To say that immigration is currently a controversial issue would be an understatement. The media is rife with misinformation and does a very poor job of making the critical distinction between legal and illegal immigration. Because of this, it is vitally important that libraries provide students with clear and unbiased material on the topic. In…

The author describes how she was able to broadcast her whereabouts, her moods, and her desire to connect with friends for dinner to over 150 conference attendees simultaneously, using her mobile phone through a service called Twitter. Twitter enables social butterflies like the author to instantly publish brief messages to a network of contacts.…

A widget displays Web content from external sources and can be embedded into a blog, social network, or other Web page, or downloaded to one's desktop. With widgets--sometimes referred to as gadgets--one can insert video into a blog post, display slideshows on MySpace, get the weather delivered to his mobile device, drag-and-drop his Netflix queue…

Is it legal to copy a DVD onto a school district's server? As general counsel for a company that publishes and distributes educational videos and sells video-on-demand servers that digitally deliver them to the classroom, the author gets that question from educators all the time. And the answer is: it depends. If one is dealing with copyrighted…

Blogs, wikis, and other nifty Web-based tools, ones that enable everyone to create and distribute content like never before, get all the glory, it seems. Then there are the applications that help them organize all that material that they consume online. Though not as sexy, perhaps, as blogging or podcasting, social bookmarking is equally…

In a world of instant messages, Twitter, and Facebook, what do magazines have to offer teens? Well, as it turns out, plenty. For starters, they feature celebrity gossip, humor, beauty tips, sports, and even manga. Some magazines offer online content that can only be accessed by using a special code that's available in the print edition. Recently,…

This article features Eliza Dresang, an award-winning author, and her achievements. Dresang was responsible for making a radical shift in how teachers and parents understand modern children literature when she wrote her groundbreaking book, "Radical Change." She found the motivation to write this book after realizing how teachers and parents were…

Examines possible barriers to adequate reference services to children and young adults. Topics discussed include the effects of budget pressures and shifting priorities in public and academic libraries; equity in access to information; reference policies; communication between children and adult services staff and administration; multiple service…

Identifies library values affected by technology, including respect for and privacy of the individual, equality of user needs, and freedom of purpose and access. Fundamental changes that may result from technology are predicted in the areas of the library role, functions of staff, fees for services and document delivery, and costs of local and…

Identifies current challenges to children's library services including inequality in access to information; integration of information skills in the classroom; rising costs, low budgets, and increasing demands; the state of book collections; and the need for research at state and national levels. Local examples of successful solutions are…

Discusses teenage pregnancy and sexuality and suggests ways in which librarians can help provide access to appropriate and needed information. Highlights include developing policies and procedures for dealing with sexual issues, collection development, organizing information and making it accessible, and a brief teen pregnancy bibliography. (LRW)

Discusses S.R. Ranganathan's five laws (books are for use, every book its reader, every reader his or her book, save the time of the reader, the library is a growing organism) and updates them (libraries serve humanity, respect all forms of knowledge, use technology intelligently to enhance service, protect free access to knowledge, honor the past…

Discusses the issue of intellectual freedom as it relates to videotape collections and the free circulation of tapes to patrons, particularly children. Research on the effects on children of viewing violence is reviewed briefly. Development of a procedure for handling complaints and clear guidelines for children's access to videos are recommended.…

This article profiles Nate Greenberg, a superintendent of the Londonderry (NH) School District who viewed action research as a means for supporting libraries, which he sees as central to education. During the past six years, Londonderry's cascade of action-research projects (led by librarians) has tackled challenges such as how to get high school…

In this article, the author expresses her disappointment over the self-censorship being practiced by some schools. Some schools are only letting students search sites on district-approved lists, while others are imposing stringent time limits on certain sites. In a few extreme cases, schools banned Internet entirely. These practices are blocking…