Publishers Weekly is reporting that not only are they up for sale by their publisher, Reed Business Information, but that Library Journal and School Library Journal are available as well.
Without knowing the cost/profit information for each of these, I do wonder how they are affected by the various pressures in the publishing world as well as the shifting of library information to the web (including social media such as blogging and Twitter).
found via LISNews
The Ohio Library Council has announced that they are canceling their annual conference due to low expectations of attendance. The organization surveyed library directors throughout Ohio and determined that most libraries simply don’t have the funds to participate.
Is this the beginning of a slew of cancellations, or will it be limited to areas where funding is being drastically cut? ALA 2009 apparently did well, but will smaller, regional conferences survive?
Watch for conferences to scale down, or even combine with other events, over the next couple of years in order to provide more “bang for the buck”. If you are a speaker/presenter, look at how you might be able to benefit conferences in your area… they might need all the help they can get.
found via Save Ohio Libraries and The Limnal Librarian
The deal has finally been closed, and the state of Ohio has a new two-year budget. The proposed cuts to libraries were scaled back by two-thirds, to about 11%. All told, library funding is expected to drop between 25-30% from last year.
This is still not a good situation, but libraries are still better off than many other state services.
It didn’t have to be this way. The budget process was confrontational, and most people have a bad taste in their mouth. Most of this was due to the inflexibility and charged rhetoric coming from the Governor. I suspect that we will revisit this episode during next year’s election, and that Ted Strickland will not be viewed favorably as a result of his words and actions.
Because I feel strongly that criticism should be joined with the responsibility of offering one’s own solutions, I feel that the option of a temporary sales tax increase (not affecting food or drug purchases) would have provided a reliable cash flow without negatively impacting those least able to cope. This was never even included as a possibility by the Governor, perhaps because of next year’s election, and we have a controversial gambling plan plus drastic cuts in libraries and social services as a result.
Ohio residents: is your voter registration current? If not, make it so, and remember everyone’s words and actions when you make your choices next year.
some sources found via SaveOhioLibraries
A Look at Librarianship through the Lens of an Academic Library Serials Review is a post from In the Library with a Lead Pipe. It is not only a great examination of the options available, with their assorted benefits and risks, when deciding which serial subscriptions to keep/cancel, but it is an examination of what librarianship brings to the process of maintaining a collection.
This is a process that many libraries will be going through on a large scale within the next few years, as budget cuts and cost increases force us to rethink what serials we offer, and how we offer them.
This is one of those areas in which there are no easy solutions; every cut is likely to remove some resources from users, and not everything will remain available or affordable by alternate means. Serials management has been the financial seven-headed-hydra, with every solution either creating or being replaced by a new problem.
Last Saturday, Governor Ted Strickland suggested that Ohio Librarians ought to take a pay cut rather than be critical of his budget proposal:
“Other leaders have taken a pay cut,” he said. “I’ve taken a pay cut.”
If this were a debate over a 5% or 10% overall cut in library funding, then yes, the option of cutting salaries could make a difference for libraries providing services. We aren’t facing that level, however. If all public library librarians were to forgo their entire salaries, it still wouldn’t prevent the closure of many libraries and the gutting of services at most of the rest.
This suggestion is the equivalent of suggesting that by clipping coupons and buying store brand items, an unemployed family could avoid foreclosure. It just doesn’t make sense.
The Ohio budget mess has become entangled in a mass of politics. Politicians all seem to have a position; nobody seems to have a solution. A valid and fair solution is going to hurt, but it needs to be found (and quickly).
from Save Ohio Libraries
Note (added 9 July 2009): As this post was quoted by American Libraries yesterday, I thought it best to reiterate that, as is stated in the About section, this blog is not affiliated with my current place of employment. I am responsible for the opinions expressed in the posts, as well as the topics discussed. I do not feel that I was either misquoted or misattributed, but that it could be misinterpreted.
You know it, even if you don’t admit it… your library has books that should have been weeded years ago, but have hung around until they become anachronistically funny. To give you an anonymous outlet for this outlandish situation, there is Awful Library Books, a blog highlighting (only in a metaphorical way) those library books that serve to let us know that ours is not the only library that needs a good cleaning.
If you have a few minutes, answer a few questions for Nicole Engard, the Open Source Evangelist for Liblime (how’s that for a job title?). She is conducting an online survey because, in her words:
“I am working on some very very broad research on open source use in libraries for a book I’m working on. The focus of the book will be on software you can use that is open source. If you have a chance to answer this brief survey to help me out that would be greatly appreciated… Thanks a bunch!!! (and feel free to share with others).”
found on Web4Lib
The World eBook Fair begins this Saturday, July 4th, coinciding with Project Gutenberg‘s 39th anniversary.
