This article features Glen Carbon Centennial Library (GCCL), Illinois, which is named "LJ"'s Best Small Library in America 2010. The attitude of doing whatever it takes to encourage every patron to come back permeates GCCL and is the foundation that makes it a model small library. GCCL delivers much "more than one expects." The…

Bill Schickling has spent a good chunk of his professional life at what is now Polaris Library Systems, shaping both the older Galaxy system and the newer Polaris integrated library system (ILS). When he joined the company as a programmer in 1987, it was still part of Gaylord, known mostly for its furniture and supplies division. Schickling was…

In a year when a difficult economy presented fewer opportunities for immediate gains, the major industry players have defined their business strategies with fundamentally different concepts of library automation. This is no longer an industry where companies compete on the basis of the best or the most features in similar products but one where…

Librarians, like patrons and researchers, are caught between traditional library service models and the promise of evolving information technologies. In recent years, professional conferences have strategically featured programs and presentations geared toward building a mobile agenda and adapting or adopting services to meet new demands of mobile…

In a rare show of bipartisanship, the Senate passed the controversial Federal Library Agency Act (FLAA) on a nearly unanimous voice vote, sending it to President Obama for his expected signature. The House had passed it in February with a two-thirds majority. The FLAA creates a new mandate by combining federal library functions scattered…

This article features Laramie County Library System (LCLS) of Cheyenne, Wyoming, which is named as Gale/"Library Journal" 2008 Library of the Year. It is not just strong, effective publicity or the fine new building or even a staff built around its ability to connect with the people, although all of those things add to the impact of…

Worthington, Ohio, has deep library roots. A library has been part of its history since the planning by settlers before the city's birth in 1803. Among the treasures brought by James Kilbourne and the Scioto Company from Connecticut to the new, planned community they built was a collection of books for their new subscription library. The books…

Over the next several decades, libraries will face the potential loss of all the e-journals, ebooks, electronic theses, local digital collections, and other "e-stuff" curated for the public good. A solution to this problem is LOCKSS ("Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe"), a free, open-source digital-preservation software from Stanford University that…

A personal evaluation of OCLC's overall impact and performance, from a managerial viewpoint, with special suggestions for handling current problems, especially governance. (Author/KP)

Argues against the establishment of a National Bibliographic Network as an unwarranted extravagance which would be used only by large research libraries. (LLS)

Activities in 2006 pointed to strategic shifts in library automation. The dynamics of the business environment changed rapidly from a fragmented industry to a highly consolidated one. Though the integrated library system (ILS) continues to represent the largest portion of revenue, products that deal with electronic content and deliver better…

Libraries are changing. Funding limits and customer demands are transforming staffing levels, service models, access to resources, and services to the public. Administrators and taxpayers are seeking more efficient ways of delivering services to achieve greater returns on financial investments. In this article, the author discusses the benefits of…

Our task in the next decade is to keep the bibliographic utilities and regional networks or service centers lean and flexible and responsive to the needs and desires of the libraries that created and support them. It will not be easy, but healthy competition may help. (Author)

Discusses topics related to OCLC adoption of guidelines for the use and transfer of OCLC-derived records, including the purpose of OCLC; the legal basis of copyrighting; technological change; compilation copyright; rationale for copyright of the OCLC database; impact on libraries; impact on networks; and relationships between OCLC and libraries. A…

A critique of some hallowed assumptions about library cooperative efforts is presented. (Author)