Author Archive
National Library Legislative Day 2011 is Here!
Posted by Robert J. Lackie
National Library Symbol
Libraries are increasingly essential in these tough economic times. People are flocking to our nation’s libraries for job and career information, small business research and e-government services as well as support for formal and informal education and lifelong learning. Congress made across-the-board cuts to federal programs in its FY2011 budget, and libraries fill the gaps made when other agencies and services. Unfortunately, libraries are also receiving federal budget cuts.
Even if you can’t make it to Washington for National Library Legislative Day on May 9, you can join us by contacting your representatives and senators during Virtual Legislative Day. Please contact your elected officials with the following requests:
APPROPRIATIONS FY2012
- Fund the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) at $232 million, the level last authorized in December 2010;
- Preserve the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program with its own budget line and appropriate the program at its FY2010 level of $19.1 million;
- Maintain funding for the U.S. Census Bureau’s Statistical Compendia Branch at $2.9 million in order to preserve publication of “Statistical Abstracts” and other publications;
- Fund the Salaries and Expenses work of the Government Printing Office (GPO) at $42,173,000 to preserve public access through the FDLP and FedSYS.
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) (School Libraries):
- Support student performance by including an effective school library program as part of ESEA through the LEARN Act to include:
- A school library staffed by a state-certified school librarian;
- A school library with up-to-date books, materials, equipment, and technology, including broadband connectivity; and
- Instruction by librarians for students and staff on digital and computer literacy skills, including collaboration between classroom teachers and school librarians to develop and implement the curriculum and other school reforms.
American Library Association
While these issues are the most urgent at this time, there are many other critical pieces of legislation impacting libraries. For full list of key issues that will be discussed at National Library Legislative Day, click here. ALA has also drafted issue briefs on the following areas: Access, Appropriations for Libraries, Broadband & Telecommunications, Copyright, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Government Services & Information, Surveillance & Privacy and the WILL Act
Visit http://capwiz.com/ala/issues/alert/?alertid=44989511&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id] to learn more and send your congressman and senator a message.
-Robert
Robert J. Lackie
Complimentary Downloads from Salem Press Concerning Osama bin Laden & Terrorism
Posted by Robert J. Lackie
Milestone Documents in American History
In an RSS feed I received today, Peter W. Tobey at Salem Press (ptobey@salempress.come) wrote that they were now providing free articles or chapters from published Salem reference books dealing with Osama bin Laden and terrorism. After reviewing them tonight while working the Reference Desk at Rider University Libraries (and missing the awards ceremony at the NJLA 2011 Conference for the first time in years!), I agree that many may find these free, quality resources of interest combined with other current resources within our databases, especially in light of current events. Mr. Tobey writes:
Milestone Documents in World History
“Osama bin Laden’s death returns us to the subject of September 11, 2001 in a number of ways. But the events of that day, the personalities, frustrations, and cultural clashes involved are far from straightforward. And the repercussions are, of course, far-reaching. Salem Press has published a great deal on the history, biographies, religious and cultural backgrounds of terrorism. Perhaps most significantly, Salem has brought libraries two critical works by the Schlager Group covering the original source documents (plus analysis) of works by both George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden. We’ve selected these and two other articles on this subject (from four different reference works) because we feel your patrons and students may find them informative. You may download them freely, print as many copies of these articles as you need, and distribute them any way you’d like:”
“George W. Bush’s Address to the Nation on September 11, 2001: The Full Text & Analysis” (1,186 and 4,920 words) from Milestone Documents in American History
“Osama bin Laden’s Declaration of Jihad against Americans: The Full Text & Analysis” (2,322 and 5,048 words) from Milestone Documents in World History
Great Lives from History: The 20th Century
Salem also has published a brief, helpful biography of Osama bin Laden and an overview of the war on terrorism. See links to these articles below:
“Osama bin Laden” (1,682 words) from Great Lives from History: The 20th Century
“The War on Terror” (4,656 words) from Weapons & Warfare
Weapons and Warfare
By the way, these four reference book resources (PDFs) from 2008 and 2010, listed above, can also be downloaded from Salem Press’ Issues Today site, under the subheading: “May 3, 2011 – Osama bin Laden and the War on Terror” and are part of a new effort Salem is beginning where they will post free, relevant articles from their reference works on current topics in the news. I noticed on their Issues Today site that they also have four resources (PDFs) under the subheading of “March 30, 2011 – Nuclear Power” listed below the above items on their Issues Today site.
