Traditionally media production with young people has been characterized by an aspiration to 'give voice' or 'empower youth', but this core value is under threat. Recently, the rationale for undertaking youth media production has shifted to focus on enabling young people to acquire digital and entrepreneurial skills that serve the needs of rapidly…

This article explores the historical relationships between libraries, policy, and politics in the United States. Far too often, policy and political discussions related to libraries have little historical context. While libraries have long viewed themselves as a pillar of democracy by supporting informed, educated, and engaged citizenry, political…

Digital technology has irrevocably altered the nature of the archive. Drawing on materialist critiques and the evolving field of media archaeology, this essay explores new strategies for understanding the implications of computer networks in libraries. Although a significant portion of the contemporary literature within Library and Information…

Drawing on the author's experience as an information professional for individuals with disabilities, this article discusses the challenges faced by both library users and staff in obtaining and providing information to this community. It poses four questions: Where do individuals with disabilities fit into diversity studies? Do individuals with…

Today's scholars face an outstanding array of choices when choosing search tools: Google Scholar, discipline-specific abstracts and index databases, library discovery tools, and more recently, Microsoft's re-launch of their academic search tool, now dubbed Microsoft Academic Search. What are these tools' strengths for the emerging needs of…

Literature on library service models is scarce and exists mainly in non-traditional formats such as blog entries and webpages. Nonetheless, the subject evokes heated debate among librarians with many supporting the model they are using, sometimes without understanding that there are other options which perhaps could be better for their…

As cultural institutions begin to share physical and human resources, and as new technologies reshape approaches to access and preservation, educational programs must respond in kind. However, it is important to ask in what ways the current convergence of libraries, archives, and museums marks a return to tradition rather than a departure from it.…

The purpose of this report is twofold: first, to introduce the field of digital forensics to professionals in the cultural heritage sector; and second, to explore some particular points of convergence between the interests of those charged with collecting and maintaining born-digital cultural heritage materials and those charged with collecting…

This study targets librarians and information professionals who use Web 2.0 tools and applications with a view to providing snapshots on how Web 2.0 technologies are used. It also aims to identify values and impact that such tools have exerted on libraries and their services, as well as to detect various issues associated with the implementation…

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a quantitative analysis exploring the interaction and relationship between the online database and electronic journal collections at the J. N. Desmarais Library of Laurentian University. A very strong relationship exists between the number of searches and the size of the online database…

This paper investigates differences in how male and female students perceived a short message service (SMS) library catalog search service when adopting it. Based on a sample of 90 students, the results suggest that there are significant differences in perceived usefulness and intention to use but no significant differences in self-efficacy and…

Explores some of the issues surrounding library and information technology support for virtual learning environments through a focus on four models, each illustrated by a world-class example, that demonstrate good practice. Concludes with observations on the mutual need that virtual and physical libraries have for each other. (EV)

The first portion of this report describes a study of the relationship between inservice training requirements and training programs currently offered in the field of librarianship, information, and documentation in the Federal Republic of Germany and West Berlin. Data on inservice needs were mainly gathered from a study on training requirements…

Why pay attention to games? For starters, games are the "medium of choice" for many Millennials, with broad participation among the 30 and under population. Although part of a web of new media, technology, and social shifts, games are the quintessential site for examining these changes. Game cultures feature participation in a collective…

The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) organized an invitational conference in May 2003 to examine the key factors shaping the information environment in which libraries operate and how these factors will affect stewardship of the cultural and intellectual resources vital to education and research. Scholars, library directors,…