The Voice of the Dead

Our very own KWM President was asked to write a guest post for project READ. She was their first post of 2013, drawing from a presentation that she made at the Celebrate the Book Readers Advisory Conference in Kansas last November. Mallory Owens has some interesting tales to tell of practicing readers advisory in her research library, but this post was about discovering dead narrators in young adult fiction – the topic she discussed at the conference. Read on…

The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) recently created a Code of Ethics for librarians and other information workers. They collected more than 40 codes of ethics from around the world and drafted this one to serve the international associations and institutions it represents. It was adopted and endorsed by the IFLA Governing Body in August 2012. You can read the IFLA Code of Ethics in two versions:

Short Version

Long Version

The short version explains that the code is not intented to replace existing codes, and IFLA does not expect full compliance. But rather, it is intended to be used for reflection by organizations and information professionals in the coming years.

The Special Libraries Association has their own “Professional Ethics Guidelines” which they published in 2010. It is more specific to special librarian’s work performance than the IFLA version, and is not intended to be a comprehensive code of ethics. However, because  ethical behavior is an essential part of professional work, I encourage all of our members to be thoroughly acquainted with both SLA’s and IFLA’s ethics documents.

Mary Odom
KWM Past President

My First Time SLA Experience Made Me Proud to Be an Info Pro!

Thank you for the warm welcome, SLA and KWM.  I am new a corporate solo library manager with responsibility for producing relevant curated news, providing answers for decision-makers, and conducting CI research.  The last 16 years of my life have been in information services and KM work, so it’s wonderful to now be affiliated with thousands of other info professionals through SLA.

 At first I was a bit overwhelmed with the number of sessions offered for the conference and how many sessions I would miss by choosing others.  Pre-conference, the Online Conference Planner was a huge help in understanding the nature of each session and where I had conflicts in my choices on the schedule. Favorite sessions included “60 Sites in 60 Minutes” (John DiGillo & Gayle Lynn-Nelson), “Info Pro to Info Hero” (Mary Ellen Bates), “The Intelligence Café” (CI division host), and the “Reinventing Library Skills” (R. Hulser, D. Hunt, E. Salonen).  Only one or two sessions fell flat for me, and though I enjoy reading the speakers’ digital content (blogs, slideshares, etc) not everyone is a “speaker.”  All in all, the new resources and methodologies I learned about in many of these sessions have been a significant help, some already activated even to address my needs. 

 I enjoyed the INFO-EXPO.  Most of the vendors were quite generous with their offerings, suggestions, and demonstrations.  For vendors I’m already in contract with, I learned how to better optimize my use of their tools.  For others, I’ve done trials and already made one SaaS purchase.  I would have liked seeing booth numbers displayed, so I could follow up with vendors I had noted pre-conference.

 SLAers are a bright bunch, and I especially appreciate a few veterans who made my first time an elevated learning experience.  Those individuals are Connie Crosby, Marcy Dulka, Lee Ann Benker, Barb Fullerton, Harold Gee, and Deb Hunt.  So many business cards still to review though…I wonder if on our badges next year, we could display a QR code (and offer a downloadable smartphone app connection to LinkedIn) to be used to virtually collect business cards among peers.  Hmmm…

 Thanks again for the immersive SLA conference experience and more!

Tammy Bearden
Hallmark Cards, Inc.

My 2012 SLA Conference experience highlights below are focused on the Competitive Intelligence track, which is what I do at my law firm.

Collaborative Insights in the CI Division:

 A CI Division discussion that was informative, even if there wasn’t a law librarian on the panel. One speaker talked about the need to get out of the library and reach out to other departments. Another speaker had a good idea about trying to get an actual professional (attorney, engineer, etc. to speak at a conference session to show how a librarian/CI professional has helped them.) There was also a discussion of embedding a librarian in a department and the reaction was mixed, some thought relationships were more important than embedding. Probably the key point to the session was to be relevant, visible and valuable.