To celebrate, the World eBook Fair members are providing free access to over two million books between July 4th and August 4th.
found via ResourceShelf
In a merging of two of my great interests, NASA has issued a Request For Information (ROI) on how best to “analyze and catalog notes from spaceflight pioneer Wernher von Braun into an electronic, searchable database or other system.“
Sample Page from Von Braun's Notes
At first glance, this is something that would be solved by using library tools and software. However, the list of potential ways to set this up seems to illustrate the gaps in library technology (all points are mine):
This project begs for a combination of a traditional database (for storing and searching text) with the added functionality provided by social software products. Nothing in the list is beyond the current means of technology… think of a wiki combined with flickr-type functionality that can utilize PDF documents and you have a good starting point.
Why hasn’t this been done? How many libraries and archives have document sets like this that could become a researcher’s favorite collection, with the right application of technology? Have any been digitized with a social annotation feature?
Why do I suspect that the development of this will come from outside the library community? We should already have projects that utilize this kind of mash-up philosophy… our collections could be so much more powerful.
There are some great things being done in the library technology realm, and many people and projects that are worth praising. But now and then I see something like this and wonder how we missed this obvious application of existing technologies.
found via ResourceShelf and Wired Science
What is the future of the library? is a video that presents the library as a solution to the digitial divide, providing access and empowerment to those who otherwise would not have the access or the ability to effectively utilize the internet.
At first the video may seem to be all about buzzwords, but by the end you should have some thought-provoking questions forming within your mind. I recommend at least two viewings, and quite a bit of time to think about where we might be headed.
This is a great example of asking excellent questions in order to move the conversation forward.
found via The Proverbial Lone Wolf Librarian
The Review Board on Principles of Shared Data Creation and Stewardship has released their final report on OCLC’s proposed policy for use of records (pdf), and after reviewing the report, OCLC has formally withdrawn the policy.
This conclusion to the records policy proposal is the best that could be imagined. OCLC has listened to criticism from the greater library community, considered both the policy and it’s criticism through the efforts of the Review Board, and has responded in a way that allows everyone to move forward with a greater understanding of how best to go about updating the policy.
I suggested early on that OCLC was a tiger, instinctively defending its territory. This still feels like a proper metaphor: the movement towards creating a policy without proper input from the library community, and the subsequent review and withdrawing of the policy, seems more like an organization that didn’t realize the true implications of what it was putting in place, as opposed to one that was attempting a power grab to create a monopoly.
This was, and remains, a critical issue for libraries. The ability to use the metadata representing our collections (as well as connecting them to collections and resources beyond what we own) is critical to our future ability to offer services in ways that will serve our patrons best.
I certainly hope that OCLC sets up a policy creation board similar to the review board – one that seeks a wide a range of ideas, opinion and input. This will ensure a policy that takes a broader and more complete view of the use of cataloging records, but will also strengthen OCLC, because a membership organization is stronger when the constituent members are consistently heard and respected. This has happened with the Review Board, and if OCLC continues to encourage it, everyone will come out ahead.
To OCLC: You have responded well, and in the process have created an opportunity to solidify your position as a membership organization. Keep up the good work and you will benefit, along with your members.
To the Review Board: The report is well-written, and does an excellent job of stating what was wrong with the policy (and the process of creating the policy), as well as providing a constructive means to create a new policy that will properly reflect the needs and desires of the membership as a whole.
To detractors of the policy: Those who offered strong, but constructive, criticism deserve recognition. This was an emotional debate, and keeping focused on the issues at hand has ultimately won the day. The best, and most complete, resource of commentary and information is the Code4Lib OCLC Policy Change page.
This has been an education for all involved: the power of sustained commentary, of constructive criticism, of listening as well as talking, and of reviewing and changing positions when necessary. Everyone should keep it up.
resources: ResourceShelf & Disruptive Library Technology Jester
The American Libraries article is just one of many to explain the issues facing Ohio, but I found the following information worth posting:
Strickland’s office was also flooded with phone calls; gubernatorial spokesperson Amanda Wurst said in the June 23 Toledo Blade that “there were 1,356 calls through our switchboard, 80% of which were regarding library funding.” On a normal day, the office receives 150 calls, she added.
On another front, Save Ohio Libraries has created a Flyer for tomorrow’s Statehouse rally in Columbus (Pdf):
Save Ohio Libraries Rally Flyer
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Libology Blog
Established July 2006
ISSN: 1946-1852
by Rick Mason
