Source: allanet.org

Thanks for visiting my website. Feel free to look around; you might find the “Blog Categories” section of the right sidebar a good place to start.

As a companion to my ALLA/AACRL Best Practices Mini-Session, I’ve compiled Access to Electronic Resources for Patrons with Disabilities, a collection of resources for those who would like to learn more about library services and people with disabilities. The list is hardly exhaustive, but I hope it will provide interested persons with a good start. The links are also available via the Delicious social bookmarking service: mbfortson’s alla_access Bookmarks on Delicious.

Those seeking additional information on library services and people with disabilities may also be interested in this Crash Course in Library Access & People with Disabilities.

Feel free to contact me via the “contact” link or the comments below, and thanks for visiting.

Why bother with the link roundup posts in the first place? I began publishing them after discovering Nicole Engard’s What I Learned Today, specifically her link sharing posts. I liked the idea of using shared bookmarks to not only organize and share information but also to convey learning, knowledge, interests, and even personality.

I originally compiled and published links in individual posts, but decided to give the Lifestream plugin a try after seeing it in use on Jenny Levine’s The Shifted Librarian. I’m not sure if or when I’ll start using it again- I’m doing a lot of my sharing via Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader- but, until I stop using shared bookmarks for the reasons mentioned above, I’ll probably continue to share them here.

You may also be interested in my (and other Twitter users’) tweets tagged #libday4.

In order to avert a total #libday4 fail, I would like to share a final thought. In June 2009, I found and bookmarked Bell & Shank’s definition of the blended librarian, which has become a professional philosophy of sorts:

An academic librarian who combines the traditional skill set of librarianship with the information technologist’s hardware/software skills, and the instructional or educational designer’s ability to apply technology appropriately in the teaching-learning process.

What does being blended mean to me? It means that, regardless of the setting- library, information center, school, university, private, non-profit, and beyond- I think I will be satisfied and effective in my work if I am facilitating access to information, using emerging technologies, and supporting teaching and learning.

You may also be interested in my (and other Twitter users’) tweets tagged #libday4.

Why, then, participate in an blog event designed for “any one who works in a library”? I’m contributing to this Library Day in the Life Round 4 because:

a. I liked participating in Round 3.
b. I enjoy the sense of professional community that comes with participating in online events like this one, the Louisville Free Public Library Blogathon, the Young Librarian Series, and the 1st Annual Holiday Online Secret Santa Extravaganza.
c. I’m a librarian*, damn it.

*Or, as my website tagline states, an information professional.

How can one be a librarian without working in a library? I think the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s Occupational Outlook Handbook says it well:

More and more, librarians apply their information management and research skills to arenas outside of libraries—for example, database development, reference tool development, information systems, publishing, Internet coordination, marketing, Web content management and design, and training of database users.

Jobs for librarians outside traditional settings will grow the fastest over the decade. Nontraditional librarian jobs include working as information brokers and working for private corporations, nonprofit organizations, and consulting firms. Many companies are turning to librarians because of their research and organizational skills and their knowledge of computer databases and library automation systems. Librarians can review vast amounts of information and analyze, evaluate, and organize it according to a company’s specific needs.

In my current role as an Academic Coordinator for the online division of a private, for-profit career college, I oversee virtual classroom operations. This isn’t a role I anticipated when I decided to pursue a career in librarianship, but my MLIS coursework led me to work with learning management systems and instructional design. This, combined with my education and professional experience, enables me to analyze, evaluate, and organize information to meet the needs of the institution’s faculty, staff, and students. To me, this facilitation of access to information is the essence of library work.

I’m looking forward to hearing about your Library Day(s) in the Life, both in and outside library walls.

Mission accomplished.

"Autumn" (Alphonse Mucha, source: artwallpapers.net)

Today marks the autumnal equinox, otherwise known as the first day of fall.

Fun fact:

In theory, astronomically, the equinoxes ought to be the middle of the respective seasons, but temperature lag (caused by the thermal latency of the ground and sea) means that seasons appear later than dates calculated from a purely astronomical perspective. The actual lag varies with region, so some cultures regard the autumnal equinox as “mid-autumn” whilst others treat it as the start of autumn.

Less fun fact: I always have to look up the capitalization rules for seasons.

