Remarkable Resources | Best Reference Books 2022

Remarkable Resources | Best Reference Books 2022

From a quirky book on geology to a collection of maps, these reference works expand the possibilities of research for students, general readers, and scholars.  
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Trends in Crime Fiction | 70+ Titles To Add to the Collection

In our annual crime fiction preview, LJ explores trends and presents 74 forthcoming titles to add to the collection.

Satisfaction (Not Always) Guaranteed | Job Satisfaction Survey 2022

Andrew Gerber, Mar 06, 2023
LJ and SLJ’s 2022 Job Satisfaction Survey shows that most librarians are glad they chose their career, but significantly fewer than in 2012.

Political Song-a-Palooza | Peer-to-Peer Review

Our initial goals were to create a unique outreach event for our communities; give students, faculty, and staff an outlet for creativity and civic engagement; and provide student internship opportunities grounded in experiential learning. We felt that a live concert would be a great format, as music is an accessible art form and allows diverse voices to be heard.

ASU’s Firekeepers Initiative Receives Major Funding from Mellon Foundation

Amy Rea, Mar 02, 2023
In January, Arizona State University (ASU) announced that its Labriola National American Indian Data Center received a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to enable the center to better help Tribal nations that want to establish archival collections. The project is called “Firekeepers: Building Archival Data Sovereignty through Indigenous Memory Keeping.”

Barbara Hoffert, Feb 04, 2021
COVID shifts drove falling print circ and rising ebooks. But will it last? LJ's 2021 Materials Survey looks at some of the last year's trends.

Keith Curry Lance, Dec 21, 2020
This is the 13th year of the LJ Index of Public Library Service and Star Library ratings. The 2020 scores and ratings are based on FY18 data from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Public Library Survey (PLS). Because of that delay, they don’t reflect the impact of the coronavirus; that won’t be reflected in the data until 2022. The big news in this year’s edition is that successful retrievals of electronic information (e-retrievals)—measuring usage of online content, such as databases, other than by title checkout—joins the six other measures that determine the LJ Index.

Mahnaz Dar, Nov 10, 2020
Whether librarians are providing services in-person or virtually, reference has changed with the pandemic.

LIS
Suzie Allard, Oct 15, 2020
Library Journal’s annual Placements & Salaries survey reports on the experiences of LIS students who graduated and sought their first librarian jobs in the previous year: in this case, 2019. Salaries and full-time employment are up, but so are unemployment and the gender gap; 2019 graduates faced a mixed job market even before the pandemic.

Gary Price, Mar 27, 2023
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Gary Price, Mar 26, 2023
The article linked below was recently published by Urban Library Journal. Title What are Library Graduate Students Learning about Disability and Accessibility?: A Syllabus Analysis Author JJ Pionke University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Source Urban Library Journal, 29(1) March 2023 Abstract A study was conducted that examined readily available syllabi from library and information sciences […]
Gary Price, Mar 26, 2023
Connecticut: CT Librarians Raise Their Voices About Banned Books. ‘We Don’t Have Porn.’ (via CT Post) Illinois and Iowa Propose Book Ban Legislation With Opposing Goals (via WQAD) Iowa: Librarian Fighting For a Place Even For Books That ‘Hurt My Feelings’ (via The Gazette) Louisiana: ACLU of Louisiana Releases Open Letter on Library Censorship New […]
Gary Price, Mar 24, 2023
We Will Be Updating this Post with Media Reports, Statements, Analysis, etc. as they Become Available Statements Association of American Publishers “Publishers Prevail in Summary Judgement Against Internet Archive for Copyright Infringement” Internet Archive “The Fight Continues”   Tweet From Internet Archive: “We Will Appeal” Media Reports Courthouse News: “New York Federal Judge Shoots Down […]
Lisa Peet, Feb 09, 2021
When the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccines began to roll out in mid-December 2020, their distribution was immediately complicated by a shortage of doses and widespread uncertainty about who would be given priority. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued suggested guidelines for phased allocation. When it was not yet clear who would be next, many library workers, leaders, and associations began advocating for public facing library workers to be vaccinated as soon as feasible.

Erica Freudenberger, Feb 02, 2021
In the messy middle of the pandemic, library leaders share how things have changed since March 2020, their takeways, and continuing challenges.

Mahnaz Dar, Nov 10, 2020
Whether librarians are providing services in-person or virtually, reference has changed with the pandemic.

LJ Reviews, Oct 14, 2020
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of books on the subject has been increasing exponentially. This introductory list, which will be updated regularly, is meant to help collection development librarians get started on determining which books work best for their collections.

Kate Merlene,  Mar 27, 2023
A U.S. Court rules against the Internet Archive in a closely watched copyright case. Dav Pilkey’s 11th Dog Man book, Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea, leads holds this week. Five LibraryReads and six Indie Next picks publish this week. Canada Reads returns for its 22nd season, featuring Ducks by Kate Beaton, Greenwood by Michael Christie, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Stranger Things actor Millie Bobby Brown’s forthcoming debut novel, Nineteen Steps, will arrive in September. Plus, Publishers Weekly releases its 2023 Summer Reads preview. 

Anita Mechler,  Mar 24, 2023
Beverly Gage wins the New-York Historical Society award for G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century. Other awards announcements include the International Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist, National Book Critics Circle winners, and Sheikh Zayed Book Award. Multiple news outlets cover the book ban report recently released by ALA. There are many conversations with authors including Geetanjali Shree, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Robert Lopez, Jinwoo Chong, Victor LaValle, and Julia Samuel.

Oxford University Press,  Mar 23, 2023
The world of sports has long been a contested playing field for social change. When Althea Gibson became the first Black athlete to win a major title in 1956, she shocked the tennis world and reshaped the world of athletics as well as the possibilities that exist for women everywhere.

Matt Enis,  Mar 23, 2023
Many academic librarians believe context matters when artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT are used by students and faculty to assist with their work, according to “AI in Higher Education: The Librarians’ Perspectives,” a recent survey of 125 librarians published this month by Helper Systems. While only eight percent of respondents said that they believe it is cheating when students use AI products for research—compared with 49 percent who said it was not—42 percent said that it was “somewhat” cheating.

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