The 29th Annual Pacific Islands Association of Libraries, Archives, and Museums (PIALA) Conference was held November 21 through November 26, 2019 and the primary venue was the Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Memorial Library, University of Guam in Mangilao, U.S. Territory of Guam. This volume includes a listing of 2018-2019 PIALA Officers and Board…

The study looked into the 307 Koha libraries listed in Breeding's Library Technology Guides. Since all the tag clouds in Koha are user-contributed, their adoption and usage can shed light on the extent to which libraries are supporting user tagging. The research also revealed that public library users are more actively involved in tagging than…

Since the adoption of faceted search in a small number of academic libraries in 2006, faceted library catalogs have gained popularity in many academic and public libraries. This dissertation seeks to understand whether faceted search improves the interactions between searchers and library catalogs and to understand ways that facets are used in…

Readers' advisory with middle schoolers does not come easily. In an effort to expand students' reading horizons, the author describes how to teach students to speak intelligently and thoughtfully about their book preferences. She cites Joyce Saricks's "Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library" (ALA, 2005), a book that gave her the clarity…

It seems, at times, that a frantic race persists to ensure that a child, in the crucial learning stages of early elementary education, acquires the appropriate reading level before he or she "gets behind." Though there are obvious issues with branding a book "Grade Level One" or "Reading Level 2.2," it is nevertheless…

Provides an overview of current newspaper indexing methods, including discussion of those indexes produced by commercial firms, public libraries, newspapers themselves, and news data banks. (FM)

Describes the development of a computerized newspaper index by the reference department of the Nashville and Davidson County Public Library. The evolution of the card index used prior to this project is traced, and indexing problems resolved by the computer system are discussed. (JD)

Evaluates the database program SAVVY PC and describes its use in a public library reference department to index a local newspaper. The basic structure of SAVVY and FORTH, the language it's written in, are explained along with how the database is used. Advantages and disadvantages of the system are discussed. (EM)

Discusses the issues involved in the development of bilingual access to Spanish and bilingual materials held by libraries serving the Spanish speaking, with special reference to California. A progress report on the endeavors of the California Spanish Language Data Base is given. Four references are listed. (Author/LLS)

Describes indexes to Web resources that have been created by librarians to be more discriminating than the usual Web search engines, some of which are organized by standard classification systems. Includes indexes by solo librarians as well as by groups of librarians, some in public libraries and some in higher education. (LRW)

The process of establishing the vertical file for a new branch library is traced; suggestions for making the vertical file a better resource are offered; and guidelines covering the general objective, responsibility for selection and maintenance, principles of selection, and scope of the collection for vertical files are presented. A four-item…

This master's thesis describes the compilation of an index referencing libraries in "The History of the Woman's Club Movement in America," a 1,173-page work without an index which was published in 1895. This project was undertaken to facilitate using this work for research on women's roles in the development of libraries. A controlled…

Reviews John Wallace Metcalfe's writing on the nature and function of the public library in Australian society, the constitution and regulation of education for librarianship, and techniques for cataloging and indexing. (51 notes with references) (Author/CLB)

This overview of the current capabilities of subject access in online public catalogs discusses keyword searching versus subject cataloging, users' views of the online catalog, and user-friendly versus user-hostile systems. Existing online catalogs in public and academic libraries are cited as examples. (EJS)

Prestel is an interactive videotex system which has been available to the public in the United Kingdom since the late 1970's. Recent research funded by the British Library Research and Development Department provided public libraries with access to Prestel and monitored their reactions to the services. Aims of the trial were to promote Prestel by…