links

Ask A Librarian: Sharing links behind a soft paywall?

screenshot from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine indicating that the page is available live on the web.

From a friend in my trivia community: I’ll post a link to an article or something on FB and/or Twitter, and I hear from Euro folk about how they’re blocked from reading it. I’d like to have a go-to answer for them that would be broadly applicable. Can you give me a generalized technique for this problem when it arises?

Sure! This is also how I get around soft-paywalls like “You have read all your free articles this month” (won’t work with “You have to pay to see this at all”) for news sites like the New York Times and other places I may not have full access too. Here are steps. Continue reading “Ask A Librarian: Sharing links behind a soft paywall?”

Unlink hate – libraries, remove those links to racist websites

Posted on 20Dec1720Jan20 by jessamyn

Librarians: please unlink or nofollow sites you don’t want to lend your authority to. Continue reading “Unlink hate – libraries, remove those links to racist websites”

TILT – today in librarian tabs

Posted on 04Jun1618Jun16 by jessamyn

I need to close some tabs on my browser so they are here.

1. Are you someone from a “diverse” group who gets frequently asked for your opinions about how to help organizations “get diverse” enough so it seems like a part time job? Follow Diversity in Design’s lead and charge people for it. No shame in it. There is also Clarity.fm which doesn’t have a specific keyword for librarians but that didn’t stop me from signing up.
2. The Open Access Button “helps researchers, patients, students and the public get access to scholarly research and to report when they’re denied access.” Learn about it. Cool stuff.
3. Fair warning: the Department of Justice is starting to get serious about public entities having accessible websites and also “web content” What they mean about web content is not totally clear but libraries should pay attention. Good blog post by this law firm who has a good accessibility blog generally.
4. Live to Run Again is a not-for-profit public education campaign against drowsy driving for people who are traveling long distances to go to dog events. They sponsor ABLE an Audio Book and Library Exchange where volunteer librarians bring audiobook CDs to dog events so that people can listen to them and stay awake on the way home. Drop off the audiobook at the next library along the way. Great idea and they are always looking for donations if you are weeding CD audiobooks.
5. I don’t think I have mentioned this here but I am teaching a Tools for Community Advocacy class at the University of Hawaii, a short summer class with eleven really interesting students. I dislike course management software so I made my own website for the class from an available template. I am proud of it. You can view it here.

some links I’ve been holding on to

Posted on 08Jul1008Jul10 by jessamyn

I’m indoors refusing to move more than about four feet from the box fan. I am also attending to the last few emails in my inbox from people who sent me links or things they thought I’d like. Also I got caught up with my RSS feeds fairly quickly and now I feel like I’m reunited with a bunch of people. Not bad. Hi! Here are a few things that are worth passing on.

BC Library’s AskAway program has gone away as of June 30th after four years and 130,000 questions.
Neat [and long] YouTube video about how the National Library of Australia’s Newspaper Digitisation Program has used volunteers to help them proofread and tag digital content. Here’s a short blurb if you don’t have much time.
Have I already linked to the History of Reading website at Harvard? I don’t think I have. I also strongly suggest reading Gutenberg 2.0 an article from the Harvard Alumni magazine, talking about the role of academic libraries in a wired age. Many fewer platitudes than you’d expect, and a lot of real innovation going on there.
Bookmobile porn: International Harvester, First American Bookmobile.
I may not have linked to this before but I went to speak at the Library 2.0 Symposium at Yale last April. I gave a talk that I mostly forgot about, but just found it again ego-surfing. I make the same points I always make about rural access but I think it’s a good talk. Companion slides (all five of them) here.
Karen Schneider makes a thinky pre-ALA post about Open Source. Money quote: [E]very librarian who engages in tool creation to any degree improves the state of librarianship for all of us.
Five ways rural public libraries can position themselves to help revitalize and engage rural communities.

A few links to kick off 2009

Posted on 03Jan09 by jessamyn

I’ve been working on keeping my inbox pretty well empty which has meant no linkhoarding this week. Here are a few things worth pointing out that I’ve kept around.

Look what this library found in their bookdrop! [via unshelved]
OPACs, Open Source and Patron Perceptions: a look at what happens (and what can happen) when open source software is a library’s public face. A student paper from Elyssa Kroski’s LIBR 287 class.
Seeking chapters for a new edited collection entitled Beyond Article 19: Libraries and Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. Can you help out?
The Effing Librarian has put together a book. Shopping season is over, but look at that sunny yellow cover!