What do a pink door, reading glasses, a website, and a Beetle Kill Pine ceiling have in common? Yes, readers will find them all in this collection of great design in libraries. But the reason they're featured is their important commonality: they were intentionally and thoughtfully placed in a library to meet people's needs or otherwise engage…

As always in real estate, everything in technology these days seems to be about location. From Google's recent addition of a "nearby" location limit to its suite of search options to the spate of location-based mobile apps and social networks, physical proximity has become the linchpin of a trend to connect technology to the real world. In this…

Over the past year, libraries have made the national news owing to soaring public usage driven by tough economic times. Much of this increased traffic stems from patrons coming to their local branches to use resources that will help them improve their chances at employment. While some demand practical job-hunting and career materials to help them…

Six years ago, the author shared some strategies on managing a cutback ("Budget Shortfalls," "Library Journal" 5/15/03, p. 34-35). Now, people are in an even more severe economic downturn. In this article, the author offers some additional tips on how to cope with more budget shortfalls during this recession.

While librarians and users have been inundated with advice on how to produce content for MySpace, blogs, and other Web 2.0 services, there's been much less discussion about using newer technologies to consume all this new content efficiently. These technologies are new to everyone, and the flood is hitting all people at the same time. People must…

To the individual, garden areas link to the natural world, offering solace, refuge, inspiration, and purpose. To a low-income neighborhood, where often the only greenery sprouts from between cracks in concrete, their impact can be monumental, signaling sustainability, beautifying, attesting to value and worth--even prompting civic change. A 2000…

This article was sent into a column of "Library Journal" entitled "How Do You Manage?" Submissions to this column, are based on actual events in libraries across the United States and Canada. This particular piece describes a conversation between two library employees, where one, following a recovery from a devastating auto accident found…

Public will--which effectively positions libraries as the critical educational, social, cultural, and recreational resource they so clearly are--goes beyond better promotion, clearer communication, or more partnerships to infect the people in a community with the bug to act on their notion that libraries are good and to turn belief into action.…

This article details the work of Michael Neubert from the Library of Congress. It briefly discusses his interest in Russian studies and how it originated. It then discusses that when he received his M.A. in Soviet Studies he was not sure how he would make a living--until he read about the job opportunities for area studies librarians.

Discusses a public library system program that provides free public access to microcomputers, noting justification, objectives, equipment specifications, uses and software, staff training, policies and procedures, program implementation, and users. Eight references are listed. (EJS)

Describes the digitization projects being undertaken by publishers to provide long runs of back issues of newspapers and journal articles, and the necessary indexing tools, to meet the need for older materials. Discusses search capabilities, links, the addition of metadata, and usage statistics. (LRW)

This article on collection development focuses on English as a Second Language (ESL) materials for public libraries. Highlights include supporting local school curriculum; independent study materials; criteria for selection; weeding guidelines; Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL); and an annotated bibliography that includes printed…

Describes the method and circumstances which allow for free online searches at the California State College-Stanislaus Library. Discussion includes reviewing search requests, feeless flexibility, and cost effectiveness. (JVP)

Florida's Broward County Library is acknowledged for skill and innovation in the development of symbiotic partnerships with businesses, government agencies, and educational institutions. Director Samuel F. Morrison comments on the library's mission; growth; operational style; and projects such as the Southeast Florida Library Information Network,…

Discusses reference-use statistics in academic libraries. Highlights include new functions and resources, limits of traditional counting methods, ranking the sources, the Internet's impact on instruction, computer-assisted versus one-on-one instruction, and creative solutions to reference services. (AEF)