What We're Reading Sept 2024

September was abuzz with news from our deceased pop culture royalty, court case rulings very germane to the business of ebooks in libraries, the dividends of newspaper research, and useful advice in a small business-newspaper crossover event. Read on to get a glimpse of what librarians on the 5th floor of the Main Library were reading in September. 

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The Prince We Never Knew

New York Times Magazine, Sept. 8, 2024

NYT Mag journalist Sasha Weiss spent a year and a half reporting on a documentary of Prince that will probably never be released. Weiss, as one of the few people who have seen it, dispatches the intensity of the documentary, which can be summed up by the following quotes from director Ezra Edelman: “How can you tell the truth about someone who, when you’re talking to people, they all had different things to say?... How can you tell the truth about someone who never told the truth about himself?”

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Why a ruling against the Internet Archive threatens the future of America’s libraries

MIT Technology Review, Sept. 11, 2024 

The Internet Archive received a harsh blow to its mission of making books digitally available the way a brick-and-mortar library would lend books this month when "the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reaffirmed that decision with some alterations to the underlying reasoning," according to this opinion piece by Chris Lewis. The crisis highlights the stranglehold book publishers have over libraries wanting to buy titles in ebook formats, which are priced at up to 300% of the consumer price, and have DRM, or digital rights management, installed on them, causing the books to "self-destruct" once a loan or purchase period ends. *N.B. while SFPL offers the MIT Technology Review in many formats, including on Flipster, this article is an online-only piece and was not published in the print magazine. 

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A boy snatched from a California park in 1951 is found living on the East Coast

NPR, Sept. 24, 2024  

Archival newspaper research can literally reunite families and solve mysteries! The family of a man kidnapped as a child from a park in Oakland conducted newspaper research at the Oakland Public Library in addition to other approaches to find their long-lost uncle. Now we wonder if our newspaper collections at SFPL have ever helped a cause so noble. 

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How to open a bakery in 61 easy steps

San Francisco Business Times, Sept. 19, 2024 

While the title of this piece reads more like a satire from the Onion, the many convoluted steps to opening a business in San Francisco are real. The good news for aspiring entrepreneurs is that the San Francisco Business Times has you covered, starting with offering this in-depth list of necessary steps one must take. SFPL's Business Center will take you the rest of the way. *N.B.: SFPL offers the San Francisco Business Times full text for free through our eNews site and on the Articles and Databases site.

Maya Angelou Selected Bibliography of Articles from Periodicals

In celebration of the Maya Angelou monument dedicated on Sept. 19, 2024 on the SFPL Main Library's Larkin Plaza, the Magazines and Newspapers Center presents a selected bibliography of articles by and about Maya Angelou, all available full-text from the library's electronic periodicals. These articles have been hand-curated by our team of Magazines and Newspapers Center Librarians.

Reading these articles will give you an in-depth view of milestones in Angelou's life directly from the primary sources reporting on them at the time. The publications include the San Francisco Chronicle/Sunday Examiner, Ebony magazine, JET, Vogue, Ladies Home Journal, and the Smithsonian magazine amongst others, and span the 1950s-2010s.

Image courtesy of the SF Arts Commission

Maya Angelou Selected Bibliography

Angelou, Maya. "Maya Angelou: 'On the Pulse of Morning'." New York Times, Jan 21, 1993, p. A14. ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Full Text Access Link.

Angelou, Maya. “Why I Moved Back To The South: Prominent, Southernbred Author Talks about the South, Southerners and the Long Road Home.” Ebony, vol. 37, no. 4, Feb. 1982, pp. 130–34. EBSCOhost Ebony Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link. 

“‘Down In The Delta’: In Her Feature-Length Movie Debut as a Director, Maya Angelou Brings the Story of Human Truths to Life.” Ebony, vol. 54, no. 4, Feb. 1999, pp. 96–100. EBSCOhost Ebony Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link.

Glover, Terry. “Dr. Maya Angelou.” Ebony, vol. 65, no. 2/3, Dec. 2009, pp. 66–67. EBSCOhost Ebony Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link. 

