ALA Cognotes San Diego Midwinter Highlights Issue - (Page 6)

Page 6 • San Diego Midwinter Highlights Cognotes Top Technology Trends By Brad Martin LAC Group L Midwinter Meeting attendees crowd the exhibit floor January 7. he Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is pleased to announce the winners of the El dia de los ninos/El dia de los libros mini-grants. Eight libraries serving a population of 75,000 or less have won mini-grants worth $4,000 each and seven libraries serving a population of more than 75,000 have won mini-grants worth $6,000 each. The mini-grants are part of ALSC’s Everyone Reads @ your library grant, generously funded by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. Intended as an expansion of El día de los niños/El día de los libros (Día), the mini-grants have been awarded to libraries that demonstrated a need to better address the diverse backgrounds within their communities. “These mini-grants will provide children and families with an opportunity to explore the diverse cultures of their community,” said Julie Corsaro, President of ALSC. “Libraries are an ideal family destination, offering parents and children a venue for exploring the world through diverse cultural programs and multicultural book collections.” The libraries winning $6,000 each are: Bloomington Public Library in Bloomington, Illinois; Brevard County Library System in Cocoa, Florida; Hall County Library System in Gainesville, Georgia; Jefferson Parish Library in Metairie, Louisiana; Longmont Public Library in Longmont, Colorado; Richland County Public Library in Columbia, South Carolina; and Sachem Public T ALSC Announces Winners of El día de los niños/El día del los Libros Mini-grants Library in Holbrook, New York. The libraries winning $4,000 each are: Forest Hill Public Library in Forest Hill, Texas; Fremont Public Library District in Mundelein, Illinois; Nacogdoches Public Library in Nacogdoches, Texas; Paramus Public Library in Paramus, New Jersey; Paul E. Griffin Library in Camden, Mississippi; Poughkeepsie Public Library District in Poughkeepsie, New York; Rachel Kohl Community Library in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania; and Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Library in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Día is an every day celebration of children, families, and reading that emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Día was founded in 1996 by children’s book author Pat Mora, who proposed conceptually linking the existing Children’s Day with literacy. Día’s primary goals are to honor children and their diverse backgrounds; to encourage reading and literacy; and to promote library collections and programs that reflect our plurality, in a daily basis. The founding partner of Día is REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Literacy and Information Services to Latinos and the SpanishSpeaking. The mini-grants are part of the activities leading up to Dia’s 15th anniversary, culminating on April 30, 2011: Dia! Many Children, Many Cultures, Many Books. For more information, visit http://www.ala.org/dia. ITA’s The Top Technology Trends session January 8 featured ideas ranging from data silos to Wikileaks, as panelists noted emerging trends they are seeing and how they are impacting libraries. Lorcan Dempsey, Vice President and Chief Strategist, OCLC led off the panel by talking about an emerging trend he is seeing concerning the personal archiving of information and how this is beginning to change how the personal papers of individuals are being collected and archived. Dempsey cited the example of Emory University being granted access to Salman Rushdie’s hard drives. Whereas in the past, this was usually done by collecting the physical papers, Dempsey said this will increasingly be done in a more digital way and that aiding this is the fact that people are starting to store this information in a much more organized way. Rachel Frick, Program Director, Digital Library Federation, talked about improving access to library data (stored in various “data silos”) in order to promote and improve what she called “data-driven decision making.” By investing more in personnel and tools, Frick pointed out that libraries would be in a better position to make compelling cases for the services they provide.” Erik Mitchell, Assistant Director for Technology Services, Wake Forest University, mentioned the Google Books Ngram Viewer (a project Google created by collaborating with the Encyclopedia Britannica and scientists from Harvard and MIT) as another way that technology is enabling new ways to use digital information. Mitchell also spoke about a growing trend where he sees libraries providing space in “the cloud” and that he believes libraries need to take a fresh look at how they allocate their IT resources. One audience audience member also made a related observa- tion that libraries need more robust networks to be able to handle some of the projects they become involved in. Monique Sendze, Associate Director of Information Technology, Douglas 2011 County (CO) Libraries, began her remarks by talking about what she termed the “consumerizing of enterprise IT.” Sendze explained that the consumer market has resulted in users coming into libraries with various kinds of mobile devices and e-reader devices and that this presents challenges and opportunities. She noted that it will impact public access computing and is also having an impact on the digital literacy knowledge of librarians and even how to think about the design of library spaces. Dempsey agreed about the impact of the consumer market, saying that the old assumption has been reversed and that “it is the consumer stuff that sets the standard now.” Jeffrey Trzeciak, University Librarian, Manchester University, predicted a “revival in self-publishing” because of advances in technology. Trzeciak told of Canadian novelist Terry Fallis, whose novel The Best Laid Plans was rejected by several traditional publisher, but won the Stephen Leacock Medal after being self-published. “Self-publishing tools have become easier to access and use,” according to Trzeciak, and with increased collaboration with faculty and their connections to other authors, he foresees the library “essentially becoming a digital press.” Trzeciak then shifted gears and commented on Wikileaks and said that one of its impacts may be that some people in government and business may now be more fearful of future leaks and become more secretive in their communication. He also said that this raises questions about personal privacy. “If the federal government can’t protect its information, can we expect that health care providers can protect our private information?,” he wondered. Midwin Register for National Library Legislative Day It’s that time again! The 2011 National Library Legislative Day (NLLD) is quickly approaching and will be held on Monday, May 9, and Tuesday, May 10, at the Liaison Hotel in Washington, D.C. The 112th Congress will bring new challenges and opportunities for libraries, making next year a critical and exciting time for us to get our message out to Congress. On the first day of the event, participants will attend briefings to prepare for their meetings with members of Congress and their staffs, taking place on the second day. The ALA also holds a reception on the Hill for NLLD participants and members of Congress and their staff on May 9. For more information, go to www.ala.org/nlld. Forensic anthropologist and crime writer Kathy Reichs speaks during the Sunrise Speaker Series January 8. http://www.ala.org/dia http://www.ala.org/nlld

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ALA Cognotes San Diego Midwinter Highlights Issue

ALA Cognotes San Diego Midwinter Highlights Issue