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September ITAL available

The September issue of Information Technology and Libraries is now available, issue contents are listed below. To receive automatic notifications of future issues, please subscribe to ITAL. Suggestions and feedback are always welcome, please send to: Bob Gerrity ITAL Editor gerrityr (at) gmail.com Information Technology and Libraries Volume 32, Number 3 (September 2013) CONTENTS Editorials Cindi Trainor President’s Message Bob Gerrity Editor’s Comments Articles Gina Schlesselman-Tarango Searchable Signatures: Context and the Struggle for Recognition Social networking sites made possible through Web 2.0 allow for unique user-generated tags called “searchable signatures.”  These tags move beyond the descriptive and act as means for users to assert online individual and group identities.  A study of searchable signatures on the Instagram application demonstrates that these types of tags are valuable not only because they allow for both individuals and groups to engage in what social theorist Axel Honneth calls the struggle for recognition, but also because they provide…

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LITA is now accepting program proposals for ALA Annual 2014

The LITA Program Planning Committee (PPC) is now accepting innovative and creative proposals for the 2014 Annual American Library Association Conference.  We’re looking for full day pre-conference ideas as well as 90 minute conference presentations. The focus should be on technology in libraries, whether that’s use of, new ideas for, trends in, or interesting/innovative projects being explored – it’s all for you to propose. In 2013, we received roughly 40 proposals, resulting in 20 great LITA programs at the 2013 Annual Conference, all of which came from contributions like yours. We look forward to hearing the great ideas you will share with us this year. New ALA Conference Guidelines [June 2012] All divisions are limited to accepting 20 programs each. All programs will be 90 minutes, located in the convention center, and will be recorded. All proposal submissions will need to choose a Conference Track. Please see Appendix A in…

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Introduction to Python at ALA Annual (or: awesome = True #ala2013py)

On Friday of ALA 2013, the LITA/ALCTS Library Code Year Interest Group taught about 40 librarians the basics of Python programming at a LITA preconference. Chicago was so excited about this that two million people showed up to celebrate!1 Topics included installing Python; data types; if/then/else statements; for and while loops; variables; lists and dictionaries; modules; and functions. By the end of the day, students were using these concepts to write and modify their own Python programs. If you want more details, or are wondering what these terms mean, you can check out all the course materials. We also had some lightning talks to showcase real-world applications of Python. The lightning talks were over lunch, which we were able to offer due to generous sponsorship from the Python Software Foundation and PA Farrington Associates. Thank you! All in all, the day was a fire hose of learning, in a great…

2013

Sunday Afternoon with LITA at 2013 ALA Annual!

Please mark your calendars and join us at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference on Sunday, June 30th, beginning at 1pm, for Sunday Afternoon with LITA!  We will start off the day with the LITA awards and scholarships presentation followed by our Top Tech Trends program, moderated by Lorcan Dempsey. Then join us for the LITA President’s Program with Cory Doctorow, and finally, wrap up the day with the LITA Happy Hour at 5:30 at Fado Irish Pub! TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS & LITA AWARDS PRESENTATION 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm McCormick Place Convention Center S105a-c Panelists: Char Booth, Aimee Fifarek, Sarah Houghton, Brewster Kahle, Clifford Lynch, Gary Price Moderator: Lorcan Dempsey Presentation of LITA Awards and Scholarships will take place at 1pm, then join the Top Tech Trends panel from 1:30-2:30, for a conversation about trends and opportunities in libraries. Lorcan Dempsey will moderate the following trendsters from across library communities and areas:…

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Sunday Afternoon with LITA at 2013 ALA Annual!

Please mark your calendars and join us at the 2013 ALA Annual Conference on Sunday, June 30th, beginning at 1pm, for Sunday Afternoon with LITA!  We will start off the day with the LITA awards and scholarships presentation followed by our Top Tech Trends program, moderated by Lorcan Dempsey. Then join us for the LITA President’s Program with Cory Doctorow, and finally, wrap up the day with the LITA Happy Hour at 5:30 at Fado Irish Pub! TOP TECHNOLOGY TRENDS & LITA AWARDS PRESENTATION 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm McCormick Place Convention Center S105a-c Panelists: Char Booth, Aimee Fifarek, Sarah Houghton, Brewster Kahle, Clifford Lynch, Gary Price Moderator: Lorcan Dempsey Presentation of LITA Awards and Scholarships will take place at 1pm, then join the Top Tech Trends panel from 1:30-2:30, for a conversation about trends and opportunities in libraries. Lorcan Dempsey will moderate the following trendsters from across library communities and areas:…

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Kevin Ford awarded 1st SemTechBiz Spotlight

The SemanticWeb.com Spotlight on Library Innovation Update Thank you for all the nominations we received for the first Semantic Web.com Spotlight on Innovation in Libraries. We are pleased to announce that Kevin Ford, from the Network Development and MARC Standards Office at the Library of Congress, was selected for the Semantic Web.com Spotlight on Innovation for his work with the Bibliographic Framework Initiative (BIBFRAME) and his continuing work on the Library of Congress’s Linked Data Service (loc.id). In addition to being an active contributor, Kevin is responsible for the BIBFRAME website; has devised tools to view MARC records and the resulting BIBFRAME resources side-by-side; authored the first transformation code for MARC data to BIBFRAME resources; and is project manager for The Library of Congress’ Linked Data Service. Kevin also writes and presents frequently to promote BIBFRAME, ID.LOC.GOV, and educate fellow librarians on the possibilities of linked data. Without exception, each…

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SemanticWeb.com Spotlight on Library Innovation

Have you been working on a linked data project for your library? Or do you know someone doing great work promoting or demonstrating the benefits of linked data for libraries? If so, consider nominating yourself or that colleague for first the SemanticWeb.com “Spotlight on Library Innovation”! Offered by SemanticWeb.com, supported by OCLC and LITA, the Spotlight will provide a selected individual with the chance to showcase his or her work with linked data and semantic web technologies at the Semantic Technology and Business Conference 2013, June 2 – 5, in San Francisco. If you know of someone working on an interesting project, nominate him or her for the Spotlight. Note that the project can be ongoing, but significant practical work should have been accomplished prior to March 31, 2013. The Spotlight opportunity gives one selected individual space on the conference program to give a short, lightning-style talk about their work….

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Call for Proposals: LITA Lightning Rounds at ALA Annual

Will you be at ALA in a few weeks? Do you have a great new technology idea that you’d like to share? LITA Program Planning Committee is accepting proposals for Lightning Presentations at ALA. Please complete this form by May 8 at midnight to be considered. This program, coordinated by Katie Miller, will be held Saturday, June 29 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Presentations should be 5-7 minutes

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Meet the Candidates on Circulating Ideas

Check out the newest episode of Circulating Ideas, for short interviews with most of the candidates for LITA offices in the upcoming election (I was unfortunately not able to get ahold of all candidates). I encourage everyone in LITA, and throughout ALA, to learn more about the candidates running for office. We don’t have mud-slinging smear campaigns in the library world, but the candidates do all have their own strengths and interests and will take their divisions in different directions. Other March episodes of the podcast will deal with other ALA offices / divisions, so stay tuned. Thanks for listening and I hope everyone takes the time to vote, starting March 19!