Welcome back to the Wednesday Word! Here is what’s new at the Indiana State Library.
HAPPENINGS IN THE LIBRARY WORLD
Once a month, the Wednesday Word will be bringing you the latest library news from around the state, country, and world.
SLA TO EXTEND BENEFITS TO THOSE AFFECTED BY DISASTERS
In order to provide disaster relief, the Special Libraries Association (SLA) will extend the membership benefits of dozens of members around the world who have been adversely affected by recent natural disasters. SLA members living in areas impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma and the Southeast Asian tsunami will be given automatic one-year extensions. SLA president Sam Rollo said “We have members who have suffered horrific, cataclysmic disasters,” and that “extending their SLA memberships symbolically extends a hand of friendship, hope, and support from their professional colleagues.” No applications or forms are necessary to receive the extension. (Special Libraries Association, www.sla.org)
GOOGLE TO DONATE $3 MILLION TO LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
A $3-million gift from Google will allow the Library of Congress (LC) to begin work on the World Digital Library, a project to digitize significant primary materials from national and other major research libraries around the world and make them available on the Internet. Librarian of Congress James H. Billington stressed that that the gift comes with “no strings attached and no copyright problems.” The World Digital Library will be modeled after the American Memory Project, which beginning in 1994 placed millions of digitized images on the Web, including manuscripts from Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln. (American Libraries Online, www.ala.org)
ALBRIGHT TO GIVE KEYNOTE ADDRESS AT ALA CONFERENCE
The upcoming June 2006 ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans will feature former Clinton Administration Secretary of State Madeleine Albright as keynote speaker at the Opening General Session. Albright will promote her book The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and the World, which will be published in May. (Library Journal, www.libraryjournal.com)
HAVING TROUBLE FINDING A LIBRARY?
For a quick reference source containing information about U.S. libraries, world libraries, national libraries, presidential libraries, and library associations try LibCat: A Guide to Library Resources on the Internet. Located at www.librarysites.info, this site is updated frequently, neatly arranged, and user friendly.
For more information about the Library, please visit us in downtown Indianapolis or online at
Jack Britton
SLIS Indy
jbbritto@iupui.edu