LangsdaleLink Vol. 13 No. 2 FALL 2013
The Ways We Read Books
UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE LANGSDALE LIBRARY
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t the end of last year, sometime right around the beginning of the holiday shopping season, it seemed editors and writers in just about every popular news- and editorial-based magazine and website were complaining that publishing was coming to an end as we know it … or, at least, there’d an end to print. That turned out not to be the case, and probably never will be. The end was not so nigh as some may have had us believe. But that’s not to say that there is no massive sea change in the ways people are now buying and reading books, in the ways publishers are disseminating and promoting books, and the ways libraries are lending books. There absolutely have been changes, profound ones, and all these new processes of buying, selling and lending e-books, and the copyright rules and rules of ownership that are paired with e-books—not to mention the decisions inherent in choosing from all the different file types and device requirements and the terms of use from the publisher, from the retailer, etc., etc…. This can all get really confusing and really murky—really quick.
quick chat with our circulation staff).
At Langsdale, though, we are trying to make your choices, digital or print, as easy as possible. For all students, staff and faculty, it was and will continue to be easy to get books not only from our shelves, but also to have books delivered to Langsdale from any public university in the state within a few days (just a few clicks on the website or a
E-books though were a bit trickier. For some time now, Langsdale has had thousands of e-books available for patrons to “check-out,” but that paled in comparison to the number of physical books held in our collection. Over the past year or so, we have been steadily bolstering our collection of digital media of all kinds, including books, but that process takes a while and we simply cannot get everyContinued on page 2
EDITORIAL STAFF NATALIE BURCLAFF ADELE MARLEY DELORES REDMAN AIDEN FAUST EDITOR; LAYOUT AND DESIGN ADAM SHUTZ LIBRARY DIRECTOR LUCY HOLMAN
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thing right away. Another slight snafu in the e-book acquisition tangle came from the fact that what we didn’t have available as an e-book we simply could not get, i.e. acquisitions from other libraries. Those lending privileges were not allowed. But now, thankfully, this is coming to an end. During the fall 2013 semester, Langsdale and the University System of Maryland will roll out a massive collection of e-books that will be available across institutions for “check out.� The collection will be available on Langsdale’s online book search, listed in the same fashion as that of any other book in the collection. Every year, the publishing industry does a survey, which, before e-books, went only as far as publishers’ board rooms. No one really cared how people bought and used books unless they were in the industry. Now, in 2013, it’s national news. In the past year, e-books made up about 20 percent of all books purchased (as reported by The New York Times) and that number appears to be rising each year. Libraries all around the world are scrambling to figure out how to accommodate this growing interest, and it seems that our librarians at Langsdale, along with those across the USM, have come up with a system that allows a great many titles to be easily available to all Maryland students, no matter the campus. Look out for new e-book titles being loaded all the time on Langsdale’s server.
Changes to Langsdale
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pgrades, upgrades, upgrades! UB students, faculty and staff are being treated to a better workspace courtesy of Langsdale. In addition to the fabulous Knowledge Imaging Center (KIC) scanners on the ïUVW DQG VHFRQG ðRRU—which are free, fast, user-friendly, and boast WHUULïF LPDJLQJ QRW WR PHQWLRQ WKH\ UHSODFHG WKH VR ODVW FHQWXU\ FRS\ PDFKLQHV :HÛYH DOVR JRW D QHZ ODSWRS EDU RQ WKH WKLUG ðRRU ZKHUH your laptop can order a cocktail. Just kidding. At the laptop bar, students have easy access to outlets and charging stations, so you and \RXU WHFKQRORJ\ FDQ VWD\ ðH[LEOH LQ WKH OLEUDU\ RU RQ WKH PRYH 7KH WKLUG ðRRU ZKLFK KDV EHHQ GHVLJQDWHG DV D TXLHW VWXG\ DUHD KDV DOVR EHHQ UHDUUDQJHG WR PD[LPL]H DQG EHDXWLI\ WKH VWXG\ VSDFH ,I ZKDW \RX QHHG LV WR FROODERUDWH DQG XVH \RXU LQGRRU YRLFH KRZHYHU WKH VHFRQG ðRRU VWXG\ areas have just what you need. We’ve got many new portable white boards, which are a great ZD\ WR ZRUN RXW SURMHFW GHWDLOV DQG HQKDQFH \RXU JURXSÛV VWXG\ H[SHULHQFH We also realized that sometimes when sprucing up a space and striving for perfect feng shui WKLQJV QHHG WR JHW PL[HG XS D OLWWOH ELW :H WRRN VRPH VHOGRP VHHQ SDLQWLQJV LQ WKH 8% FROlection and gave them new homes throughout the library. There’s even some game-themed decor in the gaming area of Langsdale’s basement, room 002. Finally, we’re happy to have VRPH ORYHO\ ðRUDÙLQ WKH IRUP RI LQGRRU SODQWVÙEULQJLQJ WKH RXWGRRUV LQWR RXU OLEUDU\ Welcome to our spiffy space, and happy fall 2013!
