A hundred years after Marie Curie received her Nobel Prize in Chemistry, this arm of science is pointing the way to a more sustainable future. Growing movements like green chemistry, which strives to create alternative and new chemical reactions that produce no harmful waste products, and molecular engineering hold great potential for industry,…

Over 2000 participants made the daylong programming at the "Library Journal"/"School Library Journal" Virtual Ebook Summit, September 29, a robust conversation and not just within the summit interface but also in tweets with the #ebooksummit hashtag (and beyond) and in libraries across the country where participants logged in to take part. The…

In a year where the general economy presented enormous challenges, libraries continued to make investments in automation, especially in products that help improve what and how they deliver to their end users. Access to electronic content remains a key driver. In response to anticipated needs for new approaches to library automation, many companies…

The days when marketing was thought to be posters and fliers is over. In today's world, marketing is at the core of every transaction, from checkout and customer interaction to story times and buildings themselves. A brand is a promise one makes to his or her customer, and a promise that is unified, consistent, and believable can help ensure that…

There is no doubt the library world is in a dilemma about Dewey, but the system is hardly dead. In his 2007 book, Everything Is Miscellaneous, David Weinberger said bluntly, "It can't be fixed." In spite of that, Dewey is currently the most widely used classification system in the world, employed in 138 countries by over 200,000…

On January 19, 2009, the day before his historic inauguration, President Obama and his wife, Michelle, commemorated Martin Luther King Day by volunteering for various community service projects around the Washington, DC, area. A record number of Americans also participated in the King Day of Service, joining in over 13,000 projects, more than…

Library advocacy in one of two directions is the top priority of both Camila Alire and J. Linda Williams, the candidates campaigning to capture the 2009-10 term as president of the American Library Association (ALA). Alire, dean emeritus of the libraries of both the University of New Mexico and Colorado State University, will push for enhancements…

This article presents findings from the "Library Journal's" Job Satisfaction Survey among 3,095 library staffers from public, academic, special, and school libraries. A whopping 85.6 percent of the respondents said they would choose a career in librarianship again if they had to start over. Workers in all types of libraries--and across…

Despite a difficult economy and tightening budgets, both jobs and salaries rose for 2007 graduates. Echoing the previous year's growth, reported annual salaries increased approximately 3.1%, from $41,014 in 2006 to $42,361. The picture was most positive for graduates in the Southeast, whose average annual starting salary surged past the $40,000…

In this, the sixth year of recording academic library building data, it is possible to begin a yearly appraisal of change, progress or decline by comparison with the five-year base data published last year. (Author/NH)

The fourth annual statistical survey of the year's work in college and university library architecture. (Author)

Building data is given for the following academic libraries: (1) Rosary College, River Forest, Illinois; (2) Abilene Christian College, Abilene, Texas; (3) University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California. (MF)

Describes six trends in current library facilities design, whether for new buildings or renovations: self-service and operational efficiency; flexibility and technology integration; green/sustainable buildings that use the natural environment; collaboration between public and school/college libraries; aesthetics; and customizing to the local…

A 1976 study of the feasibility of combining school and public libraries investigates effects on services and strengths, weaknesses, and problems. Conclusions are based on responses to a questionnaire from 55 libraries with combined facilities in the United States. (KP)

Examines changes in periodicals costs and the effect of electronic journals and other issues on future costs and budgeting for libraries. Eleven tables reflect cost trends by subject and by country. Sidebars present price trends and cost projections for periodicals in public, school, and academic libraries. (AEF)