Nominations sought for America’s Libraries for the 21st Century

[via NYLINE listserv]

June 29, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for
Information Technology Policy (OITP) is soliciting nominations for best
library practices using cutting-edge technology.

“We want to showcase libraries that are serving their communities with
novel and innovative methods and provide the library community with some
successful models for delivering quality library service in new ways,”
said Vivian Pisano, Chair of OITP’s America’s Libraries for the 21st
Century Subcommittee.

Nominations should be sent to the American Library Association, Office
for Information Technology Policy, 1615 New Hampshire Avenue NW, 1st
Floor, Washington, D.C. 20009 by September 1, 2009.  Details about the
nomination process and an online submission form are available on the
OITP Web site

<http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oitp/Cutting%20Edge/cuttingedge.cfm>

The America’s Libraries for the 21st Century Subcommittee will review
all nominations and conduct selected interviews or site visits to
identify those libraries that are truly offering a best practice or most
innovative service.  Libraries or library service areas selected will be
publicized via the OITP Web site, highlighted through ALA publications,
and featured in a program at the ALA Annual Conference in 2010.

ALA/OITP Releases “Fiber to the Library” Report

via NYLINE listserv
June 29, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) of the American Library Association (ALA) releases “Fiber to the Library: How Public Libraries Can Benefit fom Using Fiber Optics for their Broadband Internet Connections” which articulates the benefits of fiber optic technology for public libraries and strategies to obtain such fiber connectivity. An important goal of this policy brief is to help applicants include “fiber to the library” in their federal broadband stimulus funding proposals under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
Authors John Windhausen, ALA Consultant, and Marijke Visser, ALA Policy Analyst, address some of the basic issues involved in obtaining a fiber connection. They find that the cost of installing a fiber connection is often more reasonable than is sometimes assumed, and the benefits of laying fiber include creating jobs and providing “future-proof” connectivity that could accommodate libraries’ telecommunications needs for decades.

“The ALA encourages every library to explore a fiber-based solution to their broadband needs – especially now because of the opportunity afforded by the federal broadband stimulus funding,” said Carrie Lowe, Director of OITP’s Program on Networks.

“Broadband access to the Internet is enormously important to fulfilling the mission and role of libraries in the 21st century to serve the American public,” said Mary Alice Ball, Vice-chair of OITP’s Telecommunications Subcommittee. “People of all ages and backgrounds increasingly depend upon the local library’s public access computers and Internet access and support to search for jobs, take classes, complete homework assignments, obtain medical information, and receive government information and services.” Indeed, “public libraries, as community anchor institutions, are the pre-eminent public computing centers,” explained Dr. Ball.
“Unfortunately, the ability of local libraries to meet these community needs is in jeopardy because of the lack of adequate broadband capability,” said Bob Bocher, Chair of OITP’s Telecommunications Subcommittee. “And while there are a variety of broadband solutions, fiber optic technology is the best long-term investment that most libraries can make to help meet their bandwidth needs for decades into the future.”

Fiber to the Library Report [PDF]

INTERNET CONNECTIVITY SURVEY

via NYLINE Listserv

THE DEADLINE for completing the 2007 INTERNET CONNECTIVITY SURVEY is NOVEMBER 25, 2007.

To date, 32.96% of New York’s targeted libraries have responded. If you have not completed the survey yet, please do so as soon as possible. The higher the response rate, the greater the reliability of data received.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Libraries participating in the Gates Foundation Opportunity Online Hardware Grant Program MUST complete the survey in order to remain eligible for receiving their computer allotment as part of this program.

BACKGROUND

A national survey of public library computer and Internet access was mailed to public libraries in early September 2007. The study, funded by the American Library Association and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and conducted by researchers from Florida State University’s Information Use Management and Policy Institute, is a three-year project that builds on research since 1994 on Internet connectivity in public libraries.

Your participation in the survey provides public libraries, state library agencies, the ALA, policymakers, and others with extremely important data regarding public library computer and Internet access issues, what it takes to sustain public access computer and Internet services in your library, and the impacts of such public access services on the communities that your library serves.

The survey is web-based and has a total of 21 questions. It can be accessed at http://survey.pnmi.com. You will need your state assigned Library ID code included in the survey announcement letter you received to initiate the survey. If you have lost that ID number, you can look it up on the survey site.

You can also view or print your responses to the 2006 survey at http://survey2006.pnmi.com. That might make it easier to complete this year’s survey, particularly at it relates to budget questions. More information on this project is available at http://www.ala.org/plinternetfunding/. Thank you for taking the time to complete this important national survey.

Request for Comments on draft ALA Principles for Digitized Content

via NYLINE Listserv.

In January of 2007, the Task Force on Digitization Policy of ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy introduced the draft Principles for Digitized Content.

The goal of the Principles is to succinctly voice the primary policy areas that can guide libraries as they make decisions regarding digitization. The Task Force is now soliciting comments from a broad spectrum of the ALA membership, its divisions, round tables and committees through a blog.

To make the solicitation easy, each Principle can be commented on separately at:

http://blogs.ala.org/digitizationprinciples.php.

The blog will be accepting comments until May 1, 2007. Following the comment period, the Task Force will review all the comments, make any need revisions and then send forward any revisions to Council.

If you have any questions please email Liz Bishoff (Liz.Bishoff@Colorado.edu) or Karen Coyle (kcoyle@kcoyle.net) and we will share them with the Task Force.

Printable copies of the principles document, a list of Task Force members, and other background documents are available at:

http://www.ala.org/ala/washoff/contactwo/oitp/digtask.htm

Thank you!

The OITP Task Force on Digitization Policy

Powered by ScribeFire.

Transforming Cataloging by Leslie Burger

In the October 2006 issue of American Libraries, the ALA President’s Message was about “Transforming Cataloging.” Here’s a paragraph from the article that provides a nice overview of the what was said in the rest of the article.