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elcome back to campus and to this latest issue of the Langsdale Link. It’s hard to believe that it’s already September and the semester is underway. We had a very busy and productive summer here at Langsdale, launching several new initiatives (some behind the scenes) that will impact our move into the refurbished School of Law Library at the end of the year, as well as improve resources and services for our users.
One of those new resources is the addition of a large set of e-books purchased in conjunction with the University System of Maryland library consortium. Of course, we’ve been buying e-books for several years now, but this new effort is different because it gives you (the user) the power to decide what books Langsdale adds to our collection. The titles ZLOO EH VHOHFWHG EDVHG RQ WKH QXPEHU RI XVHU YLHZV WKH\ UHFHLYH :HÛOO EH EX\LQJ H[DFWO\ ZKDW \RX say you want and need. 2XU SURJUDPPLQJ FRQWLQXHV ZLWK D QXPEHU RI IDOO DFWLYLWLHV 2XU VHPL DQQXDO FXSFDNH H[WUDYDJDQ]D will take place right around the time the Link LV SXEOLVKHG EXW WKDWÛV MXVW WKH ïUVW RI PDQ\ :HÛOO provide a treat more substantial than candy at our annual (Halloween) book sale on Oct. 30 and 31. And we’ll once again celebrate the scholarly and creative work of UB’s faculty, at the Alumni Authors event on Oct. 23. Throughout the fall, Brian Chetelat, reserves coordinator, will be organizing a QXPEHU RI QHZ VWXGHQW GLVSOD\VÙH[KLELWHG LQ WKH ïUVW ðRRU GLVSOD\ FDVHVÙVWDUWLQJ ZLWK RQH EDVHG on a course on West African women and feminism. Frequent patrons of the library may have noticed that we lost two wonderful faculty members and a staff member: Tom Hollowak, head of Special Collections, who retired after more than 20 years at Langsdale; Phil Deloria, Langsdale’s university archivist, who is returning to Michigan; and Ivy Owens, who resigned after seven years of service. We are very sad to see them go. We are fortunate, however, to have Ben Blake join us as the new head of Special Collections. Ben has a wealth RI H[SHULHQFH DQG H[SHUWLVH LQ DUFKLYHV DQG ZH DUH H[FLWHG KH KDV MRLQHG /DQJVGDOH ,Q DGGLWLRQ WR WKRVH GUDVWLF FKDQJHV ZH KRSH WR KLUH D QHZ PHGLD DQG ïOP DUFKLYLVW LQ WKH IDOO WR KHOS XV ZLWK RXU H[WHQVLYH :0$5 DQG :-= DUFKLYHV Lastly, we are preparing for our 2014 move to the former Law Library in preparation for Langsdale’s renovation. To get ready for this move, we continue to replace our print periodicals with electronic access, remove unused books from our print book collection and, starting in September, we will ODXQFK D QHZ UDGLR IUHTXHQF\ LGHQWLïFDWLRQ 5),' SURMHFW ZKLFK ZLOO HQDEOH XV DQG XVHUV WR WUDFN books much more accurately. I invite you to read all about it here, in the Link. , WKLQN \RX ZLOO ïQG WKLV LVVXH HVSHFLDOO\ LQIRUPDWLYH , WKDQN WKH HGLWRULDO VWDII ZKR DUH GHGLFDWHG WR providing information to our community. As always, I would love to hear from you about what you think. Contact me any time at lholman@ubalt.edu RU
