yoURArcher

Your weekly links to interesting stories from the world of libraries and archives, books and publishing, and information science.

Got a hot tip? Please send it to Kate.Cushon@uregina.ca (tipsters will be credited!).

Having a “real look” at security in libraries in this day and age – probably most relevant for public libraries, but certainly applicable to academic libraries as well – discussing everything from guns to mental health issues.

A related issue: The opioid epidemic in North America is becoming so urgent that public librarians are learning how to treat overdoses. (Hat-tip to Jennifer Hall!)

“If we seem doomed despite the evidence, why continue to support us?” A roundtable discussion of the challenges facing university presses.

The Venn diagram of bookselling and library work has some interesting areas of overlap, including the necessary agony of returning books, which has much in common with weeding a collection, as well as areas of difference.

“Take a Look: An Oral History of Reading Rainbow.”

81-3 Photo 10 Students 1915-16

(L to R) Ruth Willsey (Wilkinson), Chelsea Rowe, Mary Robertson

University of Regina Archives and Special Collections

Your weekly links to interesting stories from the world of libraries and archives, books and publishing, and information science.

Got a hot tip? Please send it to Kate.Cushon@uregina.ca (tipsters will be credited!).

One grad’s guide for graduate students on getting the most out of your academic library – a good reminder that even advanced and driven students may not be aware of basic library services.

The worlds of publishing and post-secondary education collide in a lawsuit: an unnamed student sues for defamation over a book that “that depicts the recent and growing number of campus rape and sexual assault allegations as the result of nationwide hysteria that infantilizes women.”

Although the U of R has had a new University Librarian for 10 months, leadership transition in academic libraries is a process that takes time and is helped with communication and plans for leadership transition.

On higher education and the “false god of attention.”

An essay on the author’s visceral horror of “getting it wrong in print.”

87-54 Photo 155 Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery 1980

Autumn Song (1970) by Douglas Bentham.

“The work was displayed as part of the exhibition organized by the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery, Douglas Bentham: Getting to Now, 1 August – 31 October 1980. The catalogue for the exhibition lists the sculpture as from the Saskatchewan Arts Board collection.”

Timothy Long — Head Curator, MacKenzie Art Gallery

University of Regina Archives and Special Collections

University of Regina Photography Department

Your weekly links to interesting stories from the world of libraries and archives, books and publishing, and information science.

Got a hot tip? Please send it to Kate.Cushon@uregina.ca (tipsters will be credited!).

The case against Little Free Libraries, written by librarians, backed by data.

How sympathetic are you to publishers’ desire to control “bargaining power and market share”? Amazon, like libraries, can be seen as a significant threat by publishers.

The latest CanLit blowup centers around “Winning the Appropriation Prize” and the fallout from this article. What can we learn from this?

A presentation on “Driving Change with Students, Staff, and Space” focuses on a workflows assessment to analyze staff duties, a “kindness audit” to examine barriers to library services, an enhanced patron count to determine how to best utilize library space, and a survey to report how students use the library.

Your weekly links to interesting stories from the world of libraries and archives, books and publishing, and information science.

Got a hot tip? Please send it to Kate.Cushon@uregina.ca (tipsters will be credited!).

Politics and libraries: “It Is Becoming Impossible to Remain Neutral.”

The Man Booker International Prize 2017 shortlist has been announced.

“This is What a Modern-Day Witch Hunt Looks Like”: Academia and the fallout from unpopular and dangerous scholarship.

Ben Lerner on the porous boundaries between literature, truth, and plagiarism.

The New York Public Library created a list of their favourite fictional librarians.

Your weekly links to interesting stories from the world of libraries and archives, books and publishing, and information science.

Got a hot tip? Please send it to Kate.Cushon@uregina.ca (tipsters will be credited!).

The scholarly community is becoming more and more cognizant of predatory publishing, but how libraries help scholars assess journals? The Canadian Association of research Libraries has released a collaboratively-developed guide on How To Assess a Journal (also available as a PDF) with clear guidelines for those deciding whether to use articles, or publish with a journal. (Hat-tip to Cara Bradley!)

A reflection on students and the academic library, and how to plan for the experiences of future students.

On how university teaching, a career in academia, and how failure can be the most fulfilling part of being a professor.

Libraries are spaces for cultivating literacy, and in today’s world that means multiple literacies, literacy gaps in user populations, and even “literacy literacy.”

A lecturer reflects on initial impressions of students, and what we can get wrong about students.

85-78 Photo 1 Student Asleep In Empty Lecture Hall

University of Regina Archives and Special Collections

University of Regina Photography Department

Your weekly links to interesting stories from the world of libraries and archives, books and publishing, and information science.

Got a hot tip? Please send it to Kate.Cushon@uregina.ca (tipsters will be credited!).

Mobile libraries, a.k.a. bookmobiles, have been around since at least the 1850s! Here are some rare vintage photos of early-era bookmobiles. (Hat-tip to Lisa Bayne)

The American Libraries Association has published its Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2016.

In the post-truth era, information-sharing among post-secondary institutions is crucial.

A study of US colleges shows which ones circulated the most digital and online material as a percentage of their total circulation.

A pair of librarians has conducted research on library bathrooms (including academic libraries), their impact on user experiences, and what they say about libraries’ priorities.