News aggregator databases offer different content and features, but there is little guidance on how these databases compare. This article compares the coverage scope, availability of 35 U.S. newspaper titles, and features of six news aggregators available to U.S. academic libraries: "Newspaper Source Plus" (EBSCO), "Factiva,"…

In his article "The McDonaldization of Academic Libraries?" Brian Quinn explores to what extent and to what effect academic libraries have become "McDonaldized," according to the concept developed by sociologist George Ritzer. Quinn identifies a number of ways in which the four dimensions of…

Any librarian who has managed electronic resources has experienced the--for want of words--"joy" of gathering and analyzing usage statistics. Such statistics are important for evaluating the effectiveness of resources and for making important budgeting decisions. Unfortunately, the data are usually tedious to collect, inconsistently organized, of…

The year 2011 was the PALNI (Private Academic Library Network of Indiana) consortium's "rookie season" for the implementation of Primo, the 2010 Discovery Layer 500 race winner. In this article, the authors report on their transition to the cloud within Ex Libris Ltd.'s Primo TotalCare environment: their preparation, the steps involved…

This report presents selected findings from the Public School Library Media Center Data File of the 2011-12 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). SASS is a nationally representative sample survey of public and private K-12 schools, principals, and teachers in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. School districts associated with public schools…

Libraries are not so unlike market giants Netflix, Amazon, and Pandora. Despite their significantly different business models and missions, they share an interest in facilitating the search for information, including what to read, view, and listen to next. Librarians, too, want their patrons to be able to use their tools to make connections among…

This article argues that a design studio can be a dynamic medium to explore the creative potential of the complexity of sustainability from its technological to social ends. The study seeks to determine the impact of an interior design/architecture studio experience that was initiated to teach diverse meanings of sustainability and to engage the…

In this article, the author argues the need for transparency with regard to the automation systems used in libraries. As librarians make decisions regarding automation software and services, they should have convenient access to information about the organizations it will potentially acquire technology from and about the collective experiences of…

Discusses changes in libraries and the influence they have on library budgets. Highlights include reorganization in response to changes; automation, including document delivery in place of acquisitions; the library role; relationships with dealers and vendors; library materials, including the expansion of nonprint materials such as databases; and…

The Institute of Library Research converted to machine-readable form over one million catalog cards representing about 750,000 Roman-language titles catalogued by the University of California (UC) libraries from 1963 to 1967. From this data base they printed the UC Union Catalog Supplement (UCUCS-1). From 1968 to 1972, an additional set of card…

This report presents findings of the first national survey of U.S. library networks undertaken by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) from 1977 through 1979. A definition of library networks as used in the survey is provided, as well as information on the organizational type, general characteristics, nature of participants,…

Papers on parliamentary and legislative libraries presented at the 1982 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "Parliamentary Libraries and Networks," a brief overview by Dermot Englefield (United Kingdom) of the position of legislative libraries in national networks, the extent of legislative…

Libraries will play a key role in providing access to machine-readable data bases by functioning as the interface or broker between the users on campus and these regional and special processing and distribution centers. High cost will prohibit libraries from acquiring and managing data bases. (6 references) (Author)

Based on an October 1982 survey of 31 selected members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), this report presents library planning documents, general system descriptions and reviews, and examples of library specifications--all dealing with integrated library information systems (ILIS). An ILIS is defined as a fully interactive integrated…

Based on 403 responses to a survey of the 980 libraries on the Texas State Library Mailing List, this directory is designed to describe the variety and depth of special information resources in Texas and to provide a tool for identifying special information not readily obtainable through other means. A listing of special libraries includes…