What can school librarians do about library and book censorship? First, ask questions. Find out what your principal and your district have put into policy and what your principal's expectations are for your school library. Then, communicate with your classroom teachers. For ourselves, school librarians should work with colleagues, especially other…

This article puts forward a credo of librarianship, particularly public librarianship. The writer addresses the differences between academic and public librarianship and suggests that there is little actual difference, and that apparent differences are differences in how librarians react to the environment in which they operate. The effects of the…

The author recently asked his colleagues, "How can libraries determine the value in collecting, managing, preserving, and/or cataloging e-resources?" hoping to challenge readers to come up with some thoughtful opinions and useful tips. Not surprisingly, he received a handful of substantially different but uniformly provocative and creative…

The paper describes the introduction of Web 2.0 techniques and tools at the Yarra Plenty public library in Victoria, beginning with library staff. The author argues that as libraries move from Web 1.0 type delivery systems to the social networking world of Library 2.0 librarians need to deploy and make accessible these radically different systems,…

The Deputy Librarian of Congress responds to a Library Journal editorial on the Library of Congress' role in the development of the diethyl zinc process in preservation technology. Safety issues, DEZ as prototype, progress and success claims, deciding which books to save, and why DEZ should be used are explained. (EM)

Discusses "educational suitability,""pervasive vulgarity," political intent, the difference between the selection and removal of library books, and censoring books without removing them from the library (zoning through "educational suitability" and age appropriateness). (CT)

This discussion of the librarian's perspective on collection development cites professional "blind spots" in areas of responses to and misinterpretation of information, censorship, identifying and satisfying reader demand, and confusion over the role of the librarian. A 15-item bibliography is provided. (EJS)

This essay discusses issues raised in Carol Hole's article "Who Me, Censor?" ("Top of the News," Winter 1984) on library material selection and censorship. Balancing a library's book collection, controversial issues and materials, moral judgment, and the mission of librarians are noted. (EJS)

Digital technologies should be considered a method of preservation for library materials. Current conservation strategies of restoration, deacidification, and microfilming are expensive, and they limit access. Digitization offers improved access while preserving materials and reflects a change in the library role from depository of printed…

This essay characterizes role of the librarian as using a variety of skills (intellectual, human and communication, technical) to deal with recorded information by evaluating, acquiring, preserving, sorting and ordering, and making it available. Library management, training, and preservation of library materials are highlighted. Six references are…

Discusses the growing problem of theft of library materials, including rare books, by both scholarly researchers and library staff. Complacence of librarians and their failure to act in the past is also discussed, as well as the effects of tightened security measures on the traditional trust between librarians and researchers. (CLB)

Six library consultants address issues related to the future of online catalogs, including (1) types of material that will be accessible; (2) the role of the automated library; (3) evolving beyond the current objectives of library automation; (4) new technologies; and (5) the library profession's image of the future. (3 references) (MES)

Argues that libraries have done little to preserve the record of the American popular dance and recommends that they promote dance experiences as community outreach activities, providing such accompanying materials as sheet music, phonograph records, audiotapes, and player piano rolls. Seventeen references are listed. (RAA)

Discusses the relationship between data and the recipient, and the academic library and its institutional information systems. Examples are drawn from the sciences, including medicine, because of their greater intensity of experimentation and change in information management. New roles for libraries and librarians are highlighted. (EJS)

Examines two issues to determine how they affect delivery of consumer health information: (1) Who is responsible for disseminating consumer health information, and what role should public and health science libraries play? (2) Should librarians (public or health science) provide medical reference works for general public? Thirty-five references…