orthodox Jewish upbringing. And his romantic existence as a freelance obituary writer just isn’t cutting it. Seeking direction—and dental insurance—Steinberg takes a job as a librarian in a tough Boston prison.

New book coming out in mid-October…”Running the Books: The Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian” by Avi Steinberg.

Book summary from Edelweiss: Avi Steinberg is stumped. After defecting from yeshiva to Harvard, he has only a senior thesis essay on Bugs Bunny to show for his effort. While his friends and classmates advance in the world, he remains stuck at a crossroads, unable to meet the lofty expectations of his Orthodox Jewish upbringing. And his romantic existence as a freelance obituary writer just isn’t cutting it. Seeking direction—and dental insurance—Steinberg takes a job as a librarian in a tough Boston prison.

The prison library counter, his new post, attracts con men, minor prophets, ghosts, and an assortment of quirky regulars searching for the perfect book and a connection to the outside world. There’s an anxious pimp who solicits Steinberg’s help in writing a memoir. A passionate gangster who dreams of hosting a cooking show titled Thug Sizzle. A disgruntled officer who instigates a major feud over a Post-it note. A doomed ex-stripper who asks Steinberg to orchestrate a reunion with her estranged son, himself an inmate. Over time, Steinberg is drawn into the accidental community of outcasts that has formed among his bookshelves — a drama he recounts with heartbreak and humor. But when the struggles of the prison library — between life and death, love and loyalty — become personal, Steinberg is forced to take sides.

Running the Books is a trenchant exploration of prison culture and an entertaining tale of one young man’s earnest attempt to find his place in the world while trying not to get fired in the process.

What The Directors Have to Say, On-the-Fly and Off-the-Cuff

Last week six public library directors answered surprise questions about the future of libraries on-the-fly and off-the-cuff in Castle Rock, CO.

Featuring: Shirley Amore (Denver Public Library), Kari Baumann (Elbert County Library District), Jamie LaRue (Douglas County Libraries), Eloise May (Arapahoe Library District), Bob Pasicznyuk (Cedar Rapids Public Library, IA), and Marcellus Turner (Jefferson County Public Library).

Lunch & Learn Super Summit: Public Library Directors from Douglas County Libraries on Vimeo.

Presented by the Douglas County Libraries New Professionals Committee
and reported at Save Libraries.

Author Defends Her Novel Stating that Rape is Not Soft Porn

For an event like Banned Books Week, it never hurts to have a cause célèbre, and this year, organizers needn’t have gone very far in search of one. They just had to turn to Twitter, where people have been rallying behind the young-adult author Laurie Halse Anderson, whose best-selling 1999 novel, “Speak,” has found itself at the center of a heated censorship debate.

Earlier this month, Anderson posted a series of messages about a Missouri man who wanted “Speak” removed from the high school curriculum in his school district. The man, Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor of management at Missouri State University, wrote an opinion article for The Springfield News-Leader in which he said that “Speak” — as well as Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” and Sarah Ockler’s “Twenty Boy Summer” — should be classified as “soft pornography.” (“Speak,” for the record, is the story of a high school girl who is raped by an acquaintance but then tells no one, is ostracized as a result of rumors about the episode, and becomes virtually mute. It was nominated for the 1999 National Book Award and was a Printz Honor title in 2000.)

For an event like Banned Books Week, it never hurts to have a cause célèbre, and this year, organizers needn’t have gone very far in search of one. They just had to turn to Twitter, where people have been rallying behind the young-adult author Laurie Halse Anderson, whose best-selling 1999 novel, “Speak,” has found itself at the center of a heated censorship debate.

Earlier this month, Anderson posted a series of messages about a Missouri man who wanted “Speak” removed from the high school curriculum in his school district. The man, Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor of management at Missouri State University, wrote an opinion article for The Springfield News-Leader in which he said that “Speak” — as well as Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” and Sarah Ockler’s “Twenty Boy Summer” — should be classified as “soft pornography.” (“Speak,” for the record, is the story of a high school girl who is raped by an acquaintance but then tells no one, is ostracized as a result of rumors about the episode, and becomes virtually mute. It was nominated for the 1999 National Book Award and was a Printz Honor title in 2000.)

Soon, Paul W. Hankins, a high school English teacher in Indiana, wrote a message of support to Anderson. He encouraged others to write on Twitter about “Speak,” using the hashtag #speakloudly. Then Judy Blume, renowned chronicler of all things adolescent, got involved. “Outrageous!” she wrote in a Twitter message to Anderson. Blume — herself no stranger to efforts to censor her work — serves on the board of directors of the National Coalition Against Censorship and promised to bring the “Speak” issue to that organization’s attention.

On her Twitter feed, Anderson listed the ways in which she believed Scroggins had misinterpreted her work. What upset her most, she said, was his characterization of a book about rape as “soft pornography.”

NYTimes Papercuts Blog.

Police: Man kills self after shooting at UT Austin Library

Police: Man kills self after shooting at UT Austin
A gunman opened fire Tuesday inside a University of Texas campus library then fatally shot himself, and police are searching for a possible second suspect, university police said.

A man opened fire with an automatic weapon on the sixth floor of the Perry-Castaneda Library early Tuesday, UT police spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon said.

“He subsequently shot himself. He is deceased,” she said, adding that no one else was injured.

K-State Celebrates Banned Books Week

The sign on the podium from which Mary Siegle reads a passage from “Catcher in the Rye” says: THINK for yourself and let others do the same. Kansas State is celebrating Banned Books Week.

This event has been taking place since 2006, during American Library Association’s Banned Books Week. This year’s event began Monday and will continue through Friday.

According to the Office of Intellectual Freedom, there are many specific reasons why books are banned, but the top three reported are: inappropriate language, sexually explicit material and being “unsuited to any age group.”

Many famous, classic novels – some of which are required reading in many high school English curricula – are part of the list of banned and challenged books. For example: “The Great Gatsby,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Color Purple” and “Gone with the Wind.”

“It’s important to raise awareness of the dangers of censorship and banning books,” said Naomi Wood, associate professor of English. “When books are censored and banned, too often it means that information is being suppressed. Often, individuals want to prevent everyone from accessing information that perhaps only they and a few people like them find objectionable.”

K-State Collegian has the story.
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