 Evolving Role of CI in Law Firms:

 Topics such as internal firm knowledge and how KM can assist were covered as was a discussion on the tools used locate data. In other words, MonitorSuite and AtVantage.  Emily Rushing was a panelist and her firm uses AtVantage, which she doesn’t like. I met other librarians who use MonitorSuite, and they liked it. That said, many of us in attendance agreed that the tools we have for in-depth law firm CI don’t exist yet, probably because law firm CI didn’t really come into focus until about ten or so years ago. There’s also an article in the most recent issue of AALL Spectrum on CI/BD research in law firms: http://www.aallnet.org/main-menu/Publications/spectrum/Vol-16/No-9/ci-bd-research.pdf

 Legal Division Unconference:

 Open ended session where multiple, topics were discussed, ranging from ebooks to job titles and creating value. The job title topic led to a discussion, especially since SLA spent a lot of time and $$ on this not too long ago. The key takeaway- don’t get hung up on what you’re called, just do good work. E-Books were also discussed.The consensus seemed to be that Lexis is a little more ahead of the game in terms of ebooks than West. Also discussed format and how ebooks can be used on a desktop versus tablet, and even pondered the question, how do you submit an ebook in court?

 Competitive Intelligence Resources:

 This session was packed but did not live up to my expectations. Sabrina Pacifici was the presenter. All she did was go over, page by page, her recently updated list of CI resources: http://www.llrx.com/features/ciguide.htm

Two things I did get out of the session was to use blekko.com and duckduckgo.com as alternatives to Google, and that Google is no longer scanning newspapers.

Scott Russell
Shook Hardy & Bacon

SLA 2012 in Chicago was the second conference I have attended, but the first one while occupying a leadership position within the organization as part of the KWM chapter cabinet.  Two years ago I attended the conference in New Orleans as a student where much of my time was spent feeling a bit lost and getting to know other folks in the profession.  This year things were much different from that initial trip.

First and foremost, I knew a number of people from that first conference whom I had planned to meet up with in Chicago.  I even roomed with one of the students I met at the New Orleans conference, and had a great time catching up with her in person!  It really struck me how many people I knew just from attending one other conference and being involved in the Kansas/Western Missouri chapter and Military Libraries Division.  I was constantly reminded of how friendly and helpful special librarians are, as every time I saw someone I knew they were excited to hear about what I had been doing or my thoughts on the session we had attended.  I felt valued and encouraged by their interest, and was eager to hear their thoughts as well and to learn from their experiences.

Another big difference from my first conference was the number of leadership events I attended.  I frequented sessions on increasing my leadership abilities and marketing my value as a leader, as well as meetings about changes within the organization and how to be a leader in the face of such developments.  I was reminded of the importance of having fun in a leadership position and not allowing myself to become bogged down by the responsibilities I have accepted.  I can make a difference in our chapter and enjoy doing it; I don’t have to choose one or the other!  Furthermore, good leadership in the future starts with good leadership now.  We cannot expect good leaders to take root without encouragement, direction, and mentorship from past and present leaders of our chapter and profession.

One of my favorite sessions was “Future Now: A Panel Discussion,” which followed the closing remarks of SLA headquarters leadership.  It was aptly named, as the panel spoke about the importance of focusing on the future of our profession now and moving away from the librarian tendency (and really, a human tendency) of staying in the past.  Big changes are occurring in the world of special libraries, changes that we must embrace in order to further strengthen our place in unorthodox settings and improve our aptitude for a consistently transforming field.  It is more important now than ever to continue moving forward and away from the past, including the terminology of the past, and learn to execute our value in new and exciting ways.

All in all, I took away a renewal of my leadership spirit and encouragement to continue moving forward as things change and take new shape around the profession of special librarianship.  I look forward to continuing to serve the Kansas/Western Missouri chapter and working with all of you to make a stronger network for special librarians in our section of the Heartland now and in the future.

Mallory Owens
President Elect

For those of you wondering what TTL stands for it is my abbreviated form of: Tales from a Traveling Librarian. (TTL) It is what I named my blog, but too, I wanted to shorten a bit for the subject line.

When I started this job about 2 ½ years ago, my friends, family and colleagues were very happy for me, but it would lead to the inevitable question: “Now, what is it that you do again?” You see, they know what a librarian does, or at least they think they do. But I am a librarian who travels to other libraries. I work for a company, but I am not selling products or services. So, what is that you do again?

Probably my first mistake is to answer that question with a variety of “things” I do for my clients. I do an account review, resolve problems, and do some instruction on product or services, etc. Essentially I had done an ‘info dump’ on my friends and family on ALL the things I did for the company. (Side bar: An ‘info dump’ is an occupational hazard of all librarians. You ask us a question; we give you the comprehensive dissertation to answer the original question. I am thinking this could be a hereditary issue, but I need grant money to study this phenomenon further.) Of course, in part I was excited about the new position and was gushing about all the things I do for the company. Unfortunately, I did not communicate clearly to friends, family and colleagues, and so the question was repeated at the next encounter. (Honestly, I am not sure my mom really knows what I do, but as along as I am happy, she’s happy.)

