The State Of Librariancy : Article Analysis

For libraries to remain a place for a lively exchange of ideas, librarians should be armed with the right knowledge and strong conviction to preserve people’s rights.

The author starts off with a rhetorical question: “What kind of problem is a library?” urging the readers to think about this question as they continue to read the article. The question grabs the readers’ attention, and intrigues them to read on to find and answer. She further utilizes this technique of rhetorical questions throughout the article for the same purpose of emphasis on the vitality of the role of public libraries. Moreover, Smith extensively employs the use of metaphors and personification. For example, she describes the internet as libraries’ “universal death knell”, which portrays the internet’s negative impact on the development of

In Ray Bradbury’s fictional novel about the horrifying future, he discusses topics that, politically and socially, can relate to Judith Ortiz Cofer’s short story; The Paterson Public Library. These two pertain to each other because both Bradbury’s and Cofer’s characters are afraid of situations that involve books. Though they do compare in many ways, there are also differences between the stories.

The problems with banned books has been a controversial issue between parents as well as adults. The concerns that parents have are with the fact that these certain books are to be banned to keep their kids from being exposed to some of the ways of the world. Some of the concerns that these parents have are with usage of some derrogatory words or lanuguage not preferrred by some parents. The things that parents fail to realize is that by law, a librarian has the responsibility that they must uphold; including their responsibilty to the stocking of books on their shelves. I would take the side of the librarian because their position would be worthless because their rights would be useless, and their job would

This source was important because it allowed us to see what is ‘legally’ considered a bill of rights for a library. As this is from a national association for libraries, it can be inferred that our own library would have shared the same ideals. This was important for the usefulness of for the Strategic Plan as it allowed us to outline the rules that the library would have to follow and how it would likely deal with events in the library.

Also, the ALA doesn’t see how suppressing ideas makes America a democratic society, and fully supports educating library staff to preach about user privacy (ALA). The ALA also feels strongly when other privacy issues of the Act are brought forth. They argue that privacy is essential in the promotion of an individual’s seek of free speech, association, and thought without being scrutinized, therefore they are prepared to educate as many as possible about the surveillance of library users (ALA). “The USA PATRIOT Act and other recently enacted laws, regulations, and guidelines increase the likelihood that the activities of library users, including their use of computers to browse the Web or access e-mail, may be under government surveillance without their knowledge or consent, so the ALA suggests to “urge all libraries to adopt and implement patron privacy and record retention policies that affirm that "the collection of personally identifiable information should

 A survey was conducted to show how librarians really feel in some situations where their resources can be used by terrorist etc. Only 4% withdrew elements that could aid any terrorist.

In Eleanor Roosevelt's speech, “What Libraries Mean to the Nation”, she talks about the importance of libraries in the United States. She talks about how useful libraries are in making a better education for the people. She does this by using logical appeal and in an anecdote.

The author of this article Mrs. Denise Davis is the director of the Office for Research and Statistics of the American Library Association. This means that Mrs. Davis is able to access and is responsible for the reports mandatory for each library across America to turn in each fiscal year, these reports are used to determine what changes the libraries need to make to better serve the public. Given her credibility to write on such topics she then chooses a topic each year to write on to prepare libraries and librarians across the country for the upcoming years. In 2010 Mrs. Davis choose to write on eBooks and their increasing popularity throughout the American population as well as the difficulties libraries have encountered in the past fiscal year to compete with eBooks. Because this article is written in 2010 it shows just how long libraries have struggled with the topic of eBooks and can demonstrate the new policies that have been used by the libraries throughout the past four years. This information can help my research in showing how eBooks have affected the library's behavior, and consequently give me the statistics needed to show the effects of eBooks on the libraries throughout the recent years. Understanding this source is outdated other sources will also likely be used in my final project from the American Library Association websites of statistics of more recent years.

The library was my Pandora’s Box, and it allowed me to escape into places and ideas far removed from what I thought to be a banal existence in a small historic village in the Appalachian Mountains. My youthful rebellions, and inquisitiveness, though often misguided and misplaced, were not to be tempered in my adult life. As a high school student I was emboldened by an

Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA). (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2012, from American Library Association: http://www.ala.org/ala.aboutala/offices/oif/iftoolkit/ALA

Congress made an attempt to place content-based restrictions on school and public library internet use in the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) of 2000. This act requires the use of some type of internet filtering software for all public libraries that attain funds from the Federal government (in the form of E-rate discounts or Library Services and Technology Act grants). Should a library refuse to comply with CIPA guidelines, that library would have to maintain its technological services without the government discount or LSTA grants. Holding to the CIPA guidelines, both the E-rate and LSTA stipulate that filters may be disabled or ‘legitimate’ sites unblocked by adults who request it, but it is unclear “whether libraries ‘must’ provide for such disabling” (Anten 79).

Censorship is a dirty word to information professionals. Attempts by individuals or groups to restrict the public from reading, hearing or viewing certain materials due to their content, is enough to send librarian's and organizations such as the American Library Association, to the proverbial battle field. However, information professionals from all fields have to make choices about what to include and what not to include in their particular library's collection. How are these selections made? What causes one item to be selected instead of another? The distinction between censorship and selection is infinitesimal, dependent mainly upon the role of the individuals involved. As an information professional, who inherently is

Need Thesis: The worth of public libraries in America extends far beyond the books they offer. Despite the value of these resources to struggling communities, libraries have seen a decline in both public usage and federal funding in recent years.

The current service model employed by the Library includes limited technology-driven services and is primarily based around a reference desk staffed by information professionals during opening hours. However, due to the information and communications technology (ICT) revolution of the last few decades and the resulting ease with which users are able access information and services via the Internet, the Library is being confronted with swiftly changing behaviours and expectations from their users - as a result Curtin’s traditional services are no longer fulfilling the various users needs. To prove its ongoing usefulness and relevance to their users, the Library must redesign its services by embracing technology and Web 2.0 techniques, redesigning face-to-face services,