The Assembly of Associations meets annually at the International Association of School Librarianship Conference (IASL) to exchange "grassroots" information about developments in school librarianship in the various countries around the world. Individuals were given questions that focused on: significant achievements in school library…

This paper outlines the challenges and opportunities for the services of the Japanese National Diet Library (NDL), especially the Research and Legislative Reference Bureau by using a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. The introduction lists the major goals of the NDL's reform. The second section discusses the NDL's…

Presents a conceptual framework for digital library development and discusses how to move from isolated digital collections to interoperable digital libraries. Topics include a history of digital libraries; user-centered architecture; stages of technological development; standards, including metadata; and best practices. (Author/LRW)

Suggests that the virtual library is an impossibility and the ideal of an all-encompassing solution is unrealistic. Current roles of libraries as places for personal enrichment and places to learn more about things will merge with the new technologies to make the library a constantly evolving institution. (JKP)

Describes the Perseus Project, a Harvard University-based effort to develop a hypermedia library of text and images concerning classical Greece. Explores the role of naturalistic inquiry (NI) in the Project. Reports that NI has helped researchers uncover unanticipated demands upon instructors, students, and developers in working with hypermedia.…

Discusses issues of preservation of and access to library materials from a historical perspective, based on a story by Washington Irving. Topics addressed include the founding of the Astor Library, early access and service problems, preservation issues and remedies, and new definitions of access. (14 references) (LRW)

The work of diversity in libraries begins at the crossroad where superiority, inaction, and denial become intolerable. The paradoxes involved present questions that serve as teachable moments or paralyzing hurdles. Once at the crossroads, however, there are systematic strategies and operating principles for bringing significance, meaning, and…

E-Books are books or other forms of text in digital form, an enhanced book without paper and at little or no cost, technologies that are already available at most schools can be used to expand the library media center's collection of books, at the same time making many books more accessible to students. Many tools are available for free to convert…

Students at Middletown High School are not turning to Google as their main source of information. Cecelia Freda, Middletown's head librarian, was responsible for making sure that students learn the basics of research. Before Freda's arrival at Middletown, most of the school's students were clueless about anything having to do with library. Now,…

This report describes the planning and design process for the University of Rhode Island Library's new map room, which was undertaken as part of a library expansion and renovation program. The first of the report's three major sections describes how equipment was selected for the map room and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of three…

This report offers a case study in the advantages and disadvantages of depository libraries, their economics, and the practical and political issues associated with their creation. As director of the library at Amherst College, the author played a key role in establishing the initial off-site storage facility, as well as in broadening its service…

Assesses the collections of Nigerian university libraries by comparing them to those of their peers in other African and British universities. Discusses the impact of the World Bank Loan Project on resuscitating Nigerian university libraries. Strategies for maintaining adequacy and relevance of the collections for the 21st century are recommended.…

Describes the development of Books for Africa, an organization that solicits donations of books in the United States and sends them to Africa, largely to school libraries, to improve literacy rates, increase library holdings, and build library shelves. Other organizations that donate books are also listed. (LRW)

Library book vendors are facing new realities in the 21st century. Changes in continuations, firm order placement, value-added services, approval plans, retrospective collection development, and database creation and maintenance are being effected in an effort to keep current customers and attract new ones. Those changes and the subsequent shift…

In the most effective schools, the potential for positive impact of the school library media center and the library media specialist is recognized, and teachers and media specialists work together routinely to support teaching and learning. This "Informed Educator" examines both the elements of an effective school library media center and the…