Feedback

Christian movers?

Hats off to professionals for putting “principles into practice” and standing up for their beliefs (Movers & Shakers, Supplement to LJ 3/15/06). I can't say that I have read every LJ that's been published lately, so maybe I've missed something, but when is the last time you published a positive report about a conservative or Christian librarian standing up for his or her beliefs? When is the last time you published a positive report about a librarian putting his or her biblical principles into practice? Well, as the old chili commercial used to say, “That's too long.”
—John Elliott, Coord. of Distance Lib. Svcs., Mabee Learning Resources Ctr., Wayland Baptist Univ., Plainview, TX

A letter so rude

I cannot believe you would publish a letter that would ask, “Where is Connecticut anyway?” (Feedback LJ 3/1/06, p. 12), a letter so rude that it should be considered obscene.... If LJ, a librarians' journal, features such a rude letter, what's next?
—Xiaotian Chen, Electronic Svcs. Libn., Bradley Univ., Peoria, IL

Realtor social workers

David Bryant calls the American Library Association's (ALA) decision to remain in New Orleans for the 2006 conference the “latest example of ALA insiders believing ALA to be a social welfare agency that happens to have 'Library' in its name” (“Uneasy in the Big Easy,” LJ 1/06, p. 12). The 2006 REALTORSR Conference and Expo, a conference similar in size to ALA, is being held in New Orleans. Are realtors also known for being “social workers” who happen to have real estate in their name?
—Susan D'Entremont, Regional Archivist, Documentary Heritage Program, Capital Dist. Lib. Council, Albany, NY

Fair and balanced

I enjoyed David Bryant's letter (“Uneasy in the Big Easy,” LJ 1/06, p. 12). We work in a wonderful profession, but letters like that are the only incentive to thumbing through LJ. Imagine how much better the library profession could be if all librarians were represented by an organization that was fair and balanced.
—Dave Jansen, Libn., Bartlett P.L., IL

New Orleans is grateful

I visited the New Orleans Public Library last week and found the librarians handling their post-Katrina world with grace and humor and a lot of hard work. Hearing that the American Library Association (ALA) was coming in June was like a dream come true.... Thank you, ALA, for helping New Orleans.
—Kim Basile, Hoboken, NJ

Bowker is back

Your story is great news (“Bowker on the Rebound,” LJ 4/1/06, p. 25ff.)! As a twentysomething part-time college student in the 1960s, my first full-time job was with R.R. Bowker, then on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. The company was reinventing itself at that time to continue its leading role in the publishing industry.

As the head of a department charged with retrieving information about their “books to come” from publishers, we went from the conventional to the cutting edge. Bowker began to use computers to store and update data. It was wonderful news to hear Bowker has rallied to meet the challenges of new technology and new entrants in the market....
—Phyllis Wilhoite-Nakasone, Preservation Dept., Lib. Svcs., Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu

MuseGlobal in libraries

MuseGlobal, omitted from LJ's Automated System Marketplace 2006 (“Reshuffling the Deck,” by Marshall Breeding, LJ 4/1/06, p. 41–54), has a number of non-ILS partners selling metasearch tools to libraries.... Besides the companies in the article, MuseGlobal's ILS and library business partners include SirsiDynix Rooms, WoltersKluwer Health, CSA, Jones e Global Library, Softlink International (including Softlink America), and Brodart Corporation.

In addition, MuseGlobal has two ILS partners outside of the United States: Elidoc Systems & Services (Greece and the Balkans) and Transtech Corporation (Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, and China). MuseGlobal sells its Muse metasearch technology on an OEM basis only and does not sell directly to libraries.... The total number of Muse-based installations worldwide exceeds 3700.
—K. T. Noerr, MuseGlobal, Salt Lake City

Re-Connect-ing

The names of guest editors Lori Bell and Tom Peters, who envisioned and commissioned the Spring 2006 issue of LJ's netConnect supplement, were inadvertently omitted from the credits. Bell is Director of Innovation at the Alliance Library System in East Peoria, IL. Peters is founder of TAP Information Services (www.tapinformation.com), Blue Springs, MO, which provides planning, consulting, research, and assessment services for libraries, library consortia, and other information-intensive organizations.