Death by book

So not exactly the on topic for this blog, but my former life as a bookseller demands I share the story of a bookseller killed by books:
Law Chi Wah, a well known independent book store owner in Hong Kong, was killed by the collapsing book boxes in his small warehouse before Lunar New Years. His [...]

Interview with Ethan Zuckerman, Global Voices Online co-founder

From Dropping Knowledge, this interview with Ethan Zuckerman, part 1 and part 2, introduced me to Global Voices Online. I didn’t realize he was also part of Geekcorps.
I found this story under Global Voices Online, Education about parents in Bahrain lamenting the state of education in her country.  One parent describes the need [...]

Disaster Preparedness Manual for Small Public Libraries

This manual from Ohio could be used as a template for one in your library.

Central Arkansas Library System to Donate Fines for Tornado Disaster Relief

Here’s another concrete way libraries can be part of disaster relief efforts. Money from library fines will be used to purchase food for the victims of the “Super Tuesday” tornadoes.
That is our biggest need right now,” she said. “A man came in with a seemingly simple request. He asked for mayonnaise, mustard and [...]

New discussion forums on WebJunction

There’s been some recent interesting activity on WebJunction’s International Libraries discussion forums.  Conversations about distance learning and library 2.0 are the most recent.
Go check them out.
Full disclosure – I work for WJ and help moderate these discussions.

Advocating for literacy in the international development field

I  have some Google alerts for several different searches that sometimes uncover content that I would otherwise never have known about.  My last blog post about the distance education plan for Iraq is an example of something that came in through the alert.  Another one that came in and it got me to thinking about [...]

Distance learning in Iraq: Creating intellectual capacity through e-learning

With the flight or death of so many academics in Iraq, education has suffered greatly.   The paper Distance Learning/e-Learning for Iraq: Concept and Road Map by Ala’a Al-Din J. Kadhem Al-Radhi outlines how to implement distance education now in Iraq.  The author recognizes the immense challenges due to security issues, but it is a [...]

Library of Congress Emergency Preparedness and Response

Resources from LOC on how to save the stuff that libraries are tasked with “serving and protecting”.  Happy to see plans for electronic data/resources as well.  However, I’m searching for plans that talk about people also.  Is there a plan in place to locate/contact staff after a disaster?  What about the personal info our library [...]

Inland Empire Libraries Disaster Response Network

I just recently came across the Inland Empire Libraries Disaster Response Network, which has been around since 1987.  They have some issues with their website, including annoying spam pop-ups, but their is a wealth of information about their efforts to contribute to disaster preparedness in the Inland Empire area of California.  I don’t see anything [...]

Welcome Stranger: Public Libraries Build the Global Village

The Urban Libraries Council in the U.S. has just created a new document titled Welcome Stranger: Public Libraries Build the Global Village.
“In March 2007, ULC conducted a survey of its members, gathering data on the ways in which urban public libraries are involved with the transition of immigrants into American life. The findings of the [...]