Divided Libraries

Given the highly trained library workforce now available and the vast and growing array of packaging information and knowledge, libraries have the capacity to become pre-eminent places of learning, research, and teaching. Yet, despite this potential, libraries remain divided from their constituencies and their governing bodies, be they students, faculties, university administrations, municipal governments, or ordinary citizens. Indeed, many modern university administrators, viewing librarians as ancillary citizens in academe, have allowed their libraries to wither under the burden of shrinking budgets, staffing inadequacies, and deteriorating facilities. This thought-provoking volume by a 35-year veteran of academic libraries identifies, diagnoses, and provides remedies to the damaging divisions in and between libraries and librarianship, arguing that the processes of teaching constitute the genuine context in which to steer librarianship into the future.

In recent years, a number of controversies have emerged from inside Canadian universities. While some of these controversies reflect debates occurring at a broader societal level, others are unique to the culture of universities and the way in which they are governed. In University Commons Divided, Peter MacKinnon provides close readings of a range of recent incidents with a view to exploring new challenges within universities and the extent to which the idea of the university as ‘commons,’ a site for open and contentious disagreement, may be under threat. Among the incidents addressed in this book are the Jennifer Berdahl case in which a UBC professor alleged a violation of her academic freedom when she was phoned by the university's board chair to discuss her blog on which she speculated about the reasons for the university president's departure from office; the case of Root Gorelick, a Carleton University biologist and member of the university’s board of governors who refused to sign a code of conduct preventing public discussion of internal board discussions; the Facebook scandal at Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Dentistry in which male students posted misogynistic comments about their female classmates. These and many other examples of turmoil in universities across the country are used to reach new insights on the state of freedom of expression and academic governance in the contemporary university. Accessibly written and perceptively argued, University Commons Divided is a timely and bold examination of the pressures seeking to transform the culture and governance of universities.

Reveals how practitioners, consultants, and faculty can derive theories from actual experience and use such theories in solving real world problems. Bill Crowley explores why theory, in particular theory developed by university and college faculty, is too little used in the off-campus world. The volume examines the importance of solving the theory irrelevance problem, and drawing on a broad spectrum of research and theoretical insights, it provides suggestions for overcoming the not-so-hidden secret of the academic world - why theory with little or no perceived relevance to off-campus environments can be absolutely essential to advancing faculty careers. It also addresses the implications for theory development of fundamental aspects of the American culture and economy, including: the American ambivalence towards intellectuals, the rise in the "theory-unfriendly" environments of for-profit educational institutions, and public demands for enhanced accountability.

Winner of the Pura Belpré Award! “We need books to break open our hearts, so that we might feel more deeply, so that we might be more human in these unkind times. This is a book doing work of the spirit in a time of darkness.” —Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street Efrén Nava’s Amá is his Superwoman—or Soperwoman, named after the delicious Mexican sopes his mother often prepares. Both Amá and Apá work hard all day to provide for the family, making sure Efrén and his younger siblings Max and Mía feel safe and loved. But Efrén worries about his parents; although he’s American-born, his parents are undocumented. His worst nightmare comes true one day when Amá doesn’t return from work and is deported across the border to Tijuana, México. Now more than ever, Efrén must channel his inner Soperboy to help take care of and try to reunite his family. A glossary of Spanish words is included in the back of the book.

Teaching novice computer users, including seniors and individuals with disabilities such as low vision or motor skills, how to do what they want and need to do online is a formidable challenge for library staff. Part inspirational, part practical Without a/the Net: Librarians Bridging the Digital Divide is a summary of techniques, approaches, and skills that will help librarians meet this challenge.||Jessamyn C. West's experience as a librarian is deeply immersed in technology culture, yet living in rural America makes her uniquely qualified to write this book. Taking a big-picture approach to the subject, she demystifies and simplifies tech training for the busy librarian, providing an easy-to-use handbook full of techniques that can be used with all of a library's many populations. As an added bonus, she also examines the players in the library technology arena to offer firsthand reports on what works, what doesn't, and what's next.