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)URP WKH %ORJ $UFKLYHV Ăš'XVW\ %RRNV DQG 3RGFDVWVĂ› By Adam Shutz
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t isn’t the easiest thing to talk about books on the radio or on a podcast and make them interesting. I’m sure you’ve seen, at one point or another, some version of this tried and true cliche from Hollywood: a protagonist in a deep and rarely visited part of an old library ïQGV D ERRN WKDW KDV ORQJ EHHQ QHJOHFWHG KLJK XS RQ VRPH PDKRJDQ\ VKHOI )RU RQH UHDVRQ or another, the character is drawn to it. He pulls it from the shelf, blows off its thick layer of VLHQQD GXVW DQG RSHQV LW WR ïQG DQ DGYHQWXUH RI VRPH VRUW VRPHWKLQJ PDJLFDO RU D ULGGOH to be solved, which will probably drive the rest of the movie. Well, making a podcast about ERRNV KDV WR IHHO VRPHWKLQJ OLNH WKDW 7KH KRVW KDV WR ïJXUH RXW D ZD\ LPSUREDEOH DV LW PD\ be, to get the dust off that book, old or new, and bring the thing to life. Most fail at this (there are a lot of really bad podcasts about books), but some actually do succeed, and are really quite good. Here’s a list of a few of my favorites:
>>> In more ways than one, The Poetry Foundation has revitalized the ancient art of poetry. Because of a substantial grant of $200 million in 2003 from philanthropist Ruth Lilly, the foundation was not only able to redesign its website and magazine, Poetry, but had money to spare to build the Poetry Center in downtown Chicago, and to award substantial prizes to both up-and-coming poets and those of considerable reputation. As part of the website redesign, the foundation created an award-winning poetry app, a blog that stresses the vitality and importance of poetry, and a podcast that discusses new work by poets published in Poetry 2Q WKDW VDPH SDJH \RX FDQ DOVR ïQG UHFRUGLQJV RI FODVsic lectures, poets reading their work, poets discussing the works that have inspired them over the years, etc. I could go on, but I think you get the point. Highly recommended. >>> .&5: LV 6RXWKHUQ &DOLIRUQLDÛV 135 DIïOLDWH 2Q LWV DLUZD\V IRU PDQ\ \HDUV QRZ LV WKH stalwart of literary discussion, Bookworm, hosted by Michael Silverblatt. Now you can get their entire catalog of past broadcasts online, for free. The show focuses on interviews with ZULWHUV SULPDULO\ RI ïFWLRQ GLVFXVVLQJ WKHLU QHZO\ UHOHDVHG ERRNV %URZVLQJ WKH VKRZÛV DUFKLYHV LV D YHULWDEOH ZKRÛV ZKR RI OLWHUDU\ ïFWLRQ >>> ,QG\ OLW LV D EURDG DQG LOO GHïQHG FDWHJRU\ IRU ZKLFK , KDYH GHHS UHVHUYDWLRQV %XW DV , am not trying to debate the merits (or lack thereof) of a category, instead wishing only to VXJJHVW LQWHUHVWLQJ WKLQJV WR OLVWHQ WR ,ÛOO VLPSO\ VXJJHVW VRPHWKLQJ ZRUWK H[SORULQJ Book Fight, a podcast done from the basement of its host’s home, does skew toward the category of indy lit, so despite my reservations, I’ll slap that label on. It is produced by Tom McAllister and Mike Ingram, two editors of the literary magazine Barrelhouse. If you care to know what the kids these days are doing with words, this is a great place to start.
