The "LJ" Index of Public Library Service 2010, "Library Journal"'s national rating of public libraries, identifies 258 "star" libraries. Created by Ray Lyons and Keith Curry Lance, and based on 2008 data from the IMLS, it rates 7,407 public libraries. The top libraries in each group get five, four, or three stars. All included libraries, stars or…

In the journal "The Chronicle of Higher Education," an article by Geoffrey Nunberg criticizes Google's Book Search (GBS), emphasizing that disturbing errors are endemic. He recognizes that for mainstream "googling" purposes, "they don't really care about metadata provided by a library catalog." In perhaps his most discouraging point, linguistics…

The constituency of the American Library Association Committees is presented. (NH)

Periodical prices by subject field. (LS)

Questions are raised concerning the statistical methodology employed in the NILN. The author states that "better and more appropriate statistical methodology should be incorporated in future studies on library needs" and two alternatives are suggested. (JPF)

Suggests that the continued growth of services in learning resources programs has necessitated both new construction and major remodeling. Tables show the types of services offered in new and remodeled learning resource center buildings, and detailed data for 23 institutions in 11 states. (VT)

Several questions are raised concerning how data is collected and interpreted to generate the National Inventory of Library Needs. The author urges NCLIS to confront some basic issues which have been raised by the document, including data collection techniques and the professional backgrounds of the individuals involved in the study. (JPF)

Presents and interprets data concerning United States library referenda held in fiscal year 1995. Out of 45 capital fund elections, 39 (87%) were successful; and 52 out of 70 (74%) operating fund referenda passed. The article and six tables provide information on voting totals, funding levels, election specifications, and ballot competition. Nine…

Analysis of statistical data gathered by ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom in a survey of censorhsip in U.S. libraries and other educational institutions shows that censorship is on the increase and that censorship attempts are becoming better organized as more groups make their wishes known concerning educational materials. (JPF)

Presents the rationale, method, results, analysis, and discussion of a survey of public libraries in the United States and Canada which asked for sex of director, director's salary, director's length of tenure, size of population served, per capita support, and beginning professional salary. This study extends work by Carpenter and Shearer (1972).…

In this article, the author discusses the benefits offered by integrated library systems (ILS) for making more informed decisions. Library software vendors, realizing ILS products can reveal business intelligence, have begun to offer tools like Director's Station to help library managers get more out of their data, and librarians are taking…

In this 24th annual survey, prices for U.S. periodicals and serial services indicate 9.4% and 7.4% increases respectively over 1983 subscription rates. Average pricing information by subject category is provided for each year since 1977, and criteria for inclusion of titles in indexes is explained. (EJS)

Building data is given for the following public libraries: New York, New York; Blue Island, Illinois; Corte Madera, California; Muskogee, Oklahoma: Charlotte, North Carolina; Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas; Albermarle, North Carolina; Spokane, Washington; and Hemet, California. (Author/NH)

In this, the sixth year of recording academic library building data, it is possible to begin a yearly appraisal of change, progress or decline by comparison with the five-year base data published last year. (Author/NH)

In this 16th annual study, the cost of periodicals is shown to be up 13 percent over last year, the cost of serial services 8 percent. (PF)