Maintains that managers of libraries operated by for-profit organizations must seek to cultivate the perception and appearance that cost-benefit to the sponsor exists, even if unsupportable in an accounting sense. (Author/JD)

Discusses the importance of the role of librarians in the educational process. The value-added concept is applied to librarians, and requirements in terms of accreditation for school librarians and federal standards for school libraries and librarians are advocated. (MES)

This examination of the position of the special library and its services in the corporate setting highlights reasons why libraries are often taken for granted, library's role in corporate financial calculations, generalizations concerning librarian characteristics, and situations that may indicate trouble for a library that is not serving its…

Discusses several pitfalls that face corporate special librarians, including: defining the library role; management control; decentralization; budgeting; user expectations; purchasing control; organizational propaganda; reporting; clerical staffing; and end-user searching. (five references) (MES)

This final column by Herbert White addresses his concerns with the professional objectives of librarians and how librarians are perceived and treated. Highlights include the users' need for librarians; the role of the American Library Association in supporting libraries more often than librarians; and stressing institutions rather than people.…

Argues that the inability or refusal of librarians to define their own mission has resulted in school libraries without professional staff, academic libraries perceived as warehouses, and public libraries that fluctuate with society's whims. The premise that saving the library is a primary concern, regardless of the quality of the institution, is…

Argues that providing end users with more information does not really address their problems and, in fact, does not even identify them. Topics discussed include the growth of information technology, reasons for the decline in the number of reference librarians, roles of libraries, and the importance of information intermediaries. (MES)

Six essays addressing the provision of online search services in academic libraries highlight passing on costs, academic library turf, current and future funding (on and off campus), a healthy competition, the future role of libraries, charges to users, end user searching, and online information. References are provided. (EJS)

Discusses expectations of public library reference service and the reality of what librarians can provide amid declining resources. Suggests reference librarians should define the gap between potential and reality in reference service, and inform the customers about how little money it would take to provide better service. Argues that librarians…

Discusses the role of librarians as information intermediaries and suggests that this role be emphasized instead of encouraging enduser searching that relegates librarians to the role of advisor or consultant. Highlights include librarians' roles in public education; reference services; academic librarians; and the appropriate use of technology.…

Categorizes corporate libraries as service organizations and discusses organizational funding of libraries and the responsibility of the librarian within this context. The use of program budgets as negotiated contracts between the library and the organization in response to budget cuts is described. (CLB)