From its humble origins some 30 years ago in New York's bombed-out, poverty-ravaged South Bronx, hip-hop has risen to become a dominant cultural force both here and abroad. Strictly defined, the term refers to the entire cultural constellation that accompanies rap music, which in 2001 surpassed country music as the most popular musical genre in…

The rationale behind weeding books is to remove dated, obsolete, erroneous material and worn books in disrepair from the collection to make room for current titles. Students of Lakeview have discovered an innovative idea of creating an altered book from the weeded book by taking a hardcover book and changing the original cover by means of a…

There's no doubt about it: magazines can be a nuisance. They're easy to rip off, flimsy, and costly. The dogeared, thumb-smudged pages, missing subscription cards, and already-solved crossword puzzles and mazes (completed confidently in ink!) are sure signs that kids find magazines irresistible. Young children and teens love to flip casually…

Although a librarian for only eight years, Corinne Hill is already known in Dallas and Denton, TX, for turning dull, little-used branches into vibrant community centers. A stylish woman with a zest for shopping, Hill loves developing new collections and showing them off. She sees no reason why a library should not be as attractive as any good…

Dennis Wilson is a patient and persistent man. After three years of observation, data gathering, extensive discussion, and presentations, he reorganized his collection development team into seven members. Before, the work was distributed among 75 people. Wilson's motivation? The need to get products to patrons "as soon as possible." The…

Considers whether rare books taken during times of war as trophies by the enemy should be restored to their original owners. Highlights include problems associated with restitution; legal and political considerations; individual books versus special collections; and the German book trade and libraries and their relations to the Soviet Union after…

In recent years an increasing number of publishers have adopted tiered pricing of journals. The design and implications of tiered-pricing models, however, are poorly understood. Tiered pricing can be modeled using several variables. A survey of current tiered-pricing models documents the range of key variables used. A sensitivity analysis…

While the idea of data collection is new for many library media specialists, traditional statistics such as circulation, age, value, total collection numbers, class use of the library media center, etc. have been gathered since the dawn of library time. Typically these statistics are gathered simply because it has always been done, but library…

Issues 266 through 282 of "Fast Facts" from the Library Research Service present data collected from libraries in Colorado and throughout the nation. Topics addressed in these "Fast Facts" from 2009 include interlibrary loan in academic libraries, public librarian salaries, book, newspaper, and periodical prices from 2004 to…

The library, as we once knew it, may no longer be relevant. And, yet, this is undoubtedly the most exciting time in history to be a librarian. The future of the school library as a relevant and viable institution is largely dependent on librarians and how quickly they respond to change. They worry about their field and their practice. They worry…

"ARL" is the bimonthly report on research library issues and actions from ARL (Association of Research Libraries), CNI (Coalition of Networked Information), and SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition). "ARL" reports on current issues of interest to academic and research library administrators, staff, and…

Pay equity, as a concept and outcome, is significant for libraries and librarians because it demonstrates the value of the library and information profession, and the significance of the work undertaken by librarians and allied professionals. The State Library's involvement in the NSW Pay Equity Case and precursor investigations into the worth of…

This document presents results of the 2005-06 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Law Library Statistics Questionnaire. Of 113 ARL university libraries, 75 responded to the survey. Results for each library are presented in the following data tables: (1) collections, including volumes in library, volumes added, monographs purchased, current…

Libraries are investing heavily in an increasing number of electronic journals and providing access to them through their websites. We set out to determine if ARL academic libraries offer the same options on their websites to access electronic journals and databases. Using a checklist, we evaluated the websites for the presence of A-Z lists, links…

This non-exhaustive, partially annotated booklist of multicultural materials was compiled from library catalogs, reviews published for school libraries, publishers' and booksellers' catalogs, and a search of bookshops in Sydney, Adelaide, and Melbourne. It indicates what is currently available in Australia, and provides ideas for an initial school…