Blog

Interview: Patricia C. Franks surveys the RIM landscape

Posted by Rob Christopher on 09/11/2018

As a writer and teacher, Patricia C. Franks has the great gift of making complicated and often abstract concepts like "information" and "records" easy to grasp. So it's no wonder that her book Records and Information Management was an immediate bestseller, a hit with both students and practitioners. Now, after several years of work, the revised and updated second edition has just been published and promises to be every bit as successful.

Judi Moreillon on maximizing school librarian leadership

Posted by Rob Christopher on 09/04/2018

Chair of AASL’s Innovative Approaches to Literacy Task Force from 2016-2018 and past member of the ALA/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation, Judi Moreillon has been a champion of the school librarian as instructional partner for decades.

Natalie Cole and Virginia A. Walter share insights into transforming summer library programs

Posted by Rob Christopher on 08/23/2018

Summer 2018 might be winding down, but children's and YA librarians are already beginning to think ahead to next year's programming. In their recent book Transforming Summer Programs at Your Library: Outreach and Outcomes in Action, Natalie Cole and Virginia A. Walter detail case studies of several California libraries that have successfully reimagined their summer initiatives.

Storytimes creator Rob Reid discusses his new "greatest hits" collection

Posted by Rob Christopher on 08/09/2018

Original and adapted fingerplays, poems, activities involving movement and music, participation stories, felt stories, imagination exercises, spoonerism stories, and library raps: Rob Reid's book 200+ Original and Adapted Story Program Activities is packed from cover to cover with fun ideas for storytimes. And it happens to be his thirteenth book for ALA Editions—surely a lucky number in a writing career that spans more than two decades!

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich discusses resilience, subject of ALA’s Center for the Future of Libraries' book

Posted by Rob Christopher on 07/17/2018

Formally launched in 2014, ALA’s Center for the Future of Libraries works to identify emerging trendsrelevant to libraries and the communities they serve, promote futuring and innovation techniques to help librarians and library professionals shape their future, and build connections with experts and innovative thinkers to help libraries address emerging issues.

Interview: Kay Ann Cassell and Uma Hiremath update their benchmark reference text

Posted by Rob Christopher on 07/11/2018

An integral resource for students and working professionals alike, Reference and Information Services: An Introduction has served a generation of reference librarians. But authors Kay Ann Cassell and Uma Hiremath aren't resting on their laurels. We spoke to them about the brand new fourth edition which has just been published, discussing their collaboration and why reference librarianship is more important than ever.

Fighting fake news: a frank conversation with Nicole A. Cooke

Posted by Rob Christopher on 05/30/2018

Nicole A. Cooke, a Library Journal Mover & Shaker, believes that the current flood of fake news and dubious information represents a golden opportunity for libraries. Her new ALA Editions Special Report Fake News and Alternative Facts: Information Literacy in a Post-Truth Era shows how librarians can make a difference. In this interview she talks about why information literacy is a key skill for all news consumers.

How can libraries transform and thrive? Dorothy Stoltz and James Kelly on successful collaboration

Posted by Rob Christopher on 05/23/2018

How does a library amplify the skills and enthusiasm of its staff while also identifying what the community wants? In their new book Transform and Thrive: Ideas to Invigorate Your Library and Your Community, Dorothy Stoltz and her coauthors Gail Griffith, James Kelly, Muffie Smith, and Lynn Wheeler argue that adhering to a handful of straightforward principles will point the way forward.

George Stachokas on ERM issues and trends

Posted by Rob Christopher on 05/18/2018

"Electronic resources are now the predominant component of academic library collections," says George Stachokas, editor of the new ALCTS monograph Reengineering the Library: Issues in Electronic Resources Management.

Merrilee Proffitt on collaboration between Wikipedia and cultural heritage institutions

Posted by Rob Christopher on 05/02/2018

A senior program officer at OCLC Research, Merrilee Proffitt first started exploring how to develop better relationships between Wikipedia and cultural heritage institutions about seven years ago. Since then she created OCLC's Wikipedian in Residence program, has helped run several edit-a-thons, and contributed to Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons.