As America entered the information age, libraries were no longer being pictured as a vital part of family life. Instead, technology became the critical resource for a middle-class family. In addition, state and national accountability and assessment initiatives forced school library media specialists (SLMSs) to demonstrate that the school library…

While the need for a data retention policy is rapidly becoming clear to schools, little guidance is available for crafting one. Most schools depend on backup and recovery plans that generally focus on individual servers or devices. However, retention policies also need to focus on the type of data contained on those servers and how it will be…

Promoting services is a conundrum for any organization. This is especially true for an academic library promoting distance library services. Systems thinking, process mapping, team learning, and diffusion of information practices offer ways of thinking about promoting services that help those involved find novel ways to approach promoting distance…

As blogging software has grown increasingly user-friendly, many libraries are employing blogs to make their web presence as inviting and interactive as their bricks-and-mortar counterpart. Libraries are reaping the rewards, too: well-written, frequently updated public blogs help librarians relate to their patrons, generate support for new building…

Enriching and supplementing storytelling programs with fingerplays, flannelboards, and other props will be a cinch thanks to this generous sampling of art and craft ideas, songs, and action rhymes. This time-saving resource includes: (1) Thematic organization to make program planning easy; (2) Recommended books for each theme; (3) Easy-to-follow…

Based on the IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions) Library Buildings and Equipment Section's Library Building Guidelines published in 2007, this short publication summarises the key points to take into consideration when designing a new or refurbished library building. The aim of the brochure is not to replace…

This descriptive research study examined principal support of collaboration in Georgia schools designated as having exemplary library media programs from the perspective of media specialists, classroom teachers and principals. A pilot study generated a survey instrument to be used for the exemplary school media program study. The literature on…

In this article, the authors provide an overview of what can be expected at the AASL 14th National Conference and Exhibition. The Conference Committee and AASL staff have focused on designing a conference to help all school library media specialists with the implementation of the new standards, raising the level of learning in school library media…

The job of a teacher-librarian is to connect all students to reading, writing, information, and literacy in all its wonderful forms. A writing challenge is a teacher-librarian's chance to encourage students to inform and entertain the community in an introspective and artistic manner. A school-wide challenge to write is a chance most students have…

"It's a recession, baby!" was the common refrain among the Library and Information Science (LIS) graduates of the class of 2008. This was a record year for the number of graduates participating in "Library Journal"'s annual Placements & Salaries survey, and they had stories to tell, providing evidence of both hard times in the job market, and some…

Creating a tendency for their students to act in a certain manner under a given circumstance is exactly what library media specialists are about. This is something they do teach. They have two main purposes as library media specialists. One purpose is to create and support the love of literature. A second purpose is to develop ethical users of…

This article describes the process of producing "Snow Soup"--the 2009 Adobe Flash animation produced by the Computer Game Development and Animation seniors of Washington County Technical High School in Hagerstown, Maryland, for libraries in their area. In addition to the Flash product, the students produced two related Game Maker games, a printed…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the features that international student users prefer for next generation OPACs. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 16 international students of the University of Sheffield were interviewed in July 2008 to explore their preferences among potential features in next generation OPACs. A…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Web 2.0 provides an exciting set of tools for librarians to help their students become more information-literate. Design/methodology/approach: Recently, information overload and Web 2.0 have led librarians to adopt practices labelled as Library 2.0. Information literacy can be the key to…

Parent volunteers can be an important asset to a well-run school library. Parent volunteers are that extra pair of hands and extra eyes. Monotonous and even tedious tasks can be accomplished quickly by people searching for ways to spend a little time with adult conversation while providing a benefit to their children. And eventually they can…