Discussion of problems in library reference services focuses on the influence of gender roles. A historical overview of gender roles in the development of American librarianship is presented that highlights stereotyped views of and attitudes toward women, which the author suggests still have influences on librarianship today. (17 references) (LRW)

Discusses the closings of the University of Chicago Graduate Library School and Columbia University's School of Library Science. Topics addressed include faculty balance; feedback between library schools, the profession itself, and the outside world; market sensitivity; public versus private schools; and accreditation standards. (Three references)…

Discusses political and cultural battles over the role of a national library in France and the future direction and function of libraries in general. Uses accounts from the press to trace changes in the project as well as ways in which it influenced French librarianship. Contains 34 references. (Author/LRW)

This evaluation of Library Power for the international community is based on two questions: (1) What lessons can be learned from countries with different educational systems and can the international school library community utilize any part of the outcome of the Library Power project?; and (2) Are the questions that Library Power addressed…

Discusses S.R. Ranganathan's five laws (books are for use, every book its reader, every reader his or her book, save the time of the reader, the library is a growing organism) and updates them (libraries serve humanity, respect all forms of knowledge, use technology intelligently to enhance service, protect free access to knowledge, honor the past…

Describes teacher-librarianship programs at eight Canadian Universities that offer on-campus and/or distance education courses. For each university there is a description of the university, the university's programs, on-campus and/or distance education teacher-librarianship courses, and contact information for teacher-librarianship courses and…

Reflects on the outcomes of a project undertaken in 1997-98 and examines issues relating to the development of the managerial expertise that underpins the library and information services in Latin America and the Caribbean. Reviews the literature, summarizes results of surveys of schools of Librarianship and Information Sciences and a small…

This chronological bibliography of writings (1967-1999) by A.J. Meadows, astronomer, historian of science, and information scientist, is restricted to papers and book reviews on library and information science, publishing and scientific communication. It excludes works on the history of science and astronomy. It aims at completeness, though some…

Focuses on utilizing organizational theory in understanding the progress of constructing a new departmental identity in a former library and information science school that was merged with an education school. Findings indicate that members of the former library and information science school faced pressure both to become more like education and…

This sidebar points out that the field of library and information science is highly centrifugal and greatly in need of high-quality synthesis. Suggests that encouragement should be given to writers to handle existing claims, rather than gather new data, and that books should be written that organize whole segments of the field through some single…

Describes different conceptual foundations and orientations of the two major approaches to metadata: bibliographic-control approach (origins and major proponents in library science); and data-management approach (origins and major proponents in computer science). Examination of efforts to establish metadata standards and comparison of different…

Presents these special reports: "Information Age Dilemma: Filtering the Internet for Young People"; "KALIPER: A Look at Library and Information Science Education at the Turn of a New Century"; "Copyright 1998: Recalibrating the Balance"; "Library Networking and Cooperation in 1998". (AEF)

Examines whether the established and traditional norms and standards of public librarianship structure the way challenges such as market orientation and privatization are met and coped with, or whether these standards are losing their structuring power. Compares three metropolitan library systems representing three different levels of…

Presents results from a survey on the current state of digital library education in academic institutions. Examines the rationale and orientation for digital library education. Suggests several models that have emerged in the teaching of digital libraries and in incorporation of relevant topics into various curricula. (AEF)

Examines the status and scope of informetrics. Research in the field is selectively reviewed, drawing mainly from journal articles in English that have been published since the "ARIST" review of bibliometrics by H.D White & McCain (1989). Greater prominence is given to the informetric laws than to other topics. Finally, some very…