Participation Marks New Chapter in Digital Scholarship

Emory University Libraries and The Center for History and New Media (CHNM) at George Mason University have entered a cooperative partnership on Zotero, the free, open-source bibliographic manager. A team of librarians, information technologists and faculty members led by Connie Moon Sehat, Emory Libraries’ new director of digital scholarship initiatives, will extend research capabilities of the software in collaboration with Zotero’s main development team. Sehat is a former co-director of Zotero and CHNM.

For Dan Cohen, who is associate professor of history at George Mason University and director of CHNM, a relationship with Emory exemplifies the powerful opportunities for institutional cooperation offered by digital media.

“The Center for History and New Media and the Zotero Project are lucky to now have the resources and experience of Emory on their side,” says Cohen, “and the continued insight and direction of Connie Sehat. We look forward to what will undoubtedly be a tremendously productive collaboration.” Cohen oversees Zotero with Sean Takats, assistant professor of history at George Mason and CHNM’s acting director of research projects. (more…)

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is accepting applications for the Small Grants to Libraries: Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War funding program. This initiative is open to U.S. public, academic, and special libraries with IRS tax-exempt status, as well as from state and local governmental agencies. The Small Grants to Libraries: Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War program provides a $2,500 grant to eligible applicants that meet the Endowment’s criteria. The Small Grants to Libraries program brings humanities public programming to libraries across the country. This grant program is a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Constitution Center, and the American Library Association. For more information visit the NEH website.

Deadline: January 30, 2009

President-Elect Barack Obama keynoted the opening general session at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, June 23–29, 2005, while a U.S. senator from Illinois. This article, published in the August 2005 issue ofAmerican Libraries, is an adaptation of that speech, which drew record crowds and garnered a standing ovation. Bound to the Word Guardians of truth and knowledge, librarians must be thanked for their role as champions of privacy, literacy, independent thinking, and most of all reading. by Barack Obama If you open up Scripture, the Gospel according to John, it starts: “In the beginning was the Word.” Although this has a very particular meaning in Scripture, more broadly what it speaks to is the critical importance of language, of writing, of reading, of communication, of books as a means of transmitting culture and binding us together as a people. More than a building that houses books and data, the library represents a window to a larger world, the place where we’ve always come to discover big ideas and profound concepts that help move the American story forward and the human story forward. That’s the reason why, since ancient antiquity, whenever those who seek power would want to control the human spirit, they have gone after libraries and books. Whether it’s the ransacking of the great library at Alexandria, controlling information during the Middle Ages, book burnings, or the imprisonment of writers in former communist block countries, the idea has been that if we can control the word, if we can control what people hear and what they read and what they comprehend, then we can control and imprison them, or at least imprison their minds.

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Michael Crichton, the author of the blockbuster science-fiction novels“Jurassic Park,” “The Andromeda Strain” and “State of Fear,” has died. He was 66. An obituary will follow on nytimes.com.

UPDATE: Mr. Crichton’s family has issued the following statement:

“Best-selling author Michael Crichton died unexpectedly in Los Angeles Tuesday, November 4th after a courageous and private battle against cancer.

While the world knew him as a great story teller that challenged our preconceived notions about the world around us — and entertained us all while doing so — his wife Sherri, daughter Taylor, family and friends knew Michael Crichton as a devoted husband, loving father and generous friend who inspired each of us to strive to see the wonders of our world through new eyes. He did this with a wry sense of humor that those who were privileged to know him personally will never forget.

Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand.

He will be profoundly missed by those whose lives he touched, but he leaves behind the greatest gifts of a thirst for knowledge, the desire to understand, and the wisdom to use our minds to better our world.

Michael’s family respectfully asks for privacy during this difficult time.

A private funeral service is expected, but no further details will be released to the public.”