Activities in 2006 pointed to strategic shifts in library automation. The dynamics of the business environment changed rapidly from a fragmented industry to a highly consolidated one. Though the integrated library system (ILS) continues to represent the largest portion of revenue, products that deal with electronic content and deliver better…

In the past, it took the library staff of the University of Bath in United Kingdom around two weeks each autumn to produce cards for the main intake of its undergraduates. In this article, the author describes how he transformed the school's traditional library card production into a low-cost self-service system. He also describes how the new…

In little more than a decade, Web sites have become integral to many digital library collections and services. Even if a Web site is not the destination point for an information resource, library users often interact with Web sites in the process of searching for and discovering online collections and services. If a user is looking to find and…

From the ascendance of the reference database and web sites offering endless opportunities for cyber-promotion to the crowds swarming through the doors to avail themselves of new computers, the Internet has transformed the way public libraries do business. That is not news. What is exciting, though, is how the Internet continues to change public…

For years, patrons have been able to access library services from home and in the library building, but in the world of Google, Yahoo, YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, library web sites and catalogs are too often not the first place people go to look for information. The innovative use of toolbars could change this. Toolbars have been popular for…

Media specialists today are required to use more and more technology. Their responsibilities encompass everything from repairing overhead projectors to administrating an entire library's automated system. These responsibilities are in addition to working with students on research and information literacy, making book selections, and collaborating…

LCDF (Library Collection Distribution Formulas) is a modular, interactive, user-friendly applications and instructional software package designed to help librarians determine the placement and calculate the distribution of book collections and book sequences in a library, prior to physical collection movement. LCDF is written in UCSD (University…

Reference librarians at Georgia Institute of Technology provide computerized reference service through the Georgia Information Dissemination Center. (PF)

The development of a terminal and the adaptation of bar-coded labels for the University of Chicago on-line circulation system are described. (PF)

Based on a directive from the National Advisory Board of Canada, this paper provides a set of definitions and guidelines which Canadian libraries may choose to use in negotiating their contracts with database suppliers, vendors, and other information and bibliographic services. The report is intended to: (1) provide a basis for understanding and…

Some recently established national programs for serials automation are evaluated from the point of view of the practicing librarian. (Author/PF)

This bibliography dealing with the future of libraries and librarians is divided into three parts: (1) "Trends in Education," with 17 citations, 10 of which are annotated; (2) "The New Copyright Law: How Will it Affect Library Service?," which contains 17 citations including laws and senate reports; (3) "Library Automation and Reader Services,"…

The minutes of this meeting provide the texts of the seven addresses given during the program sessions, as well as the discussions that followed each session: C. Lee Jones, "Bibliographic Service Development Program"; Henriette D. Avram, "The Role of the Library of Congress in National Planning for Bibliographic Control"; James F. Govan,…

Various predictions are being made about the future of library technology, but many of these are "paper dragons"--exciting and plausible, but made without real consideration of need or of the possibility of implementation. A review of many such forecasts makes it possible to develop criteria for a logical and credible prediction:…