A 2010 electronic resource management survey conducted by Maria Collins of North Carolina State University and Jill E. Grogg of University of Alabama Libraries found that the top six electronic resources management priorities included workflow management, communications management, license management, statistics management, administrative…

In these difficult economic times, everyone is on the lookout for savings. This author, an adult services librarian at New City Library in New York, has spent the last two years implementing small-scale open source and freeware replacements where proprietary or paper solutions once ruled. While none of these projects is individually revolutionary,…

In March 2007, SirsiDynix notified its Horizon and classic Dynix customers that it would not be releasing Horizon 8.0 in favor of developing its Unicorn software. As vice president/president-elect of SirsiDynix's Horizon/Dynix user group, the author was one of the first ones to be notified of this abrupt change in company strategy. The news sent…

Darien Library, where the author serves as head of knowledge and learning services, launched a new website on September 1, 2008. The website is built with Drupal, an open source content management system (CMS). In this article, the author describes how she and her colleagues overhauled the library's website to provide an open source content…

This article discusses six maxims by which to run library automation. The following maxims are discussed: (1) Solve only known problems; (2) Avoid changing data to fix display problems; (3) Aut viam inveniam aut faciam; (4) If you cannot make it yourself, buy something; (5) Kill the alligator closest to the boat; and (6) Just because yours is…

Short on funding and IT staff, a Western Canada library struggled to provide adequate public computing resources. Staff turned to a Linux-based solution that supports up to 10 users from a single computer, and blends Web browsing and productivity applications with session management, Internet filtering, and user authentication. In this article,…

Offers guidelines for consultants from developed countries who are establishing automated libraries in developing countries. Topics discussed include needs assessment; collection characteristics; computer needs of the institution; user characteristics; funding; physical environment; personnel; local resources and services; and choosing…