In this episode, Steve at Circulating Ideas chats with Bobbi Newman, editor of "Well-Being in the Library Workplace: A Handbook for Managers," about vocational awe, emotional and invisible labor, the key role of communication, recognition and appreciation, addressing loneliness, fostering trust and connection, and tackling burnout and moral injury.

https://circulatingideas.com/2025/05/19/285-well-being-in-the-library-workplace-a-handbook-for-managers-with-bobbi-l-newman/

Now shipping! Exhaustively researched and expansive in its scope of topics both traditional and timely, this updated text continues to serve both LIS students and current practitioners. https://alastore.ala.org/PL4th

In these times, with federal funding gutted and censorship on the rise, libraries need your help! At the American Library Association, we are here to protect libraries — today and for generations to come. https://give.ala.org/campaign/653941/donate

Why Everything in the Universe Turns More Complex | Quanta Magazine
https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-everything-in-the-universe-turns-more-complex-20250402
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43677232

We’re excited to announce our upcoming #Opioid #Archive National Symposium, Tues, May 6 – Thurs, May 8. Check out the lineup of speakers on topics including #HealthJournalism #HealthPolicy #HealthLaw #InformationScience #Archives #HistMed #ScienceHistory #VisualArt #LivedExperience https://oida-resources.jhu.edu/oida-national-symposium-2025/

Ahead of Print in BFP: Review of Hans-Christoph Hobohm’s 'Informationsverhalten'. Joachim Griesbaum reviews Hobohm’s comprehensive, transdisciplinary study on human information behavior. A must-read for information science scholars. #InformationScience #LibraryScience #Research

https://doi.org/10.1515/bfp-2024-0096

Need a refresher on IMLS and what's at stake? We've got you covered. https://www.ala.org/faq-executive-order-targeting-imls

Now available for pre-order! Inside this stirring and timely collection, readers will discover the important stories of many trailblazing Black women who fought racism, sexism, and other hardships in their libraries and communities to become leaders of our profession. https://alastore.ala.org/lbwl #blackhistorymonth #library #AmericanLibraryAssociation #LIS #MLIS #libraries #librarianship #InformationScience

Catch up with February's book club, which featured a robust discussion of Black and African American experiences in libraries, both historically and presently. https://youtu.be/JesGm9zGup8?si=AA5OMGjnVjKRbRn-

Philadelphia has just 4 librarians for 118K students—widening information equity gaps. A library science professor shares 5 top tools to help students bridge the research divide: https://theconversation.com/5-premium-online-research-tools-all-philly-students-can-use-for-free-237930 #InformationScience #libraries

For the second time, I teach "Introduction to Open Data" at HES-SO / Haute école de gestion de Genève this semester. Since it covers both Open Research Data and Open Government Data, it made sense to... make the course materials open.

I've rebuilt the site using #Quarto: https://julsraemy.ch/intro-open-data

It's a 16-hour course for Information Science undergrads. Yes, that's also a bachelor's degree in some countries in Europe!

A major #library and #informationScience program silenced by the #freespeech absolutists I see: https://indigenousdatalab.org/

Following the Trump Administration's disastrous decision to pause most federal grants and loans, ALA has put out a call to library workers, patrons, and advocates across the country to share their library story. What would be at stake in your community with federal funding for libraries? What would you lose without long-term support for your local library? https://airtable.com/appTIEEt9RjDbjmv8/paglDQdgAlJbHvKVR/form

Is there an Information Scientist in the house?

Help. How do I mirror PubMed?

They have their whole corpus conveniently available as XML files for download while supplies/democracy lasts. I speak Unix and disk space is cheap. Once I have all the XML, then what do I do?

Edit: This is a question for librarians not sysadmins (except perhaps for sysadmins who work for librarians). No part of it is "dur, what is XML" or "how do I download a file".

“Our call is not a knee-jerk response to imminent threats. We must face whatever threats come our way by showing up together – library workers and public supporters in our communities – to advocate for our patrons, our profession and our core values.”

https://www.ala.org/news/2025/01/new-ala-initiative-show-up-for-our-libraries

I’ve been thinking lately (always a mistake) about all the cultural works to which we don't have access. Everything removed from streaming; everything locked behind DRM so that most libraries and archives won't have copies which can redundantly survive disruption. Sometimes I get real sad about the future readers and historians and others who just won't be able to find copies of the incredible things made during the current digital dark age.

As ever, I try to let this radicalize me rather than lead me into despair. I know that there are lots of horrors worth raging against, but this is one I feel well-positioned to work against. It's low-stakes enough that I won't feel self-loathing if I burn out or need to take a break. It's no secret that I like to read and organize books so this is a topic close to my heart and one which can bring me joy and allow me to share it with those around me too. There is a fair bit of tech nerd stuff to it, enough that I have an opportunity to learn & practice new things, but not so much that I’m totally out of my depth. And there are plenty of communities out there to help and share strategies.

But the big thing I see missing from my understanding and many of the conversations about shadow libraries and unauthorized archivism is the social and professional practice of librarianship rather than mechanical practice of data storage. I don't have space to go to library school, but I could definitely stand to read (and archive) introductory books on the topic, or take an online class. Friends who know: what are some of the better places to get started with an introduction to library & information science and archive science?

#libraries #librarian #archivist #archives #archivism #archivist #libraryScience #informationScience #archiveScience #culture #repositories #dataHoard #archiving #piracy #unauthorizedArchives #guerillaArchives #shadowLibraries #digiPres #digitalPreservation