The Virtual International Authority File (VIAF) is a pretty handy resource for comparing authority data from multiple international sources. A recent webinar “show and tell” highlights how some of VIAF’s current users are making the most of the data available. If you’re interested, the recording – which goes for just over an hour – of the webinar is freely available from OCLC and iTunes. The accompanying slides are also available.
Canberrans from all walks of life are already getting excited about 2012′s National Year of Reading – and who could blame them? Libraries ACT recently revealed the ambassadors for the ACT, which includes politicians (Chief Minister Katy Gallagher, Simon Corbell and Kate Lundy), authors (Jackie French, Marion Halligan), people in the media (Louise Maher, Mark Carmody) and a host of sportspeople, including the entirety of the Canberra Roller Derby League who had the following to say:
Any future derby girl or referee worth their skates has to first cut their teeth on 35 pages of essential rules reading before they can even think about hitting the flat track. At CRDL we believe that reading is one of the most enjoyable and essential skills for children and adults to learn, love and embrace.
Ambassadors from the Canberra Roller Derby League with ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher via Libraries ACT on Flickr (for bonus points, pick which Roller Girl is also a librarian!)
I couldn’t have put it better myself. Make sure you check out the full list of national and state ambassadors and get involved with your local community in 2012 to spread the love of reading!
What to do with those pesky duplicate books that have been weeded from collection? Before you donate them to charity, or another worthy community organisation, perhaps you could indulge in a bit of Christmas spirit like the good library folk in the Department of Special Collections University Library, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Poland, and make your very own Christmas tree.
The full instructions are available in Polish here (and easily translatable via your favourite online translator), along with a few videos of the construction.
Sweet baby Jesus, thank heavens these tiresome queries are being asked on Google in 2011 and not in libraries
Read them all and weep at: http://google-au.blogspot.com/2011/12/year-of-curiosities-australias-top.html
Ted Hughes is now in Poets Corner, Sylvia Plath is not. Posthumous justice.
The results of the APPA Privacy Awareness Week 2011 social media survey are in.
Unsurprisingly for respondents to a privacy survey, from a privacy organisation speaking to privacy enthusiasts it shows people are concerned about what social networks do with your posted data.
Why are people concerned about adverts appearing to them based on their content? It happens already in your searches, it happens in email, why are social networking adverts such a worry?
The UK National Literacy Trust have just put out a report that reveals some worrying statistics.The findings of the report, The gift of reading in 2011 : children and young people’s access to books and attitudes towards reading, note the worrying trend that:
the number of children who do not own a book is increasing. Seven years ago 1 child in 10 did not have a book of their own while today the figure stands at a startling 1 child in 3.
The figure of 1 in 3 UK children without a book of their own equates to approximately 3.8 million children.
The findings of the study suggest a clear linkage between a child’s reading ability and receiving and owning books of their own but, alarmingly,
about a fifth of children [surveyed] said they had never been to a book shop or a library.
I suppose it’s not too surprising given the high number of UK library closures and the current state of the publishing industry, but it certainly is sobering.
The National Literacy Trust is currently raising money to purchase books for disadvantaged (bookless!) children. You can support their efforts by donating online and receiving a lovely children’s book illustrator’s Christmas card in return. You could also buy someone small you know a book for Christmas.
Hundreds of libraries are closing across the UK, but in Southwark, London, there is a new one, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-15920711
The opening of this new library, at a cost of £14.1m, is at the heart of Southwark Council’s investment in the libraries service, which is being protected despite cuts in central government funding.
In a first for London, visitors to the library will not only get their fix of some 40,000 books, music CDs & films but will also be able to:
The library’s wi-fi network, with nearly 30 laptops available for hire, reflects the growing trend towards the ‘library as living room’ ethos. Across Southwark’s libraries members currently clock up more than 10,000 hours of internet use each month on their wi-fi network alone.
Cllr Veronica Ward, cabinet member for culture, leisure, sport and the Olympics at Southwark Council, said:
“I’m so proud to be unveiling this amazing building. It’s an incredible, breath-taking use of space, both inside and out, and has all that you could need under one roof. You could find yourself learning in the morning, listening to a poetry performance at lunchtime, studying in the afternoon, watching first class theatre at night, and then relaxing in the cafe after that.
We’re definitely leading the way in London with our libraries - first the iconic Peckham Library, then our refit of John Harvard Library resulting in visitor number records beaten, and next year two more brand new libraries for the borough.
And now with this new ‘super’ library, we aim to put Southwark on the map as a forward-thinking, pioneering borough with libraries right at our heart.”
