Fewer employees, shorter hours, diminished collection budgets, reduced programs and services--all at a time of record library usage. In this book, library expert Carol Smallwood demonstrates that despite the obvious downsides, the necessity of doing business differently can be positive, leading to partnering, sharing, and innovating. This…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) kit provides a sample of excerpts from technical and planning documents contributed by 40 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries that are planning to install or have already implemented optical disc technology. Selected to represent a variety of media and applications, the…

In response to a May 1983 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) survey, 94 university library members (90% of this category of ARL membership) provided information and documents about current library branches, changes during the last 5 years, and current and planned automation activities. It was found that 63 respondents (68%) considered their…

The process of identifying items in a library's collection by assigning to each a unique machine readable code has been generally referred to as barcoding. Barcoding is often one of the first critical projects a library will embark upon in the process of automation. This Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit addresses many of the major…

Based on the results of a June 1984 survey of 30 Association of Research Library (ARL) member libraries, this kit contains documents related to automation training programs for ARL library staff members. A summary of survey results indicates that few libraries performed formal needs assessments before embarking on programs related to automation…

In preparation for a 2-day workshop on the potential for library automation in Maine, comments regarding expectations for the workshop, specific questions, and concerns were solicited from librarians throughout Maine. This document comprises written testimony received by the solicitor. Among the issues addressed are: needs and desires in the area…

This collection of 23 articles compiled from school library journals address the special needs that make automation problematic for school libraries. The articles are divided into five sections: an overview of OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) development (4 titles); evaluating OPAC systems (4 titles); implementing OPAC systems (6 titles);…

This issue of the higher education information technology magazine, CAUSE/EFFECT, presents in six articles six summaries of the best from this journal since 1978. The articles each summarize the writing done over the years in one of six key areas. The articles are as follows: (1) "Rise of Infrastructure" by Kenneth J. Klingenstein and…

This book presents the following papers on library organizational and management issues: (1) "Knowledge Management: An Essential Framework for Corporate Library Leadership" (Deanna J. Streng); (2) "Critical Factors for Collaboration in an Academic Library Setting" (Charlotte M. Knoche); (3) "Salaries of Academic Librarians…