Examines issues related to selection and censorship in five public libraries in Southern California in order to document public librarians' selection practices and to determine whether library policy and procedure assist librarians when confronted with challenges from the community. Explores issues of self-censorship in selection and community…

Describes the Library of Congress's selective acquisition process. Topics include the collections policy statements; the Exchange and Gift Division; overseas offices; the Order Division; and electronic resources, microforms, and serials and periodicals. (LRW)

Discusses libraries and issues relating to censorship, social protest, and First Amendment rights. Topics addressed include materials selection based on objective criteria; removing inappropriate material; intellectual freedom; limited versus absolute censorship; and possible errors in selection decisions. (LRW)

Discussion of selection criteria for special collections in libraries focuses on the development of selection criteria at the National Museum of Science and Technology in Canada. The need for the involvement of staff members is discussed, and criteria for materials are described, including age, rarity, historical significance, and physical…

Discusses censorship of the arts and humanities in libraries. Highlights include statistics regarding school and school library challenges; reactions to controversial art in public places; Madonna's book "Sex" and the resulting protests; and what librarians can do, including materials selection policies. (LRW)

Argues that Internet filters are censorship tools that rob librarians of their materials selection responsibility. Six factors that make filters unacceptable are listed. The discussion covers pornography; filter improvements; proposals and solutions; ALA (American Library Association) Bill of Rights to Electronic Information; and library policy…

Discusses the mission of public libraries in light of the decision to purchase Madonna's book "Sex." Three viewpoints are presented: a critic of selection policies that are too broad in the name of intellectual freedom; the director of a small public library with a limited budget; and a library historian. (Contains 18 references.) (LRW)

Discusses when librarians should develop their own Internet collections and how to add value to them, based on examples from the Argus Clearinghouse Web site. Topics include evaluation criteria for Internet resources; strategic planning; Internet collection development policies; and adding value through organization, navigation, learning systems,…

Reviews the literature in library and information science to identify factors that influence the outcome of challenges to school library materials. A conceptual model is developed that encompasses district selection policy, librarian characteristics, school environment, community environment, and initiator of the challenge, and tentative…

Examines issues and decision-making involved in restricting Internet access in libraries, for the most part favoring filtering devices. Questions to consider when selecting a filtering program are provided. Some of the better filtering programs are described, and Web addresses are included for each. Security risks associated with Java and…

Even though endorsements of written collection development policies abound in the professional literature, many academic libraries do not have them in place. Interviews with several Louisiana librarians reveal possible reasons for that disparity. Instead of spending time devising policies that quickly become inflexible and outdated, bibliographers…

Discussion of censorship in school libraries focuses on Australia. Topics include control of content and access to digital texts, including filtering and Internet access; print resources; documented library policies; the core purpose of school libraries and selecting materials for library collections; and examples of challenges. (LRW)

Discusses the trials and errors of creating Web sites for libraries. Topics include knowing what the Internet offers, supporting academic computing personnel, observing patron use of the Web, knowing the target audience, developing a selection policy, making and checking links, and analyzing usage data. (LRW)

Addresses the process of journal deselection from the point of view of justice and argues that when journal cuts are necessary, libraries should first, reduce all departments to core holdings; second, ask departments with expensive journals for permission to implement an efficiency principle; third, if refused permission, implement an equal…

Discusses the use of academic library circulation statistics to assess whether user needs are being met and describes a study at Stetson University that investigated collection development practices by comparing circulation statistics for books selected by faculty in support of departmental curricula with those of librarian selections. (Author/LRW)