Grossman, Lev. “Maya Angelou.” TIME Magazine, vol. 183, no. 22, June 2014, p. 16. EBSCOhost, Full Text Access Link.

Haynes, Karima A. “Maya Angelou: Prime-Time Poet: Charismatic Author Takes Center Stage as the Nation’s Poet Laureate.” Ebony, vol. 48, no. 6, Apr. 1993, pp. 68–72. EBSCOhost Ebony Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link.

Millner, Denene. “Mother Maya.” Ebony, vol. 69, no. 10, 1 Aug. 2014, pp. 108–11. EBSCOhost Ebony Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link.

Moore, Lucinda. “A Conversation with Maya Angelou at 75.” Smithsonian, vol. 34, no. 1, Apr. 2003, p. 96. EBSCOhost, Full Text Access Link. 

Newton, Dwight. “Will Blacks Still Like Her Next Week?” San Francisco Chronicle/San Francisco Examiner, 21 July 1968, p. 35. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current, Full Text Access Link. 

“Oprah Throws A Party: Biggest Birthday Bash Honors Poet Maya Angelou.” Ebony, vol. 48, no. 8, June 1993, pp. 118–22. EBSCOhost Ebony Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link. 

Paterson, Judith. "Features: Interview: Maya Angelou—a Passionate Writer Living Fiercely with Brains, Guts, and Joy." Vogue, vol. 172, no. 9, Sep 01, 1982, pp. 416-416, 417, 420, 422. ProQuest Women's Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link. 

"Phenomenal Woman." Ladies' Home Journal, vol. 110, no. 10,  Oct. 1993, pp. 128, 132, 134, 196. ProQuest Women's Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link.

Robertson, Bob. “Last Song in S.F. – A Life in Africa.” San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Jan. 1962, p. 3. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current, Full Text Access Link. 

Stanley, John. “Blacks, Blues And 24 Robbers.” San Francisco Chronicle/San Francisco Examiner, 4 Aug. 1968, p. 217. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current, Full Text Access Link. 

Stuttaford, Genevieve. “Yes, the Caged Bird Can Go to the Moon.” San Francisco Chronicle/San Francisco Examiner, 12 Apr. 1970, p. 177. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current, Full Text Access Link.

The Owl. “After Night Falls: Dorothy Shay, Park Avenue Hillbilly, Unrolls Racy Act at Venetian Room.” San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Feb. 1954, p. 8. NewsBank: America's News – Historical and Current, Full Text Access Link.

Waldron, Clarence. “Maya Angelou: On Christmas, Dave Chappelle And What Inspires Her.” JET, vol. 110, no. 25, Dec. 2006, pp. 29–30. EBSCOhost Jet Magazine Archive, Full Text Access Link. 

Two Upcoming Virtual Programs: History of the Mexican Press and New Approaches to International Reporting

Presentation: The Mexican Press, Revolution to the Present Day

Friday, 9/27/2024
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Register on Zoom

Learn about the role the newspaper press played in Mexican history as a medium of communication between citizens and government officials from the Revolution to the current day.  

Historian Benjamin T. Smith discusses the rise in readership following the Mexican Revolution, gives examples of regional and urban newspapers as important agents of communication and examines the effects of censorship, which has rendered Mexico the most dangerous country in the Western hemisphere for journalists according to a 2022 report from Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).  

Benjamin T. Smith has been writing about the history of Mexico for twenty years. He now specializes on twentieth-century politics, the narcotics trade and crime. But he has also researched and written about indigenous politics, Catholicism, conservatism, newspapers, journalism and censorship. He is the author the 2018 monograph The Mexican Press and Civil Society, 1940–1976: Stories from the Newsroom, Stories from the Street and the co-editor of the 2018 anthology Journalism, Satire, and Censorship in Mexico. He is a Professor of Latin American History at the University of Warwick and holds a PhD in History from Cambridge University.  

Connect

Benjamin T. Smith – Website | Benjamin T. Smith – X  

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

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CANCELED: Presentation: How Do You Like Your International News?

