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Frequently Asked Questions
Does
the AJL provide financial assistance to aspiring Judaica librarians?
Yes, in three ways.
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The AJL Scholarship awards money to one or more students each year that are enrolled
in a graduate library school program.
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The Rosalie Katchen Memorial Award provides funds for graduate library school students
(and librarians already working in the
Judaica field) to advance their knowledge of Hebraica/Judaica
cataloging.
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The Doris Orenstein Memorial Scholarship provides a travel subsidy
for new AJL members, including students, to attend the AJL Annual
Convention. These are all competitive awards. More information
and applications can be found the AJL web site.
Deborah Stern
Where
do I get a basic list of books for a Jewish library?
AJL publishes a number of booklists
that you can purchase that will be helpful. Among them are:
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Creating a Collection: A Resource Booklist for a Beginning Judaic
Library by Merrily F. Hart.
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Notable Children's books ofJewish content 1985-2000 prepared
by the Sydney Taylor book award Committee.
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Developing a Judaic Children's Collection: Recommended Books
and Videos by Linda Silver.
AJL members have access to our Bibliography
Bank which also may contain useful lists. (For membership information
contact our membership vice-president, Joseph Galron at Galron.1@osu.edu).
Noreen Wachs
How
to Find A "Nice, Jewish Book"
The Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter,
published quarterly, contains reviews of adult and juvenile literature.
AJL members automatically receive this newsletter, and non-members
can subscribe to it by becoming a "Friend of AJL" for $30 annually.
The Sydney Taylor Book Award winners
and honor books are listed on the AJL web page at. The last several
years' "Notable" book lists
are linked at the very bottom of the award listings. The Jewish
Education Center of Cleveland Web site also includes lists of
the winners.
AJL Publications:
The Sydney Taylor Book
Award Committee reviews approximately 100 books each year. Every
review written by committee members, including conflicting opinions,
can be read in AJL's annual compilation of reviews, which can be ordered
from AJL. Also available from AJL are publication such as Notable
Children's Books of Jewish Content, 1985-2000, and Developing a Judaic
Children's Collection: Recommended Books and Videos. For more information,
e-mail the AJL vice-president for publications, Elana
Gensler.
The Jewish Book Council
publishes the journal Jewish Book World, which reviews adult
and juvenile literature. Their web site is undergoing renovation,
but you can contact them at (212) 532-4949 ext. 297.
The Jewish ValuesFinder
is a free online database of Jewish children's books, that allows
users to search by moral qualities. It provides useful annotations
for a wide range of titles, as well as lists of Sydney Taylor winners
and National Jewish Book Award winners. Reviews and interviews relating
to Jewish books (adult and juvenile) can be read in the online literary
magazine "Jbooks."
Baba Bookz is the book club
and online book store of BabagaNewz, a Weekly Reader style classroom
magazine for Jewish middle school students, where you can find and
order high-quality Judaic children's literature.
Detailed annotations and cover art of many Jewish children's books
are available at the online bookseller, MyJewishBooks.com.
While not a sophisticated website, it does include a wealth of information.
Another nonprofessional but very useful website is Books
and Videos for Jewish Children and Teens.
Heidi Estrin
What
does it mean to have my library "Accredited"?
The AJL accreditation
process provides a comprehensive evaluation of an SSC library at the
Basic or Advanced level. Measured against the highest standards of
excellence, an accredited library has enhanced status within its institution
and in the community at large. For more information, please contact
the Accreditation Committee chair, Etta D. Gold (egold@tbam.org
or egold3@earthlink.net)
Etta Gold
How
do I select automation software for a school library?
Popular systems include: Alexandria
(for smaller libraries), Athena
and Winnebago (both produced by Spectrum), Follett,
and Mandarin (a.k.a. SIRS
Mandarin). Representatives will help you choose the options you need.
(Systems may include classification, circulation, and weblinks, and
offer features such as spine label production.) Contact information
and product descriptions will be found on their websites.
Esther Nussbaum
How
do I get cataloging for books?
There are a number of ways to obtain cataloging for books and the
other items in your library. The first place to look is in the book
for the C.I.P. -- cataloging in publication, which can be copied onto
paper or digital format. The Web has made obtaining free cataloging
very easy. The Library of Congress's MARC (Machine Readable Cataloging)
records, available from their online
catalog, may be downloaded directly into many library automation
systems. Services such as O.C.L.C. and Marcive, Brodart, and local
library consortia, can provide cataloging in both paper and digital
format for a fee. Judaica libraries, including but not limited to
Yeshiva University, Brandeis University, Jewish Theological Seminary
of America and Hebrew Union College, have made their catalogs accessible
online. For new books, library vendors such as Baker & Taylor
and Brodart, will provide cataloging for an additional fee with your
purchase. If you purchase software capable of z39.50 searches, you
will be able to download cataloging directly from some libraries into
your library's own automation system. One such product is BookWhere.
The cataloging information may also contain classification information,
which is not the same thing. A quick distinction is that cataloging
describes an item while classification organizes its placement within
the collection, summed up as “what” vs. “where”. Classification systems
include the Dewey Decimal System, Library of Congress, Weine, and
Elazar, the last two being classification systems for libraries of
Judaica.
Liza Stabler
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