New Mexico State Library

(Santa Fe, NM January 26, 2012)—El Palacio Magazine, published by the Museum of New Mexico for nearly 100 years, celebrates the digital age just as the state celebrates its centennial, by putting the first ten years of the magazine online, free to all at http://archives.elpalacio.org.

With the changing times, the vision of many magazine publishers—including El Palacio's—has had to broaden in order to continue a print product while also developing an online version and full archive for a Web-savvy audience. The New Mexico State Library's State Document Program, which has long collected and cataloged printed copies of El Palacio, shared the magazine's online, digital goals because of the publication's historical content, its focus on New Mexico, and its perfect fit with the library's mission to increase access to state publications. 

That marked the beginning of a partnership that others within the Department of Cultural Affairs were quick to join. Gaps in the state library's nearly complete collection were filled in part by the New Mexico Museum of Art's library, which had already scanned and copied to discs decades of early El Palacios; in part through an extensive loan system among libraries within the museum community, the state, and the country; and in part by searches through old issues once saved by the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies.

"We wouldn't be this far along without the willingness of others from sister agencies to help," said Gary Harris, director of the Technical Services Division at the state library, which will host the El Palacio collection.

El Palacio publisher Shelley Thompson, who has seen to purchasing needed software for the project, praised the state library's determined effort to put 10 years of searchable El Palacios "online and in time for the state's centennial" and promised to support the continuing effort "until the next 90 years and beyond are available to all."

The publication began as a broadsheet in November 1913 and evolved over the decades into a magazine. In its early years, El Palacio printed articles on architecture by Carlos Vierra, findings from archaeological excavations by A. V. Kidder, poetry by Alice Corbin Henderson, memorials to New Mexico soldiers lost in WWI, art criticism by Marsden Hartley, and early photographs of Poh-We-Ka (Little Blue Corn Flower), later known as the famous potter Maria Martinez. Over the first decade (and beyond), El Palacio occasionally reflected on archaeology worldwide, though it concentrated then as it does today on “the art, history and culture of the Southwest.” A representative issue is Volume 8, Numbers 7-9, that was published in July 1920 and contained:

. “The Crooked Fir,” a story by Mary Austin.

. A series of paintings and artists’ statements by such artists as E. Irving Couse, Bert G. Phillips, Ernest L. Blumenschein, J. H. Sharp and O. E. Berninghaus.

. A financial statement showing how the School of American Research and Museum of New Mexico spent $43,078.40 to complete a museum building, pay salaries, cover maintenance, and more.

. and, a lengthy report from Director Edgar Lee Hewett (who often wrote long for the publication) covering the previous year’s successes and plans for the coming year.

Putting nearly a century’s worth of a publication online presented many challenges. While the IT people had theirs, the editorial side of the magazine had to deal with culturally sensitive content, knowing that increased access via the Internet enhances the possibility of causing offense or misuse.

Still, certain requirements apply. For instance, while El Palacio currently does not publish culturally sensitive information it does appear in the digital version for this reason: The magazine is an official state document and editing is prohibited by New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Records Act (NMSA 1978, Chapter 14, Article 2). On the other hand, the New Mexico Cultural Properties Act (NMSA 1978, 18-6-1) requires redaction of detailed information on archaeological site locations in New Mexico.

The old El Palacios are in themselves their own archaeological site. Digging through the volumes online will unearth idiosyncratic social mores, dated cultural norms and quaint customs. To browse these pages is to wander back in time where a history lesson is told like no book has ever disclosed.  Readers will make their own judgments with this unfiltered historical information. Or as current contributor Susanne Caro wrote; “. they may find a photo of their great-grandmother in her fiesta finery, or their grandfather as an eagle dancer in the plaza, and with El Palacios online, that is more likely to happen.”

El Palacio enters its centennial year in 2013 when the balance of the publication will be available online.

Media Contact:

Steve Cantrell, PR Manager

Steve.cantrell@state.nm.us

505-476-1144

NMLA News :: Click here for the Guide.

