In March and April 1968, the author was a guest of the U.S. Information Service on a two week trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan. During this stay, 30 libraries in five cities were visited. This paper describes this trip and relates the library happenings in these countries. It was obvious that Pakistan librarianship had advanced beyond the…

The data published in this volume were taken from the 1999 Annual Reports submitted by public libraries in Texas. This volume contains local library statistics, county statistics, and summary data for the state and for the 10 library systems. Section I, Summary Statistics, contains data on statewide public library statistics, summary…

The data published in this volume were taken from the 2000 Annual Reports submitted by public libraries in Texas. This volume contains local library statistics, county statistics, and summary data for the state and for the 10 library systems. Section I, Summary Statistics, contains data on statewide public library statistics, summary…

The 2000 edition of the Michigan Library Statistical Report presents data provided by public libraries, library cooperatives and those public libraries that serve as regional or subregional outlets for providing services to blind and physically handicapped patrons. All legally established public libraries in Michigan were invited to respond. Data…

This report is an evaluation of public library service in Utah from 1990 to 2000. The introduction summarizes findings; a map of public library jurisdictions is included. The report contains sections the following sections: (1) Utah's Population; (2) Circulation and Interlibrary Loan; (3) Holdings and Subscriptions; (4) Library Staff; (5) Income…

Preservation has long been considered a fundamental responsibility of research libraries. Data on preservation activities by its members has been collected by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) since 1987, but changing digital technologies and the research, teaching, and learning environments in which research libraries are engaged…

Librarians build collections. To do this they use tools that help them identify, organize, and retrieve items for the collection. Zotero (zoh-TAIR-oh) is such a tool that helps the user build a library of useful books, articles, web sites, blogs, etc., discovered while surfing online. A visit to Zotero's homepage, www.zotero.org, shows a number of…

Bradford's Law has been the subject of much discussion and analysis in library and information science since its formulation in the 1930s and remains frequently debated to this day. It has been applied to various practices within the discipline, especially with regard to collection development, but its relevance to researchers and the potential it…

Educational standards continue to be hot topics of discussion for this year and, no doubt, beyond. The Council of Chief State School Officials (CCSSO) and the National Governors' Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) has initiated a study based on "Common Core" English/Language Arts and Mathematics Standards. The release of…

Ask most men or women in the street who Charles Darwin was and the chances are that they will know something of the work he did: the work that has revolutionised our understanding of the living world and our place in it. The 200th centenary of his birth was in February 2009. Over the 150 years since the publication of his seminal work On the…

Passed in 2000, the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) mandates Internet filtering for all public schools and libraries. Challenges to the law have been raised on constitutional grounds by free-speech advocates such as the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. After losing one such challenge in district court,…

The development, publication, and distribution of the "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" once again demonstrate the vision of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) in pointing the way with new literacies (textual, media, digital, technology) for students. These standards include critical self-assessment strategies that will…

Locating sources that are rich in evidence-based practice information can be more difficult for physical as well as occupational therapists in practice settings in which there is not direct access to a health sciences library. In addition, once information has been found, there may not be an easy way to access the data. This commentary will…

At our small business college, we believe that next to serving the students, the most important thing we as librarians can do is serve as liaisons to the faculty. If the faculty is tuned in to the library, it is more likely he or she will use library resources and will teach students about them. This will provide a more effective education for the…

The 2009 database marketplace is bounded by two extremes: massive digitization projects to increase access, and retrenchment owing to budget worries. Picture medieval monks hunched over their desks in the scriptorium as they labor to copy manuscripts. A 21st-century version of this activity is being repeated daily in the world's libraries and…