The official position title on my business cards is Account Services Manager (ASM). That is less than helpful to my friends. Again, most people have a concept of what a librarian does, but an ASM? My last library position was in an Advertising Agency, they had a department full of Account Services Managers who were a liaison between the client and the agency. They worked with the client and key people at the agency in ad campaigns. So I have at least had exposure to ASMs and had a general concept on what they do.

In essence, that is what I do for my company; I am a liaison between our company and the clients they serve. EBSCO hires librarians, because their clients are librarians, and who better to serve as a liaison that someone who can “talk the talk” and “walk the walk?” I could write more, but I think ‘liaison’ sums it up best.

Until we meet again,

Carol Doms

Remodeling a library?  Need some excitement in your life? 

The Combined Arms Research Library on Fort Leavenworth is a consolidated facility that has two main missions.  It is the academic library for the Army’s Command and General Staff College.  It is also the public library for the military families living on the Fort and in the surrounding area, civilian workers and retired military.  The CARL is housed in Eisenhower Hall, one of five buildings comprising the CGSC campus. 

The CARL is in the throes of a building renovation.  The library renovation will dramatically transform the current library building into an inviting and usable library and academic support center.  We will have improved HVAC, more power, more communication ports, a geothermal system, efficient lights, demand lighting in the stacks, and a bunch of other improvements.  Overall, energy use should decline by 30%.  There will be new carpet, furniture and shelving. There will also be two information desks, and more public computers.  The children’s library will be moved from the second floor to the first, behind a glass wall, for easier access. 

This spring the CARL Main, Archives and Document collections will be moved into a commercial cave in Lenexa.  Library staff will retrieve materials for use by the College and Post communities.  We expect to send a van once a day, a trip of about 40 miles one-way. 

The CARL staff and selected academic and post library material will be housed in temporary quarters located across the street from our present building.  We’ll have room for new books, fiction, J and Y books, and a set of academic readings we know will be heavily used by CGSC students. 

Movement of the collections will start April 19^th.  Completion of the project is scheduled for March 2013.  I’m currently trying to balance the prime contractor (JE Dunn), the Corps of Engineers, the installation Department of Public Works, the College academic departments, the increasingly nervous CARL staff, and the professional library moving company subcontracted for the job.  We’ve been planning for a year and have a good set of blueprints, a solid construction schedule, and a continual desire to curl up into a fetal ball. 

Today’s excitement was that the insurance company hired by Dunn wants a list of every item in the library so they can insure them.  Does this mean I hand them a spreadsheet with 300,000 books and every piece of realia we own?  Possibly—more to come on that.  At least I know how to do that, if not how to value the books individually.  How do you put a value on 120 years of irreplaceable College archives?  Oh, and we need this in a week. 

The managements at all levels have been consistent in supporting the CARL.  We expect to continue operations with (almost) no interruption.  We’ll still buy books, catalog them, and weed them.  We will have a Wednesday morning story and crafts hour for preschool children.  We will still do in-depth research for Master’s and PhD candidates.  We probably will not have a nervous breakdown.  Probably. 

There’s certainly more to come on this.  I’ll have more to say as we get further down the timeline.  Should be exciting.

Ed Burgess

Director, CARL

Greetings to all.

This is my first venture in blogging and trying something new (to me). I do not recall making this a New Year’s resolution. It is more or less now that I have had a couple of years under my belt working for EBSCO, I feel a little more confident in taking on new ventures. I opted to call my blog “Tales from a Traveling Librarian” because that is what I do on a weekly basis, minus a Bookmobile. I am a librarian who works on the vendor side of the business, helping librarians. (More on this, in my next post.)

I suppose I should start with a little professional background on me, for those of you who do not know me. Others can vouch that I have “been around” the library biz for a while. I came to Kansas City from Wisconsin (library graduate of UW-Madison) after I landed my first library job at UMKC at the Dental School Library. From there, it was science reference librarian at UMKC, reference librarian at APWA: American Public Works Association (where I was first introduced to SLA), library manager at Bethany Medical and corporate librarian at Nicholson Kovac Advertising Agency.

