Discusses values that have shaped and guided the profession of reference librarian and portrays the rigors of working at a general reference desk. Topics include information overload; demands of the information age; societal trends; new technologies; training; and role reconsideration for the librarian, including teacher, information provider, and…

Explores the variety of innovations in service models implemented over the last 25 years that health-sciences librarians have initiated to extend library services and information to remote users. Trends in health-care-management systems, education initiatives, the rise in consumerism, and expectations of new categories of users are discussed.…

Summarizes universe data on public libraries in the United States. Includes information about public libraries' administrative structure and legal basis, operating income and expenditures, staff, collections, and services. (Author/SLD)

Discusses the history of backup reference service in the state of New Jersey including the transition from regional backup service; describes the current statewide service; and considers future service possibilities in light of recent trends, including a decrease in the number of reference questions being received in libraries. (LRW)

This study examines the extent to which databases support student and faculty research in the area of public administration. A list of journals in public administration, public policy, political science, public budgeting and finance, and other related areas was compared to the journal content list of six business databases. These databases…

A lot of literature from the past few years has discussed the importance of bridging the digital divide that exists between those with Internet access and those without. Public libraries have often declared themselves to be that bridge. This article looks at how Indiana's public libraries allow the citizens they serve access to the Internet. With…

One of the hippest things staff can do with technology, is to use it to meet students on their own turf. As part of an outreach effort, one group of librarians at Union College's Schaffer Library (Schenectady, NY) started sharing its vast CD collection via iTunes. They were trying to show college students that there was a lot to discover at the…

This article discusses the importance of setting and implementing goals that can help change and improve a library media program over time--goals that go beyond merely keeping the library media center running. Suggestions for developing an action plan and strategies for effective time management are also presented.

Library media specialists find themselves in a challenging position today. They know that the Internet opens up information access in exciting ways, so they do not want to scare people; but they do need to inform them about practices for using the Internet that will keep young people safe. They have a responsibility to inform other educators,…

This column describes a new teaching tool, BrainPOP, which is a database that blurs the distinction between classroom and library media center. This collection of more than 300 short, concept-based, animated movies is intended primarily for use by teachers in classroom instruction. It is reminiscent of the single-concept film cartridges that used…

One critical role of the catalog is to help librarians manage and track their inventory, whether it's books, videos, journals, microfilm reels, laptops, or even access to study rooms. The phrase, "if you can't track it, you don't own it," is quite real for the library that is trying to monitor thousands or millions of items. In the last decade,…

Libraries must increasingly accommodate bibliographic records encoded with a variety of standards and emerging standards, including Dublin Core, MODS, and VRA Core. The problem is that many libraries still rely solely on MARC and AACR2. The best-trained professionals to lead librarians through the metadata maze are catalogers. Catalogers…

An online community is a group of people who connect with one another over time and through space using the Internet as their primary medium. Online communities also act, albeit through text. They organize political action, introduce to-be spouses, and create new products and tools. This article discusses how one librarian used online communities…

This article reports the results of Library Journal's 2005 Book Buying Survey. The results of the survey overall showed that attendance is high at the library and circulation is up as well. The survey also reported that fiction is what most people are reading. The how-to books also proved to be very popular. The article goes into detail concerning…

After a brief career in musical theater, Micki McIntyre entered the graduate library program at Columbia University, where she noticed a poster advertising free tuition to library employees. "There was a vacancy at the health sciences library, and that's how a theater major became a medical librarian." She's a medical librarian with…