Genealogy

I am not sure if I have done the annotations correctly and so would not mind any feedback. Thanks!

Davidsson, Robert I. “Providing Genealogy Research Services in Public Libraries: Guidelines and Ethics.” Public Libraries 43 no3 142-4 My/Je 2004. Library Lit & Inf Science Retro, Library. Wilson Web. UW-M Lib. 8 Nov 2008.

This article states that in the last five years, tracing family geneaology has become something of interest. Davidsson also mentions how the public library collection is where people are going to look for their ancestry history. This article gives tips on how to assist these patrons with their questions and the databases that public libraries are investing in to assist these patrons with their quest in geneaology.

Nguyen, Lan N. "Going Online to Mine The Growing Wealth Of Genealogy Data." Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition 248, no. 40 (August 17, 2006): D1-D2. Academic Search Elite. EBSCOhost .UW-M Lib. 13 Nov 2008.

This article discusses how genealogy research has increased the amount of websites available to help people in their search for their histories and relatives. It also describes how one person’s struggles with trying to research her husband’s grandfather and any relative who might be related to them. Genealogy has become a huge success for websites, as some of them charge for their services. This may be a downside to researching and make for an expensive hobby, but the upside is that, with the internet, you are able to contact many more people who you may be related to.

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Jon's Anotated citations

These are two of my anotated citations. They are in the Chicago style:

Alvarez, W. and E.G. Kauffman. Jan 1984. Impact theory of mass extinctions and the invertebrate fossil
record. Science. 223(4641): 1135-45. Available from GEOBASE (Geography) Database.
FirstSearch. October 2008.

Walter Alvarez, Erle Kauffman and others reviewed data from previous fossil digs at the K/T boundary from multiple locations where scientists concluded reasons other than extraterrestrial impact as probable cause for mass extinction. The evaluation examined the fossils of four groups of shelled invertebrates including: Ammonites, Cheilostomate byrozoans, Brachiopods, and Bivalves. The team concluded what they had suspected: that mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period; and, thus provides evidence which supports an extraterrestrial impact.
Alvarez, L.W. and W. Alvarez. Jun 1980. Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction.
Science. 208(4448): 1095-108. Available from JSTOR Database. JSTOR. October 2008.

Luis Alvarez, Walter Alvarez and others preformed chemical analyses of K/T boundary limestone deposits from Denmark, Italy and New Zealand. Abnormally high amounts of Platinum metals (Platinum, Iridium, Osmium, and Rhodium) were found consistently in limestone samples from all locations. Alvarez and team suggest that Platinum metal amounts are consistent with the chemical structure of asteroids. The paper of further explains the details of further evidence of a asteroid impact and how an asteroid’s influence on the environment would cause mass extinction.

Should they be less/more scientific?

Ericka's annotations 3

Thompson, G., et al. How the Accelerated Reader progam can Become Counterproductive for High School Students. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. April 2008. Vol. 51, Iss. 7; pg. 550-560.
When this study took lace, the high school highlighted in the article had recently purchased the AR program. All English teachers no only were required to use the program but also had to tie it to the student's course grade. Consequently, 15-20% of students' overall English grade was ased on the number of AR points they had earned. Two prevailing issues emerged: 1. The way that the program was being ued had been counterproductive and had acutally made some students who had previously loved reading develop an aversion to recreational reading. 2. The program had led to widespread cheating on the required tests.

Ericka's Annotations 2

Groce, R.D. et al. Deconstructing the Accelerated Reader Program. Reading Horizons. Sept/Oct 2005. Vol. 46, Iss. 1; pg. 17-30.
Teacher implemenation of the Accelerated Reader program is as widespread as it is diverse in terms of classroom and campus application. Seventy-five percent of the teachers surveyed use the AR program as a focus of their reading instruction. With such heavy emphasis being placed on the adoption of the AR program in districts and schools across the country, it is important to consider some modifications and ways of enriching the program to best meet the neeeds of all students and to acutally promote the lifelong reading habits.

Ericka's Annotations

Franklin, Pat and Claire Gatrell Stephens. Manage Your Computerized Reading Program-Before It Manages You! School Library Media Activities Monthly. Baltimore: Dec 2006. Vol. 23, Iss. 4: pg. 53-55.
Franklin and Stephens discuss the role of library media specialists and that of the library media center in relationship to computerized reading programs. Among other things, they cite that the attitude of the library media specialist makes or breaks any reading program whether it is computer based or a community reading anitiative.