Friday, 10/4/2024
9:00 - 10:00 a.m.
Register on Zoom

This program has been rescheduled from the original date of May 29, 2024.

Discover news from Nepal that is reported with accuracy and dignity by Kathmandu-based journalist Shilu Manandhar and how her work is different than reporting done by “parachute journalists.” Learn about the mission of Global Press to carry out this work.

Global Press uncovered how Asian American and Pacific Islander audiences in the U.S. prefer to get their international news in a 2023 report. Many respondents reported preferring international news from legacy news outlets that deploy “parachute journalists” from the U.S. or the U.K., but Global Press has a better approach that offers more dignified and precise coverage from local reporters who are part of the fabric of the foreign country. Team members Cristi Hegranes (founder and CEO of Global Press), Laxmi Parthasarathy (COO of Global Press) and Shilu Manandhar (Nepal senior reporter) will discuss how Global Press was able to change API respondents’ minds by demonstrating what ethical, effective and inclusive reporting looks like and how on-the-ground reporting in the Global Press style is clearer, more interesting and more meaningful. Manandhar will share examples of her own reporting from Nepal and will break down the components of the Global Press style as exemplified in her work, most likely awakening the appetite for Nepalese news you didn’t know you had.

Global Press was founded in 2006 by Cristi Hegranes, a young journalist who once dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent. But after going overseas on her first assignment, she realized that she was the wrong person to be telling the world’s stories. Instead, Hegranes passed her pen to local women in the community who had the social, historical, cultural context and the source access to tell accurate, world-changing stories. Since 2006, Global Press has trained more than 250 local journalists across 40 communities. Together, they're transforming global narratives.

Cristi Hegranes is the CEO of Global Press, the Publisher of Global Press Journal and the author of Byline: How Local Journalists Can Improve the Global News Industry and Change the World. She founded Global Press in 2006 to create a new form of ethical, accurate global news. Her values-driven approach to journalism prioritizes newsroom representation to create a dignified, precise news product. Previously, Hegranes worked as a journalist for Village Voice Media in New York and San Francisco. She has a Master’s degree in journalism from New York University and a Bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Laxmi Parthasarathy is the COO of Global Press. She leads global operations across each Global Press brand, spearheads the global expansion strategy to build new bureaus and develops new partnership strategies to bolster the organization’s reach and long-term sustainability. Over her career, she has led initiatives at the intersection of media and development in Canada, India, Rwanda, Mexico, Spain, Argentina and the UK. Parthasarathy holds a Master’s degree in Media, Communications and Development from the London School of Economics and did her undergraduate studies at Carleton University in Canada. 

Shilu Manandhar is a Global Press Journal senior reporter based in Kathmandu, Nepal. She specializes in migration and environmental reporting in Nepal. She studied at Christ College in Bangalore, India. Manandhar’s coverage of Nepalese migrant workers in Qatar has won numerous awards and been cited in legislative changes.

Connect 

Global Press – Website | Global Press – Twitter | Global Press – Facebook | Global Press – Instagram 

Cristi Hegranes -- Website | Cristi Hegranes – Twitter | Cristi Hegranes – LinkedIn | Cristi Hegranes – Email 

Laxmi Parthasarathy – Twitter | Laxmi Parthasarathy – LinkedIn 

Shilu Manandhar – Facebook | Shilu Manandhar – Email  

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

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View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading. 

Tutorial: PressReader and The Economist

 

Tutorial: PressReader and The Economist

Thursday, 9/12/2024

12:00 - 1:00

Learn how to access The Economist and other magazines covering world politics, economics, business, science and technology using PressReader, a digital newspapers and magazines platform.   

Newsweek, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Guardian are other news titles available in PressReader. 

Presented by a Magazines & Newspapers Center librarian.   

See event listing on the SFPL master calendar.

View other Magazines and Newspapers Center programs on the SFPL event calendar under the What's News heading.  

 

Post-Tutorial Update (Sept. 17, 2024)

Missed our tutorial last week or want to watch it again? 

➡️ Watch the recording of the tutorial. 

➡️ Download the handout for the tutorial.