The purposes of the study were to explore the role of Canada's public libraries in developing the public's information literacy (IL) skills, to explore current IL training practices, and to explore the perspectives and IL experiences of individuals who visit public libraries to access the Internet. This article documents the second phase of a…

In an August 14, 2008 story, the New York Times reported that ethnic and racial minorities will likely be a majority of the U.S. population by 2042. Many of the blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and others constituting this emerging majority will be immigrants or the children of immigrants; the number of foreigners hitting these shores is projected to…

Library media specialists are a literacy model. They hold the world of literacy at their fingertips and in their collections. Everything individuals need to know about literacy can be found in some form in the library domain, either in the stacks or in the professional repertoire that librarians posses. There are plenty of ways that library media…

As the importance of information literacy has gained increased recognition, so too have academic library professionals intensified their efforts to champion, activate, and advance these capabilities in others. To date, however, little attention has focused on advancing these essential competencies amongst practitioner advocates. This paper helps…

In this article, the author describes how the role of school librarians has transformed. Today's school librarians do much more than stock shelves with books. They may do any or all of the following: (1) facilitate "library" classes that help students understand how to use technology to conduct research, doling out homework and…

Science and Technology Novelty Search (S&TNS) is a special information consultation service developed as part of the Chinese Sci-Tech system. The author introduces the concept of S&TNS, and explains its role, and the role of the university library in the process. A quality control model to improve the quality of service of the S&TNS at…

Bookbabies, an initiative from the Flemish Reading Association and the Flemish Centre for Public Libraries, is a pilot project organised in 10 Flemish cities where local public libraries worked together with 82 couples with young babies for two years to set up a programme called "having fun with books". The objectives of the research…

As new models of scholarly communication emerge, librarians and libraries have responded by developing and supporting new methods of storing and providing access to information and by creating new publishing support services. This article will examine the roles of libraries and librarians in developing and supporting open access publishing…

One of the unique things about a library situation is that each person is granted equal worth. Persons are not pitched competitively against each other, nor marked for lower or higher achievements. Its resources are susceptible to almost infinite permutations and combinations. (Author)

Librarians are in a unique position to make available programs of dignity which respond to the educational, enrichment, and information needs of individuals who are not in society's mainstream. (Author/LS)

One important responsibility of the library profession is the development and promulgation of a comprehensive, enlightened, well-reasoned, and sophisticated position on the question of censorship. (3 references) (Author)

The vice president of Gaylord Information Systems, a vendor of library products, reminisces about several items of library equipment and their evolution, including the card catalog, circulation products, and bookbinder's supplies. The common purpose of library products of the past and present--to help librarians help people find and use…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe some of the problems and issues faced by online library catalogues. It aims to establish how libraries have undertaken the mission of developing the next generation catalogues and how they compare to new tools such as Amazon. Design/methodology/approach: An expert study was carried out in January…

In 2007, the author examined existing academic libraries in the United States to determine best practices for the design, implementation and service of learning commons facilities. A primary objective of this study was to discover how to create a higher education learning environment that sustains scholarship, encourages collaboration and empowers…

How librarians came to their careers is as varied as the people themselves, but despite some often highly publicized challenges for college and university librarians in the digital age, academic librarianship is good work, according to the "Library Journal's" Job Satisfaction Survey. This article presents the results of this survey. The…