The job of the contemporary reference librarian has a virtual component unimaginable a generation ago. Today's library professional can obtain an MLS (or equivalent) online with a minimal residency requirement. Not only the degree, but also library sources, and indeed patrons, have become virtual. Both books and periodicals can be consulted by…

We compiled a geo-referenced bibliography of research including theses, peer-reviewed articles, agency literature, and books having sample collection sites in and around Coos Bay, Oregon. Using Google Earth and GeoCommons we created a map that allows users such as visiting researchers, faculty, students, and local agencies to identify previous…

Librarians have long struggled to find user-friendly mediums to provide meaningful information to patrons using bibliographies, pathfinders, and subject guides with varying degrees of success. Content management systems, such as Springshare's LibGuides, have recently been developed to facilitate the creation of online subject guides. Special…

This article provides a brief history of the development of library subject guides (often referred to as pathfinders) from the late 1800s to the present. During this period, subject guides have changed both their focus and format. The needs of academic institutions at the turn of the 20th century were very different than they are today, and…

This article presents an interview with Casper Grathwohl, VP and publisher of reference at Oxford University Press (OUP), regarding his background of reference publishing, his role in OUP, and his plans of moving on with Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO). Over the past 12 years, Grathwohl, has led a successful transition of the venerable…

The papers presented at a workshop on local documents sponsored by the Illinois State Library and the Illinois Library Association are published in this issue of "Illinois Libraries". The local documents under consideration are the publications of local governmental agencies and their subunits and any other items appropriate to a local…

A selection of recent scholarly and general works of interest to reference librarians in academic libraries. (Author/AP)

A guide to library services, management, and organization is offered to professionals in this comprehensive bibliography, written in Spanish, of approximately 2500 items. Published by the Universidad Nacional del Sur (The National University of the South) in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, the list covers books, articles, monographs, manuals, catalogs,…

This is a selective bibliography covering journal literature, trade publications, monographs, technical reports, and other documents which are readily available. The bibliography covers publications dated 1969 through 1971. Although material published in languages other than English was not actively sought, some references have been cited to call…

Eight papers are included in this report of the Preconference Institute on Library Automation, June 1973. Papers addressing automation in user services, cataloging systems, acquisitions systems, and personnel are presented. Other papers focus on a review of the trends in library automation and computer technology, innovative strategies in systems…

Recent Federal Court decisions have defined a prisoner's right to access to legal materials as an extension of his right of access to the courts. Correction administrators, recognizing the need for improvement of existing services, but unfamiliar with techniques and material requirements, have asked for help in meeting the new obligation. These…

The population of state and federal prisons quadrupled between 1971 and 1991, increasing demand for library resources. Outlines the history of prison libraries (1700s-1990s); discusses prison libraries and librarians, law collections, reference services, literacy programs, and funding; and provides a bibliography of prison librarianship covering…

Lists citations of publications from mid-1973 through 1977, grouped under such headings as overview and general, bibliographies, standards, specific systems, technical processing, acquisitions, cataloging and classification, the catalog, serials, circulation, interlibrary loan, reference services, special subject materials, minicomputer…

Designed to orient new staff members and also to provide a source of information for library patrons, this manual includes guidelines for the library services offered by the University of Massachusetts Library. Among those included are: desk service; interlibrary loan service; bibliographic services; reference correspondence; documents…

Brief reviews of recently published books, arranged by subject, comprise the main section of The Book Review.'' The Books to Come'' segment includes brief reviews of a few specially noted books and a comprehensive listing of scientific, technical, medical and business books. (1000 references) (DH)