As part of its bicentennial celebration, the Library of Congress is sponsoring the Local Legacies project, an unprecedented effort in which Americans across the nation work with their members of Congress to document unique traditions for the collections of the American Folklife Center. Libraries will have a critical role in directing documentation…

Suggests that librarians should include street newspapers, produced by homeless people and their advocates, in their collections. Discusses characteristics and features of these newspapers and describes different papers from cities across the United States. (AEF)

Describes the jail library program of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office (ACSO), Englewood, Colorado. Discusses the regular jail library services and the new "Choose Freedom Read" program in which librarians from the local public library give book talks describing some 20 titles to groups of 10 to 20 prisoners. (AEF)

Discusses the use of distance education for library education courses based on experiences at the University of Illinois. Topics include the importance of real-time interaction; the availability of technical support; requiring some on-campus time; and the suitability of distance education for youth services and school librarianship courses. (LRW)

This study examined library Web sites of historically black colleges and universities to determine whether they disseminated information and provided services to users. Compared black college library Web sites with other library sites and found that most black library sites only provide basic information about the library and its collections.…

Discusses creating and managing an effective library Web site aimed at teenagers. Topics include omitting links to sites teens already know about; links to book review sites where teens can post their own comments; links to local sites; regular updating; use of graphics; and involving teens in the process. (LRW)

Discusses customer service in libraries and the tendency to rely on past experiences rather than meet the needs and opportunities in today's changing electronic environment. Suggests that libraries focus on the users, create a climate that supports change, continuously survey the environment, and redirect resources. (LRW)

Discusses how libraries can gather data on the use of their Web sites. Highlights include Web server log files, including the common log file, referrer log file, and agent log file; log file limitations; privacy concerns; and choosing log analysis software, both free and commercial. (LRW)

Discusses practical aspects of measuring service performance in academic libraries. Outlines the local indicators developed and used in a library at the University of New South Wales. Lists quantitative and qualitative measures of information service used and proposes a meta-indicator that relates the resources needed to develop and maintain these…

Examines issues of knowledge management within academic libraries and how reference librarians can become more effective as information intermediaries. Describes the common knowledge database (CKDB) developed at Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus to more fully integrate libraries on campus and to facilitate the use and management of…

Describes the use of docents at the Denver Public Library and explains how to develop a successful volunteer docent program. Discusses their educational background; duties, including training patrons in computer use; cooperation of and acceptance by the professional staff; administrative support; and improved customer service. (LRW)

Describes types and functions of student contact points in distance education, including academic counseling and library services; proposes a contouring and catchment method to determine the concentration of registered students and prospective candidates; and applies the method to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for strengthening…

A survey of British adult students returning to education found they lacked basic as well as information literacy skills and have difficulty with information retrieval and use of learning resource centers. Partnerships between adult educators as facilitators and librarians as teachers are needed. (SK)

Discusses the use of OCLC to improve library service in Illinois and emphasizes library cooperation through LVIS (Libraries Very Interested in Sharing) and Group Access Capability (GAC) groups. Topics include interlibrary loan; union lists; resource sharing agreements; and the role of the Illinois State Library. (LRW)

A young adult librarian describes how he brought the touring cast of the musical, "RENT," to the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Public Library to introduce teenagers to musical theatre. Discussion includes the initial contact process; planning the event; publicity; catering; the tremendous turn-out; and tips for arranging such a cast visit. (AEF)