Author: Bobbi Newman

Bobbi Newman is a librarian, writer, consultant, library advocate, and an international speaker. Newman currently serves as a member of the Office of Information Technology Policy (OITP, ALA) Advisory Committee and the Advisory Board for Let’s Move in Libraries. She is the co-editor of Protecting Patron Privacy : a LITA Guide, co-author of the forthcoming Fostering Wellness in the Workplace for Libraries, and author of the award-winning blog, Librarian by Day. In 2011 she was named a Mover and Shaker by Library Journal (voluntarily revoked due to irreconcilable differences in values). Her work has been featured by the New York Times, The Guardian, BlogHer, O’Reilly Radar, The L.A. Times, Mental Floss, Techdirt, and GigaOm, and was used by Facebook in a smear campaign against Google. In the past, she has served as American Library Association Councilor-at-Large, a member of the OITP Advisory Committee, and a member of the OITP Digital Literacy Task Force. She has been involved in national library initiatives including past service on the Steering committee for the OCLC and PLA project Public Libraries Respond to the Opioid Crisis with their Community, the National Information Standards Organization committee to develop a Consensus Framework to Support Patron Privacy in Digital Library and Information Systems and the Pew Internet & American Life Project research on Libraries in the Digital Age. She is a regular speaker at local, national, and international events covering topics such as the future of libraries, digital literacy, ebooks, policy, and innovation and change. She holds a Masters of Arts in Information Research and Library Science, a Masters of Arts in Political Science, and a Graduate Certificate in Public Management. She has received awards for her service and teaching.
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The best way to start writing about libraries and health is just to begin

I haven’t blogged in so long that just the idea of writing something felt overwhelming. But the best way to start is to begin. Last July I shared that I had taken a position at the National Network of Libraries of Medicine Greater Midwest Region office at the University of Iowa. I’ve spent the last 6 …

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A List of Female Technology Experts in Libraries

    Last month I saw this A List of Female Technology Policy Experts making the rounds on Twitter. Which was inspired by this tweet: If you're writing about gov hacking and only citing men-- PSA: @evacide, @granick, @Riana_Crypto, @Susan_Hennessey all worth talking to. — Amie Stepanovich (@astepanovich) August 23, 2016 I immediately thought back …

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Joining the Team at the University of Iowa Libraries and the National Network of the Libraries of Medicine

I am thrilled to announce that I have accepted a position at the University of Iowa. I will be the Community Outreach Librarian from the Great Midwest Region of the National Network of Medical Libraries. I will be developing and promoting outreach and education within communities in the Greater Midwest Region (GMR) of the National Network of …

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I Want Your Feedback on the #NISOPRIVACY Principles

  This week NISO published the NISO Consensus Principles on Users’ Digital Privacy in Library, Publisher, and Software-Provider Systems (PDF). As you may remember I am serving on this committee, which we had originally hoped would wrap up in July, but is still going strong. Privacy is nuanced and opinions vary widely. Combine that with the frequent conflation of privacy and security and …

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What Happens to Library Employees When We Fall Prey to the Competition Fallacy?

First, let me get this out of the way – libraries are not in competition with tech companies such as Google and Amazon.  You only need to look at the search results for “what really happened to dinosaurs?” to know Google isn’t doing the best job answering reference questions. And sure they might not be …

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