All those who dream of working for themselves and being their own boss, whether they are fresh college graduates, recently unemployed, or newly retired from one career, have a thousand questions about where and how to begin. New entrepreneurs especially will need professional, expert help to start and run a small business effectively and…

This article presents a list of the best audiobooks of 2010. Among the past year's most memorable audiobooks, all recipients of starred "Library Journal" reviews, are four "LJ" Best Books, two postapocalyptic trilogy starters, two nonfiction tracts on marriage, a baseball novella, an adult/YA crossover novel, and an Obama biography.

Mystery and suspense fiction remain as popular as ever for as many reasons as there are readers. "Those who wish for escape or respite read cozies, historicals, or romance crossovers," says Poisoned Pen editor Barbara Peters. "Those who want to stay on the cutting edge of society read thrillers [from authors] like Daniel Silva, Alex Berenson, or…

Connecting teens to books they'll truly enjoy is the aim of every young adult librarian, and the completely revamped guide "Outstanding Books for the College Bound" will give teen services staff the leg up they need to make it happen. Listing nearly 200 books deemed outstanding for the college bound by the Young Adult Library Services Association…

Specific curriculum is taught at every grade level and it is the job of library media specialists to know subject area content. Library media specialists should develop collections to meet the content associated with curriculum standards. To ensure that these collections meet school needs, collection mapping with specific curriculum related to…

Extensive Reading is a resource heavy technique used in second language acquisition in which language learners read large amounts of texts for enjoyment, with the expectation that they will improve their vocabulary and fluency as a result of exposure to the written language. Narrow Reading is a similar technique in which the texts have a common…

The paper describes the theory and definition of the practice of librarianship, specifically addressing how Web 2.0 technologies (tools) such as synchronous messaging, collaborative reference service and streaming media, blogs, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking tools, tagging, RSS feeds, and mashups might intimate changes and how…

The cultural heritage of library collections and individual items is of importance and interest outside the profession of librarianship. This paper gives an introduction to the concept of "movable heritage" from the heritage professional's perspective and provides suggestions as to how this concept can be applied to libraries.…

This paper reports on a study of librarian initiated publications discovery (LIPD) in U.S. state digital depository programs using the OCLC Digital Archive to preserve web-based government publications for permanent public access. This paper describes a model of LIPD processes based on empirical investigations of four OCLC DA-based digital…

There is a general perception that as librarians, we know what constitutes and defines a rare book, that our heritage book collections are well-documented and their future survival is planned for and secure. This discussion paper asks whether our definitions of heritage material might be too narrow and whether they reflect the reality across all…

This article examines what is desirable in online reference books in science and technology and outlines a framework for evaluating their interfaces. The framework considers factors unique to these subject areas like chemical structures and numerical data. Criteria in three categories, navigability, searchability, and results, were applied to five…

Approval plans are used by many libraries as an adjunct to title-by-title selection, and sometimes as a substitute for it. The author examines this approach to purchasing library materials, considering positive and negative effects approval plans may have on collection balance as well as on acquisitions budgets and workflow. The article also…

Libraries are responding to customer preferences for electronic research materials through the acquisition and management of these products. Electronic resources have significantly different characteristics than print resources when it comes to technical services management. This paper addresses aspects of a corporate research library's evaluation…

Twenty-three scholarly papers and eleven abstracts reflect the content of the seventh "Brick and Click Libraries Symposium," held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of…

Reported here are the results of a research project that examined the role of UK public libraries in addressing adult literacy including approaches and issues. Eight public libraries were selected as case studies and adult literacy provision was investigated using staff interviews. The interviews provided support for the role of public libraries…