In this article, the author, a technology consultant for the Northeast Kansas Library System (NEKLS), shares the story of how the Kansas Library on the Web (KLOW) program was created. KLOW's story begins with the initial startup fund finding and the enthusiasm of the six pilot libraries. The middle of the story has to do with building a flexible,…

Second Life is a virtual world that's entirely built and owned by its residents. This vast digital continent is teeming with people, entertainment, and opportunities. It offers museums, concerts, immersive learning environments, a 19th-century world, and more. The Alliance Library System is one of the nine regional multitype library systems in…

The new Fac-Back-OPAC (a faceted backup OPAC) is built on code that was originally developed by Casey Durfee in February 2007. It represents the convergence of two prominent trends in library tools: the decoupling of discovery tools from the traditional integrated library system (ILS) and the use of readily available open source components to…

What would technological librarians like to see in the next generation of Integrated Library Systems (ILS)? This question was asked of several well- known library technology experts, and their responses are presented in this article. Survey respondents expressed a clear desire for the following features and functionality: (1) Direct, read-only…

Employees of a West Virginia library system were tired of intervening in frequent patron fights over the public access PCs. In this article, the author discusses how the implementation of time-control software for an automated session reservation/management service reduced the conflict. A team was assigned to investigate PC management software.…

In 2004, Georgia State University (GSU) Library's Southern Labor Archives, located in Atlanta, began working with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) to plan for the digitization of the union's 105-year-old journal. With generous financial support from IAM, the authors, who are GSU staff members, began…

Describes the Kentuckiana Metroversity Linking project, a consortium of academic and public libraries using the Z39.50 information retrieval protocol to provide service to Greater Louisville and Southern Indiana. Topics addressed include the Z39.50 standard, the consultant's role, addressing technical issues, Internet vs. dial-in access,…

The Northeast Kansas Library System's filtering project started out as a response to the passage of CIPA, the Children's Internet Protection Act, in January 2001. Originally called "onGuard," it was a service that the Northeast Kansas Library System created for its members. When the Supreme Court ruling did uphold the constitutionality…

Since its humble beginning, Digital Past, a centralized local history digitization initiative at the North Suburban Library System (NSLS), a multitype consortium in Wheeling, Illinois, has now grown into a large centralized collaboration that consists of 32 libraries and a museum as its primary contributors. With Digital Past, there are various…

The Internet is many things to many people. Some see the Internet as the Wild West, a yawning wilderness waiting to be tamed and cultivated. For companies like eBay, the Internet is a steady, transaction-based revenue stream. For the dot-com companies, the Internet was perceived as a California gold rush. In terms of online library programming for…

Presents a library automation vendor's perspective on networking based on activities at Ameritech Information Systems. Topics discussed include the information explosion; information technology; user expectations and needs; remote access; the library of the future; systems integration; ownership versus access; copyright laws; and the role of the…

Describes library automation issues during the planning and construction of College Hill Library (Colorado), a joint-use facility shared by a community college and a public library. Discuses computer networks; hardware selection; public access to catalogs and electronic resources; classification schemes and bibliographic data; children's…

Discusses the present status of technology use by students in Pennsylvania public school libraries, including membership in ACCESS PENNSYLVANIA, the statewide interlibrary loan network. The role of library media specialists in developing outcome-based curricula to facilitate use of technology tools is considered. (EA)