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Another city is deciding on outsourcing the public library, this time in Toronto:
Help Save Toronto's Libraries! (on boingboing.net)
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/07/18/help-save-torontos-l.html

I did a search in Google News to look for "outsourcing libraries":
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=outsourcing+libraries&btnmeta_news_search=Search+News&tbm=nws

I have been considering what other professions have done when faced with their world changing quickly, even overnight. Conversations with other librarians usually bring up "buggy whip manufacturers" as the example of what we might be facing. I was thinking about pre-Prohibition, though. What did the brewers do when faced with Prohibition? I know when I toured a winery in Missouri in the mid-90's, they said that the only way they were able to go back into business after Prohibition was due to some root stock that was hidden away, and keeping cash flow going through other means. We as librarians probably need to start considering the alternatives now for our own profession, at least until our 'prohibition' is repealed, if at all, and if in time. But if we are to make a come-back, when/if the world wonders where it will access information (the 'if' is due to last night's showing of Idiocracy - yeah, that is a confidence-building movie), where are we going to stash our root stock, now that most of our resources are electronic, and leased?

My apologies for the long silence. I have been looking up library news and covering the issues, but have been sharing primarily with my employer and colleagues. Back to sharing with you, my reader!


Article in today's Reuters:
Libraries adapt to meet demands of Internet Age
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/23/libraries-internet-idUSN1E75M13720110623
quote in the article: "The new librarian has been on Facebook or Twitter longer than you or I have. They're the most socially connected people I've ever met."


Article in yesterday's Wikimedia Blog:
Wikimedia and libraries - a symbiotic relationship
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2011/06/22/wikimedia-and-libraries-a-symbiotic-relationship/
I didn't know that there are Wikipedia Campus Ambassadors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Campus_Ambassadors - probably wouldn't be a career booster to be one on my campus, as anyone citing Wikipedia gets their paper downgraded - it just doesn't offer the level of evidence that is required in health professional education.

Libraries will be able to lend Kindle books through Overdrive: http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2011/04/kindle-lending-library-comes-with-strict-terms-preserved-notes.ars?comments=1#comments-bar

Two Institute of Medicine standards and an AHRQ guide say that one should include librarians:


1. IOM recommends standards for clinical guidelines, reviews

The Institute of Medicine today recommended eight
[ http://iom.edu/Reports/2011/Clinical-Practice-Guidelines-We-Can-Trust.aspx]
standards for developing clinical practice guidelines, and 21
[ http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Finding-What-Works-in-Health-Care-Standards-for-Systematic-Reviews.aspx ]
standards for conducting systematic reviews
of the comparative effectiveness of medical or surgical interventions.
Congress requested the recommendations in the Medicare Improvements for
Patients and Providers Act of 2008. Clinical practice guidelines are
informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the
benefits and harms of alternative care options. "Because of the large number
of clinical practice guidelines available, practitioners and other guideline
users find it challenging to determine which guidelines are of high
quality," IOM said. "If guideline users had a mechanism to immediately
identify high quality, trustworthy clinical practice guidelines, their
health-related decision making would be improved -potentially improving both
health care quality and health outcomes." (from AHA News).


2.  the new AHRQ guide for effectiveness and comparative
effectiveness reviews also specifically mentions including a librarian.

Relevo R, Balshem H. Finding Evidence for Comparing Medical
Interventions. 2011 Jan 5. Methods Guide for Effectiveness and
Comparative Effectiveness Reviews [Internet]. Rockville (MD): Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2008-. Available from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53479/ 
PubMed PMID: 21433408.

LSSI is working to acquire overseas libraries - I figured they would be, but here is a story about their approach to the UK: http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/news/could_us_style_management_be_the_future_for_libraries_1_828515

Honest, I would just like to see job descriptions and true openings on their website. I haven't been able to get a handle on openings and their requirements yet. If anyone has updated information on what qualifications they require and pay they offer, I would be deeply grateful. I figure this is the future, and I would like to approach it with all information in hand.

Current news about HarperCollins and their ebook restrictions:

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/02/26/005219/HarperCollins-Wants-Library-EBooks-to-Self-Destruct-After-26-Loans

I can't imagine how our libraries would have functioned all these years if traditionally published books had had that same requirement. 26 loans? I would really like to know how they even came up with that number as the one to cease loaning ebook titles (update - explanation in this Library Journal article: http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/889452-264/harpercollins_puts_26_loan_cap.html.csp ) .

More information on this (with great advice for librarians) from a BoingBoing post;
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/02/25/harpercollins-to-lib.html

And a call to arms: Library eBook Revolution, Begin http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2011/02/library-ebook-revolution-begin.html

"Leave the libraries alone. You don't understand their value." Phillip Pullman's speech from Jan 20, 2011, defending Oxfordshire libraries: http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/save-oxfordshire-libraries-speech-philip-pullman
Found on the False Economy blog, which has a great tagline: "Why cuts are the wrong cure."

Librarians are awesome (thank you, Wil Wheaton!) http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2011/01/librarians-are-awesome.html

Be sure to read the comments.

Our library's very first QR Code. We are using it in a half-sheet handout that has our contact information on it.

Chronicle of Higher Education commentary says: "Death by Irony: How Librarians Killed the Academic Library" http://chronicle.com/article/Death-by-Irony-How-Librarians/125767/

The comments are great.