ALA is now offering library vendors their “first round assignments for ALA 2013,” that is, their booth assignments in the exhibit hall. I want to juxtapose ALA’s two summaries of … Read more ALA Annual from 2 points of view
Wouldn’t it be nice if a Presidential debate was actually a debate on one question, where each candidate took a position on that question and defended it? It might be … Read more A modest proposal regarding the Presidential debates
I liked this post from Hack Library School, written by Amy Frasier: “Whither Reference?” Amy notes with alarm that reference isn’t being taught as a standalone class at her library … Read more So who exactly is ruling that “reference is dead”?
Banned Books Week sometimes feels like National Library Week, in the sense that it is something that lets librarians shine a celebratory spotlight on our profession, since we are all … Read more Banned Books Week – Yeai Us? Not So Fast. Sandy Berman on Self-Censorship
Over at the Library Juice Academy Updates blog I have posted a paragraph by Jesse Shera about the importance of continuing education in librarianship. It’s from a 1967 lecture that … Read more Jesse Shera on Library Education
I’ve just added four new people to share in the blogging responsibilities here at Library Juice: Aliqae Geraci, Maria Accardi, Lua Gregory, and Shana Higgins. This adds to the five … Read more New Bloggers at Library Juice
Courtney Mlinar has taken over the Library Professional Development Blog from its founder Ellie Collier, who left it idle when she left her previous institution, which was the blog’s original … Read more Library Professional Development Blog is Back
Just in time for Banned Books Week, here is a bit of news that I hope comes to your attention if you are concerned with civil liberties and the freedom … Read more Political Repression and Illegal Books in Portland
This is a couple of months old now but has just reached my attention. It is a statement from IFLA, cosigned by some of its member associations, including ALA and … Read more New international trade agreements undermining copyright balance
A new source for book reviews: SRRT Reviews, book reviews from the Social Responsibilities Round Table Newsletter. Our titles are reviewed there periodically, along with many others. Bookmark it for … Read more Book Reviews from SRRT – New Tumblr
I recently encountered some interesting data on the academic book market, in an article in the most recent issue of the Journal of Scholarly Publishing, by Albert N. Greco, Robert, … Read more Academic book pricing – Where Library Juice Press stacks up
I just listened to the latest episode of Steve Thomas’s podcast, “Circulating Ideas,” with academic librarians Lauren Pressley and Lynda Kellam. Towards the end of the show, they discussed how … Read more Lifelong Learning, Even for Undergraduates
I won’t comment much on this except to speculate that this may be an example of a state of affairs in journalism where reporters are making sloppy mistakes because the … Read more Sloppy reporting on Saudi “City for Women”
In a Library Juice blog post some time ago, Rory Litwin recommended an essay by Karl Mannheim entitled “Conservative Thought.” In the essay, Mannheim argues that political groupings can be … Read more Political Identities
Have you ever noticed that some people close their email messages with a mysterious capital J? It is not a secret code. Chris Jean has this most welcome explanation.
Phil Davis writes in The Scholarly Kitchen about “The Secret Life of Retracted Articles.” Scientific papers are frequently retracted, officially, by the journal’s publishers and editors if it is found … Read more The Secret Life of Retracted Articles
Emily Ford does a great job with this overview of library philosophy in In the Library With a Lead Pipe: What We Do and Why We Do It, published this … Read more Emily Ford on Library Philosophy
Journalism students at the University of Missouri have published a very important report on book censorship in Missouri. It makes for chilling, but necessary reading. Take a look here.
Barbara Fister expresses a welcome dissenting view regarding the death of libraries and reading in the current Inside Higher Ed: “The End of the Twilight of Doom.” I agree with … Read more Barbara Fister on the “End of the Twilight of Doom”
Library Juice Academy offers a range of online professional development workshops for librarians, with classes starting October 1st. These workshops earn Continuing Education Units, and are intended as professional development … Read more Library Juice Academy