What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. For job hunters, digital merit badges; Nytimes.com, November 19, 2011
Brief Introduction: Now the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is putting millions of dollars into a competition to spur interest in a new type of badge — one that people can display not on their clothing but on a Web site, blog or Facebook page while they are looking for a job.

2. St. Paul Library gets $165,000 technology planning grant; StarTribune.com, November 17, 2011
Brief Introduction: The St. Paul Public Library will begin designing a digital learning lab for middle and high school students, thanks to a $165,000 planning grant it received on Thursday. When the plan is completed, the library will have to apply for a separate grant this spring to build the lab. The planning process will be funded by a $100,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation . The library was one of 12 organizations in the nation to receive that grant.

3. Study: cyberbullying associated with greater psychological distress than bullying at high school; Boston.com, November 17, 2011
Brief Introduction: High school students who are bullied online are more likely to report symptoms of depression and suicide attempts than students who were bullied only at school, according to a survey of students in the communities west of Boston published today. The survey, funded by the MetroWest Health Foundation, was distributed at 22 high schools west of Boston in the fall of 2008. Researchers surveyed more than 20,000 students using written questionairres.

4. Middle-class areas shrink as income gap grows, new report finds; Nytimes.com, November 15, 2011
Brief Introduction: The portion of American families living in middle-income neighborhoods has declined significantly since 1970, according to a new study, as rising income inequality left a growing share of families in neighborhoods that are mostly low-income or mostly affluent. The study, conducted by Stanford University and scheduled for release on Wednesday by the Russel Sage Foundation and Brown University, uses census data to examine family income at the neighborhood level in the country’s 117 biggest metropolitan areas.

Podcast Interview with Laura Soto-Barra (Communicating/Marketing)

This month, I interviewed Laura Soto-Barra, the senior librarian at National Public Radio (NPR). In this podcast, she provides excellent insight into how librarians can communicate their value to their organization and market the value of the library and their services.

Listen to the WAV file or the MP3 version.

In addition, Laura has suggested a resource called the Journalist's Toolbox. The site provides links and brief descriptions of informational resources that cover topics from agriculture to women's issues. This is one resource that readers should add as a ready reference resource.

Podcast: Interview with Jason Eiseman (Technology)

As a new feature for this blog, I am creating podcasts to help keep readers informed about important topics within the nonprofit, information, and technology fields. For the first interview podcast, I decided to check-in with Jason Eiseman, who is the Emerging Technology Librarian at the Yale Law School Library.

Jason shares his views on technology and libraries and provides resource recommendations that you can use to keep ahead of the curve. You can view his personal blog, Jason the Content Librarian, here.

*The above podcast link is in WAV format. If you need MP3, click here.