Academic libraries are flocking to online social networking sites in an effort to meet users where they are. Pinterest is the latest of these rapidly growing online social networking tools. The author of this article reports results from a survey on academic libraries' presence on Pinterest. The survey found most academic library pinboards are in…

The paper describes the theory and definition of the practice of librarianship, specifically addressing how Web 2.0 technologies (tools) such as synchronous messaging, collaborative reference service and streaming media, blogs, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking tools, tagging, RSS feeds, and mashups might intimate changes and how…

"Sense of place" no longer applies only to the physical library. All students are distance learners to one extent or another, and all distance services must be considered as a single virtual learning commons. Librarians at Bucks County (PA) Community College implement and integrate current teaching, learning, virtual reference, and mobile access…

Today's academic libraries must demonstrate their value to cost-conscious university administrators. Budget trade-off decisions that involve the library can be difficult for any university administrator to make, and such decisions are complicated by the recent appearance of massive global digital libraries that seem poised to replace the…

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…

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…

There is a growing interest in making available and making sense of the data on the Web and trapped in databases. Rather than a web of unstructured documents, full of information understandable only to humans, there is a movement whose intention is to make these data structured, reusable, machine-readable, and interrelated. This approach to Web…

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…

The Indiana Seminar on Information Networks (ISIN) was the result of the realization that many Indiana librarians were not fully aware of the benefits of library networking and were not really using the Indiana TWX network to its fullest advantage. In addition, it was felt that the statewide TWX arrangement and its available services needed more…

The proposed Minnesota Computer-Aided Library System will provide a basis for the unification of developing programs of library services for academic, research, and public libraries in Minnesota. This report outlines the requirements for the proposed system to automate the University of Minnesota Libraries and to provide automated support via…

Integrated Online Library Systems (IOLS) focuses exclusively on the issues of planning and managing automated systems in libraries and information centers. The theme of the IOLS '98 annual meeting is "Embrace and Extend," and 18 papers were selected for presentation that provide insight into the current technologies being "embraced" in libraries.…

Integrated Online Library Systems (IOLS) focuses exclusively on the issues of planning and managing automated systems in libraries and information centers. The theme of the 1994 IOLS annual meeting was "Coordinating Access to Multiple Systems," and 29 papers were selected for presentation that provide insight into the current…

Discussion of the role of new computer communications technologies in education focuses on modern networking systems, including fiber distributed data interface and Integrated Services Digital Network; strategies for implementing networked-based communication; and public online information resources for the classroom, including Bitnet, Internet,…

Policies and procedures are outlined for the Online Database Information Network (ODIN), a cooperative of libraries in south-central Pennsylvania, which was organized to improve library services through technology. The first section covers organization and goals, members, and responsibilities of the administrative council and libraries. Patrons…