The Wikipedia entry for Autumn (source of Fun Fact the First, by the way) goes beyond discussing the season’s meteorological aspects to address autumn’s cultural associations with both harvest and melancholy, a predominant mood of “gladness for the fruits of the earth mixed with a certain melancholy linked to the imminent arrival of harsh weather.” The article’s literary examples of this autumnal mixed bag include several poems: Chanson d’automne/Autumn Song (Verlaine), Herbsttag/Autumn Day (Rilke), To Autumn (Keats), The Wild Swans at Coole (Yeats).  Here are a couple of my seasonal favorites.

Nothing Gold Can Stay (Robert Frost)

Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Sonnet 73 (William Shakespeare)

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see’st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see’st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

Fun stuff, right?

Autumnal & wintry melancholy aside, there’s a lot to smile about during September, October, and November. In these parts fall brings SEC football and the ability to wear jeans and long sleeves sans risk of heatstroke. I find great joy in carving pumpkins, falling leaves, and pumpkin spice in all its forms: pumpkin spice candles, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spiced pies.

Fellow fans of fall foliage may wish to explore Alabama’s Fall Color Trail, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources suggested driving tour of fall color spots. Here’s a shot from North Alabama’s Mentone.

"Already Wishing for Fall" (source: Southernpixel's Flickr photostream)

To Autumn indeed!

A Young Librarian’s Crash Course in Library Access & People with Disabilities

Association of Specialized & Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA)
From the site: “The Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA) enhances the effectiveness of library service by providing networking, enrichment and educational opportunities for its diverse members, who represent state library agencies, libraries serving special populations, multitype library organizations and independent librarians.” Recommended reading: ASCLA’s Issues, Libraries Serving Special Populations Section, and Publications pages; the Library Accessibility: What You Need to Know and Think Accessible toolkits; the ASCLA Wiki.

Other resources from the American Library Association:

ALA Connect
ALA’s online professional network offers several disability-related Member Communities, including ACRL’s Universal Accessibility Interest Group and communities associated with ASCLA’s Libraries Serving Special Populations Section.

Library Services for People with Disabilities Policy
From the policy: “Libraries should use strategies based upon the principles of universal design to ensure that library policy, resources and services meet the needs of all people.”

Schneider Family Book Award
From the site: “The Schneider Family Book Awards honor an author or illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences.” Recommended reading: listing of past winners and the Select Bibliography of Children’s Books about the Disability Experience.

Services to Persons with Disabilities: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights
Applies principles of the Library Bill of Rights to library services and people with disabilities.

Other sites:

AccessLibraries | DO-IT
DO-IT = “Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology.”

Awareness & Etiquette resources from Easter Seals, United Cerebral Palsy, and VSA arts.
From the UCP site: “The rules of etiquette and good manners for dealing with people with disabilities are generally the same as the rules for good etiquette in society. These guidelines address specific issues which frequently arise for people with disabilities in terms of those issues related to disability.” Recommended reading: UCP’s Interaction & Etiquette Tips and “suggestions on how to relate and communicate with and about people with disabilities”; Disability Etiquette, Myths and Facts About People With Disabilities, and Understanding Disability from Easter Seals.

Disability.gov, a federal web site whose mission is “to connect people with disabilities, their family members, veterans, caregivers, employers, service providers and others with the resources they need to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in the workplace and in their communities.” Recommended reading: the Assistive Devices & Equipment and Laws & Recommendations sections. Visitors can use the Information by State feature to locate information and resources close to home.

The Disability History Museum and Museum of disABILITY History both offer collections whose focus is the history of people with disabilities. The latter also offers resources for educators.

Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
From the site: “The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) works with organizations around the world to develop strategies, guidelines, and resources to help make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.” Recommended reading: the Introducing Accessibility section and its Introduction to Web Accessibilityand Introduction to How People with Disabilities Use the Web.

Looking for a particular kind of resource? Have a favorite site or publication to share? Please post a comment below.

Thanks for visiting my blog.  Feel free to look around; you might find the “Blog Categories” section of the right sidebar a good place to start.

I’ve compiled A Young Librarian’s Crash Course in Library Access and People with Disabilities, a set of links for those who would like to learn more about library services and people with disabilities.  The list is hardly exhaustive, but I hope it will provide interested persons with a good start.  The links are also available via the Delicious social bookmarking service: mbfortson’s yl_crash Bookmarks on Delicious.

While I’ve worked in the information profession long enough to consider myself an information professional, I am hardly an authoritative voice.  I can only speak from the perspective of a budding librarian who seeks to unite my avocation and my vocation, eager to share what I learn along the way.

