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Cover of August 2008 issue
Contents of August 2008 American Libraries


News Fronts

14  ALA

  • RadioShack Partnership Aimed at Digital TV 
  • Dollar General Continues School Library Funding 
  • Digital Preservation Definition 
  • Abdul-Jabbar Library Card Month Chair

22  USA and International 

  • Iowa Libraries Bear Brunt of Midwest Floods 
  • Libraries Toppled in Devastating Chinese Earthquake 
  • Mesa School Board Okays Teacher-Librarian Phase-Out 
  • Judge Bars Registry for Selling Mature Fare 
  • Global Reach

36  Tech News

  • Dialog Purchase Signals Expansion, Says ProQuest 
  • Libel Suit over Digitized Article Dismissed

43  Newsmaker

        RON REAGAN
       Political pundit and analyst


Special Reports

19  Library Advocates Converge
      on the Capital

         BY ANDY BRIDGES

21  Ten Years and Counting
      for Teens and Reading

         BY STEPHANIE KUENN

32  Medical Librarians Get Healthy
      Dose of Social Networking

         BY LEONARD KNIFFEL

33  SLA in Seattle Looks Toward
      Online Innovation, Training

         BY SUSAN S. DiMATTIA

34  Vancouver’s Beauty Fails
      to Lure Canadian Librarians

         BY MADELEINE LEFEBVRE

35  Lack of Librarians Impacts
      BookExpo Attendance

         BY SUSAN SALZMAN RAAB


Features

46  Dissecting the Web
     Through Wikipedia

      The popular website offers an avenue to teach
      information literacy skills.
      BY ADAM BENNINGTON 

50  Reframing Gaming

      Clearing up misconceptions about this
      increasingly popular activity.
      BY SCOTT NICHOLSON 

52  Gratitude As a Catalyst

      One of ALA’s newest honorary members
      calls on us to invest ourselves in the young.
      BY PAT MORA

54  Speaking Technically

      From folksonomies to federated searches,
      reference databases are constantly evolving. 

58  Details from Disneyland

      Tinker Bell found her voice and so did 22,000
      librarians and library advocates.

75  Council and Executive Board
      Reports

      A summary of the actions and discussions
      in Anaheim.
      BY PAMELA A. GOODES


Departments

4    From the Editor

      “Authority and Wikipedia”
      BY LEONARD KNIFFEL

8    ALA President’s Message

      “Advocating Together”
      BY JIM RETTIG

10   Letters and Comments

38  Dispatches from the Field 

      “The Games People Play”
      BY JENNY LEVINE

39  Technology in Practice

      “Interesting Times”
      BY MEREDITH FARKAS

42  Internet Librarian

      “Being Better”
      BY JOSEPH JANES

44  Public Perception

45  On My Mind

      “Time to Retire the F Word”
      BY HILLARY THEYER 

78  Currents

80  Youth Matters

      “Once and Future Classics”
      BY JENNIFER BUREK PIERCE

82  Working Knowledge

      “Working through Grief”
      BY MARY PERGANDER

84  Librarian’s Library

      “List Mania”
      BY MARY ELLEN QUINN

85  Rousing Reads

      “Fall Preview”
      BY BILL OTT

86  Solutions and Services 

88  Career Leads from ALA Joblist

96  Will’s World

      “How to Do It Yourself”
      BY WILL MANLEY

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