Category Archives: Librarianship

Five Great Questions I Was Asked As A #Reference #Librarian | BookRiot #libraries #books #reading

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Danika’s post that asked how well we would do on the bookseller’s quiz show got me thinking about some of the best questions I was asked when I worked as a reference librarian. Anyone who knows anything about libraries knows that all patron interactions are private and that librarians never, ever share information about those who ask questions or seek advice. Anonymity is of the utmost importance.

That said, I’ve been out of libraries now for a while and feel confident enough that all of these questions are generic and rendered anonymously enough as to not be pinpointed to any individual. I thought it would be fun to compile a handful of the best, most unique, and most head-scratching questions I was asked as a reference librarian. READ MORE: Five Great Questions I Was Asked As A Reference Librarian |
BOOK RIOT.

Fall #Movie Guide: 30 #ScienceFiction and #Fantasy #Movies To Watch Out For | io9 #SciFi #film

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The summer movie season is over—but the biggest films of the year are still to come. This fall’s movies include some of the most long-awaited titles in history, but also some smaller films that could become instant classics. Here are the 30 movies you need to know about in the last four months of 2015. READ: Fall Movie Guide: 30 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies To Watch Out For | io9.

Gay #Parenting #Books to be #Banned from Venice #Schools | Telegraph #diversity #kids #reading #censorship

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Children’s books about being raised by same-sex parents, including one about a pair of “gay” penguins bringing up a chick, are to be banned in Venice’s schools, as a new mayor stamps a more conservative mark on the World Heritage city. READ MORE: Gay parenting books to be banned from Venice schools | Telegraph.

Best Children’s #Books To Celebrate #Diversity | HuffPo #kids #reading

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Canada is known as a cultural mosaic because it’s home to many people of different ethnicities, cultures and languages. This diversity presents a great opportunity to teach our kids about other nations and their customs, as well as to celebrate our similarities and differences from them. Reading is one the best ways to learn, so we’ve rounded up 13 of the best children’s books that celebrate diversity. READ: Best Children’s Books To Celebrate Diversity | Huffington Post.

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#Digital #Afterlife: Managing Memories of Loved Ones in the Digital Age | #death #socialmedia #memorials

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A little discussed topic but an event we may all be confronted with at some point. Below are some resources I have collected regarding managing your digital afterlife or the memories of loved ones in the digital age. The resources provide information on preserving memories on social profiles such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and downloading data from Apple, Google and other services.

Information

Research

Services

 

A Children’s Illustrator Is Losing Fans Because Of Her Anti-Racist #Art | BuzzFeed #books #racism #diversity

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Illustrator Mary Engelbreit has made many fans for her work in stationery, home goods, and children’s books for over 30 years. [S]ome of those fans are not so happy with anti-racist artwork she’s posted on her Facebook as a tribute to Michael Brown, who was killed nearly a year ago. READ MORE: A Children’s Illustrator Is Losing Fans Because Of Her Anti-Racist Art | BuzzFeed

British Library Asks for Help Deciphering Medieval Sword | CNET #libraries #museums #language

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Image Credit: The British Library

A sword on display at the British Library has an 800-year-old mystery engraved on its blade. Dating back to between 1250 and 1330 AD, the sword was discovered in the east of England, in the River Witham near Lincoln, in the 19th century. The sword is a particularly fine double-edged steel weapon of English design. It was most likely forged in Germany and belonged to a wealthy man or a knight.

 

The hilt is cross-shaped, which is normal for swords from this period of the Middle Ages, and is heavy enough to have cloven a man’s head in twain if swung with sufficient strength.

But the sword, on loan to the library from the British Museum, does have a couple of highly unusual features. Down the centre of the blade, it has two grooves known as fullers, where most blades only have one. On one side, it also bears an inscription:

+NDXOXCHWDRGHDXORVI+

It’s not the presence of the inscription that has researchers nonplussed, but its content: Experts don’t know what the inscription means. READ MORE: British Library asks for help deciphering a medieval sword | CNET.

What I Learned Sending My Novel Out Under a Male Name | Jezebel #books #authors #publishing #genderbias #sexism

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The plan made me feel dishonest and creepy, so it took me a long time to send my novel out under a man’s name. But each time I read a study about unconscious bias, I got a little closer to trying it. READ MORE: Homme de Plume: What I Learned Sending My Novel Out Under a Male Name | Jezebel

#Sex Talk in #Literature: How It’s Changed Over 200 Years | Flavorwire #books #research

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Sex Talk in Literature: How It’s Changed Over 200 Years | Flavorwire

A British health website, DrEd.com, delved into the entire corpus of literature, both fiction and nonfiction, to explore the way certain words having to do with “venereal” matters have appeared, faded, or been associated with new companion words over the last two centuries. READ MORE: Sex Talk in Literature: How It’s Changed Over 200 Years | Flavorwire.

Biodiversity Heritage Library Launches #Crowdsourcing #Games | Library Journal #libraries #search #gamification #volunteer

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The Purposeful Gaming and BHL project recently launched its first two browser-based video games, Smorball and Beanstalk.  Both are designed to offer players a fun online diversion while helping the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) enable full-text searching of digitized materials. Funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which was awarded in December 2013, the project is exploring how games might be used to entice people to participate in crowdsourcing efforts at libraries and museums. READ MORE: Biodiversity Heritage Library Launches Crowdsourcing Games | Library Journal