“In order to be really good as a librarian, everything counts towards your work, every play you go see, every concert you hear, every trip you take, everything you read, everything you know.” – Allen Smith, PhD
Crítica Biliotecológica (Library and Information Science Critique: Journal of the Information Sciences Recorded in Documents)is a budding publication from the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The online, open access, publication will be focusing on information sciences and critical analysis of the field. Some of the broader topics contributors are encouraged to discuss include, analysis of the “information society”, “research methodology”, “the limits of copyright”, “social injustice within the field”, and “privatization and monopolies from information providers”, among other challenging topics.
While the journal will specialize in articles by professionals, paraprofessionals and students debating various sides of issues within the library field, it also welcomes poetry, short stories, and other writings on the matter. The publishers expect to publish 4 times a year (January, April, July and October). Entries are welcome in both Spanish and English.
The first issues is already in the works, but people who wish to contribute and who already have an article that might interest the journal are encouraged to submit their work. (I didn’t find an obvious link where to submit your work, but I guess you can contact one of the organizers.)
Lubuto means knowledge, enlightenment and light in the Bemba language, and this is exactly what the Lubuto Library Project is proving vulnerable children throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
The project is a non-profit based in Washington DC which has been providing library services since 2005. Their aim is to help provide information, a space for socialization, and a positive physical environment for children throughout sub-Saharan Africa. The project began after seeing the success a makeshift library at the Fountain of Hope Center which provided help for street children, victims of the AIDS crisis.
Each Lubuto Library has starts out with a collection of 5,000 items, primarily non-fiction, and covering a wide range of subjects. The initial collection has only English language books, but material in local languages is added once the library is established.
Interestingly, this project helps children in the USA as well. The project aims to educate children in the USA about the impact of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, while helping create the collections, organizing them, and helping out with other aspects of the project, as well as learning about the children these libraries will impact.
The above video shows the libraries, the children they service, as well as the children in the USA who organize book drives and help keep the project going in a number of other ways.
You can learn more about this project by visiting their website.
The Mali government has begun work to create a library that will house material from Timbuktu’s golden age. Material consists of works of law, history, poetry, and science, much of which has been gathered from private collections, and storerooms, many having been in danger of decay for lack of proper care.
The material is being made available on the web through Aluka, a project which works to make digital content from and about Africa available on the web. Aluka does require users to be members to access their content. The project also counts with the help of the Mellon Foundation and Northwestern University.
You can read more about this story form an article in the NYT.
A few days ago OCLC and Google Books created a partnership that will allow uses of both services to benefit, and better locate library material. OCLC member libraries who already have agreements with Google Books will now be able to make their MARC records available through Google, which will increase the visibility of material. Basically this partnership will allow users of the web to search for books and other library material be guided towards specific library catalogs, which will then provide full access to books that are already part of Google Books. Ideally this set up will drive up traffic for libraries both online and in person. Web users will be able to access full text books from home, but those who wish to borrow the books will be able to see local libraries’ holding.
You can read OCLCs press release on the matter here.
This morning I was reading Críticas and found a fascinating article by Loida García-Fedo about Wilton Hurtado Cuero, a man truly dedicated to making this world a better place. Hurtado Cuero is a librarian in Chocó, a department (state) on Colombia’s Pacific coast where poverty is prevalent, there is little infrastructure, and citizens have seen a lot of violence in recent years.
This dedicated man saw a need for services and did something about it. When a flood destroyed the public library where he worked, he asked the government for help in order to continue offering the community library services. Hurtado Cuero took up a bag full of books and started walking up and down the Santiago River bringing books to a number of schools and households in the area. This project became known as La Maleta Viejara (Traveling Suitcase). His visits later revealed that many of the children he was seeing where suffering from poor nutrition, which in part was attributed to the fumigations which are supposed to be killing coca plantations, but are instead destroying local crops. Hurtado Cuero worked to provide food security to this community.
