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Library Trends
Australian Academic & Research Libraries, June, 2004 by Sigrid McCausland
Library Trends Deborah Joseph Schmidle issue editor 'Services to the Labor Community' vol 51 no 1 Summer 2002 139pp ISSN 0024-2594
This issue of Library Trends documents the past and present of library services to a specialised constituency, the union community in the USA. It sets out to and succeeds in making the history of services to this community more visible. The contributions celebrate 50 years of the work of the American Library Association and the peak union body, the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organisations through their Joint Committee on Library Service to Labor Groups. Three historical articles provide the context by outlining the long relationship between libraries, including public libraries, and unions. The articles on specific cases and how American unions use the Internet are more interesting. For example, Howard Nelson and Bernadette Bailey chart how information services were critical in the emergence of a national union, the American Federation of Teachers. Gaye Williams, writing from the union perspective, shows how the Locals Online services of America's largest union, Service Employees International Union, enabled unionists to control communications at a local level and to share information for campaigns. She also notes that these services were used to support union families affected by the September 11 disaster. Public outreach to unions, including Internet training programs by universities with industrial relations programs, are covered in Deborah Schmidle's article. Thomas Connors considers the history of efforts to preserve labour archives to meet the needs of both unions and researchers. In doing so, he presents valuable data on major collections and constructs an agenda for future projects. Several contributors note that the continuing partnership between labour and libraries is crucial for the success of unions in an ever-changing world. There is much here to inspire Australian librarians and archivists engaged in similar endeavours.
Sigrid McCausland
The Australian National University
COPYRIGHT 2004 Australian Library and Information Association
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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