I became active at SLA and the old Heart of America Chapter (now KWM Chapter) when Angela Anthony, library director at APWA encouraged Ellen Summers and myself to work with her on the chapter newsletter. She concluded that many hands would make light a load. She was right. It still was a lot of work, but each of us brought our strength in different areas to the newsletter. This was back when we had to print and mail out the newsletter. Since then I have served in other chapter positions, Secretary (I think!), Chapter President, Awards committee and now, Programming and Blogging. I hate to say it, but I cannot remember all the positions I have held for this Chapter. However, the benefits of getting to know my fellow librarians out weighs the extra work I did for the chapter.

So what can you expect from my posts? Good question. Standard reply is “Let me do research on that and get back to you!” However, I can tell you want you will NOT see here:

• Any sort of gossip or rumors about my company. Those things they request I keep confidential I do so. Sorry you will have to find another source for the rumor mill.
• This is not a marketing blog for my company. I do not plan to make this an advertising spot to “buy our products.” If you want more information, type in EBSCO on the web. You will do just fine.
• No naming names or clients. That should be obvious, but since I have seen examples of naïveté in cyberspace, I felt it should be stated.

As for what you will see in this blog space, I have a few ideas. One near and dear to me is answering the question: What is it I do for EBSCO? You would not believe how many friends, family and even fellow librarians have asked me that question. Another blog idea is one on e-readers, and perhaps what am I hearing that concerns librarians the most in my five state territories. That is what I have been kicking around.

Meanwhile, it is back on the road.

Carol Doms

The membership voted unanimously to change the name of our local chapter to:

Kansas/Western Missouri Chapter of SLA 

Our new motto will be changed to: 

“Putting Knowledge to Work in the Heart of America” 

This is an exciting time to be a member of the Kansas/Western Missouri Chapter (KWM) as we launch into 2012 with renewed vision and fresh vitality. Our modernized branding will improve our visibility among the broader organization as other SLA members will immediately know where our chapter is geographically located. This will also make recruiting new members easier with a self-explanatory name that will have a powerful attraction rather than a scratch-your-head reaction. On behalf of the Executive Board, I would like to congratulate the members of our chapter for taking this brave step toward re-branding! I am pleased with the overwhelming support that this change has received and am hopeful that it will propel us into a bright future even with the economic challenges we are facing.

The name change has been approved by headquarters, and they are in the process of making changes to their documents, web site, etc. We have also started that process locally with the creation of a new web site that will be launched in the next few weeks. I am looking for creative ideas for the KWM logo that will have a prominent place on our web site. All members are invited to send me sketches, descriptions, or suggestions for the official logo. We might even have a contest with a prize for the winning idea if there is enough interest!

Pop the corks and celebrate a new year and fresh beginning for special librarians in Kansas and Western Missouri!

Mary Odom
President

For those of you who haven’t heard about the coming upheaval in our chapter, this post’s for you. There are several challenges facing our chapter in the coming year:

1. Elimination of the minimum allotment from SLA headquarters. The new procedure for calculating the allotment is based on a proration of the dues paid by our chapter members. The various tiers of dues determine the graduated percentages paid to our local chapter which translates into a loss of almost half of our allotment.
2. Local recession conditions with the concurrent layoffs, unemployment, and library closings.
3. Reduced budgets for professional memberships and professional development activities and travel experienced by many local employers.
4. Lastly, new member recruitment is negatively overshadowed by our chapter name that doesn’t accurately represent our geographic membership.

Did you know that the HOA Chapter started in 1948 with Kansas, Missouri & Oklahoma? In 1956, the Oklahoma Chapter was formed and took 17 active members from our chapter. On our silver anniversary, the Mid-Missouri Chapter was formed taking some of our members as well. Although the Mid-Missouri Chapter no longer exists, there is another chapter in Missouri called the St. Louis Metro Area Chapter which has about 100 active members from 3 states: Missouri, Illinois, and New Jersey.

When new recruits select a chapter, they typically look for the chapter that is geographically closest to him/her. A recent recruit in Kansas actually selected Oklahoma for the simple reason that our name is obscure. Consider this question: how many of you would know what area is covered by the following chapters based solely on the names: Rio Grande, Mid-South, or Rocky Mountain Chapters? Out of the 55 SLA chapters, ours is not the only one with an ambiguous name.

Our chapter’s geographic boundaries include the whole state of Kansas and select counties in Western Missouri. Out of approximately 70 active members, 13 are located outside the greater Kansas City area. This represents 20% of our membership, who are mostly located in Kansas.