Over the years I’ve discovered a number of similar projects. People truly dedicated to providing library services and promoting education. I’ve read about a Colombian who provides library services with a donkey, and a project where camels are used to provide library services to nomadic tribes in Kenya. These stories made me want to leave the comfort of the academic library I work at, and join these people who are truly improving the world we live in. On the other hand, I’m reminded that even in Colombia such noble actions get little attention. I asked my father, who lives in Colombia, about Hurtado Cuero and he said there was no mention anywhere. I also tried searching for more information about on him and came up empty handed. Still, if I can bring some attention to these brave souls, I want to do so, and I hope this drop in the bucket encourages others to take their careers to the full extent of the possibilities!
You can read Loida García-Fedo’s article here, and see Wilton Hurtado Cuero’s brief bio here.
A few librarians in Guatemala have set out to create a directory of Guatemala’s librarians in wiki format. The project is still quite new and with only a few entries, but they already have a number of enthusiasts offering their help either with providing content or helping with the technology needed.
As most wikis, the project is meant to be collaborative, and everyone is encouraged to contribute. The front page also offers a few links to existing projects which provide some information on Guatemala’s libraries; these include UNESCO, The Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, and a project through the International Center for Scientific Research.
In any case, the date was proposed to the UNESCO’s International Union of Editor as a day to promote culture and raise awareness around intellectual property rights. Final approval came on November 15, 1995.
Current festivities include a rotating title of World Book Capital. This began in 2001 with Madrid, last year it was Bogotá, and this year the world’s book capital is Amsterdam, next year it will be Beirut.
Click here for UNESCO’s page on World Book and Copyright Day.
At random, here are a few links to how a handful of libraries around the world are celebrating.
This week NYC is celebrating a legacy of immigration through Immigrant Heritage Week. The New York Public Library has created a number of events highlighting the culture of a number of immigrant groups. Events include bilingual story time, exploration of traditional Latin music, classes of Chinese ribbon dance, photographs illustrating Greek immigration into the city, a guitarist playing Caribbean tones, music from Bangladesh, Dominican folk dances, Mexican Mariachis, Flamenco music and dance, among others.
If you happen to live in NYC or close enough, stop by and enjoy the festivities!
Memoria Chilena is a project under Chile’s DIBAM (Dirección de Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos) to help gather book, photographs, music and other works which have helped form national identity.
A significant portion of the project is a collection of e-Books. Each month books are recommended in one of the 5 areas of focus, which include; First Person Accounts, Classics of Chilean Literature, Works on Contemporary Art Criticism, Music and Dance from the 1900, and works by Foreigners in Chile during the Era of the Republic. All works can be found in full text (all in Spanish). Many of the original works are housed in Chile’s National Library, and other organizations under the auspices of DIBAN. The project began in 2001 and is part of national celebrations to culminate with Chile’s bicentennial in 2010.
The collection can be searched through their OPAC, which allows users to narrow searches by author, title, subject, and by time period, as well as type of material. Browsing can also be conducted by geographical regions, which then highlight some of the most famous locals. To see an example of these entries, take a look at the entry for Gabriela Mistral.
Based on the belief that American popular culture is shaping a new global environment which each day looks more hegemonic, the National Library of Venezuela has decided to fight back. Under the direction of Fernando Báez, the National Library of Venezuela will now try to fight what they believe is a global commercialization of world libraries, an effort, they believe is spearheaded by the Library of Congress in the USA. This project wishes to expand the country’s network of public libraries, promoting nation-wide reading, and build a National Digital Library.
Fernando Báez is the author of the world wide best seller “Historia universal de la destrucción de libros,” (Universal History of the Destruction of Books) and “La destrucción cultural de Iraq” (The cultural Destruction of Iraq) which made him a persona non grata in the USA.
Granted that this program could just as well limit local diversity, it is interesting to see a formal attempt at preserving local flavor. We’ll have to keep an eye on this one to see how it unfolds.
You can read the press release (in Spanish) from the National Library of Venezuela here.
