Explores the ways in which librarians keep up to date through the use of professional literature. Several current awareness services--bulletins, newsletters, table of contents services, bibliographies, and book reviews--are described, and the role of the popular library press is discussed. It is concluded that a more coherent current awareness…

Outlines the general techniques of Guttman scale analysis and briefly describes its uses in social science research. To illustrate the potential application to library science, a Guttman scale of restrictiveness in dealing with overdue books is developed and data from a 1986 survey of public libraries are fitted into the scale. (23 references)…

Reviews the history and development of "The Message of the Library," the journal of the Jordan Library Association. Discusses reasons for the journal's success in terms of economics, finance, intellect, and content. Concludes that library journals in developing countries can survive if there is effective management and support from the…

Argues that for librarianship to become the information profession in a changing society, the continuing education environment for librarians must be strengthened. Proposes that, rather than recruiting new blood, professional education must focus on developing skilled continuing education practitioners and develop strategies to ensure the…

Argues that public school libraries must evolve and adapt to a changing educational and information environment if they are to survive. Defines four stages--reactive, proactive, curricular, creative--in the spiral of evolution from controlled collections to the creative learning center that provides multimedia resource opportunities for the…

Discusses the new sociology of education and suggests applications to current research and practice in the field of librarianship. Connections of librarianship to dominant political, social, and economic trends are stressed, and the need for library research to study those connections is emphasized. (78 references) (LRW)

Presents a model of four factors differentiating significant from routine research--behavioral patterns of problem formulation, economic analyses of information seeking, psychological schemes of optimal effort, and basic dilemmas of the theory-practice gap. Within this context, four myths dominating the research process in library and information…

Discusses faculty status for librarians and criteria for achieving tenure based on experiences at the University of Colorado Libraries at Boulder. Highlights include factors affecting librarians' ability to achieve tenure; and characteristics of librarianship as they relate to the faculty model, including cooperative practices and the hierarchical…

Analyzes 595 articles in 21 core library instruction journals published between 1977 and 1991 to test the theory that the number of research studies in bibliographic instruction is increasing. Research articles were classed by research method employed, subject studied, and library type. Results showed that the number of research articles increased…

Argues that differing career aspirations among academic librarians may be addressed through a two-track system: one track for occupational librarians, who choose not to pursue higher career goals; and the second for professional librarians who continue to pursue their education and take on greater responsibilities. (EA)

Sketches a scenario describing the possible future of primary records in libraries. Describes the demands that scholars might place on librarians as the demand for access to information stored in varied formats accelerates. Provides survey results regarding the importance of primary records to humanists. (HB)

Explicates the statement, "Results of most non-traditional authorship studies are not universally accepted as definitive." Lists and discusses six problems associated with these studies, and suggests a similar number of solutions. Argues that future nontraditional attribution studies must be held to a higher standard of competency and…

Discussion of librarians' training for teaching user education focuses on experiments at the University of North Texas in providing resources and empowering education for librarians and staff members who teach. The use of computer-based education principles and Ranganathan's laws of library science are explained. (Author/LRW)

This article provides an overview of the development of tribal libraries, the events that have affected them, and their status today. Issues of recruiting and retaining Native American/Alaska Natives within the profession are discussed with suggestions for successful strategies. (Contains 31 references.) (Author)

This guest editorial discusses the underrepresentation of community colleges in the literature on academic libraries/librarianship. Highlights include the roots of the problem, why this research is important, overcoming barriers, and sources of support. (Contains 6 references.) (MES)