Readings for 1/17

Submit or resist: Librarianship in the age of Google
The article discuss the ways in which librarians are responding to google's insane popularity, by either "resisting" and trying to push users to engage other sources and searching techniques, or "googleizing" and trying to adapt their collections and catalogues to fit into google itself or a google model.


I think educating user to be more google literate is something Librarians should do, the most effective way to google search and to refine your google search are not common knowledge. I also think that some users are just looking for good enough sources (I certainly was for most of my academic career), but that doesn't mean we can't teach people how to judge and evaluate their google search results. I also agreed with the idea that some aspects of "our" searching tools could conform to certain aspects of google, I think the search shortcut vocabulary from google could also be integrated into a lot of databases and catalogues. I also think that finding ways to engage patron's in using other databases and search tools is important, I think that could be done easily if worked into niche programing. 



Give them what they want
This article is written in response to Bell's article, it argues that end users in different settings (academic vs. military) have very different needs. And that using google is in fact the only thing the many users want or have time for.


I loved this article I thought she articulated a lot of my thoughts better then I could, which makes sense as she has a larger experience with patron's then I do. One point that she brought up in her article that I didn't talk about in my response to Bell's article is engaging with people who clearly would be interested in using search tools beyond google. Repeat users, or "nerds" as I will call them, should be engaged by librarians to discover and navigate databases and search tools that will help them learn about topics of interest more in depth.



Let Them Steal Books
This article outlines the different types of book thieves that steal from the library, and the different types of hatred Isaacso has for them, and the punishments he thinks are legitimate for each kind of thief.


As someone who spends most of their time with anarchists and autodidacts I have specific things to say about this article. First of all, I do have friends who have spent quite a considerable amount of time in the Half Price Books dumpster in search of books, both to read and to sell. I do however think the idea that having the left overs from the friend's of the library book sale available to folks who feel a stigma of rummaging through a dumpster  is a fabulous idea. I also think that many anarchists don't and wouldn't steal from libraries, they like the idea of communal ownership- there are bookstores they can steal from.


Indiana Administrative Code Title 590, Article 6, Rule 1
Outlined the minimum requirements for an Indiana library to receive funds.
While it was painful to read, the use of having everything from where the board and director's responsibilities differ to what needs to be on your library's website outlined seems pretty necessary in terms for having base line service at any Indiana library.