Public Libraries and the Homeless

Cathcart, Rachael. “Librarian or Social Worker: Time to Look at the Blurring Line?” The Reference Librarian. 49.1 (2008): 87-91. Haworth Press. University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries . 2 Nov 2008. http://www.haworthpress.com

Cathcart views public librarians as “de facto social workers,” citing their duties of interacting with the homeless and mentally ill on a daily basis and the demand that the e-government movement has had on their time (public librarians often need to help the computer illiterate apply for jobs and fill out forms online) as evidence of the profession’s evolution. She writes, “Certainly, librarians are not providing therapy
or case management, and their involvement may often stop at asking a disruptive person to leave or calling the police. Nevertheless, it’s another example of libraries providing a service (say, de facto shelter) that isn’t part of their explicit mission, and a case where increased communication, collaboration, and (in some cases) training with social service agencies might be called for.” Cathcart does not view the move of public librarianship toward social services as a good or bad thing—but something that librarians should be prepared for in library school. She thinks that social service training will help public librarians as they navigate the increasing, evolving demands of their profession. She also states that, “…if the blurring line between librarianship and social work is too messy for some, that too can inform decisions on library policies, staffing, and services. If serving as de facto social workers is beyond the purview of librarianship,who will provide such services, and how will libraries involve more appropriate stakeholders and service providers? If libraries are being increasingly utilized as social service agencies in a more explicit way, perhaps cultivating space and resources for such service and the appropriate providers (librarians or not) would go far to meet the needs of both our users and reference librarians.” Recognizing how the homeless and other special library users (the mentally ill, the computer illiterate) have affected the public library’s role in society (and therefore the duties of the profession) seems to be Cathcart’s key point here. Whether the profession chooses to respond to the problem by embracing a social advocacy role in the library or by calling on the community to respond to the need for new or increased services for specific demographics, like the homeless, is what library administrators and educators need to decide.

Berman, Sanford. “Classism in the Stacks: Libraries and Poverty.” Journal of Information Ethics 16.1 (2007): 103-10.

Berman questions why ALA Policy 61 (Library Services for Poor People) has not been implemented by most urban U.S. public libraries the way the Library Bill of Rights was widely embraced. He mentions a number of public library systems that have instead chosen to discriminate against poor people and the homeless. He blames our society’s ingrained classism as the root of this problem. He details many actions that can be taken to embrace Policy 61, including increased research on library services for the poor and homeless, awards for innovative efforts, collaboration with community shelters, better collection development for this group of users, etc. He would like libraries to allow the homeless to obtain library cards but understands why few libraries will want to adopt the section of Policy 61 that suggests waiving fees and fines.


Cronin, Blaise. “What a Library Is Not.” Library Journal. 127.19 (2002): 46. Library Literature and Information Science Full Text. HW Wilson. University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. 25 Oct. 2008. http://www.hwwilson.com

Cronin recognizes the the value of “social inclusion,” but does not feel that libraries are equipped to handle the problem that the homeless and other destitute groups present. He does not believe libraries are obligated to become social welfare agencies because that duty or undertaking is outside the definition of a public library---outside of the public library’s purpose. He states, “Libraries […] are not shelters, and librarians, by extension, should not be viewed as surrogate social workers—nor should they risk practicing social work without a license.” He uses a policy enforced by the Tacoma Public Library (after a surge of homeless users), a policy restricting users from bringing in large bedrolls, bags, or boxes into the library, as an example of “an eminently reasonable ordinance, designed to ensure that the library functions, as, well, a library.” Cronin does not agree with those that view such policies as a way of stigmatizing or discriminating against populations such as the homeless---he sees it as a logical way for a library to fulfill its traditional, commonly recognized purpose---to keep books and other information resources for public use. He believes that those who, in the spirit of political correctness, condemn those administrators who create and enforce these common sense policies “should know better.” He calls on local politicians and the library profession to discuss this important issue, stating that protecting the rights of a “disruptive” minority---for reasons of political correctness--has cost the majority of library users their rights.