I don’t know about you but every time I have to create a book list or bibliography, I dread it. What style of citation should I use? Will I get the punctuation right? I just want to get it done and move on.
Now I know there are websites where you can put in the information and at a click of the mouse it is put in citation form but now I have an easier way. WorldCat. That’s right the OCLC online catalog of books, articles, DVD’s and more. There is a Cite this Item link in the record of materials found in WorldCat through First Search.
If you search through the WorldCat.org public website you can also get a citation. When the specific item you searched for is displayed look just at the top of the record are links to cite, print, email and more. Click site and you can choose from five difference citation styles--APA. Chicago (Author-Date), Harvard, MLA or Turabian
Check it out the next time you have to make up a list of books
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Intellectual Freedom
I have been meaning to write about the recent death of Judith Krug. She was the director of the ALA office for intellectual Freedom since its founding in 1967. She died April 14, 2009, a great loss to the library community. Judith helped trustees and librarians when they were facing a challenge to materials placed in their library’s collection.
Intellectual Freedom is a core principle of the library field. It is probably the toughest one to up hold. Each year many books are challenged by parents or groups for a wide variety of reasons. They range from sex to witchcraft, violence to language and many, many more. Authors are often confused as to why a particular part of a book is being challenged? When I think of the loss of Ms Krug in juxtaposition with some of my recent readings on the topic of intellectual I had to write.
The first thing I read was the book by James LaRue, The New Inquisition : understanding and managing intellectual freedom challenges. Jamie, in his book, examines the reasons why books have been challenged at his library. He has found that they fall into specific categories of child development. Jamie also gives the librarian some samples of the letters he has written that explain to the parent why a book is being retained by the library. I feel this should be required reading by every librarian in a public or school library. (By the way RPLS has a copy in the professional collection.)
The second piece I read was an article from the February 2009 School Library Journal. (And yes I know I am behind in my reading of professional journals.) The title of this article by Debra Lau Whelan was “A Dirty Little Secret: Self-censorship is rampant and lethal”. The article speaks to the self-censoring that school and public librarians do when a book is controversial or has is about a topic or issue they are uncomfortable with. The librarians are reacting in fear and expectation of a challenge. Pat Scales, president of the Association of Library Services to Children sated in the article, “If you reject a book just because of its subject matter or if you think that it would cause you some problems, then that’s self-censorship. And that’s going against professional ethics.”
I encourage you to read and think about the issue of Intellectual Freedom.
Intellectual Freedom is a core principle of the library field. It is probably the toughest one to up hold. Each year many books are challenged by parents or groups for a wide variety of reasons. They range from sex to witchcraft, violence to language and many, many more. Authors are often confused as to why a particular part of a book is being challenged? When I think of the loss of Ms Krug in juxtaposition with some of my recent readings on the topic of intellectual I had to write.
The first thing I read was the book by James LaRue, The New Inquisition : understanding and managing intellectual freedom challenges. Jamie, in his book, examines the reasons why books have been challenged at his library. He has found that they fall into specific categories of child development. Jamie also gives the librarian some samples of the letters he has written that explain to the parent why a book is being retained by the library. I feel this should be required reading by every librarian in a public or school library. (By the way RPLS has a copy in the professional collection.)
The second piece I read was an article from the February 2009 School Library Journal. (And yes I know I am behind in my reading of professional journals.) The title of this article by Debra Lau Whelan was “A Dirty Little Secret: Self-censorship is rampant and lethal”. The article speaks to the self-censoring that school and public librarians do when a book is controversial or has is about a topic or issue they are uncomfortable with. The librarians are reacting in fear and expectation of a challenge. Pat Scales, president of the Association of Library Services to Children sated in the article, “If you reject a book just because of its subject matter or if you think that it would cause you some problems, then that’s self-censorship. And that’s going against professional ethics.”
I encourage you to read and think about the issue of Intellectual Freedom.
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