Characterizes the essential habits of mind and scholarly needs of humanists as these affect issues in acquisition, allocation of funds, book preservation, computerization, and problems of access to and use of collections. (Author/FM)

Argues that the role expected of libraries is significantly different now from what it was for nearly 95 percent of the span of library history, and that this change of purpose has not been reflected in the current budgetary and management priorities of librarians. Nine references are cited. (FM)

Presents the text of the report's transmittal message by the President to the Congress. It stresses the importance of libraries, identifies specific responsibilities of the federal government, characterizes the needs of the disadvantaged, and encourages the use of new information techniques. (RAA)

Surveys the steps necessary in integrating ethnic studies into the school curriculum and the responsibilities of the librarian to this curriculum program. (Author/FM)

Discusses nine components of an environmental scanning model: selecting the scanning team; selecting resources to scan; choosing criteria for scanning; scanning the resources; identifying signals of new issues; selecting key events/issues; monitoring and analyzing events/issues; disseminating information; and deciding on appropriate organizational…

Argues that the primary purpose of the school library is to provide information, and discusses selection policies, the librarian's teaching responsibilities, the need for clerical assistance, and centralized processing in this context. A vision of the school library as information center is presented with summaries of the roles of teachers, the…

This review of the literature responds to Daniel Bell, F. W. Lancaster, and others who have predicted the end of the library with the coming of the postindustrial, "paperless" society. Highlights include discussions of librarians as cultural custodians and the importance of the library in the history of civilization. (35 references) (LAE)

Explains Unicode, a standard for the representation of multilingual character sets that extends the traditional ASCII (American Standard Code Information Interchange) character set. The consortium that created Unicode is described, integration of Unicode with existing hardware and software is discussed, and the role of librarians in defining…

Discussion of the role of librarians focuses on three more traditional aspects of librarianship that are still important in the midst of new technology: (1) the study of the book and its role in our culture; (2) reading and its role in the inner life; and (3) reading guidance. (Contains 16 references.) (LRW)

Discussion of providing access to needed information focuses on five historical schemes that represent speculative approaches to solving the problem of restructuring and mobilizing the content of documents. The collection, analysis, and restructuring of information already available in some other form and the need for an information professional…

Discusses the use of metaphor during the first 50 years of the modern American library movement in the hopes of inspiring one another, recruit newcomers to the profession, and to influence outsiders. Examines references to the library in terms of more visible institutions such as schools, universities, the church, and business and industry.…

Examines the role that the public library plays as a center for community activities, as a civic building, and as a representative of government. Examples of these roles in California communities are given, and sources of income and funding problems are addressed. (Contains 10 references.) (LRW)

The notion of "new literacies" is appearing increasingly in the news in literacy research, journals and books; and in preservice and inservice teacher education. To function effectively in society now requires more than basic reading and writing with "old technologies" or print materials. Today, in the workplace, in our communities and in our…

As bookstores and the Internet march forward, the library community continues to question and forecast its role in society. Innovative libraries nationwide have seized the opportunity to reinvent themselves, bringing a new level of excitement to the industry. Yet puzzlement remains on what strategies, what roles will work in communities where…

Learning can be packaged and promoted as fun. The youngest learners naturally perceive all of life as one big wonder. It is important for school libraries to be the catalyst in helping to position learning as being the "fun" part of school. Sometimes, the simplest learning activity, embellished and celebrated can become a very meaningful…