Librarianship places an ethical demand on practitioners to put patrons or library users' interests before self-interest, and indeed, this is the hallmark of any service profession. But what obligation do school librarians have to their peer librarians and educators? The Code of Ethics of the American Library Association offers this principle, "We…

For more than a decade, librarians have struggled to balance making the convenience of the ebook formats available while alleviating users' frustrations with the disparities between the myriad formats. This article tells the story of another area of ebook concern: How can independently published ebooks make it into a library's collections? The…

Purpose: The paper aims to report on the 30th IATUL Annual Conference held in Leuven, Belgium, 1-4 June, 2009. Design/methodology/approach: The paper summarises the major themes of the conference as well as giving some specific details of developments at the Indira Gandhi National Open University in India, which supplement the author's…

The position of electronic resources librarian was created to serve as a specialist in the negotiation of license agreements for electronic resources, but mission creep has added more functions to the routine work of electronic resources such as cataloging, gathering information for collection development, and technical support. As electronic…

Anyone at the helm of a small public library knows that every little detail counts. But juggling the responsibilities that are part and parcel of the job is far from easy. Finally, here's a handbook that includes everything administrators need to keep a handle on library operations, freeing them up to streamline and improve how the organization…

To establish a more direct link between its collections and the educational goals of Saint Xavier University, the Byrne Memorial Library has adopted a "holistic" approach to collection development. This article examines how traditional budget practices influenced the library's selection of resources and describes how holistic collection…

The world of government information mirrors the headlines. The resources in this list of Notable Government Documents from the American Library Association's Government Documents Round Table reflect the diversity of the profession, with topics ranging from "underappreciated fish" in Alaska to the Colonial papers of Sir William Johnson;…

Co-author of the popular titles "Booktalking Bonanza" and "The Early Literacy Kit", Betsy Diamant-Cohen brings together 18 examples of successful outreach partnerships that children's librarians and administrators can adapt to their own situations. Contributors from the U.S and Canada explain how they partnered with schools,…

In this article, the author shares how she became an advocate for school libraries. Moving into a career as a school library media specialist after five-and-a-half years as a teacher, she eventually became a delegate to the first White House Conference on Library and Information Services. At these conferences, she learned where and how decisions…

Although librarians in approximately one-third of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) have a rank or status similar to other faculty, their activities, responsibilities and involvement vary considerably. A survey was conducted to determine the autonomy of library faculty organizations and their role in library and university governance, and…

Lists over 100 association publications on topics of: aeronautics and space, aging, arts and architecture, computers, consumer guides, education, educational directories, government and politics, handicapped, health and medicine, housing and land use, libraries, management, recreation and hobbies, science and technology, social issues. A list of…

As America entered the information age, libraries were no longer being pictured as a vital part of family life. Instead, technology became the critical resource for a middle-class family. In addition, state and national accountability and assessment initiatives forced school library media specialists (SLMSs) to demonstrate that the school library…

Considers organizational structures of academic libraries through writings of organizational theorists and related work by librarians and develops an organizational model based on this review. The model comprises a modified professional bureaucratic structure; flexible resource allocation; use of management information systems; export of…

When future teacher-librarians enter their preservice education, what kinds of advocacy-focused learning experiences can and should they expect? How can preservice teacher-librarians be supported as they develop the character traits of advocates for effective, integrated school library programs? In this article, the authors, first and foremost,…

This annotated bibliography describes international documents comprising a basic reference shelf of materials published by the United Nations system. Included are materials about the United Nations as a whole, its regional economic commissions, and the various autonomous organizations having agreements with the United Nations. (EM)