Carib LIN 2014 reflections and goals for 2015

Each December, I pause to reflect on Carib LIN, a blog that I started in 2007 to provide access to news regarding libraries, museums, archives and other information-centric institutions. This custom begins with my reading what I wrote for reflections for the following year. This is the seventh year that I have been doing this and am thankful and blessed to continue this blog, despite pursuing doctoral studies, tending to my family and among other competing interests.

For 2014, I promised to continue:

• providing an abstracting and selective information dissemination service for important library and information related news in the English-speaking Caribbean
• maintaining grammatically and error free entries, while ensuring that this blog is accurate, trustworthy and reliable 
• providing a voice in the blogosphere for issues in Caribbean library and information service environment 
• reporting developments that are of interest to and affect librarians and information professionals who have an interest in the region. 
• and maintaining the survival of this blog through at least one blog posting per month.

So how well did I do? I will leave you, my reader, to be the judge.

However, I must first mention, that looking back at the numbers, there were at least two months in which I did not post (March and August). It may not necessarily have been my fault as perhaps there was nothing to report on in those months. Second, gauging by the statistics of views, I think I have also met the goal of reporting news of interest to my library and information professional audience. One of the top posts for the year was one entitled Jamaica public librarian to be honoured for nation... posted October 18, 2014 with 529 unique views.

For 2015 (all things remaining constant), my main objective for Carib LIN is just to keep it alive to represent news from the region, even if it is just a few islands. Wishing you my faithful readers all the best for the rest of 2014 and good health for 2015.


Faithfully yours,

Mark-Shane Scale,
Chief editor, curator and blogger of Carib LIN.

CARIB LIN's 5th anniversary & 2013 goals

This year 2012, marks the 5th year of keeping this blog going. And since it is now December, it is about that time again when I reflect and review the year for the Carib LIN blog. For 2012, my goals were to:

• maintain grammatically and error free entries, while ensuring that this blog is accurate, trustworthy and reliable.

• provide a voice in the blogosphere for issues in Caribbean library and information service environment
• report developments that are of interest to and affect librarians and information professionals who have an interest in the region.
• and maintain the survival of this blog through: posting at least one blog posting per month on news relevant to the region and attempting to enlist at least one other partner blogger to post

As I began and completed my first year as a PhD student, I wondered if I would have any time to update this blog and keep the posts coming in regularly. However, on reviewing the record, I have found that  Carib LIN was able to maintain the schedule of posting at least 1 post per month. In fact all goals have been met with the exception of enlisting a partner blogger to help with maintaining the content of this blog.


For this year, our news postings came from Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago on a number issues representative of the happenings in academic, public and national libraries and other information institutions. The blog also featured posts on a number of conferences and events of importance taking place within the region. Some of our news may seem ephemeral, but in the long term, our blog could be considered for archival value as an historical record of select events and happenings in libraries in the region. More realistically, our blog could serve as an information source to point researchers (including historians studying the region's libraries) to other source materials to help in creating those official historical records.

It is that outlook that keeps me motivated to continue to commit a fraction of my time each month to documenting some of the relevant news and available electronic information sources on the region's libraries and information-related institutions. It is something that I will do for free and will commit to not even advertising or accepting advertising funds for.

Yours faithfully

Mark-Shane Scale,
Chief editor of Carib LIN, curator, and blogger.

Guyana's National Library sponsors competition to rekindle love for reading

Title: National Library sponsors competition to rekindle love for reading
Date Published: April 23, 2009
Source: Kaieteur News
URL: http://www.kaieteurnews.com/2009/04/23/national-library-sponsors-competition-to-rekindle-love-for-reading/


Excerpt:

In its quest to rekindle a love for reading among young children, the National Library will...commence a Champion Readers competition to involve young people countrywide.

According to Chief Librarian, Ms Gillian Thompson, the reading competition, which comes as part of the 100th anniversary of the library’s existence, is an effort to make reading more attractive to children of all ages.

Abstract:
The article provides information about the new initiative of a reading competition being launched as part of the National Library 100th anniversary celebration. Purpose of the reading programme, as well as information about how the programme is structured is provided. In the article, more details are also given regarding the National Library's plan for its 100th anniversary celebrations.