Libraries and censorship

With the release of the film “The Golden Compass“, based on the novel written by Philip Pullman and the first book in the “His Dark Materials” series, has sparked further cries for boycotting and censorship led by conservative religious groups in the United States. Prior to this call, there were concerns raised over the sexual preference of a character in the “Harry Potter” series. The issue of censorship is an important one for libraries and I particularly like the new release issued by the President of the ALA in regards to this matter.

In this article, CTV reports that some school libraries have chosen to pull the book from the shelves. While the books have not been banned, they have been put under review. As some one who works in the library profession, I would hope that this material would be available to all readers for whenever they chose to read it. I think it’s the responsibility of parents, educators and librarians to inform readers about their choices and allow them to think for themselves. I’m curious to know what other think about this issue or on the role of libraries and censorship.

Would you like this to be your public library?

I found an interesting post at digg.com on library architecture and how two libraries, one in Cardiff Wales and the other in Kansas City, Missouri, are marketing themselves. Follow this link to see pictures and an article on these two libraries Can you spot the public library

I found these architectural displays to be quite jarring and I could definitely see it as a positive way to market library services. I’m curious to see if Cardiff decides to include this as a permanent architectural detail or once the new building is built whether they abandon it. I would also be curious if other libraries decide to use this in the future as a marketing tool. Would you like to see the Vancouver Public Library use something similiar? or your own public library?

Stephen Abram Presentation

Last night, I attended an excellent presentation hosted by the SLA Western Canada Chapter at the Terminal City Club. Stephen Abram was the guest speaker and his presentation focused on the direction of web 2.0 and how libraries can become more involved and engaged with their end users. Stephen believes that web 2.0 has allowed librarians or library technicians to become more “social” again rather than focusing on the delivery or presentation of content or the “facts”. I was inspired by his presentation to become more involved in learning about web 2.0 and library 2.0. I would like to become more involved in these discussions and I think it will provide new and interesting avenues for Library Technicians.

BCLA Conference Wrap-up

Now that the Canucks have been knocked out of the playoffs and I have finally settled into my new apartment, I have finally motivated myself to make a post on my blog. Also, I need to do a little write up about my experience at the BCLA Conference for the upcoming LTAIG newsletter issue.

The conference kicked off, on Thursday evening, with an excellent talk by the keynote speaker Steven Berlin Johnson. He is the author of “Everything bad is good for you” and more recently “Ghost Map“. The talk focused on the future of the book in the digital age and he outlined seven ways of reading. The seven ways of reading are annotating, collaborating, expanding, blogging, discovering, outsourcing? and of course reading the traditional book. His talk opened my eyes to some of the new technologies available, in particular, DEVONthink and Meebo, and it also gave me pause to think how I interact with technology and the impact it has on my own reading habits. I personally enjoyed the discussion surrounding blogs and how the reader interacts with a book on a different level than in a traditional book review. The reader has the opportunity to give their impressions of a book while they are reading the item and it also connects reader to author more readily. He commented that he would respond to blog postings regarding his works and help clarify or answer readers questions concerning areas and I thought that was really cool.

Since it was my first BCLA Conference it was a bit overwhelming to begin with but the Keynote talk really helped open my mind for the other sessions I attended. On Friday, the session I enjoyed the most was “Brave New World : catalouging developments”. This session was one of the reasons why I decided to even attend the Conference. The talk focused on three new developments in cataloguing: FRBR, RDA or AACR3 and future trends inmetadata standards. I found the session to be informative and answered some of the questions I had surrounding these issues. In particular, the discussion of RDA and AACR3 was quite useful as I have not kept up to speed with all the developments surrounding the changes to our current cataloguing standards. It also gave me some perspective on when these changes are going to occur and the history behind these develpments. RDA or AACR3 will be released sometime in early 2009 but drafts of the document will be released in sections over the next year and a half. To find out more click on the links above.

On Friday evening, I attended the BCLA Awards ceremony to cheer on our fearless LTAIG chair, Rob Golbeck, who received the BCLA President’s Award for being such an active member in the field and for all his work with LTAIG. The honour bestowed on Rob is well deserving and since joining the LTAIG committee, over a year ago, I consider it a privilege to work with Rob and fellow committee members on both a professional and personal basis.

On Saturday, my favorite session was “The Social Libary : a showcase of Web 2.0 tools in BC and Yukon Libraries“. The presenters Laurie Prange, Sally Taylor, Lindsey Ure and Rob Golbeck discussed the use of social software in their library settings. I found it quite useful as there were tools discussed that I was unfamiliar with and I have started to use myself. At Kwantlen University College Library we have had recent discussions regarding our future and direction and so it was nice to see how other libraries are using these Web 2.0 tools. Another reason for attending this talk was to support Rob.

I really enjoyed my first ever BCLA Conference and I want to thank everyone else on the LTAIG Committee who worked really hard on putting together our poster, brochures and of course our lovely pins. Congratulations once again to Rob for winning the award and for putting on a great presentation. I also enjoyed our lunch time meeting and having the opportunity to discuss issues concerning Library Technicians from outside of the Lower Mainland. Lastly, the LTAIG Social Event was enjoyable as it allowed me to unwind from such a busy weekend.

Contributing to the global economy and more

The post-christmas hangover has finally subsided and now it is time to get to work. Every year I struggle to find a charity or organization that I feel is worthy of my donation or time. However, that has changed after hearing about an organization on a local news cast.

Kiva.org is an organization that connects you to budding entrepreneurs in devoloping countries and enables you to donate money directly to these entrepreneurs without the hassle of bureaucratic red tape. The money you loan to these entrepreneurs is paid back to you and you can choose to reinvest your loan or loan more to another prospective entrepreneur. To find out more about this organization click the link above. The thing I like most about this is that you don’t have to be a fortune 500 company or a successful entrepreneur to effect change.

However, if money is tight… another organization I would recommend only asks for your time.

www.one.org is an effort to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. It is an American based campaign but every bit counts. They urge you to contact local politicians to say that this is an issue you care about and sign their online declaration. To find out more please click the link above.

Another charity organization that I have considered is the:
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research this organization is fighting to find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease as well as many other diseases that effect the brain. I have not contributed to this organization yet but it has been on my mind as my grandfather had this disease.

Joined a Book Club

Recently, I have had the pleasure of joining a book club and I am looking forward to discussing the first title in our list, as the rest of the list will be decided at our first meeting. I have always wanted to join a book club but never got around to finding one. I am just glad that someone else took the time to get the ball rolling. Thank You, Courtney for setting it up. The first title chosen was: The accidental by Ali Smith. I am looking forward to our first meeting coming in February.

AUTOCAT has found a new home

Autocat has found a new home. Syracuse University has taken on the challenge of managing this very informative cataloguing listserv. This is great news for all cataloguers.

Welcome to my blog

I have just started this blog so look for future update on cataloguing related issues, library topics and other tidbits of useful knowledge. Thank you for visiting my blog