Archiving Transparency and Accountability: Step 3 to Information Literacy

In Part 3 of Lorette Weldon’s series she discusses the virtual assistant she created to review with clients the search methods that were covered in face to face customer interactions. Weldon emphasizes that this methodology creates and maintains transparency, enhancing learning and sustaining relationships. Links to Part 1 and Part 2.

Subjects: Distance Learning, Libraries & Librarians, Library Marketing, Reference Services

No Paperwhite read-aloud for you! FCC again lets Amazon and friends diss people with disabilities

David Rothman continues his reporting on the status of Text to Speech applications that have yet to be added to E-Ink readers due to the FCC’s extension of vendor exemptions from complying with a key benefit for the disabled that is part of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010.

Subjects: E-Books, Gadgets, Government Resources, Internet Trends, Legislative, Utilities (Software)

Shaken Baby Syndrome: A Differential Diagnosis of Justice

Ken Strutin’s article is a comprehensive examination of how the concept of Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) has become a battleground where medical evidence and legal presumptions clash, testing the limits of judicial wisdom. Strutin presents a collection of recent and select court decisions, law reviews and news articles that explore the ongoing scientific and legal arguments about the definition and exclusivity of shaken baby syndrome evidence.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Legal Research

Step 2 to Information Literacy

In Part 2 of Lorette Weldon’s series, she emphasizes that to promote information literacy you would have to practice what you preach. You must retain customer interaction information so that you may add to it in forthcoming interactions. Thus says Weldon, the patrons experience both familiarity and warmth when they return to the library because the librarian remembers who they are and what they had been looking for in previous visits.

Subjects: KM, Libraries & Librarians, Library Marketing, Reference Services

Step 1 to Information Literacy

This is the first of a three part series by Lorette Weldon. She discusses the role of “The Three T’s” – talking, tinkering, and traveling, in relationship to building a bond between librarians and customers seeking reference and research services.

Subjects: Uncategorized

Tell the FCC to Require Read-Aloud for Future Kindles and Other E Ink Devices

Want read-aloud in Kindles and other readers? Use FCC’s easy online form by January 9, 2015. David H. Rothman calls attention to a pivotal upcoming event for readers everywhere: On January 28, 2015 if the Federal Communications Commission makes the right choice, a regulatory waiver will expire. The waiver has exempted Amazon and other E Ink manufacturers from having to comply with rules based on the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act signed by President Obama in 2010. Last year, at the urging of the National Federation for the Blind, scores of blind people objected to the waiver. And the FCC listened. “We believe that, given the swift pace at which e-reader and tablet technologies are evolving and the expanding role of ACS in electronic devices, granting a waiver beyond this period is outweighed by the public interest and congressional intent to ensure that Americans with disabilities have access to advanced communications technologies.”

Subjects: Uncategorized

Cameras in the Streets: Focus on Justice

2014 has been a watershed for the national and international role of citizen photo journalists who have impacted in myriad ways events which have in turn sparked debate, protests, and legal action – increasing the scrutiny of activity conducted by groups including law enforcement. Ken Strutin’s timely, informative and significant article collects noteworthy news, litigation, and legal analyses concerning civilians and journalists photo-documenting the activities of law enforcement as well as police use of cameras to record their work.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Free Speech, Internet Trends, Privacy, Social Media

New Economy Resources 2015

Marcus P. Zillman helps LLRX end 2014 and begin 2015 with a set of powerhouse guides for researchers. The New Economy is steeped in the mantra of transparency and big data, and Marcus provides us with critical resources to respond to the challenges we face as researchers to stay ahead of the curve and serve our clients and customers accurately, reliably and comprehensively.

Subjects: Uncategorized

Deep Web Research and Discovery Resources 2015

Web search expert Marcus P. Zillman delves into the The Deep Web, comprising somewhere in the vicinity of trillions upon trillions of pages of information posted in various files and formats not surfaced by using the two or three major search engines. The rapidly expanding areas of business and competitive intelligence, data mining, and the significance of metadata in national and international surveillance make this guide especially significant for researchers.

Subjects: Uncategorized

U.K. vocabulary study shows long-term benefits of reading for fun: Lower nursing home bills, not just better K-12 scores?

David Rothman cites and discusses two British research studies that conclude “reading for pleasure puts children ahead in the classroom” and “those who had regularly read for pleasure at 10 scored 67 per cent in the age 42 vocabulary test, whereas infrequent childhood readers scored only 51 per cent.” Other recent studies support the positive impact of life long reading, including that reading narrative fiction helps us to develop empathy and and social skills.

Subjects: Uncategorized