Library Stuff

USATODAY – “The difference between the University of Texas at San Antonio’s Applied Engineering and Technology Library and other science-focused libraries is not that its on-site collection is also available electronically. It is that its on-site collection is only available electronically.”

San Antonio Express – “In a sign of changing times at academic libraries, Trinity University is offering buyout packages to prompt seven employees to leave its Coates Library. With the digitization of books, journals, newspapers and other materials, there simply isn’t enough work shelving and cataloging to keep all 19 classified staff members busy, said Dennis Ahlburg, Trinity’s president. “The library is not just a place for books anymore, it is a place for information,” Ahlburg said. “In terms of running the university, we want to use students’ money and donors’ money responsibly … rather than have people sit around with nothing to do.”

LSU Reveille – “Six electronic databases have been cut by the LSU Library after the Louisiana Board of Regents eliminated funding for electronic resources accessible through LOUIS, the Louisiana Library Network. The Board of Regents has served as a major financial component of LOUIS for the past 15 years, supplying two-thirds of its annual budget, but the board announced June 30 it would provide $500,000 to last for two months and then cease.”

Trib Star – “Except for some scratches, no one was seriously hurt Wednesday when a few rows of bookshelves came tumbling down, domino-style, on the second floor of Indiana State University’s Cunningham Memorial Library. But the incident resulted in the closure of the library for the remainder of Wednesday and Thursday, and now 25,000 books need to be put back in order and reshelved.”

Mercury News – “Protesting budget cuts that have led to shorter library hours and fewer resources, UC Santa Cruz students will reportedly continue a two-day sit-in at the Science and Engineering Library tonight. It will be the third day of what some have called a “study-in,” continuing to work even after scheduled closing. Monday’s protest, of between 75 and 150 students, lasted two hours beyond the library’s closing time of 10 p.m., leading library officials to call in extra workers and university police.”

More here

OCLC – “This report provides an overview of the most significant risks facing research libraries and suggests strategies to mitigate them. OCLC Research engaged an organization experienced in conducting risk assessments for corporate, governmental and educational clients to identify the most significant risks facing research libraries in the United States. The data collected was assimilated, ranked and analyzed, which revealed a convergence of perceived risks and yielded a shared perspective on a landscape of challenges facing US research libraries.”

Read the Report

High Point University News – ” In the old days, a card catalog and a microfilm reader were considered high-tech in terms of tools in the library, but students today need much, much more – and thanks to ever-growing services in the High Point University libraries, students have everything they need and more. Case in point? The library is on Facebook, and students can literally be in touch with the library all day, every day – a feature that’s new this semester.”

JCOnline – “The libraries of Purdue University are feeling the economic pinch. As administrators grapple with finding millions in savings across the campus, the library system is expecting another year of price increases from print and electronic journal publishers.”

AP – “Indiana University’s Lilly Library in Bloomington will host an exhibition of rare books and manuscripts to mark its 50th anniversary.”

More here, from the Lilly Library Blog.

Listen to an interview with Cherry Williams, Curator of Manuscripts.

AP – “A group of major national research libraries says users now can search the full text of 1.6 billion pages from 4.6 million digitized volumes. Last year, the University of Michigan and 24 other research libraries launched the HathiTrust Digital Library. The consortium said Thursday it’s offering full-text search capability to all digitized works. Access to non-copyright books started in 2008.