In many professional roles, long-term vision may help guide short-term decisions. This is especially true for school library professionals as library media programs are constantly evolving. This author suggests strategies to assist library media specialists to nurture their vision and provides reviews of several sources and experts in the field…

Any successful library media center or program requires advanced planning. In this column, the author advocates the development of measurable goals for library media programs and describes several resources that can be used to help meet these goals and, at the same time, succeed in providing what the patrons most want out of the library media…

Most librarians achieve the exalted ranks of management by knowing a good deal about how to deliver library services, manage library workers, and get along with library boards. Many often don't know the arcane details of managing money. Librarians can make budgets and complete the fiscal year without overspending, but as to the details of…

Library, services for teens are often less than stellar. Although some libraries offer young adults wonderful programs and vibrant, inviting spaces, even the American Library Association admits that adolescents tend to be an "underserved" group. This article discusses what libraries can do to make them more meaningful to teens.

In this column, the author compares and contrasts the most popular scripting languages that are used to create truly dynamic service-oriented Web sites, building a conceptual framework that be can used as a starting point for specific server-side library projects.

Library media specialists make it a point to be sure their students and parents know they are responsible for the books and other materials that they borrow from the library media centers. In her K-2 library media center, the author sends friendly letters home at the beginning of the school term informing the parents that they and their child are…

When budgets are especially tight, librarians often do not have the spare time for innovation, yet these conditions require the most creativity. This article describes how to set up a once-a-week Library Club that meets during the lunch hour. Since many schools have multiple lunch hours, materials can be set up for two or three lunch times at…

A book sitting out on a shelf for display is worth 10 book jackets hanging on a bulletin board. Circulation increases when students can actually handle the book and look inside its covers.

CIC library Web sites were examined to determine how diversity related to collections was represented. As diversity in collection development is frequently highlighted by broader diversity initiatives, other diversity pages on these sites were explored as well. In the majority of cases, neither diversity collection development nor diversity was…

The purpose of this column is to share information and ideas about how libraries, technology companies, content creators, vendors, and users can work together to make the world of information technology in libraries more accessible for everyone, including people with visual, auditory, physical, and learning challenges. It will discuss how these…

If someone has something to say, they have never had it so good. People can get their word out by posting to a blog, by editing a wiki or a web site, or even by using cost-effective print-on-demand book production services. In other words, collection development librarians now live in a world of hurt. All these methods, as well as a number of…

These pioneers set out to set up new communities in the virtual frontier. Now, more than 50 libraries serve as Web hubs for their local settlements. The communities we live in have changed over time. But no matter the size of the tallest building, no matter how advanced the infrastructure, they grew to that size from humble beginnings: a…

This article discusses the current environment of the ILS (Integrated Library System) plus add-ons tailored for electronic content and its future. It suggests that while the ILS may be mature, the supplemental products are not and the linkages among them are even less so. On the technical front, the recent interest in Web services gives reason to…

The authors think fun is a key word when it comes to early literacy. Learning to read is hard work for most children--and kids, like adults, enjoy things that bring them pleasure. So as professionals who work with young children, their job is to make sure that kids discover the joy of books. And one of the best ways to do that is by providing…

Nearly all academic libraries keep circulation statistics which are often shared with their parent university, library consortia, and national organizations. This study attempted to discover what goes into circulation statistics by surveying Southeastern research libraries. Libraries were asked what they count in their circulation statistics and…