Technology has transformed libraries. There are digital libraries, electronic collections, online databases and catalogs, ebooks, downloadable books, and much more. With free technology such as social websites, newspaper collections, downloadable online calendars, clocks and sticky notes, online scheduling, online document sharing, and online…

Information professionals need to be reachable through email (through cell phones, laptops, Treos, and BlackBerries) and customers' questions have to be answered in "real time," meaning that once the question is sent, an answer is expected that moment. A library in a Google environment allows this to happen. It also allows the information…

This article presents fast, easy and helpful hints for making web sites that people will want to use over and over again. These tips include: (1) Making sure that the website's copyright statement is up-to-date; (2) Adding "last updated" code to each webpage at the site; (3) Adding photos to the site's contact information; (4) Turning boring old…

People do not want to talk about failure, and technological innovations that do not work out are especially difficult for librarians to discuss. Technological failures are expensive in terms of money and time lost, and they are often minimized by library directors in their annual reports in favor of reporting more positive outcomes. Today's…

In this article, the authors share how they turned themselves from hesitant library blog readers into dedicated bloggers. The authors share how they started their blog named infodoodads and why they started writing it. The authors also share how blogging with partners is a great way to maintain a frequent posting schedule and to keep the content…

From blogs to wikis to podcasts to personalized e-mail alerts, there are now more ways to reach people than ever before. However, even with these new outreach pathways, success still depends on knowing your audience and having the ability to see beyond the "buzz" of technology. Best practices for outreach should emphasize a personal touch in the…

Library blogs exchange information and ideas on everything from the everyday, such as library services, to the profound, such as values held by librarians (high-quality reliable resources, academic freedom, open access, and so on). According to medical librarians who maintain library blogs, a typical month includes two to four contributors writing…

Podcasting is a term derived by combining iPod with broadcasting. During 2006, when the idea of podcasting was still in its infancy, this author [an information systems librarian at the Universal College of Learning (UCOL) in New Zealand] began to consider how this new technology could be used by librarians to provide instructional sessions. She…

This article discusses how, in the new world of the information age, libraries must seek to bring relevant services to their technically savvy patrons. This includes designing a library that can serve not only the geographic community, but also the virtual online community. Software used to create online communities is known as social software and…

The authors, both of whom are working at the Musselman library, relate how they are always looking for ways to improve and update their reference service. When they introduced a chat reference service to their online library services, they received only four inquiries in the entire year 2002-2003. The authors found out later that the paltry number…

The library profession has made big advances in advocating for information literacy. High-profile initiatives, such as ACRL's comprehensive strategies, have helped attract the attention of teachers, administrators, and policy-makers. The University of California Academic Senate recently endorsed information literacy as a vital issue. In this…

Explains listservs (services to which subscribers may send communications for distribution to all other subscribers to the listserv) that are available through e-mail on the Internet; how they differ from newsgroups; how to host your own list; different types of lists, including open lists, controlled lists, and moderated lists; and how to…

The debate on the efficacy of electronic books involves issues of fair use, digital rights management, preservation, and perpetual ownership. Nevertheless, our intense focus on these areas has distracted us from one of the most important aspects of content pluralism? namely, e-book relationships to book distributors. This article discusses E-books…

Over the last decade, many of Kelvin Smith Library's (KSL) content delivery services have gone digital, and some, such as enhanced course reserves products, are new to the market. The best digital library services have given KSL options and integrated solutions that allow it to do more than it thought possible just a few years ago. As with many…

This Helping You Buy survey is the next in an annual series of surveys that have been compiled by Pamela Cibbarelli in past years. This bird's-eye view should serve to both highlight some general distinctions and to underscore the commodified similarities of a wide range of library automation systems.