Examines 11 electronic research journals for accessibility to users with visual or mobility impairments and suggests that librarians need to consider accessibility issues. Discusses the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act (1998); usability and universal design; accessibility errors; following links; browser compatibility;…

Discusses how to make a college library the center of campus activity, explaining how to find the proper balance of technology and tradition (e.g., harnessing new media to teach critical thinking skills, having library staff assume primary responsibility for providing information literacy training, training students to use print as well as…

Institutional, environmental, personal, and social barriers to public library use can be tackled with a community needs approach. Library programs focused on information and knowledge, empowerment, and capacity building can promote social change. (SK)

Discusses recent trends in information literacy and instruction. Topics include the emergence of standards and guidelines; standards in elementary and secondary schools; accreditation standards, certification, and mandates; defining what librarians do, particularly as teachers; plagiarism, copyright, and ethical behavior; and the impact of…

Introduces concepts, such as evidence-based medicine and best practices, explores these concepts in terms of addiction treatment, discusses practice guidelines, offers suggestions to find and select science-based resources, and explores the librarian's or information specialist's role in the dissemination of this information. (LRW)

Explains how to conduct an information audit for an established corporate library that will be useful to determine whether any changes are needed. Highlights include establishing goals; obtaining management support; deciding whether to hire consultants; and possible techniques, including interviews, focus groups, and surveys. (LRW)

Examines factors that have contributed to the development of measures that can determine the impact of library services, including evaluation approaches, demands for public sector accountability, and government activities aimed at determining service outcomes. Discusses impacts of community information services based on a study by the Institute of…

Discussion of spirituality in schools focuses on Native American images, especially as used for school mascots and product marketing. Includes various resources, both electronic and printed, that are helpful to school library media specialists as well as other educators. (LRW)

Describes how the Robin Hood foundation has teamed with architects to ensure that New York City's 650 schools have comprehensive and modern libraries. Offers brief descriptions of the first six library designs resulting from this public-private partnership. (EV)

Describes the development of a manual participative game that was designed to demonstrate the functions of a database. Use of the game in a variety of academic contexts is discussed, including technical college students and degree students; and use of the data with software to create a database is described. (LRW)

Describes a new signature file method, called the multiorganizational scheme, for accessing information from large databases containing both formatted and free-text data. Implementation issues are discussed, and computational results based on a mathematical model are presented, as well as results using a library database. (43 references) (MES)

Examines the factors affecting the flow of information from international organizations to users in libraries. The types of materials generated are described, and the positive and negative factors affecting information flow in eight specific agencies are discussed. The issue of public access to international organization databases is also…

Discusses the need for cooperation between librarians and architects during the design of library facilities. The balance between the character of a building and its ability to adequately meet actual needs is discussed, and it is suggested that librarians should concern themselves with the smallest details of the design process. (CLB)

Reports the success rates of reference question answering as perceived by librarians and patrons in 36 public libraries. The discussion covers relationships between question answering success rates and factors such as time and effort spent on questions, reference resources and environment, communication difficulties, and type and source of…

Discussion of the future of libraries and librarians focuses on the effects of the information explosion and new technology. The topics considered include the information industry, electronic publishing, and the role of libraries. The importance of professional librarians in determining developments in library services is stressed. (eight…