American Libraries

Michael Baker has been named director of the Chicago Public Library's Carter G. Woodson Regional Library. * August 15 Rosann Bazirjian began as university librarian at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. * Roslyn Beitler, librarian at Barrett...

In an abrupt about-face, the U.S. Department of Justice July 30 withdrew an earlier request that the Government Printing Office order depository libraries to destroy five DOJ publications--resources for prosecutors handling seized assets and forfeiture...

This is the question posed by organizers of the September Project. David Silver, assistant professor of communication at the University of Washington and project director, hopes that the answer involves encouraging community members to focus on issues...

The worst earthquake to hit Iran in recent years was the deadly shock of magnitude 6.7 on the Richter scale that struck without warning December 26, 2003, in Bam, an ancient city in the southeastern province of Kerman. According to official estimates...

As the center of expertise about information technology, the Library and Information Technology Association leads in exploring and enabling new technologies to empower libraries. LITA members use the promise of technology to deliver dynamic library...

Librarians strive to ensure the longevity of cultural heritage materials. Yet we tend to define preservation as the specific actions we take to prolong the useful life of individual objects or entire collections within a particular institution. ...

At ALA's recent Annual Conference in Orlando--my fourth ALA conference--I decided to attend my first Membership Meeting in order to participate in the discussion on the development of the Association's strategic plan. However, work on the plan was...

lagniappe, n. Chiefly southern Louisiana and Mississippi. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit. Everyone loves a little lagniappe now and then. Maybe that's one of the reasons we adore DVDs as much as we do. Besides their eye-popping picture quality...

After being confronted with the human face of poverty while visiting Nepal six years ago, Microsoft executive John Wood was inspired to make a difference. He gave up his career and established a nonprofit organization to provide underprivileged children...

Libraries rely on copyright. Without copyright to encourage creation and dissemination, you would have fewer available resources. But your ability to lend and preserve depends on balancing public rights: the First Sale Doctrine and ordinary-use rights...

As a true academic, I once wrote a book-length report on something I had never done. When I wrote "Establishing and Maintaining Live Online Reference Service" for ALA's Library Technology Reports, July/August 2002, I had neither experience in nor any...

"We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states." Illinois State Senator BARACK OBAMA, noting that "red" states traditionally vote Republican and "blue" states Democratic,...

Through digitization, the humanities have an economy. We've finally arrived," quipped historian Tobias Higbie at "The Economics of Digitization: Toward Sustainability and Institutional Collaboration," a May 17-18 symposium at the Newberry Library in...

Over the years as city librarian in my community, I experienced a sense of frustration when the results of the city's annual citizen satisfaction survey came back from the consultant. In a sense this survey is our municipal "report card," with departments,...