I thought this information and Salem Press’ new site might also be of use to others, and complete information on the reference books containing the articles above are provided at the end of each PDF. Now, off to the NJLA 2011 Conference tomorrow, one of my favorite conferences of the year!
-Robert
Robert J. Lackie
Money Smart Week® @Your Library (April 2-9, 2011) and ID Theft Resources
Posted by Robert J. Lackie
American Library Association logo
Additionally, Rider University’s Center for Business Forensics (CBF) has hosted several free interactive panel presentations for the general public (students, staff, community members, etc.) and law enforcement personnel focusing on the major issues surrounding identity theft—including financial literacy—and providing insight into the widespread, varying, and serious nature of identity theft.
Rider University's Center for Business Forensics
1. Shred with a crosscut or micro shredder pieces of mail that contain any personal information before throwing them in the trash at home or at work.
2. Place outgoing mail and retrieve incoming mail via a locking mailbox or official Postal Service box.
3. Use a virtual credit card number (available through most banks) for online purchases, rather than your “real” credit card—connected to your card, the virtual number can be set up to only be used once, for that one online purchase (or for longer, but only if you wish).
4. Keep an eye on your credit card when you are paying for something—don’t allow it to disappear out of your sight (skimming of your card could occur).
5. Inventory/photocopy what is in your wallet/purse and place that photocopy (back and front of cards) in a locked cabinet—if your wallet/purse is stolen, you have all the info.
6. Never respond to an unsolicited email from your bank, medical organization, etc., and don’t unsubscribe—don’t even click on the link, just delete it.
7. Cover the ATM keypad from prying eyes and cameras with one hand while you enter your PIN.
8. Review your credit reports (you can get a free one each year from each of the three credit reporting agencies, and if you stagger requests, you can get one every four months).
9. Clear private data from your browser (i.e., Firefox, IE, or Safari): delete temporary files, browsing history, cookies, cache, saved form information, and saved passwords, especially when using a public computer or kiosk at a library, hotel, airport, coffee shop, etc., and then shut down your browser.
10. Use different passwords for different sites—and try changing/updating your passwords to passphrases.
Last but least, my annually-updated free website, Personal Profiles and Other Publicly Available Information: An Internet Hotlist on Detecting and Protecting Your Digital Footprint, contains some of my favorite ID theft protection, privacy information, and financial assistance sites, among other things, found on experts’ sites on the free Web, including our Identity Theft: What You Need to Know seminar project’s 29-page handout from Rider University, available to all.
Remember, according to Terri Cullen, author of The Wall Street Journal Complete Identity Theft Guidebook: How to Protect Yourself from the Most Pervasive Crime in America, ( “…Identity theft covers several different specific crimes, and collectively,…is one of the easiest crimes to commit, one of the hardest to prosecute, and one that is drawing increasing attention from the media.” So, feel free to share this information with all of your patrons and students, especially because proactively protecting your digital footprint and your finances is much easier than dealing with them after the fact as a victim—being a victim can be a very emotional, time-consuming, and financially-unrewarding process. Again, prevent it from ever happening to you, and help others do the same.
Money Smart Week @ Your Library
-Robert
Robert J. Lackie
“Happy Holidays!”: Important Travel Tips and Information to Help Ensure Happiness
Posted by Robert J. Lackie
Rider University Family Weekend 2010 image
As Rider University gets ready to close down at Noon today for our Christmas/Winter Break, many of our faculty and staff (the students are already gone!) are also getting ready to travel, as are many of the Library Garden team blog members. However, while working the Reference Desk yesterday and this morning at Moore Library, I fielded several interesting questions from faculty and community members about airline travel concerning checked baggage and travel with food/gifts (liquids & gels, in particular) that I thought would also be of interest to our blog readers.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) logo
Besides the airline-provided information that our library patrons already possessed, I sent them both to particular sections of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration main site (http://www.tsa.gov/index.shtm). There we found answers to their particular questions, among many other important travel tips and information; for instance, there was a very helpful “Airport Checked Baggage Guidance” page, an interesting “Traveling with Food or Gifts” page about packing these items, and–my favorite–the “3-1-1 for Carry-Ons,” detailing info about carry-on liquids/gels during airline travel (see the graphic directly below). Lots of very good travel tips and information can be found at the main site (and within the TSA blog), so check out the TSA site before you pack and travel.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA): 311 for Carry-Ons/Air Travel graphic
I hope this helps all of our Library Garden readers, and my esteemed LG colleagues, as much as it did our Moore Library patrons.
Everyone, please have a safe and happy holiday travel time–and I will “see” you all in our ‘garden’–next year!!
