This article proceeds from the position that obsession with technology is a distraction from librarians' true mission and explores how a constellation of emerging information technologies might empower librarians to reconsider their commitment to the technological treadmill and instead turn to a more humanistic orientation. This article presents…

Since most libraries are now hosting their own web sites, this author advocates for a social network centered on the work of building and supporting resource-rich library sites. While there are already several social networks for books, books are just one thing that libraries make available. A social network that helps people share what they are…

In today's world of instant everything, everyone has been exposed to some form of Web 2.0 technology, and higher education is not exempt from its long reach. Libraries of all types are incorporating Web 2.0 features to attract users as well as to showcase library services. The Online Public Access Catalog (OPAC) has become more user-friendly with…

Since 2004, Buffalo State College's E. H. Butler Library has used the Information Commons (IC) model to assist its 8,500 students with library research and computer applications. Campus Technology Services (CTS) plays a very active role in its IC, with a centrally located Computer Help Desk and a newly created Application Support Desk right in the…

Media specialists today are required to use more and more technology. Their responsibilities encompass everything from repairing overhead projectors to administrating an entire library's automated system. These responsibilities are in addition to working with students on research and information literacy, making book selections, and collaborating…

In this article, the author, a doctoral candidate from the School of Information at the University of Texas-Austin, describes the experience gathered from her attempt to redesign her existing Web sites in order to supply online resources for Slavic and Byzantine studies. The use of participatory design, which involves the users in creating the…

Smart librarians have always valued their relationships with users and other librarians. The creative force of those relationships is empowered via Web-based social networking, collaboration, and sharing. At Stony Brook University Health Sciences Library in New York, students, faculty, clinicians, and residents expect the latest refinements in…