In the face of seismic shifts in technology and social organization, librarians and library staff face changing roles. A focus on competencies--the skills, knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes that are involved in a job--can help the library profession keep its footing as well as help librarians stick to values. When well done, they can define a…

Self-service is a hit. From gas stations to banks to grocery stores--it has become table stakes for retailers who aim to satisfy an increasingly independent consumer. Libraries are no exception, and, in fact, with their card catalog past, they may well have been in the vanguard in enabling customers to find what they want on their own. Card…

In a time when information self-service and enhanced competition have sent libraries of all types into an oftentimes desperate search for a renewed sense of purpose, a fundamentally important question takes center stage: How can libraries connect with the deepest aspirations of their service communities? This article describes a new library…

Librarians face a dilemma when it comes to copyright. On the one hand, if content providers disappeared, libraries and their patrons would suffer. By doing their part to eliminate copyright violations, they help keep publishers in business. On the other hand, they understand that "information wants to be free." They resent license agreements that…

The standalone PDA seems to be dying, but the prominence of smart phones and similar devices are opening new doors for ebooks. The digital music and ipod phenomena bode well for what could happen with e-text publishing, with content and hardware easier to use just as new open standards are beginning to emerge. Mobile, portable, wireless, handheld,…

This article observes that it's not hard to understand why Google creates such unease among librarians. The profession, however, can't afford to be myopic when it comes to Google. As inescapable as it is, Google is not the Internet. And as the web evolves, new opportunities and challenges loom larger for libraries than who's capturing the bulk of…

Considering Kirsten Thompson's career in the Milwaukee Public Library (MPL), it is no surprise that as an undergraduate she studied both computer programming and psychology. The combination is the driving force behind her multiple projects at MPL, which have all focused on bringing technology to users. "Having the computers is great, but you…

With all the new advances in library technology--including metadata, social networking, and Web 2.0, along with the advent of nonlibrary and for-profit digital information companies like Wikisource and Google Print--librarians have barely had time to reflect on the nontechnical implications of these innovations. They need to take a step back and…

There are many chasms in the library profession: among different libraries and between public services and technology staff, users and librarians, and research and practice. Susan Gibbons bridges all of them. As director of digital library initiatives at the University of Rochester River Campus Libraries, Gibbons was an early adopter of MIT's…

Examines the changing roles of libraries and librarians in the information age, emphasizing the impact of technology. It is suggested that librarians should assert themselves as providers of information in a human context. Nine references are listed. (MES)

Describes optical data disk products currently on the market and discusses publishers to users' needs. Ways in which librarians can influence product development and design are suggested. (CLB)

Librarians are in the business of serving the public. Perhaps the public happens to be those who live in a particular city or county, or study at a college or university, or work at a certain organization. No matter where librarians work, they have clientele whose needs for information and entertainment need to be met. Some would think that…

Kansas librarians were delighted when Cindi Hickey came into their lives. Kansas is a really big state, sprawling over 82,000 square miles. For its small-town librarians, many of whom are without an MLS, professional development opportunities required hours spent driving--as well as hard-to-come-by travel money for overnight lodging. Hickey,…

Anyone who hires Loft Bell is getting two librarians: one who enthusiastically does the job, and another who develops new ideas, secures grants to fund them, and swiftly puts the ideas into action. There's nothing that makes a job more attractive to Bell than the freedom to try out new things. Jenny Levine, Internet development specialist at…

Reprints five articles originally published between 1933 and 1983 showing that the library field was ready to use technology: "People and Machines: Changing Relationships?" (S. Michael Malinconico); "Guilds or Technocracy?" (Margery C. Quigley); "The Librarian and the Machine" (Jesse H. Shera); "From the…