The web site is a library's most important feature. Patrons use the web site for numerous functions, such as renewing materials, placing holds, requesting information, and accessing databases. The homepage is the place they turn to look up the hours, branch locations, policies, and events. Whether users are at work, at home, in a building, or on…

In the face of seismic shifts in technology and social organization, librarians and library staff face changing roles. A focus on competencies--the skills, knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes that are involved in a job--can help the library profession keep its footing as well as help librarians stick to values. When well done, they can define a…

Self-service is a hit. From gas stations to banks to grocery stores--it has become table stakes for retailers who aim to satisfy an increasingly independent consumer. Libraries are no exception, and, in fact, with their card catalog past, they may well have been in the vanguard in enabling customers to find what they want on their own. Card…

Librarians, like patrons and researchers, are caught between traditional library service models and the promise of evolving information technologies. In recent years, professional conferences have strategically featured programs and presentations geared toward building a mobile agenda and adapting or adopting services to meet new demands of mobile…

In a time when information self-service and enhanced competition have sent libraries of all types into an oftentimes desperate search for a renewed sense of purpose, a fundamentally important question takes center stage: How can libraries connect with the deepest aspirations of their service communities? This article describes a new library…

America's subprime mortgage crisis of 2007 spiraled into a global financial crisis in 2008. For much of the year, attention was riveted on the presidential primaries. A worsening economy made the election somewhat anticlimactic, but everybody rejoiced with the choice of the first "international" President. With stocks tumbling and major firms…

Librarians face a dilemma when it comes to copyright. On the one hand, if content providers disappeared, libraries and their patrons would suffer. By doing their part to eliminate copyright violations, they help keep publishers in business. On the other hand, they understand that "information wants to be free." They resent license agreements that…

Some people learn better through viewing and listening, and some people simply do not like to read. In this society, there seems to be a move away from text, or, at least text as people have defined in the past. Moreover, mobile devices such as laptops, PDAs, and cell phones make video and audio incredibly easy to imbibe. So how do libraries…

The standalone PDA seems to be dying, but the prominence of smart phones and similar devices are opening new doors for ebooks. The digital music and ipod phenomena bode well for what could happen with e-text publishing, with content and hardware easier to use just as new open standards are beginning to emerge. Mobile, portable, wireless, handheld,…

In recent years, the Internet has become a digital commons of commerce and education. However, accessibility standards have often been overlooked online, and the digital equivalents to curb-cuts and other physical accommodations have only rarely been implemented to serve those with print disabilities. (A print disability can be a learning…

This article observes that it's not hard to understand why Google creates such unease among librarians. The profession, however, can't afford to be myopic when it comes to Google. As inescapable as it is, Google is not the Internet. And as the web evolves, new opportunities and challenges loom larger for libraries than who's capturing the bulk of…

For years, patrons have been able to access library services from home and in the library building, but in the world of Google, Yahoo, YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, library web sites and catalogs are too often not the first place people go to look for information. The innovative use of toolbars could change this. Toolbars have been popular for…

With all the new advances in library technology--including metadata, social networking, and Web 2.0, along with the advent of nonlibrary and for-profit digital information companies like Wikisource and Google Print--librarians have barely had time to reflect on the nontechnical implications of these innovations. They need to take a step back and…

The baby boom generation--those born during the post-World War II years 1946 through 1964--has a track record of rebellion that has caused startling cultural and social transformations, including rock 'n' roll, the peace movement, civil rights, and agendas we can be less proud of. Reports indicate that this generation is again poised to create a…

This article discusses the possible answers to most librarians' questions and how advanced and hi-technology help them in the library world. Many of the answers to librarians' questions regarding digital media depend upon community/patron awareness and library resources. In this article, the author presents some quoted statements from electronic…