If the old library brand was "books," what is the brand in the 21st century?

Excellent lit review; if somebody asks about academic-library ethnographies, start here.

Women and Non-Binary librarians work at the front lines of workplace sexual harassment every single day.

For this issue, we asked readers responding to our recent pieces about technology, programming, and self-directed learning to tell us: should we expect LIS professionals to learn how to code? Answers came long, short, and even in haiku form. Enjoy!

As local news outlets disappear in America, some libraries are gaining new relevance.

John Unsworth's Home Page

Eighteen academic library users who are blind were interviewed about their experiences with academic libraries and the libraries’ websites using an open-ended questionnaire and recorded telephone interviews. The study approaches these topics from a user-centered perspective, with the idea that blind users themselves can provide particularly reliable insights into the issues and potential solutions that are most critical to them. Most participants used reference librarians’ assistance, and most had positive experiences. High-level screen reader users requested help with specific needs. A larger number of participants reported contacting a librarian because of feeling overwhelmed by the library website. In some cases, blind users and librarians worked verbally without the screen reader. Users were appreciative of librarians’ help but outcomes were not entirely positive. Other times, librarians worked with users to navigate with a screen reader, which sometimes led to greater independence. Some users expressed satisfaction with working with librarians verbally, particularly if websites did not seem screen reader user friendly, but many users preferred independence. Participants agreed it would be helpful if librarians knew how to use screen readers, or at least if librarians were familiar enough with screen readers to provide relevant verbal cues. Many users liked and used chat reference and many preferred Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) to learn citation style, though learning citation style was challenging. Questions such as reference librarians’ role when e-resources are not equally accessible deserve wider discussion in the library literature and in practice. Given the challenges described by the research participants and legal requirements for equally effective electronic and information technologies, libraries and librarians should approach reference services for blind users more proactively. Recommendations are provided.

In recent years, evidence has emerged from disciplines ranging from biology to economics that many scientific studies are not reproducible. This evidence has led to declarations in both the scientific and lay press that science is experiencing a “reproducibility crisis” and that this crisis has significant impacts on both science and society, including misdirected effort, funding, and policy implemented on the basis of irreproducible research. In many cases, academic libraries are the natural organizations to lead efforts to implement recommendations from journals, funders, and societies to improve research reproducibility. In this editorial, we introduce the reproducibility crisis, define reproducibility and replicability, and then discusses how academic libraries can lead institutional support for reproducible research.

Suppose a librarian receives an email from a man named Greg Walsh, wanting to become a cardholder or simply inquiring about the open hours. Would the librarian reply? And, if so, would the reply be polite, including for instance some form of salutation, such as “Hello” or “Good morning”? Does your answer change if the guy is called Tyrone Washington? Is a librarian treating Jake Mueller differently from DeShawn Jackson?

Abstract. We examine whether racial discrimination exists in access to public services in the United States. We carry out an email correspondence study in which

Dewey was an ASSHOLE.

Protecting Library Patron Confidentiality: Checklist of Best Practices by Trina J. Magi, Library Associate Professor, University of Vermont, Fall 2006  Now that libraries have greater-than-ever potential for collecting and storing many types of personal data, often in digital form, librarians must be increasingly vigilant in guarding the public trust (Sturges et al., 2003). Fortunately, the library literature offers many concrete actions librarians can take to protect the confidentiality…

Patrons, Privacy, and Technology in the Library Becky Yoose b.yoose@gmail.com @yo_bj Seattle Tech Solidarity - 12/4/17 Good evening, everyone. Thank you all for inviting me over to talk to you tonight! This talk will go into some of the core tenets of librarianship, particularly intellectual free...

Alameda County Library officials said they’re still not sure how many people are affected by a hacking incident in September.