Fremont Rider's 1944 book, "The Scholar and the Future of the Research Library", had a major impact on research library thinking. The issues raised by Rider, such as research library economics, collection, acquisition and management policies, and library cooperation still resonate today, although his technology solutions have long since been…

Online library services have been mostly available uniquely in English. To serve the diverse communities that uses library services, a growing number of libraries have been investigating the ins and outs of offering virtual reference in languages other than English. Developing this kind of service in languages spoken by various library user groups…

Short on funding and IT staff, a Western Canada library struggled to provide adequate public computing resources. Staff turned to a Linux-based solution that supports up to 10 users from a single computer, and blends Web browsing and productivity applications with session management, Internet filtering, and user authentication. In this article,…

The "Leadership Role in Library Fund Raising" was selected as the program theme for the 120th meeting of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to call attention to the changing scene of fund raising in higher education. Session 1 set the stage with an overview of the leadership role of library fund raising in the context of the…

This paper describes the development from 1963 to 1986 of the Clark County (Nevada) Library District, which includes the rapidly growing urban area of Las Vegas. It notes that, besides responding successfully to a population growth of 330% over two decades, the system was also able to fulfill its original goal of developing local libraries that…

Examines the Amazon.com online bookstore as a blueprint for designing the world's largest library. Topics include selection; accessibility and convenience; quality of Web sites and search tools; personalized service; library collection development, including interlibrary loan; library catalogs and catalog records; a circulation system; costs;…

This article reports on a library renovation at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona which incurs complaints from professors and librarians about a shift from print to online materials. The $60-million project at Cal Poly is providing a difficult lesson in the challenges of library renovation, and in the changing role of one of the…

This article presents the findings of the 2006 School Library Journal-San Jose State University Automation Survey. The study takes a close look at the systems that media specialists are using, how they are using them, and what librarians want from their future automation programs. The findings reveal that while respondents were satisfied with…

The number of electronic resources has climbed up steadily in recent times. Some of these e-resources are reference sources, mostly in Science, Technology and Medicine (STM), which publishers convert to electronic for obvious reasons. The library budgets for materials usually have two main lines, budget for one time purchase (monographs) and…

This book provides an understanding of the history and development of school library media programming. The readings present both personal and objective perspectives on this topic. Contributors address not only the mission of the school library media program, but also how its realization has shaped and been shaped by professional organizations;…

In 1965, as the University of Akron (Ohio) was approaching its centennial, it was decided to create two archival programs. One was the University Archives, which preserves records and other items dealing with the history and development of the institution. A different approach, but one that was closely intertwined with the University Archives, was…

This survey documents activities of Urban Libraries Council member libraries in the areas of fund raising and financial development, and gathers examples of library bylaws, policies on the use of private and general funds money, and policies on gifts. Questionnaires were sent to 89 member libraries in September 1993, and 63 were returned. Findings…

This book is a biography of Melvil Dewey, the man behind the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Tracing Dewey's life and early influences that shaped it, the book explores Dewey's employment experiences, enterprises, and innovations and present a range of views on them; he was seen as an organizational genius but also as arrogant, manipulative,…

Educators need to teach the lessons of the Holocaust in order to demonstrate the consequences of racism carried to its most frightful extreme. This paper highlights autobiographies, diaries, journals, and first person narratives in children's and young adult libraries that can be included in library programs. Textbooks used in American schools are…

This report provides a statistical profile of state library agencies in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for state fiscal year 1994. The data were collected through the new State Library Agencies Survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics. The report documents the variety of roles being played by state library…