This Week in Best of Publib 10.18.09

Best of Publib Current Topics and Archives

This week  in  Best of Publib covers the weeks of September 28th through October 18th. These last weeks include discussions about food for fines and collection development, thought provoking discussions about drug testing Friends groups and  cataloging Obama , post mortem niceties,  and the relevance of Teamster librarians. Some of the topics we will be reviewing include:

• Topic –  Children and technology – Should we give them what they want or tell them what they should want?
• Topic –  f32bb3e838340b8318b565ac7e59477d3b5c775d – Do we confirm, deny or neither?
• Topic –  PubLib list moderator Karen Schneider is on the move again – Is Oakland ready for her? – Will Tallahassee ever be the same?
• Topic –  ALA-APA seeks course providers – But writers ask ‘At what cost’?
• Topic –  The cashless library? Is your money is no good here anymore?
• Topic –  Food for fines revisited – How do you balance the budget and still help the less fortunate? 
• Topic –   NYPL staffer Esther Averill’s and her Jenny Linsky books.
• Topic –   – Patrons and back packs – should there be different rules for teens?
• Topic –   – Vacation messages – housekeeping your email settings – Should you use Gmail for Publib?
• Topic –   – Foreign language collection development – What are the best sources?
• Topic –   – Downloadable audiobooks – What resources are available other than Overdrive?
• Topic –   – Selling thumb drive / usb devices – Elizabeth Fraser in Charleston WV explores cost management.
• Topic –   – Sign me up – Does the brand of union affect the outcome of negotiations? Does a Teamster librarian have more clout?
• Topic –   – Is there a nicer name for post mortem ? Phalbe Henriksen from the great State of North Carolina asks for a less morbid descriptor.
• Topic –   – Room use and background / drug tests for Friends groups in New York – Do you ask your Friends to pee in a cup?
• Topic –   – Cataloging  Obama – Pre-Obama presidency and post-election materials cataloging rules investigated – Where do you shelve the President?
• Topic –   – What are libraries charging for non-resident use of the Internet? What are the new economics – how are costs recovered from transient patrons?
• Topic –   – Library Drug policies – Do you have a library Drug Czar or needle sharing programs?  Do you just say ‘know’?
• Topic –   – Our time – Michael McGorty provides a thoughtful  link to this LATimes homeless story   – from the richest country on earth.

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