If your museum's web exhibition on ancient Egypt has links to circulating books at the public library, chances are the two institutions are collaborating. Most museum and library collaboration in this country has been of this sort--at the local level. Rarely do are statewide or even regional resource collaboration found. Thanks to the digital…

We need fewer public libraries with greater dependence. Here at the beginning of the 21st century, public libraries are still saddled with a 19th-century model of government. They are far too beholden to governing authorities, usually municipal or county governments, for their financial sustenance. This is a formula for mediocrity. "Local control"…

Many language education scholars and professionals consider that the ideal way to connect their classrooms to the Internet is to use Internet-connected computer labs in the school. Many publications cater to the needs of teachers who work in such ideal environments (Dudeney 2000; Eastment 1999; Teeler and Gray 2000; Warschauer, Shetzer, and Meloni…

Open source has continued to evolve and in the past three years the development of a graphical user interface has made it increasingly accessible and viable for end users without special training. Open source relies to a great extent on the free software movement. In this context, the term free refers not to cost, but to the freedom users have to…

This paper explores how Scottish public library services have responded to providing a service to a virtually invisible minority group, i.e. lesbians who enjoy reading lesbian fiction. The evidence that provides the foundation for the results discussed in this paper was drawn from the following sources: a study of the 32 public library services in…

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) offers student workshops that range from Cool New Web Stuff (what is on the web that can help make research or just plain life easier) and How To Use Google Scholar. These workshops are brilliant fodder for podcasting. In fact, the initial idea for its podcast project came from a student plagiarism…

This report explores the true position of public libraries today, in the minds not only of library users, but of the people who run libraries and those who provide oversight and funding. This study is the first step in the development of a national agenda for libraries and library funding in the 21st century. Findings from this study indicate…

Securing public access workstations should be a significant part of any library's network and information-security strategy because of the sensitive information patrons enter on these workstations. As the IT manager for the Johnson County Library in Kansas City, Kan., this author is challenged to make sure that thousands of patrons get the access…

Vision impairment affects approximately 17% of Americans age 45 and older. Yet, 94% of adults with self-reported vision loss did not receive any type of vision rehabilitation services to help them retain independence. These findings underscore the need for promoting awareness about what can be done when vision fails. A national dissemination…

This article explains how the Maryland public library community used data from a citizen poll to support increases in government funding. With a major grant from the Division of Library Development Services (the official name for the Maryland state library), the public library community hired a nationally known pollster, Potomac, Inc., to conduct…

In this article, the author reports the ripple effects of the energy squeeze due to Hurricane Katrina and other factors that sent energy costs skyrocketing. Energy costs are a good part of why budget growth, which has been steady over the past five years, has been slowing down. The projected change from FY2005 to FY2006 is only 3.3%, compared to…

This volume is the first annual Texas Public Library Summary Statistics. It contains information as submitted by local public libraries on their 1993 Annual Report forms. The contents include: analytical tables; population served by Texas public libraries; number of Texas public libraries; how Texas compares per capita; percentage of expenditures;…

Texas State Library's 1996 to 1999 long range plan for library development provides for the establishment and expansion of programs needed to carry out the objectives of the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) and the Library Systems Act (LSA). The first three chapters give an overview of the Statewide Library Development Program of the…

This conference explored the relationship between the public library, community-based adult education, and lifelong learning. The eight commissioned papers presented include: "Community Based Adult Jewish Learning Program: Issues and Concerns" (Paul A. Flexner); "Rural and Small Libraries: Provisions for Lifelong Learning" (Bernard Vavrek);…

This executive summary reports on the findings from the State Library of Florida's "Evaluation of Statewide Youth Services Program" project. The project was designed to assist the State Library of Florida in developing a long-range plan for youth services and to link the public library effort to "Blueprint 2000," the Florida…