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nce again this fall, the library is partnering with Diedre Badejo, assistant professor in the School of Public and International Affairs, to feature student-created displays that UHĂ°HFW WKH FRXUVH PDWHULDO RI (QJOLVK :HVW $IULFDQ :RPHQ DQG )HPLQLVP 6WXGHQWV ZLOO H[SORUH WKH P\ULDG YRLFHV RI ZRPHQ LQ :HVW $IULFD DV H[SUHVVHG LQ SRHWU\ SURVH DQG QRQ ĂŻFWLRQ QDUUDWLYHV FRQYH\HG LQ ERWK RUDO DQG written traditions. Throughout the semester, VWXGHQWV ZLOO H[DPLQH WKHVH SLHFHV WKURXJK the lens of critical African-feminist thought in a KLVWRULFDO DQG OLWHUDU\ FRQWH[W
As part of a class assignment, individual students will be responsible for the creation of engaging and thought provoking displays in RXU ïUVW ðRRU GLVSOD\ FDVH WKURXJKRXW WKH IDOO semester. Stop a moment and take a look at the displays. All library books presented around the case are available to be checked out. You PLJKW ïQG VRPHWKLQJ \RX GLGQÛW NQRZ ZH RZQHG
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ou may have noticed a gallery of framed book covers in the library’s north stairwell. These show a selection of the books authored by University of Baltimore faculty members, and this fall we’re planning on adding more framed covers to the collection. What happens WKLV IDOO \RX DVN" 2Q Wednesday, Oct. 23, the library will host its biennial Faculty Authors event, honoring the book publications of UB faculty from the past two years. The event is scheduled from 3:30 to 5 p.m., and will include a short program with President Robert Bogomolny and Langsdale Library Director Lucy Holman. Each faculty member will be presented with a framed copy of their book cover. The event is open to the University community, and we encourage you to attend to congratulate the faculty on their publications. Light refreshments will be served at the ceremony. >>> We don’t want to miss any of our published authors, so if you are the listed editor or author a book published between October 2011 and October 2013, please submit a citation to Natalie Burclaff at nburclaff@ubalt.edu.
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Getting to Know Ben Blake
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ver the summer, Langsdale welcomed its new director of Special Collections, Benjamin Blake. We had a few nosy questions for him:
Link :KDW GR \RX FRQVLGHU WR EH \RXU KRPHWRZQ" Blake: Newark, Ohio Link :KDW ZDV \RXU ïUVW MRE" Blake 3DFNLQJ ïEHUJODVV LQVXODWLRQ RQ D SURGXFWLRQ OLQH Link :KDW DUH \RXU KREELHV" Blake: Historical travel, research and writing. Link +RZ DERXW D EULHI OLVW RI \RXU IDYRULWH ERRNV" Blake: Autobiography of Malcolm X; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee; The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in the Nazi Death Camps; The Bending Cross; The Black Jacobins; Detroit: I Do Mind Dying; A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present; and The Turbulent Years: A History of the American Worker, 1933-1940. Link :KDW DUH VRPH RI \RXU IDYRULWH PRYLHV" Blake: Rosa; Dr. Strangelove; Full Metal Jacket; She’s Gotta Have It; Man of Marble; Modern Times; Boyz n the Hood; Harlan County U.S.A.; Brother from Another Planet; Blues Brothers; Eight Mile; and Norma Rae. Link 'R \RX KDYH D FROOHFWLRQ RI DQ\ VRUW" Blake: My personal library of history books. Link: Name a web site you use every single day. Blake: Wikipedia. Link: Name some of your favorite foods. Blake: Thai, Indian, Italian. Link: Please confess your hidden talent/superpower. Blake: Making people laugh, at least some of the time. Link :KDW GR \RX OLNH EHVW DERXW %DOWLPRUH" Blake: It’s a cultural, youthful city. Link :KDW GR \RX OLNH EHVW DERXW 8% VR IDU" Blake: Friendly, smart and constructive colleagues with a sense of humor. Link )RU \RXU D P ï[ GR \RX SUHIHU FRIIHH RU WHD" Blake: French roast. Link: If I didn’t work in a Library I’d probably‌ Blake: Be a pilot.
