Reading, Writing, Research

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Presidential Libraries of the United States

Posted on May 8, 2013 by dmguion

Now that the George W. Bush Library and Museum has opened, every former President from Herbert Hoover onward has a presidential library established in his name. For all the snarky humor about whether the new Bush library has anything but picture books, a presidential library isn’t a library in the normal sense of the term. Whatever books it has comprise only an insignificant part of its holdings. (President Bush has written a book, so his library certainly includes that one!) Although they are called presidential libraries, they are more museum and archive than library. The Office of Presidential Libraries of … Continue reading →

How the Web changed reading, and how writers must adjust

Posted on May 1, 2013 by dmguion

Reading online is a different experience from reading print. In part because hypertext has made it easy to jump from one place to the other, people’s attention spans have gotten shorter. It almost seems a stretch to call most people’s online behavior “reading” at all. They wander throughout the Internet searching for something in particular. They stop to read only when they find it. Perhaps they want simple facts. Beyond just facts, people look for explanations of unfamiliar topics. They look for reviews of products or movies or books. They look for controversy. Foraging Whatever any of us look for, … Continue reading →

Public libraries in American life

Posted on April 10, 2013 by dmguion

Last January I wrote about how Americans perceive libraries, based on a Pew research poll about library services. For one thing, Americans hold their public library in high esteem even when they don’t personally use it. It’s time for a closer look at that point. First, the numbers The Pew questionnaire begins with some very general questions about the respondents’ communities, their access to the Internet, and their book-reading habits. The first question directly related to libraries asks about the importance of public libraries, and explicitly excludes school or university libraries. Are libraries [very important / somewhat important / not … Continue reading →

Book Lovers Rejoice! Fantastically Creative Ways To Display Your Treasures

Posted on April 3, 2013 by dmguion

Guest post by Paul Moore Since the dawn of the digital age, tangible books have been slowly disappearing. Remember those books that you hold in your hand, with pages that crinkle a little when you turn them, that smell slightly old and musty and … intelligent? Kindles and iPads and even audio books have started to replace our familiar, old hard-covered, yellow-paged friends. But for those of us who still cling to our books and feel a certain amount of satisfaction in perusing the many different titles in all their unique sizes, shapes and colors can rejoice! The web is … Continue reading →

Why you’re not allowed to hear most old recordings

Posted on March 27, 2013 by dmguion

The U.S. Constitution empowers Congress “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” In 1976, Congress set the limit at 75 years or the life of the author plus 50 years. In 1998, it extended both terms by 20 years. At least that’s true for most of what comes under the copyright law. For some reason, sound recordings do not fall under the federal copyright law. Instead, they fall under, and are crushed by the weight of a tangle of federal … Continue reading →

Government web sites you should know about: consumer issues

Posted on March 20, 2013 by dmguion

Various offices of the federal government offer a wealth of information that the public can use. It seems good to describe some of them here from time to time. This first installment looks at three web sites devoted to various consumer issues. Federal Trade Commission The FTC’s Consumer Information page has separate tabs for information on Money & Credit Homes & Mortgages Health & Fitness Jobs & Making Money Privacy & Identity It also offers a video/media library. There you’ll find not only videos, but audio tips and games. Quite a bit of the content deals with scams and consumer … Continue reading →

Foreclosures in San Diego and what libraries are all about

Posted on February 27, 2013 by dmguion

Led by the San Diego County Library (SDCL), a few libraries in Southern California and Nevada are helping homeowners threatened by foreclosure. At least, my source for this post does not indicate that the effort is any more widespread than that. But it beautifully illustrates how libraries struggle to meet the needs of their community. At first glance, libraries don’t seem to have much to do with the housing crisis. At second glance, people who see their homes slipping away have no idea where to turn for information. Providing information is a core library function. Building community is another. The … Continue reading →

Movies, technology, and libraries

Posted on February 20, 2013 by dmguion

I’m dating myself again, but I remember when home movies used 8 mm film. Movies available for sale were 16 mm. The latter were mostly made for educational purposes, so only English classes ever had feature films. I doubt if anyone thought of renting one for home use. Then came the VHS/Beta wars. Soon enough it didn’t matter that VHS had won, because everyone flocked to DVDs. They’ll be gone soon enough, too. So will Blu-ray. It’s not a problem for libraries–at least, not yet New technology and business Audio cassettes made it possible for the general public to buy … Continue reading →

Libraries, immigrants, and digital literacy

Posted on February 13, 2013 by dmguion

Immigrants to the US generally come with some skills and resources, but not necessarily everything they need to succeed here. For example, many arrive with limited or no facility in the English language. Many also lack adequate computer skills needed to get and perform jobs. Libraries offer both language instruction and computer instruction, but helping patrons with limited English learn digital literacy presents new challenges In the days when most immigrants arrived by ocean, they arrived in major ports and tended to stay there. If very many of a particular group of immigrants left the port of entry, they usually … Continue reading →

How the American public perceives and uses libraries

Posted on January 30, 2013 by dmguion

The Pew Research Center has lately issued a substantial report called Library Services in the Digital Age. I will explore this important research in depth for future posts, but for now I’ll just mention some things that immediately catch my eye. The importance of libraries According to the findings, 91% of Americans ages 16 and older consider libraries important community resources and 76% consider them important to themselves and their families. Oddly enough, only 84% have actually visited a library at some point in their lives, while only 59% have visited either a library, a bookmobile, or a public library … Continue reading →