From the Announcement:

Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce a new, improved version of our primary institutional search page, Search All, available through Search on the top menu. Related search pages, such as Archives Search and Library Search, have been redesigned as well.

The changes impact layout and content. The new pages will feature:

+ improved functionality;

+ a cleaner, more easily navigated layout;

+ some changes in terminology;

+ less redundancy of information;

Archives Search Results now:

+ display control numbers (Archival Reference Number, Former Archival Reference Number, Accession Number, etc.),

+ allow more options for sorting and limiting results, and,

+ have higher result set limits;

+ Archives Search now includes the option of expanding or limiting a search to descriptions in ARCHIVESCANADA.ca

Direct to “Search All” Page

Source: Library and Archives Canada

A new video via YouTube from the American Library Association.

ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels discusses the economy, its effect on libraries, and what ALA offers to help libraries survive in tough times. This video also serves as an introduction to a special issue of AL Direct to be sent January 20 on the economy and other issues.

Direct to Video

Source: YouTube

Hat Tip: Jenny L.

From the Abstract:

The Web 2.0 trend has placed a renewed emphasis on interoperability and cooperation between systems and people. The digital libraries community is familiar with interoperability through technologies like OAI-PMH, but is disconnected from the general Web 2.0 community. This disconnect prevents the digital library from taking advantage of the rich network of data, services and interfaces offered by that community. This paper presents a case study of a collection within the Texas A&M Repository that was improved by adopting the principles of cooperation embodied by the term Web 2.0.

Direct to Full Text Article

Source: Journal of Digital Information

From the Article:

Barring a drastic change in legal interpretation, public libraries across the nation might soon consider banning children.

The American Library Association, a nationwide library advocacy organization, fears such bans are the only option left available by a new federal lead-testing law that takes effect Feb. 10.

Source: Bristol Herald Courier

Pinellas library cafe owners struggle to stay afloat

The owners of local library cafes say they’ve felt the wrath of the economy.

“The economy is hitting everybody,” said Bernie Dillman, 59, who runs Bernie’s Cafe at Clearwater’s Main Library. “It’s slow, but people are hanging in there.”

His sales average less than $2,000 a month, according to the city’s most recent figures.

And Dalal Mansour, who runs the Bookmark Cafe at Largo Public Library, said things are so tough she won’t be able to pay her $1,752 rent and sales tax to Largo this month.

“We had a big loss. Our sales are not even $100 a day,” said Mansour, 47, whose cafe serves sandwiches, salads, gourmet coffees and pastries.

Source: St. Petersburg Times

From the Abstract:

Libraries have been working to develop network-ready services. Mobile communication intensifies this activity and adds new challenges as they look at what it means to be mobile-ready. This has organizational implications as a shift of emphasis towards workflow integration around the learner or researcher creates new relationships with other service organizations on campus. It also has implications for how space is used, for library skills, and for how collections are developed. We can see the impact of mobile communication on services in two ways. First, services may be made mobile-ready, as with special mobile interfaces for library services, alerting services, and so on. Second, mobilization continues the restructuring of services, organizations and attention that networking has brought about. Think here of how to socialize and personalize services; how to adapt to collection and service use which spans personal, institutional, and cloud environments; how to position and promote the library ‘brand’ as services become atomized and less ‘visible’ on the network; and more complex questions about what best to do locally and what to source with collaborative arrangements or third parties.

Direct to Complete Article

Source: First Monday

+ Why libraries must reject the OCLC Policy (part 1) (via Thingology)

+ Stop the OCLC powergrab! (via WatchDog.net)

Great headline!

From the Article:

A video gaming trend is popping up in public libraries across the country.

Source: Portland Tribune

From the News Release:

ProQuest is pleased to report the success of our on-stand charity drive to provide Donkey-drawn libraries for schools in Somalia, Sudan and Uganda. ProQuest invited delegates of Online Information (London, 2-4 December 2008) to give generously to this important cause. The total amount raised from delegates and ProQuest employees was then match-funded by ProQuest, allowing the company to provide six brand new Donkey-drawn libraries for Africa.

Source: ProQuest

From the Abstract:

Research is divided about the potential of e-service to bridge communication gaps, particularly to diverse user groups. According to the existing body of literature, eservice may either increase or decrease the quality of service received. This study analyzes the level of service received by different genders and ethnic groups when academic and public librarians answer 676 online reference queries. Quality of e-service was evaluated along three dimensions: timely response, reliability, and courtesy. This study found no significant differences among different user groups along any of these dimensions, supporting the argument that the virtual environment facilitates equitable service and may overcome some challenges of diverse user groups.

Direct to Full Text Article (33 pages; PDF)

Source: Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (via D-LIST)

Direct links to ALL of the results from following surveys can be found here.

+ 2008 Library Vocabulary Results

+ Ready Reference Core Tools (Multi-Subject)

+ Collection Development Core Tools

+ Government Documents Core Reference Tools

+ Arts & Humanities ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Bio-Sciences (non-medical**)’Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Business ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Consumer Health and Medical ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Professional* Health and Medical Reference Core Reference Tools

+ Physical and Earth Sciences ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tool

+ Education and Homework Research ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tool

+ Genealogy ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Legal ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

+ Social Sciences ‘Core’ or Essential Reference Tools

Source: Diane Kovacs

The Annual Reports of the Librarian of Congress highlight programs, projects and activities that occurred during the year at the Library, as well as details of its normal operations in Washington and around the world.

Direct to Library of Congress Annual Report–FY 2007 (84 pages; PDF)

See Also: Archive of LC Annual Reports (FY 2000- FY 2007)

Source: LC

We first posted about this site the other day. It’s now live on the WWW.

From the News Release:

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences today unveiled the Humanities Indicators, a prototype set of statistical data about the humanities in the United States. The new on-line resource is available at www.HumanitiesIndicators.org.

The Academy project collected and analyzed data from existing sources to compile a prototype set of 74 indicators and more than 200 tables and charts, accompanied by interpretive essays covering five broad subject areas. The Indicators will be updated as new information becomes available, including data from a survey administered last year to approximately 1,500 college and university humanities departments. The Academy views the Indicators as a prototype for a much-needed national system of humanities data collection.

Among the organizations collaborating with the Academy on the effort are the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Academy of Religion, the American Historical Association, the American Political Science Association, Association of American Universities, the College Art Association, the Federation of State Humanities Councils, the Linguistic Society of America, the Modern Language Association and the National Humanities Alliance

Direct to Prototype of HumanitiesIndicators.org

Several library indicators are a part of the report. Including:

+ State Library Agencies

+ Number and Training of Public Librarians

+ Public Library Expenditures & Funding Sources

+ More Library Indicators Can Be Found Here

Source: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences

From the Article:

If you have children who love video games, then you know it’s an expensive habit to keep up with. With games running between $30 and $50 each, many children are stuck playing the same games over and over again. But the Miami-Dade Public Library System is now offering a solution and it’s free.

Source: CBS Miami

See Also: News Release: Miami-Dade Public Library System Offers More Than Just Books - Popular video games now available for checkout

From the Article:

The nonprofit foundation that aims to raise $300 million for President George W. Bush’s library in Dallas won’t disclose the names of past or future donors, organizers say.

Source: Dallas Morning News