Shared print programs are helping their member libraries right-size their collections. As they do, there are concerns about the adverse impact of bibliographic inaccuracies. This paper studies bibliographic record inaccuracies and the resulting frequency of mismatches between an item owned and the record representing ownership. Through analysis of…

The author, a digital access architect in the information systems department of the Orange County Library System in Florida, was given the challenge of creating a library mobile app around the 2009 holiday season. At that time, Sheri Chambers, digital content manager in the information systems department, and Debbie Moss, assistant director of the…

The technology of the 21st century has had no shortage of challenges for libraries, but it has also brought opportunities. Operating systems, databases, and application environments that can use cheap off-the-shelf hardware to scale and handle hundreds of millions of transactions were not developed for libraries. However, libraries have taken…

This article presents a reading of the user interface in one public library system. Its aim is to find out the frames and competences required and used in the communication between the computer and the patron. The authors see the computer as a text that is to be read by the user who wants to search for information from the library. The transition…

As a concept, the next-generation catalog (NGC) is not new to librarians, who have been wishing for better OPAC interfaces for their integrated library systems (ILSs). The NGC has been the focus of discussion for more than 5 years now, from the 2006 report of the implementation of Endeca at North Carolina State University, to Marshall Breeding's…

In April 2007, the University of Washington Libraries debuted WorldCat Local (WCL), a localized version of the WorldCat database that interoperates with a library's integrated library system and fulfillment services to provide a single-search interface for a library's physical and electronic content. This brief will describe how WCL incorporates a…

With changing user expectations, many libraries are moving toward digital content. Accessible from anywhere at any time, digital content provides users with efficient, on-demand information experiences. Accordingly, librarians are presented with challenges and opportunities to build, manage, and implement outreach strategies that promote their…

At the end of 2007, SirsiDynix introduced the first version of Symphony, its new flagship Integrated Library System (ILS). This article begins with a look at the evolution of Symphony, user reactions to Symphony, and Symphony's design and functionality. The authors, along with a team of librarians from various functional areas, have completed…

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…