Annual Book Sale
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Langsdale Library Auditorium
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RFID: What Does It Mean to Me?
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DGLR IUHTXHQF\ LGHQWLĂŻFDWLRQ is coming to the library. But ZKDW H[DFWO\ GRHV WKDW PHDQ" 5),' V\VWHPV XVH PLFURFKLSV and radio waves to send and receive data about objects that have been tagged. A useful analogy might be to think of RFID tags as high-tech barcodes.
In the world of retail, RFID has been used for quite some time to tag merchandise in stores and warehouses. Libraries are DOVR H[SHULPHQWLQJ ZLWK XVLQJ WKLV WHFKQRORJ\ WR PDQDJH WKHLU collections. RFID tags will be added to each item Langsdale RZQV DORQJVLGH FODVVLF W\SHV RI OLEUDU\ LGHQWLĂŻFDWLRQ OLNH labels with call numbers. :KDW ZLOO WKLV WHFKQRORJ\ DOORZ WKH OLEUDU\ WR GR" $FFRUGLQJ WR Jeffrey Hutson, Langsdale’s associate director, “Our goal is to implement an RFID system for self-service, collection management, security and more.â€? 6HOI FKHFNRXW LV RQH YHU\ QRWLFHDEOH EHQHĂŻW RI 5),' WHFKQRORJ\ in the library. Unlike the awkward way traditional barcodes KDG WR EH VFDQQHG E\ KROGLQJ LWHPV LQ D VSHFLĂŻF SRVLWLRQ under a beam of laser light, RFID chips transmit a signal that will help ensure that the selfcheckout of books will be quick and easy. Check-in of returned items also will be simple and easy. By storing data about the lending status of books, RFID will enhance the library’s security measures, as well. When library materials pass in and out of Langsdale’s gates, the RFID tags have the capacity to store and communicate the lending status of items, as well as alert staff to any circulation issues. 5),' FKLSV ZLOO DOVR PDNH PDQDJLQJ WKH OLEUDU\Ă›V FROOHFWLRQ PRUH HIĂŻFLHQW DQG SUHFLVH (OHFtronic inventorying has the potential to transform the process of “shelf reading,â€? or verifyLQJ WKH SK\VLFDO ORFDWLRQ RI LWHPV LQ WKH VWDFNV &ROOHFWLRQ PDQDJHPHQW ZLOO IXUWKHU EHQHĂŻW from the implementation of this technology. The computerized processes that librarians use to add and remove materials from the library’s holdings will utilize RFID data to streamline processing.
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LANGSDALE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE 1420 MARYLAND AVE. BALTIMORE, MD 21201
> > > > > > > > WORK-STUDY WANTS YOU < < < < < < < < < < Langsdale isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just a great place to study; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a great place to work. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve JRW D ZRUN VWXG\ DZDUG D IULHQGO\ GHPHDQRU JUHDW FXVWRPHU VHUYLFH VNLOOV D Ă°H[LEOH schedule, willingness to learn and superb attention to detail, Langsdale Library wants you. Student work-study positions are available for the fall semester. Interested students should check their MyUB page for award information. Remember, being â&#x20AC;&#x153;eligibleâ&#x20AC;? and actually having work-study funding are two different things. Only students who have a valid work-study award can be considered for a job in the Langsdale /LEUDU\ &LUFXODWLRQ 'HSDUWPHQW &DOO WKH 2IĂŻFH RI )LQDQFLDO $LG DW LI \RX have any questions about your eligibility for a work-study award. Available jobs are listed on UBWorks in your MyUB Portal.