Reports on third annual mini-survey on religious books in 30 public libraries across nation covering seven areas: regularity of purchase of religious materials; percentage of book budget used; percentage of circulation; collection policies; gifts; patron demand; attempt to "balance" book collection on certain issues; pressure from…

The development of the Humanities Research Center (housing one of the largest collections of twentieth century literature) at the University of Texas at Austin is described. The efforts of Harry Huntt Ransom in building the special collections, the financing of purchases, and present challenges the center must meet are explained. (BH)

Explores the legal ramifications of malpractice among librarians and the possible impact on services due to fear of being sued. Topics include identification of potential malpractice areas; cooperative electronic reference services; use of reference standards; insurance; contract; disclaimer; updating library collections; using Internet resources;…

Offers practical approach to locating and understanding sources of current information in industrial relations from four groups: non-profit, policy research associations; professional and trade associations; advocacy and lobby organizations; and private, profit-making agencies. A method for enriching library collection development and a new…

Discusses expurgation practices (deletion, excision, alteration, obliteration of parts of books) of major school book clubs--Scholastic, Xerox's Read Book Club, Troll Associates--as identified by Intellectual Freedom Committee of Young Adult Services Division of the American Library Association. Implications for school libraries are noted.…

Discusses evaluation of microcomputer courseware for school libraries, noting the evaluation process (selecting evaluation instrument, selecting and obtaining courseware for review), and steps of the evaluation program. Sources of evaluation instruments and courseware reviews, and evaluation forms of California Library Media Consortium for…

The need to consider length of residency, language facility, and cultural subgroup when selecting library materials for the Hispanic community is discussed in the first article. The second lists 50 vendors of Spanish language books and audiovisual materials, including a contact, an address, and specialty areas for each vendor. (CLB)

This annotated bibliography includes 32 works of fiction, 43 works of nonfiction, and 10 audiovisuals and teacher resources for middle school Mexican American audiences. Discussion includes interest level and reading level for each work, publishing issues, and Mexican American stereotypes. A sidebar article provides brief biographies of 21 Mexican…

Describes zines (self-published magazines); suggests librarians should regard zines as historical sources of culture and include them in materials selection. Discusses the role of technology in publication and distribution; the audience; cataloging problems; free speech; and zines on the Internet. Sidebars provide information on selected zines and…