A recent "New York Times" article heralded a film documentary whose subject was a competition in which the entrants vied for the title of "one of the best craftsmen of France." The film spotlights the competition between pastry chefs--French pastry chefs--who come from all over France to compete. It's a microcosm of larger…

This article analyzes the aging of academic librarians and the potential shortage of librarians to replace those who are retiring. Recent statistics indicate that the exodus of retiring librarians may not be as severe as predicted several years ago. Recent articles show potential benefits as new librarians enter the workforce in large numbers to…

John Fiske (1842-1901) was an American historian, philosopher, lecturer, and prolific author. Renowned as a popularizer of evolutionary theory, Fiske rubbed elbows with Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer. From 1872-79 he served as Assistant Librarian at Harvard University, occupied mainly with what is known today as "Technical Services," i.e.,…

Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates that programs and services be accessible to people with disabilities. While schools of library and information science (SLIS*) and university libraries should model accessible Web sites, this may not be the case. This article examines previous studies about the Web accessibility of…

S. R. Ranganathan's five laws of library science, originally published in 1931, provide the basis for reflections on current trends in academic libraries.

This study investigated the post-master's educational needs and interests of information professionals. The population for the study consisted of members of the library associations of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario, Canada. About 78 percent of the respondents held a master's degree in library science, 22 percent a master's degree in another…