Category Archives: Librarianship

Who Won #ScienceFiction Hugo #Awards, and Why It Matters | WIRED #diversity #books #SciFi

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SINCE 1953, TO be nominated for a Hugo Award, among the highest honors in science fiction and fantasy writing, has been a dream come true for authors who love time travel, extraterrestrials and tales of the imagined future. Past winners of the rocket-shaped trophy—nominated and voted on by fans—include people like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Harlan Ellison, Philip K. Dick, and Robert A. Heinlein. In other words: the Gods of the genre.

But in recent years, as sci-fi has expanded to include storytellers who are women, gays and lesbians, and people of color, the Hugos have changed, too. At the presentation each August, the Gods with the rockets in their hands have been joined by Goddesses and those of other ethnicities and genders and sexual orientations, many of whom want to tell stories about more than just spaceships. READ MORE: Who Won Science Fiction’s Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters | WIRED.

The 51 Best #Fantasy #Series Ever Written | BuzzFeed #books #reading #genrefiction

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Whether you’re a Swords and Sorcery type of fantasy reader, a fan of battles and betrayal, or you just want a few more goddamn elves in your life, there’s something for you here. These are the truly great fantasy series written in the last 50 years. READ: The 51 Best Fantasy Series Ever Written | BuzzFeed Books.

The Covert World of People Trying to Edit #Wikipedia for Pay | The Atlantic #longform #studies #reference

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This is a long form article discussing editing of Wikipedia content specific to the medical field.

Can the site’s dwindling ranks of volunteer editors protect its articles from the influence of money? READ MORE: The Covert World of People Trying to Edit Wikipedia for Pay | The Atlantic.

#Stream 58 Hours of #Free #Classical #Music Selected to Help You Study, Work, or Simply Relax | Open Culture #streaming #spotify

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Lovers of classical music have a third online option, thanks to an enterprising digital curator who goes by the name of Ulyssestone and who compiled the Spotify playlist above of 58 hours of classical music — from Sibelius to Satie, Bach to Debussy. It’s designed for anyone who wants to study, work, or simply relax. READ MORE: Stream 58 Hours of Free Classical Music Selected to Help You Study, Work, or Simply Relax | Open Culture.

Is the New Lady Chatterley’s Lover Adaption Borderline Pornographic? God, We Hope So. | Jezebel #books #adaptations

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Swearwords in the content (clean images) so consider this post borderline NSFW. READ MORE: Is the New Lady Chatterley’s Lover Adaption Borderline Pornographic? God, We Hope So..

NMC Horizon #Report: 2015 Library Edition | NMC.org #libraries #emerging #trends #tech

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What is on the five-year horizon for academic and research libraries? The NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition examines key trends, significant challenges, and important developments in technology for their impact on academic and research libraries worldwide. via NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition | NMC.org. 

Direct Link to PDF

via NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Library Edition | YouTube.

In Defense of Uncomfortable Subject Matter in #Genre #Fiction | Flavorwire #books #opinion #genderviolence #intellectualfreedom

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Last week, The New Statesman ran an essay by Liz Lutgendorff, wherein she describes reading every book on NPR’s reader-selected list of the top 100 science fiction and fantasy books, and finding them to be “shockingly offensive” in their “continued and pervasive sexism.” In the course of proposing “a Bechdel test for books,” Lutgendorff launches broadsides at a variety of authors, some of whose work is indeed genuinely awful (step forward, Piers Anthony), and questions why these works remain so respected.

It’s an interesting essay, and makes some valid points about the weight of nostalgia on this particular corner of genre fiction. But it also falls into a pattern that’s worryingly prevalent these days in the world of criticism, particularly when it gets to the topic of rape and sexual assault in fantasy. It’s at this point that Lutgendorff’s argument falls into the trap of confusing a depiction of something in a work of fiction for an endorsement of that thing (at least, in any instance where there’s an absence of explicit, unequivocal condemnation of it). READ MORE: In Defense of Uncomfortable Subject Matter in Genre Fiction | Flavorwire.

Women’s Groups and the Rise of the #BookClub | JSTOR #books #reading #women

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Since 1989, leisure reading groups have become a full-fledged phenomenon and are now found everywhere from offices to religious communities to, increasingly, virtual platforms. Although exact numbers are hard to come by, the New York Times reports an estimated 5 million Americans belong to a book club. Even more belong to online reading groups like those housed on the popular site goodreads.com, which has 40 million members. Large-scale book clubs even have the power to influence the publishing market. When Mark Zuckerberg announced in January he was starting an online reading group humbly titled A Year of Books, his first pick shot up amazon.com’s sales list, surging overnight from 45,140 to the top 10. The public, it seems, has fully embraced book club culture.

Or, at least, a certain demographic has. The population of in-person book clubs skews heavily toward college-educated women, and a large proportion of these groups are single-sex, either by default or design. READ MORE: Women’s Groups and the Rise of the Book Club | JSTOR Daily.

Creating the First Cultural #DigitalLibrary in Canada’s North | University of Alberta #libraries #culture

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(Edmonton) When you live 400 kilometres from the nearest library, getting information can be a real challenge. Professor Ali Shiri of the University of Alberta’s School of Library and Information Studies is leading a project to address this issue. Together with co-investigator Dinesh Rathi, Shiri and a team of collaborators have begun to bridge the information gap for some of Canada’s most isolated people with a project called Digital Library North.

Currently, people in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region—an area that spans 90,650 square kilometres—must travel to the Inuvialuit Cultural Resource Centre to access hard-copy information. The challenges with distance and winter above the treeline limit the access. The SSHRC-funded project will create a digital library infrastructure to address the unique information needs in Canada’s northern regions over the next three years. READ MORE: Creating the first cultural digital library in Canada’s North | University of Alberta.

Smithsonian’s @Kickstarter to Show Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit Blasts Past Goal | Mashable #libraries #museums

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May inspire other museums, libraries and archives to launch Kickstarter campaigns!

When the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum launched Reboot the Suit, a Kickstarter campaign to preserve and display Neil Armstrong’s iconic Apollo 11 spacesuit, they set a goal of $500,000. With two hours left of the campaign, they’ve raised over $715,000 from more than 9,400 backers. READ MORE: Smithsonian’s Kickstarter to show Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit blasts past goal | Mashable.