MPLIC Reference Highway

Useful Sites & Stuff

Libraries : Getting America Back To Work December 18, 2009

http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/wo/libraryjobs.pdf

This is the legislative proposal of the American Library Association in which it asks for a one-time investment of $650 million dollars from the federal government that would be distributed through the Institute of Museum and Library Services and that would create up to 13,000 library jobs.

 

The Book Cover Archive December 12, 2009

http://bookcoverarchive.com/

You can find images of almost 1200 book covers here.

 

Library Journal’s Placements & Salaries 2009 December 3, 2009

http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6699218.html

Library Journal offers statistics here on library jobs and pay in 2009.

 

Libraries and Autism October 26, 2009

http://www.thejointlibrary.org/autism/

This website offers a video and other resources to help library staff learn how better to help library customers who have autism.

 

Judy Blume : “I Was Margaret” — Interview October 6, 2009

http://www.doublex.com/section/arts/judy-blume-i-was-margaret

The Web magazine doubleX offers this interview with noted author Judy Blume.

 

Best Free Reference Web Sites 2009 October 1, 2009

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/sections/mars/marspubs/marsbestfreewebsites/marsbestfree2009.cfm

The ALA Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) offers its eleventh annual list of the best free reference web sites.

 

A Readable Feast September 11, 2009

http://sites.google.com/site/areadablefeast/

Reader’s advisory tips and programming ideas for librarians working with cookbooks are found here.  In addition, there is a history of cooks included and help with collection development relating to cookbook collections and more.

 

The Future of Libraries, With Or Without Books September 9, 2009

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/04/future.library.technology/

An interesting article by CNN reporter John D. Sutter about the future of libraries and librarians and what some libraries and librarians are doing now to provide help and services to customers who do not have a real interest in books.

 

Awful Library Books August 14, 2009

http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com/

“This site is a collection of public library holdings that we find amusing and maybe questionable for public libraries trying to maintain a current and relevant collection.  Contained in this site are actual library holdings.  No libraries are specifically mentioned to protect our submitters who might disagree with a particular collection policy”–From the Website.  This blog is entertaining but may also have information on titles that can help you with weeding decisions in your library.

 

Open Library July 16, 2009

http://openlibrary.org/

A project of the Internet Archive, the Open Library aims to create a web page for every book in existence.  Currently a very young beta site, the infrastructure has been created and approximately 20 million records are currently searchable.  Full records contain typical metadata fields as well as an image of the book.

 

Wolfram|Alpha May 22, 2009

www.wolframalpha.com

Wolfram|Alpha has been getting a lot of buzz lately, but if you haven’t come across it yet, it is a “computational knowledge engine.”  What does that mean?  Well, I could try to explain it to you, but Phil Bradley has done a much better job than I could: Phil Bradley’s post on Wolfram|Alpha.

Most important thing to note: This is NOT a search engine.  But, really, please read the post above before trying it out.  It will save you a number of frustrations. 

Oh, and for the time being, you might want to confirm information you find here in a second source.  I did a search for “Memphis” and noticed that the current time was incorrect.

 

Online Catalogs : What Users And Librarians Want, An OCLC Report April 30, 2009

http://www.oclc.org/reports/onlinecatalogs/fullreport.pdf

This is OCLC’s report showing the results of the research its staff did in 2008 on online catalogs.  The report includes the enhancements that both users and librarians would like to see in online catalogs.  There is also an Executive Summary of the Report available.

 

Libraries and Tough Economic Times April 26, 2009

h1ttp://www.tnla.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=241

Thanks to Caroline Barnett from Cordova for this post.

The Tennessee Library Association offes this  page that provides a comprehensive list of links to resources of job training and unemployment and other job-related resources to help library customers and links to resources to help libraries in these tough economic times.

 

ALA’s 2008 Top Ten List Of Most Frequently Challenged Books April 17, 2009

http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2009/april2009/nlw08bbtopten.cfm

And Tango Makes Three continues to top the list of most frequently challenged books in libraries, according to the ALA in this press release.  The remaining most frequently challenged titles are also included.

 

Libraries Featured in March 2009 Issue of Woman’s Day March 20, 2009

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/advocacy/publicawareness/campaign@yourlibrary/sponsorship/womansdaymagazine/economy.cfm

The American Library Association offers this article on how the March 2009 issue of Woman’s Day magazine has stories on how libraries have helped people.  The article also talks of the contest Woman’s Day is sponoring, which asks women 18 and over to submit stories on how resources in libraries helped them to save money, find jobs, and provide necessary resources during these tough economic times.  This initiative continues an eight-year partnership between the ALA and Woman’s Day.