-Robert
Robert J. Lackie
All Types of Libraries Invited to Join “Money Smart Week @ Your Library” National Initiative
Posted by Robert J. Lackie
American Library Association logo
The American Library Association (ALA) has announced in October 2010 a partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago to make “Money Smart Week @ Your Library” a national initiative from April 2-9, 2011, and things are beginning to heat up now in late December—at least for this national initiative!
Money Smart Week logo
Celebrating its 10th year in 2011, Money Smart Week’s mission is to promote personal financial literacy (Note: Money Smart Week is a registered service mark of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago). Throughout the 10-year history of Money Smart Week, libraries have been instrumental in facilitating and hosting quality Money Smart Week events. For instance, libraries of all types in Illinois (and Chicago), Indiana, Iowa (and Quad cities), Michigan, West Virginia, and Wisconsin participated in Money Smart Week in 2010, partnering with community groups, financial institutions, government agencies, educational organizations, and other financial experts to help consumers learn to better manage their personal finances.
ALA and the Federal Reserve hope that even more librarians and their libraries will be participating in the first ever national Money Smart Week this spring, from April 2-9, 2011. Events will take place at member libraries across the country and will and cover topics from learning how to apply for a mortgage to teaching young people about credit. We all, librarians included, can benefit from that! Watch this site ( http://www.chicagofed.org/webpages/education/msw/index.cfm ) for information on joining the initiative, for news, and for important links you can use right now.
I will be posting again later this week requesting info from all Library Garden readers on programming ideas, as I am now, as of this month, on the Academic Money Smart Week @ Your Library Committee for ALA.
-Robert
Robert J. Lackie
How to Reach Gen M(illennials) in the Library and Classroom–A Panel Discussion
Co-editors (Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic & Robert J. Lackie) of the book Teaching Generation M: A Handbook for Librarians and Educators (Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc., 2009) and three of the chapter authors (Katie Elson Anderson, Patricia H. Dawson, and Diane K. Campbell) participated in a panel discussion last night. The event, sponsored by the Rutgers University–Camden’s Cappuccino Academy (a series of free public lectures delivered by Rutgers–Camden faculty members) was held at the Barnes & Noble in Marlton, NJ. All five panelists–library faculty members at Rutgers University and Rider University–briefly discussed their findings on this new generational cohort and how technology can and has been enriching the library and classroom experience for them.
Lead editor and chapter author Vibiana Bowman Cvetkovic (Rutgers University) began the discussion by welcoming the audience, introducing the panelists, and talking about why she was so interested in co-editing and writing sections of the book, not to mention having her own personal cohort of Gen M students at home. Vibiana also provided some background on the book, which offers advice on everything from teachers joining Facebook to the pitfalls of Google searches. She mentioned that one of the most significant aspects about Gen M is that they are the first generation raised in an era of personal and real-time information sharing and provided some examples. Last but not least, she made available a discount order form for those who might be interested in purchasing a personal copy, or one for their library or school.
Co-editor and chapter author Robert J. Lackie (Rider University) spoke next, emphasizing that we need to remember, as library faculty members, to strive to satisfy all of our “customers,” and that includes Gen M students, faculty, and staff–those born in the early 1980’s to the mid-to-late 1990’s. He shared research from the book and on the Web about Millennials (aka Gen M), including a few points via presentations by Richard Sweeney, University Librarian at NJIT, to help us all better understand this unique cohort. Richard has stated that Gen M:
- Expect/demand more choices
- Want more personalization/customization
- Want instant gratification
- Like multitasking, IMing, text messaging, and collaborating online
- Are experiential learners
- Are open to change
Note: Library Garden bloggers interviewed Richard Sweeney, who is a recognized expert on understanding and engaging the Millennial Generation, almost three years ago and this post is still available.
Robert finished by sharing some of the witty “cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college” found again in this year’s Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2013, such as, “Text has always been hyper” and “Everyone has always known what the evening news was before the Evening News came on,” two of the 75 comments on this year’s list.
Patricia H. Dawson and Diane K. Campbell (Rider University), who co-authored Chapter 2 in the book, entitled, “Driving Fast to Nowhere on the Information Highway: A Look at Shifting Paradigms of Literacy in the Twenty-First Century,” spoke about emergent issues and challenges we face as librarians and educators while working with Gen M. They provided information comparing different types of literacy (i.e., literacy, computer literacy, and information literacy) and provided a handout/table to the audience members explaining this. They discussed how Gen M struggles with judging information for reliability, validity, accuracy, authority, timeliness, and point of view or bias because so much of the information that Gen M students find online, especially the validity of that information, is much more difficult to assess than within most print sources. They noted that there, unfortunately, are fewer “quality cues” with a lot of online information on the free Web.
