Comments on: ALA study: public library funding & technology access

By: Nan

Nan — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:03:23 +0000

227 pages of PDFery. Now there’s a hoot and hundreds of dead trees if people want to read it badly enough to print it out.
Thanks for the heads up, maybe I can pick out the high points online.

By: Larra Clark

Larra Clark — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:14:50 +0000

A quick Media 101: Neither the ALA nor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation writes Associated Press stories or local news headlines. Anick Jesdanun wrote the story after reading the report (or at least the executive brief), and an AP copy editor wrote the headline that was sent on the wire: “Libraries lack space, wiring, funds to expand Internet despite growing demand.” From there, local editors chose their own headlines — likely to make the story more “dramatic” or to fit space in physical newspaper. (I used to edit and slug wire stories, so I remember how it could be. Don’t get me started on what I used to do with the astrology pages!) Unfortunately, many of these editors chose to write that libraries “won’t” add computers, which the article makes clear is not exactly a choice. No one I’ve spoken with at ALA or the Gates Foundation likes that headline, but we don’t get to write them — or rewrite them. Thankfully at least a handful of local reporters have taken the initiative to call their libraries and ask questions, which has led to additional coverage. There’s lots to talk about in the report, and we look forward to more people reading and commenting.

By: Starr the geeky artist librarian

Starr the geeky artist librarian — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:55:40 +0000

Thanks for the link, Jessamyn!

By: christine

christine — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 02:57:53 +0000

I had the same can’t/won’t issue. I thought the tone of the article made it sound like librarians were holding onto “outmoded” things like books and reading at the expense of what the taxpaying public really wanted, and shame on them for it. ugh.

thanks for making the point about PDF’s vs. HTML, too. “shallowly linked and quoted” for sure!

By: SLM

SLM — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 20:38:26 +0000

I didn’t particularly like the way the AP story was titled. It made it sound (at first blush) like libraries don’t want to add computers.

“Despite Demand, Libraries Won’t Add PCs”

It seems that there’s a meme (am I using that word correctly?) in wider technology geekdom that libraries will be obsolete in X number of years. This unfortunate wording doesn’t help matters any.