The author describes the aptly-named "Better Beginnings" early childhood literacy project. Conducted by the State Library of Western Australia, sponsored by the WA State Government and Rio Tinto Limited, and closely monitored by Edith Cowan University, "Better Beginnings" has been successful from the outset, with proven…

East Tennessee State University has a diverse student population of approximately 12,500 students. Recent statistics have indicated that the student body is bypassing the physical library building, including reference services, and connecting to online sources from off campus. With only six public service librarians whose duties include…

College and university archivists face changes in their responsibilities that place at risk their ability to document the history of their institutions. Educational institutions that preserve, make known, and promote their history create a strong and lively institutional identity. This identity can be shaped and boosted through documenting…

This article presents an annotated selection of the most important and informative Internet resources for learning about quantum computing, finding quantum computing literature, and tracking quantum computing news. All of the quantum computing resources described in this article are freely available, English-language web sites that fall into one…

The U.S. government has sought to restrict the freedoms of its citizens in times of war from World War I to the present. The banners of fear, war, terrorism, and nationwide security placed constitutional rights under a renewed scrutiny. This paper will focus on the passage of laws that restrict academic and intellectual freedoms during war, and…

This paper focuses on the accessibility of North American library and library school Web sites for all users, including those with disabilities. Web accessibility data collected in 2006 are compared to those of 2000 and 2002. The findings of this follow-up study continue to give cause for concern: Despite improvements since 2002, library and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review consortia efforts in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach: This paper reviews the literature on library consortia in developing countries in general and India in particular. The paper also outlines the advantages and disadvantages of consortia. Findings: "Library consortia"…

Situated in a review of rural, cultural, and youth geographies, this article reports on a qualitative study of the role of reading and libraries in the lives of older rural teenagers. The primary method of data collection was the use of in-depth, flexibly structured interviews with twenty-seven youth between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years,…

With the creation of the Office of Scholarly Communication (OSC) in 1990, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) launched an initiative to focus widespread attention on the dysfunctions in the scholarly publishing system. Through the collection and dissemination of data documenting the serials crisis, a bias for action that led to the…

The principal's desk is a crowded place at the end of the year. Memos from the superintendent, school board meeting minutes, parent messages, and reports on many aspects of the school and its functions make the desk appear to be the school's dumping ground. Among these reports is the librarian's annual report--a summation of the year's goals,…

Library pathfinders are a time-tested method of leading library users to important resources. However, paper-based pathfinders suffer from space limitations, and both paper-based and Web-based pathfinders require frequent updates to keep up with new library acquisitions. This article details a step-by-step method to create an online dynamic…

Research libraries traditionally have focused their efforts on building local collections to support the research needs of their organizations and providing for the discovery and use of resources within these collections. The emergence in recent years of disciplinary and institutional digital repositories presents new challenges for research…

Purpose: This paper aims to provide information about various digital initiatives in libraries in Thailand and especially use of Dublin Core metadata in cataloguing digitized objects in academic and government digital databases. Design/methodology/approach: The author began researching metadata use in Thailand in 2003 and 2004 while on sabbatical…

Teacher education is a vital component of Eastern Washington University's (EWU) mission and history. In 2006, after several years of decline in collections and usage of its curriculum center, EWU Libraries made a commitment to transform it into a center for twenty-first century educators. The center has changed greatly in a short time with five…

In 2006, MIRACLE Project investigators censused library directors at all U.S. academic institutions about their activities planning, pilot testing, and implementing the institutional repositories on their campuses. Out of 446 respondents, 289 (64.8 percent) were from master's and baccalaureate institutions (M&BIs) where few operational…