Katie Elson Anderson (Rutgers University), who authored “Chapter 8: YouTube and YouTube-iness: Educating Gen M Through the Use of Online Video,” may have spoken last, but she definitely caught the attention of the audience as she discussed the extreme popularity and the educational uses of YouTube (including YouTube EDU) and several other video sites for teaching and working with Gen M. Video sites she highlighted during her talk at Barnes & Noble were the following:
By the way, here is a free PDF of the table of contents now available, listing all contributors and their chapters. We hope you enjoy reading about the above panel discussion/book talk, as well as the book itself, and we welcome your comments.
Sincerely,
-Robert
Teaching Generation M handbook–"hot off the presses!"
-Robert Lackie
ID Theft Seminars: Panel Experts Engage and Educate our Community
Following up on last spring’s well-attended seminar, Rider University’s Center for Business Forensics this time hosted two free interactive presentations this month focusing on the major issues surrounding identity theft. The two offerings, one for the general public and one specifically for the law enforcement community, provided insight into the widespread, varying, and serious nature of identity theft. Dr. Drew Procaccino, a professor of computer information systems at Rider, organized and led the panel of experts from law enforcement, banking, legal, library, IT, and health care organizations who participated earlier this month and/or in this morning’s seminar. I was happy to help provide materials, participate as a panelist, and blog about these seminars again.
According to Terri Cullen, author of The Wall Street Journal Complete Identity Theft Guidebook: How to Protect Yourself from the Most Pervasive Crime in America, “…Identity theft covers several different specific crimes, and collectively,…is one of the easiest crimes to commit, one of the hardest to prosecute, and one that is drawing increasing attention from the media.” Last year, we determined from the Q&A sessions that there was a lot of misinformation out there on the different types of identity theft, the scope of people who commit this type of theft, the trends, and what we can do to better detect and prevent this theft. Ten frequently repeated “best practices” from the experts for detection and protection were given:
- Shred with a crosscut shredder pieces of mail that contain any personal information before throwing them in the trash at home or at work.
- Place outgoing mail and retrieve incoming mail via a locking mailbox or official Postal Service box.
- Use a virtual credit card number (available through most banks) for online purchases, rather than your “real” credit card—connected to your card, the virtual number can be set up to only be used once, for that one online purchase (or for longer, but only if you wish).
- Keep an eye on your physical card when you are paying for something—don’t allow it to disappear out of your sight (skimming of your credit card number could occur).
- Inventory/photocopy what is in your wallet/purse and place that photocopy (back and front of cards) in a locked cabinet—if your wallet/purse is stolen, you have all the info.
- Never respond to an unsolicited email from your bank, medical organization, etc., and don’t unsubscribe—don’t even click on the link, just delete it.
- Cover the keypad from prying eyes/cameras with one hand while entering your PIN at an ATM.
- Review your credit reports (you can get a free one each year from each of the three credit reporting agencies, and if you stagger requests, you can get one every four months).
- Clear private data from your browser (i.e., Firefox, IE, or Safari)–delete temporary files, browsing history, cookies, cache, saved form information, and saved passwords, especially when using a public computer or kiosk, and then close your browser.
- Use different passwords for different sites—and make your passwords passphrases.
Below, I have listed and described my four favorite ID theft protection and privacy information assistance sites found in Cullen’s book and on other expert sites. I mentioned these at the seminars, and I regularly use and direct people to them—they are excellent, not only for preventive measures, but also for the detailed steps to take if you find that you are a victim:
- Consumers Union: Nonprofit Publisher of Consumer Reports – “Consumers Union (CU) is an expert, independent, nonprofit organization, whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers. CU publishes Consumer Reports and ConsumerReports.org in addition to two newsletters, Consumer Reports on Health and Consumer Reports Money Adviser.” For those concerned about ID theft, see their FinancialPrivacyNow.org project, which strives to inform us all about personal financial information use and tips for regaining control over our sensitive financial information.
- Fighting Back Against Identity Theft – This Federal Trade Commission website is a “one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft. It provides detailed information to help you deter, detect, and defend against identity theft.” Sections for consumers, businesses, law enforcement personnel, and members of the media are provided, as are state and national data reports. Website info is also available in Spanish.
- Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: Nonprofit, Consumer Information and Advocacy Organization – Among its goals are to “raise consumers’ awareness of how technology affects personal privacy, empower consumers to take action to control their own personal information by providing practical tips on privacy protection, and respond to specific privacy-related complaints from consumers, intercede on their behalf, and, when appropriate, refer them to the proper organizations for further assistance.” I found their Identity Theft, Financial Privacy, and Internet Privacy links, fact sheets, and stories to be very valuable.
- Identity Theft Resource Center: Working to Resolve Identity Theft – “Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) is a nonprofit, nationally respected organization dedicated exclusively to the understanding and prevention of identity theft. The ITRC provides victim and consumer support as well as public education. The ITRC also advises governmental agencies, legislators, law enforcement, and businesses about the evolving and growing problem of identity theft.” This site provides info on data breaches, victim & consumer resources, scam alerts, and more–it even provides pages in Spanish and Chinese. I still introduce people to ITRC’s ID theft test and PC info safety quiz to possibly help get people ‘in the mood’ to begin protecting themselves and their family from this threat.
My continually updated website, Personal Profiles and Other Publicly Available Information: An Internet Hotlist on Detecting and Protecting Your Digital Footprint, contains the above sites, as well as notable personal information search engines (which I demonstrated at the seminar), along with other related information for teachers, librarians, and teens/tweens.
As a librarian and professor, I feel compelled to share this type of information with my patrons and students, especially since I personally have been a victim of ID theft—it can be a very emotional, time-consuming, and financially-unrewarding process to clear up.
Prevent it from ever happening to you, and help others do the same, please.
-Robert Lackie
Technorati Tags: identity theft
ALA Council Passes Resolution Defining Core Competences for Librarianship
Core competences for librarianship were finally defined at the very recent Midwinter Meeting in Denver, where the ALA Council passed the resolution, and this Tuesday, ALA sent out a press release summarizing the resolution and providing links to the core competences site and a pdf. The document defines the basic knowledge to be possessed by all persons graduating from an ALA-accredited master’s program in library and information studies.
The core competences “stress the role of library and information professionals in promoting democratic principles and intellectual freedom, knowing and applying the legal framework guiding libraries and information agencies – including laws relating to copyright, privacy, freedom of expression, equal rights and intellectual property – and identifying and analyzing emerging technologies and innovations.”
I especially enjoyed reading from their press release the “identifying and analyzing emerging technologies and innovations” phrase above myself! 😉
Do take a look at the entire core competences doc for all of the details when you get a moment.
-Robert Lackie
Technorati Tags: ALA, core competences, emerging technologies, librarianship, Library Garden
Technorati’s 2008 Report on the Blogosphere–‘blogs are here to stay’
My last post at Library Garden was all about blogs attracting comments, and I continue to get comments and feedback about it. This morning’s post continues to highlight blogs, this time, in general and in detail.
For the last few years, whenever I was explaining blogs to library and school administrators, especially regarding their impact and trends, the report(s)/site(s) I would demo first were the “State of the Blogosphere” reports from Technorati. I was and continue to be impressed with the amount of valuable material Technorati has collected about the blogosphere on its site, but since November last year, I have been wondering if they would continue with their “State of…” reports. In fact, I finally removed a slide from a Web 2.0 intro presentation linking to the latest one from them, an April 2007 report, since the data was just too far out of date now.
Well, I was very pleasantly surprised to hear about a new full Technorati report on the horizon from Greg Jarboe’s post at SearchEngineWatch.com (one of my favorite places to stay-up-to-date on everything Web-related) late yesterday afternoon, and I look very much forward to reading and sharing the entire report.
Read highlights [from the post by Greg Jarboe at SearchEngineWatch], such as this:
Blogs are now a pervasive part of our daily lives. While there have been a number of studies conducted that tried to understanding the size of the Blogosphere — both in terms of the number of blogs and blog readership — all of these studies agree that blogs are now a global phenomenon that is “mainstream.”
Technorati cites the numbers from three of the studies, which vary in the details but generally agree that “blogs are here to stay.”
As of this morning, two of the five segments of the report, to be “released in five consecutive daily segments” are available, and this year’s report provides a lot of data thus far and it surveys many bloggers. While you wait for segments 3-5 of the full, detailed report, get started by reading the “Introduction,” Segment/Day 1: “Who are the Bloggers?,” and Segment/Day 2: “The What and Why of Blogging” over at Technorati. Do take the time to visit, because if you have any interest in the latest impact and trends associated with blogs, you will be educated and impressed with the detail of their latest report–I certainly was!
-Robert Lackie
Technorati Tags: blogs, blog report, blogger surveys, technorati, Library Garden
Library Garden 
Recent Comments