This year is our opportunity to accomplish the following:

1. Ensure the future viability of our chapter,
2. Reduce recruitment mishaps where a new member is recruited by our chapter but accidentally chooses a neighboring chapter,
3. Enhance the evolving legacy that we’ll leave to future special librarians in Kansas & Western Missouri.

A survey was sent out in August to the HOA listserve and drew 39 participants which is a 56% response rate. Ironically, the results indicated that 56% of the respondents preferred the name Kansas/Western Missouri Chapter. Suggestions received from the survey that were eliminated from consideration were:

“Kansas & Kansas City Metro Area” (excludes Western Missouri counties)

“MO/KAN” (encroaches on St. Louis Metro Area Chapter which includes Eastern Missouri)

“Heart of America (KS/MO)” encroaches on St. Louis Metro Area Chapter which includes Eastern Missouri)

The Executive Board agrees with the preferences of the majority of our members. We considered names of other successful chapters in similar situations such as Louisiana/Southern Mississippi and Florida/Caribbean Chapters among the many other chapters that are clearly named after their individual state. Your input is requested during our upcoming Annual Meeting where a bylaw change will be presented and discussed. The bylaw change requires a two-thirds affirmative vote of the membership which will be done electronically during the week following the annual meeting. Voting will be open for 10 days and the results announced the first week of December.

The proposed bylaw change will read: The name of the chapter will be “Kansas/Western Missouri Chapter of SLA”. The new motto will be “Putting knowledge to work in the Heart of America.” This essentially flips the current name and motto. The bylaw changes have already been approved by SLA headquarters. A fresh approach to branding will give our chapter a fighting chance to maximize our membership, counteract the impact of the reduced allotment, and sustain us through the economic downturn. Other measures that our Executive Board is implementing include a silent auction, sales of branded merchandise, sponsorships, virtual educational programming such as webinars, and student outreach to Emporia State University and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Anyone who would like additional information on the financial situation, bylaw changes, or upcoming vote may contact me or any Executive Board member. You may also leave comments below. Feedback and discussion are welcomed by the officers. Our chapter will continue to serve the Heartland even as our environment changes and our activities evolve. The mission stays the same, and our Tin Man still has a heart.

Mary Odom, President

Remember when you read 1984 in high school?  You were outraged that freedom of information could be so curtailed.  You knew in your heart that you would stand against Big Brother if it ever came to that, and you swore that you would doggedly protect intellectual freedom so that it never would.  You became a librarian.  An Information Professional.

And you’ve done a fine job protecting our rights and freedoms from a government that might restrict them for our own good.

In the mean time, though, private companies have silently stepped into the role.  Two giants, Facebook and Google, now offer Personalized Results.  You may have noticed, Facebook has filtered the information you see in your newsfeed.  They do this so that we won’t be overwhelmed by too much information, so that we can focus on the people who matter most and tune out the rest.  However, a growing percentage of people (a recently estimated 35% of people in their 20s) get their news information primarily from this social site, and that information is filtered as well.

Even more significant, Google quietly announced in late 2009 that they would be rolling out Personalized Search for all users.  This means that your Google search results are now tailored to you, based on IP address locations, previous searches, and the results you chose from those searches.  Consider the example of three people searching the same phrase, "Joplin tornado."  One is an environmentalist, another an investment banker, the third a medical librarian (like me!).  With Personalized Search, each would get different results.  The environmentalist could read about the environmental impact of natural disasters and green rebuilding.  The banker would get results geared toward the economic repercussions of the storm and the estimated costs of rebuilding.  The medical librarian would get results about casualties. The first two examples are supposition, but this last is true.  I was surprised to see such gruesome results, especially when I compared my medical-librarian-Personalized-Results with an un-filtered search that retrieved general news, updates from the Red Cross, and even a pet rescue site.  I could have used some of that information.

On one hand, Personalized Results can be very useful.  If you are a car enthusiast who searches for Jaguar, you won’t have to sift through results about wildlife. 

However, and here’s where the fear comes in, you may gradually lose touch with opposing view points.  As Google targets your search history and builds a profile of your beliefs, you will see fewer and fewer opinions in your Google results list that vary from your own.  And, as in the Joplin example, we don’t know what we are missing until we look at it from another perspective.  This personalized Google feature can be worked around (add the string “&pws=0” to the end of your search query), but you have to know about it to be able to change it. 

