Explains the benefits of pediatric literacy programs. Discusses forming partnerships, training volunteers, role of the children's librarian in building coalitions with community organizations, fundraising and free publicity, and working with doctors' busy schedules. Includes addresses and phone numbers for the "Born to Read" and "Reach Out and…

Reviews design factors to consider when planning library media centers. Highlights include planning teams; planning for more than one kind of learning; considering community as well as school use; planning for existing technology rather than future possibilities; considering ease of supervision; traffic patterns; lighting and sound damping; and…

Describes a program developed at Winona Middle School (Minnesota) to integrate the state standard for information literacy into the curriculum. Explains the role of the school library media specialist and discusses the final product which is a student portfolio, a HyperStudio multimedia presentation that incorporates the newly acquired skills.…

Discusses the role of the school library media specialist in student assessment. Topics include guidelines in "Information Power" (1998, American Library Association); formative and summative assessment; the role of classroom teachers and students; collaboration between teachers and media specialists; and the evaluation of…

Assesses the publication impact of a digital library of aerospace scientific and technical information through usage statistics and citation analysis. Examines the Langley Technical Report Server available on the World Wide Web, compares usage with the hardcopy distribution center, and suggests retrieval analysis as a complementary metric to…

Libraries' dependence on computers can lead to frustrations for patrons and staff during downtime caused by computer system failures. Advice for reducing the number of crashes is provided, focusing on improved training for systems staff, better management of library systems, and the development of computer systems using quality components which…

Considers how to address the topic of diversity in library and information science education, based on six possible scenarios that address situations dealing with proportional representation in library collections, minority recruitment, stereotypes, English-only policies, affirmative action, and immigrants. (LRW)

Describes the creation and testing of an online prototype, end-user database selection tool developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Discusses identifying computer-assisted techniques for guiding users to the most suitable databases for their information needs; improving user services; and improving ease of access to…

Presents the semiannual annotated bibliography of a selection of recent scholarly and general reference works in the areas of philosophy, religion, literature, games, music, art, political science, sociology, women's studies, history and area studies, geography, and new editions. (Author/LRW)

Discussion of the reorganization of the national higher education system by the Australian government focuses on a questionnaire distributed to university librarians that examined quality assurance processes and management. Topics include quality indicators and libraries; methodologies, including Total Quality Management; allocation of quality…

Describes the development of a team-teaching approach to course-integrated bibliographic instruction between a marketing professor and a government documents librarian. A profile of the workshops that each focus on possible real-world scenarios is included, and results of students' evaluations are discussed. (LRW)

Explains North Dakota's telecommunications infrastructure which is particularly suited to rural areas and low population communities. Topics include an information network of multitype libraries; distance learning for elementary and secondary education; local library networks; Interactive Video Network; educational telecommunications; public…

Describes how systems librarian-related mailing lists are used by information professionals. Examination of 12 selected mailing lists and their geographic distribution reveals a great gap existing between developing and developed countries, with the United States in the dominant position. Knowledge background, technical limitations, and language…

Traces the development of information retrieval/services and suggests that the creation of large digital libraries seems inevitable. Examines possibilities for increasing electronic access and the role of artificial intelligence. Highlights include: searching full text; sending full texts; selective dissemination of information (SDI) profiling and…

Describes a research project in the social studies curriculum at St. Paul Academy and Summit School (Minnesota) during which students visit a university library. Objectives for student research are: to select a topic, design a thesis statement, locate pertinent primary and secondary resources, and write a well-documented, analytical research…