Distinguishes between managers (administrators) and leaders (innovators) and argues that while managers outnumber leaders in most organizations, new leaders are essential if organizations are to move into the future. Defines leadership and discusses leadership qualities in libraries, instruction librarians and leadership, collaborative leadership…

Applies the cognitive system engineering approach to investigate human-work interaction at a corporate setting. Reports preliminary analysis of data collected from diary analysis and interview of 20 subjects. Results identify three dimensions for each of four interactive activities involved in human-work interaction and their relationships.…

Discussion of changes in society that have resulted from information and communication technologies focuses on changes in libraries and a new market for library services with new styles of clients. Highlights client service issues to be considered when transitioning to a virtual library situation. (Author/LRW)

Discusses accessibility to library Web sites to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and examines guidelines being developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative for building Web sites that are accessible to people with disabilities. Topics include degradation; meaning versus structure; content structure; and testing for…

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 the Alexandria Digital Earth Prototype (ADEPT), part of the Alexandria Digital Library at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Describes a classroom evaluation of system use by faculty and students, and a laboratory-based usability study that investigates users' mental models of ADEPT and student learning. (Contains 29…

Provides preliminary information about patterns of access and use of Questia, a commercial online collection of 35,000 electronic scholarly monographs in the humanities and social sciences. Analyzes search logs and page view logs to determine characteristics of the search queries and browsing within titles. (Author/LRW)

Includes four articles that discuss digital technology and indigenous communities. Highlights include digitization of cultural resources; cultural instantiation in electronic media; partnerships; the needs of indigenous groups; library school students' service-based learning experiences in creating a virtual library for a tribal village; and…

Presents a framework for analyzing and evaluating digital reference services based on systems analysis. Focuses on existence of a public archive, content, selectivity, safeguards for privacy, access, browsability and searchability, and relationship to frequently asked questions and other site content. (Author/LRW)

Explores the role of the librarian and of the service perspective in the digital library environment. The focus of the article is limited to the topic of librarian/user collaboration when the user is in a remote location, including video-based reference services and the use of electronic mail. (Author/LRW)

Considers how privacy issues related to online profiling affect library patrons and what librarians should do to protect them. Discusses the need for a privacy policy and provides guidelines from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) privacy statement generator that can be adapted for libraries. (LRW)

In this column, the author relates his experiences in the use of library technology over his 20-year career at Vanderbilt University. He describes how computers in libraries have transformed almost every aspect of how the library provides its services and performs its work behind the scenes. In addition, the author shares a few successful…

Since technology is so expensive, making the wrong purchasing decisions can have severe financial consequences. The purpose of this article is to describe three technology decisions that failed to achieve their original intent. For each of the three, the author's discuss the expectations of the chief information officer, the vendor's sales pitch,…

The resurgence of interest in e-books, who uses them, and where the technology is headed were among the issues discussed March 16 at the eBooks in the Public Library Conference in New York, sponsored by the Open eBook Forum (OeBF). Roughly 200 librarians, publishers, and vendors braved a winter squall to share their expertise and experiences.…