What is the significance of this for special librarians?  In the hands of a professional, Personalized Search could save time, if we are able to use it to work for us, rather than against us.  If I Google a word I am unfamiliar with, it would be nice if the results included medical dictionaries and definitions. 

But I abhor the idea of my searches being filtered, even through my own perspective.  As a librarian, I know the value of balanced information.  If I am doing research about a new procedure, I cannot miss out on information just because Google’s algorithms don’t think I would be interested.  I cannot avoid a second or third view point, especially if it’s a dissenting view.  The times when I turn to Google, when I need a general starting point for an unfamiliar topic or if my databases have yet to index something really new, are the times when I most need an un-limited breadth of information.

This Personalization phenomenon is still relatively new.  But it’s also still prevalently silent and unknown, and it is affecting our (and our patron’s) information consumption more than we may know.  What will we do about it?  And how will we let it affect our Information Profession?

By Julie Timmins, MLS

For more about this topic, checkout:

Filter bubble, by Eli Pariser (2011)

The Googlization of everything: (and why we should worry), by Siva Vaidhyanathan (2011)

Republic.com and Republic.com 2.0, by Cass Sunstein (2002 and 2009)

The Control Revolution: how the Internet is putting individuals in charge and changing the world we know by Andrew Shapiro (2000)

The Information: a history, a theory, a flood, by James Gleick (2011)

Google News, News For You! and more on personalized, socially shared news

Pros and Cons of Personalized Search

And for a wholly dissenting opinion, see The Technology Liberation Front

More on how to un-personalize your search, including how to trick your location

In case you didn't see it, the Kansas City Public Library Midtown Branch made the Library Journal for its "eye-popping statistics". The article does hit on both the positives and negatives around the significant growth in DVD rentals:

The Kansas City, Kansas Public Library(KCKPL), at least at its downtown Main Branch has racked up some eye-popping statistics. In 2009, DVDs accounted for 59.5% of the adult circulation and 55.1% of the entire branch's circulation, while this year, through July, the figures are 58.5% and 54.5%.

The library in 2007 opened a new DVD section and enhanced the collection. To Assistant Director Helen Rigdon, the results represent a double-edged sword. "While this increase in numbers is good for circulation, we worry about just being thought of as a ‘video store,'" she told LJ.

And while the availability of DVDs does attract visitors, the Main Branch layout allows patrons to go straight to the second floor without passing print—stairs and elevator go directly to the second floor from the foyer.

The library has placed literature and calendars regarding library programs in the A/V area, but, Rigdon said, "For the most part these patrons seem to be focused only on getting the latest DVD."

The full story is available at: http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/886815-264/at_main_library_in_kansas.html.csp

In case you haven't seen it, the SLA Board of Directors election is beginning soon.  In order to vote, you must be a member in good standing by Friday, August 27 at 5:00 p.m. EDT. Voting begins Wednesday, September 8. If you want to know more about the candidates, visit the Candidates for 2011 Board of Directors site.  For more information on the voting process, that is available on the Board of Directors Election site.

This your chance to help choose the future leaders and direction of SLA, so don't forget about September 8th!

I was skimming the news this morning and this article popped out at me from August 5th. I think this is a great example of how librarians are embracing change and adapting their services to client demands to stay relevant.

"The Washington State Library today launched new mobile apps for its existing Ask-WA online reference service — giving iPhone and Android users the ability to ask questions of actual research librarians, in real time, 24 hours a day from their phones. Having just downloaded and tried the app, we can verify that it works."

I love this idea and it definitely elevates the significance of a reference librarian since there is no automated system (as far as I am aware) that can accurately answer these types of questions.

The full article is available at: App puts librarian in your pocket

Is anyone in SLA looking to provide any type of smart phone applicatioN?  Let us know!

For those that are following the Google book search settlement, the Open Book Alliance sent a letter to Congress yesterday calling for reforms.  The Library Journal published an article yesterday and below is an excerpt:

"The Google Book Search settlement approaches finality, with January 28 as the deadline for opting out and filing objections or amicus briefs; February 4 for the Department of Justice (DOJ) response; and February 18 for the final fairness hearing.

While major library groups have called for reform of the settlement, notably oversight of pricing, rather than expressing opposition, the Open Book Alliance which includes tech companies, author groups, the New York Library Association, and the Special Libraries Association—has asked Congress to intervene."

Below are links relevant to this story:

Library Journal Article: Open Book Alliance Calls for Scrapping Google Settlement, with Public Guardian 

Open Book Alliance: http://www.openbookalliance.org/