Dear NMLA Members and Librarians,

As you all know the 2012 NM legislative session is underway. Library Legislative Day is Thursday, February 2, 2012. We will be gathering to show support for library funding and the 2012 library bond issue. The event will begin with an orientation at the Main Santa Fe Public Library, 145 Washington Ave. at 8:30 am. Library supporters will then travel to the Capitol to be in the House and Senate galleries when the sessions begin, and delegations of librarians will be introduced in each chamber. Afterwards, supporters will visit with their individual legislators to advocate the importance of continued funding of library programs. All library supporters are urged to attend.

Please find attached "Connecting with your legislators - a guide for NM libraries". This guide was developed to assist New Mexico libraries in connecting with their legislators. You will find a sample letter on page 14 of what can be given to your legislators. The letter can be adjusted to your library needs and be presented in person or mailed to your legislator by yourself, members of your board or friends group.

Sincerely,

Cynthia J. Shetter

Co-Chair NMLA Legislation Committee

By Laurie Putnam

The public library hums. Readers peruse e-books and job seekers attend workshops. Teens organize poetry slams, and students work together on school assignments. Librarians plan programs, help researchers online, and digitize collections of all shapes and sizes. All around the world, today’s libraries are serving their communities in new and different ways.

But is that enough for tomorrow’s library?

We do need to promote modern, relevant services in our current libraries, says Rob Bruijnzeels, founder and rector of the Dutch LibrarySchool. For the long term, however, Bruijnzeels believes that libraries need more than modernizing: They need rethinking, and they need librarians who think differently.

“We can’t just refresh the library of the twentieth century anymore. There is so much more going on now,” says Bruijnzeels. “We think we need a new kind of public library, a new process for public libraries. We need something completely different. What it is, we don’t know for sure, but let’s have a try.”

To give us a collective try, Bruijnzeels started the LibrarySchool, a new university program designed to educate a new wave of librarians. It’s both an academic program and an incubator of ideas.

Read the entire article here.

January 11, 2012 By Kathy Ishizuka

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/01/copyright/sopa-a-call-to-action-for-librarians/

Voicing her opposition to SOPA, the anti-piracy bill making its way through Congress, library technologist Jessamyn West has called on her peers in the profession to take action, for starters, by becoming informed.

In her Monday blog post, West wrote:

I oppose SOPA unequivocally; it’s vague, it’s anti-free-speech, and it won’t solve the problem it’s designed to combat. One of the things that is tricky about SOPA–the legislation moving through Congress that threatens to enact stiff penalties for online piracy–is the number of things you need to understand to even understand what it does. I’m very good with computers and I had to spend sometime getting my head around it. I suspect my legislators may not even understand what it means to start messing around with DNS files to essentially take a website “off the internet” if it’s found [through a not-very-confidence-inspiring process] to be hosting infringing content. The website I work for hosts almost no content but links to a lot of things and we could be mistakenly shut down for linking to people who host “illegal” content.

So, I think we need to do a few things: understand how this bill is supposed to work, be clear in our opposition to it as a profession, work with other people to inform and educate others so that people can make their own informed choices. Here is a short list of links to get you started… Continue reading

On the heels of West’s post, the American Library Association’s Washington Office has released a “PIPA, SOPA and the OPEN Act Quick Reference Guide” to the three related bills, which “have the potential to negatively impact fundamental library principles,” according to the document.

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is due for markup on January 17, and a Senate vote on PIPA (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act) is slated for January 24. Meanwhile, the OPEN (Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade) Act, which would cut payment to foreign websites dedicated to piracy and is proposed as an alternative to PIPA, is currently in committee.

On the school front, the EFF has urged teens to talk their teachers about discussing SOPA in class.

For Amazon, December 2011 will go down as a highlight of the year, with record-topping Kindle sales and now, the successful launch of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, which put 295,000 KDP Select e-books into the hands of readers last month.

Amazon released that statistic, as well as information about its Kindle Direct Publishing program, which allows for self-publishing in the Amazon Kindle Store for 70 percent in royalties. KDP authors earned $1.70 per borrow in December.

The company has set up a fund for the authors which it increased by $200,000 this month, to $700,000.

Read the complete article here.