Once upon a time, nonfiction books for children routinely included concise, stodgy writing. Most of the books were text heavy, with just a few scattered images decorating, rather than enhancing, the content and meaning. But nonfiction has changed dramatically over the last two decades, evolving into a new breed of visually dynamic, engaging texts…

Genre is a hot issue in readers' advisory (RA) circles right now. Many people are looking at how genre functions and morphs. Studying a genre is not a new idea. Over two decades ago, and even longer in less formal ways, librarians began gathering to study genres--asking such questions as in what genre does this book fit and why, what are its…

The digital age has freed information from the restrictive hierarchies of traditional cataloging methods, notably Dewey. Although libraries still deal with the challenge of physical books, online content is a different matter. Thanks to the unregulated, grassroots cataloging effort known as tagging, the Web presents a glorious chaos of…

This book is for community leaders, librarians, library committees, volunteers, aid workers and others who are interested in the practical aspect of starting and maintaining a successful library. Throughout the developing world, countless dedicated people respond to the pressing need for information in their communities by helping to start a…

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), a unit within the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan, is the world's largest social science data archive. The data sets in the ICPRS database give the social sciences librarian/subject specialist an opportunity of providing value-added bibliographic…

Examines possible rules governing reference interviews: needs rule, wants rule, face value rule, and clarification rule. Face value rule is defended as a legitimate expression of one conception of the reference librarian's professional role, implying a restricted view of librarians' responsibility for outcome of reference inquiries. (MBR)

As most librarians have probably realized by the paucity of articles in the library literature concerning the "Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, Second Edition, 1988 Revision" (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), no revolutionary changes have been introduced in the 1988 revision in direct contrast to the situation with the…

This manual provides practical information on the planning, organization, and operation of school libraries. Some of the guidelines differentiate between small libraries with minimal collections and larger, better-equipped libraries with more resources. Introductory materials include definitions of terms used in this manual. Guidelines are then…

Reports on the 1987 Drexel University/Free Library of Philadelphia Conference on Children's Literature. The edited text of the keynote address by Alvin Schwartz, "Children, Humor and Folklore," and the acceptance speech by Deborah Kogan Ray, recipient of the 1987 Drexel Citation, are included. Observations on humor from workshop sessions are…

A study undertaken to find a satisfactory system of classifying and organizing materials for college or university learning assistance centers discovered that little information had been published. Further investigation revealed that the two major systems used in libraries, the Library of Congress (LC) and Dewey Decimal Systems, were found to be…

This document presents guidelines for the subject cataloging and classification of hospital library materials with emphasis placed on using the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and the National Library of Medicine Classification. Following an introduction, the guidelines are divided into 10 major sections: (1)…

Examples of catalog entries for microcomputer software data files are given in three sections: educational software (elementary and secondary level, college level); educational game software; business-related software. Catalog record elements, simplification methods for cataloging of machine-readable data files, and future considerations are…

The access and reproduction policies of the digital collections of 10 leading university digital libraries worldwide are classified according to factors such as the creation type of the material, acquisition method, copyright ownership etc. The relationship of these factors is analysed, showing how acquisition methods and copyright ownership…

This discussion of the establishment of the archives at Fitchburg State College, an institution with an enrollment of 3,700, provides details on the background of the project, approval process, literature search, planning, collection development, continuing publicity efforts, and facilities. Useful items found through the literature search are…

This paper briefly outlines the process used to organize, classify, and make accessible a collection of architecture slides in the Architecture Resource Center at Andrews University in Michigan. The classification system includes the use of Art and Architecture Thesaurus subject headings, the ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) concept…