This article discusses how a special library can meet the needs of a specific industry. The author focuses on India's National Insurance Academy (NIA) Library, which serves the insurance industry of India and some neighboring countries. It is where the author serves as the chief librarian.

When the author went to the Frankfurt Book Fair in mid-October in search of an ebooks update story, he learned from vendors that, in a decade-long struggle to grasp a foothold, ebooks are finally coming of age in libraries of all kinds. Though ebook's past may have been one of false hopes and nonstarts, according to all accounts, it was the…

Two of the most time-consuming jobs in the library are taking inventory and keeping track of in-house uses of library material. Librarians have long been searching for more efficient solution for these two activities. New technology can be the answer to creating efficiency for libraries. In fact, if one is a SirsiDynix library, there is an easy…

Richmond Public Library (RPL) is a four-branch suburban library with the highest per capita circulation of any comparable library in Canada. While DVDs naturally fit into RPL's emphasis on popular material, circulating them using the standard model proved problematic: Long hold queues built up, DVDs idled on the hold shelves, and the circulation…

Circulation for CD-ROMs rose from 56 per month in 1993 to 493 per month in 1996 at the City of York Public Library in Toronto, Canada. Discusses the need for technical expertise; quantity and quality of CD-ROMs; assessing the costs; product durability, damage, and losses; and legal issues under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Lists the…