If you are with Telstra Bigpond, iiNet, Optus, iPrimus or Internode, it is maybe time to look for a new ISP, see: http://www.commsalliance.com.au/about-us/newsroom/2011-26
“Communications Alliance and five of Australia’s largest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) today unveiled a ground-breaking proposed scheme to combat the growing problem of online copyright infringement.
The scheme is designed to encourage a sustained and positive change in the behaviour of internet users who engage in online activity that may be an infringement of copyright laws and potentially illegal under the Copyright Act 1968, typically via peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing or unauthorised content downloads.”
Essentially it’s three warnings and then we inform on you to http://www.afact.org.au or some other litigious entity.
We shall how the scheme develops, if it does commence.
Are you getting the most out of your searching? Mashable points out a few things that librarians have been telling their information literacy students for years on how to find what you really want, using the search giant Google as its search platform of choice. Need to find that needle in a haystack? You’re on!
How to use Google search more effectively via Mashable
The Occupy London Library system expands see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/nov/25/occupy-london-library-spread?INTCMP=SRCH
When I founded Wikipedia, I could have made it into a for-profit company with advertising banners, but I decided to do something different. We’ve worked hard over the years to keep it lean and tight. We fulfill our mission, and leave waste to others.
If everyone reading this donated $10, we would only have to fundraise for one day a year. But not everyone can or will donate. And that’s fine. Each year just enough people decide to give.
This year, please consider making a donation of $10, $20, $30 or whatever you can to protect and sustain Wikipedia.
Thanks,
Jimmy Wales
Wikipedia Founder
Yes Jimmy, Wikipedia is like a library except in your version, you can rewrite the books to make them better. How good is that. Of course unlike a library, you can’t sit in it, and get the benefit of its people, and feel its warmth in the winter and its cool in the summer, or any of the other myriad good things of a physical space. But, go donate anyway at http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Fundraising
The newly opened Mailänder Platz branch of the Stadtbibliothek Stuttgart is a wonder to behold. From the outside, some have described it as a jail, the stark exterior barely hinting at the treasures that lie within. On the inside, the endless stairs, and just a glimpse of sky above, might have you agreeing with the jail analogy.
Endless stairs inside the bibliothek, via The Coolist
But look closer, and you’ll soon see that this space is more than the sum of its utilitarian parts. A modern white interior plays backdrop to the colourful spines of thousands of books, couches on every level beckon you to sit and read, and there’s plenty of space for the kids and to listen to music.
Just add people and books and what a difference! Image via The Coolist
You can take a virtual look around the new space via one of Oliver Wendel‘s amazing panoramas of the main library space and the “heart” of the building, and get a sense of the excitement of opening night via the library’s Flickr set or in Karl-Stefan Röser‘s video.
The recommendations from the newly released final report of the Re-conceptualising and re-positioning Australian library and information science education for the twenty-first century project:
Recommendation 1: It is recommended that a broader and more inclusive vocabulary be adopted that both recognises and celebrates the expanding landscape of the field, for example ‘information profession‘, ‘information sector‘, ‘information discipline‘ and ‘information education‘.
Recommendation 2: It is recommended that a self-directed body composed of information educators be established to promote, support and lead excellence in teaching and research within the information discipline.
Recommendation 3: It is recommended that Australia‘s information discipline continue to develop excellence in information research that will raise the discipline‘s profile and contribute to its prominence within the national and international arena.
Recommendation 4: It is recommended that further research examining the nature and context of Australia‘s information education programs be undertaken to ensure a sustainable and relevant future for the discipline.
Recommendation 5: It is recommended that further research examining the pathways and qualifications available for entry into the Australian information sector be undertaken to ensure relevance, attractiveness, accessibility and transparency.
Recommendation 6: It is recommended that strategies are developed and implemented to ensure the sustainability of the workforce of information educators.
Recommendation 7: It is recommended that a national approach to promoting and marketing the information profession and thereby attracting more students to the field is developed.
Recommendation 8: It is recommended that Australia‘s information discipline
continues to support a culture of quality teaching and learning, especially given the need to accommodate a focus on the broader information landscape and more flexible delivery options.
Recommendation 9: It is recommended that strategies are developed that will support and encourage collaboration between information education within the higher education and VET sectors.
Recommendation 10: It is recommended that strategies and forums are developed that will support the information sector working together to conceptualise and articulate their professional identity and educational needs.
Recommendation 11: It is recommended that a research agenda be established that will identify and prioritise areas in which further development or work is needed to continue advancing information education in Australia.