Thanks again to Leah for creating a space in which to share our experiences as young information professionals.  If you’re reading this and haven’t sent in a submission, I hope you will.  I look forward to hearing your stories.

source: LouisvilleKY.gov

The picture: the main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library, following the devastation of an August 2009 flood.  Five million dollars: the estimated amount of damage sustained by the LFPL’s main branch.

What does this decidedly non-kick-ass situation have to do with the title of this post?

First, this post is my contribution to the Louisville Free Public Library Blogathon.  This blog event, which asks bloggers to write a post on “Why Libraries Kick Ass,” is designed to raise not only awareness but also funds for the Louisville Free Public Library Foundation.

click here to donate

Librarians kick ass.  A librarian initiated this effort, and the library community has joined together to support Louisville’s library and the blogathon.  Trade publications and library blogs are covering the event, and today, library bloggers will take to Twitter (hashtag: #lfplblogathon) and social media to spread the word via their own blogs.  As a blogathon wiki author notes, “The Louisville Free Public Library gets a donation, you get a fun post to write (to train yourself for future advocacy), and the library blogger community unites for a good cause! It’s a win-win-win situation!”  Indeed it is.

Libraries kick ass.  Did you know that there is a Library Bill of Rights?  There is, and, while it is intended to guide policy, I think it also perfectly expresses the library’s role.  From the document, which can be read in its entirety on the American Library Association website:

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

There’s been much talk of whether the library remains relevant in the digital age. Here’s why I think the answer to that question is YES.

More information doesn’t always mean good information; now, more than ever, libraries and librarians can provide access to quality information sources (and help patrons evaluate sources themselves). I love a good electronic resource, and I’m all about a digital revolution, but collections will-and should-remain “hybrid” (print and electronic) for some time to come. Beyond the abundance of materials and services the library provides, it also serves as a third place: libraries build community. Provided that they receive the support to do so, libraries can and will remain relevant.

Do you agree that libraries kick ass? If so, I hope you will join me in supporting a library in need by making a donation to the Louisville Free Public Library Foundation.

Last month, a couple of tweets informed followers about changes to the Disability.gov site. An ODEP News Release describes the redesign: Disability.gov offers social media tools, upgrades to complement information from 22 federal agencies on disability-related programs and services.

In my work providing information and referral in the disability community, I regularly visited the old site. I usually accessed it via Google search results, though, and didn’t think of it as a starting point for disability resource information. Today’s site seems to be more comprehensive and current than the former site and more user-friendly, too. The How to Use this Site page is clear, informative, and a good “gateway” to the site, and were the site mine to manage, I would actually feature it more prominently (I accessed it from a link in the upper right corner, next to the “Skip to page content” option). The site appears to be fairly accessible: the main page passed WAVE and Section 508 automated evaluations (there were a couple of WAI errors). I can’t attest to its functional accessibility, though.

Tennessee Disability Pathfinder’s is another disability-related site that recently made some changes in order to become more usable.

As Disability.gov does with its How to Use this Site page, Pathfinder provides users with guidance in navigating the site. The descriptions provided by Pathfinder’s “On this site…” feature help visitors decide to which areas of the site they might go to find the information they seek. I also like how, at every turn, users are reminded of the availability of telephone and e-mail assistance. The site truly conveys a sense of invitation and welcome:

seen on the Tennessee Disability Pathfinder website

I must confess that I am a bit biased, as Pathfinder’s is the information and referral program where I served as Program Coordinator before leaving to attend graduate school. I regret that I cannot claim any involvement in the redesign, though, because the site looks great! Here’s a shot of the services database interface (click to enlarge):

Pathfinder services database screen shot

I think that a website whose primary aim is to provide resource information can easily become self-defeating. Lots of information doesn’t necessarily equal lots of useful information, and information loses its value when it can’t be a) found and b) used.  The recent changes to both Disability.gov and the Tennessee Disability Pathfinder website (www.familypathfinder.org) result in sites that are both attractive and more usable for people with disabilities and their families.

LINKS IN THIS POST

• Disability.gov
• Disability.gov: How to Use this Site
• ODEP: Disability.gov offers social media tools, upgrades to complement information from 22 federal agencies on disability-related programs and services
• Tennessee Disability Pathfinder
• Tennessee Disability Pathfinder: Search the Pathfinder Database
• Twitter: @Disabilitygov