Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to examine the various features and components of web-based online public access catalogues (OPACs) of IIT libraries in India with the help of a specially designed evaluation checklist. Design/methodology/approach: The various features of the web-based OPACs in six IIT libraries (IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT…

In the summer of 2004, Georgia Southern University began a library construction project that was to last 4 years. An important aspect was the installation of an Automated Retrieval System (ARC) to house a substantial portion of the library collections so that more space could be available for students, faculty, and the services to meet their…

Intranets should provide quick and easy access to organizational information. The University of Alabama Libraries' intranet was only partially satisfying this basic expectation. Librarians could use it to find forms, policies, committee assignments, and meeting minutes, but navigating the libraries' intranet was neither quick nor easy, and it was…

It's an obvious observation that librarians today find themselves dealing with collections of ever larger proportions of electronic content. The degree to which that shift has already taken place varies from one type of library to another. Some organizations, especially those involved with specializations in biomedical, scientific, or business,…

To date, over one-fifth of all U.S. higher education students are now taking at least one online course. The Sloan Consortium (Sloan-C) recently surveyed more than 2,500 colleges and universities to reveal that over 3.9 million students were taking at least one online course during the 2007 fall term. This number is a 12% increase from fall 2006.…

Landman Library is two-thirds of the way through a three-stage process of migrating to the Koha open-source integrated library system (http://koha-community.org). We are an academic library with roughly 143,000 volumes, six professional librarians, and three support staff. The migration to open source was driven by the desire to access our own…

Automated storage/retrieval systems (ASRSs) are playing an integral part in today's library operations and collections management. Eastern Michigan University installed an ASRS as part of the new Halle Library, which opened in May 1998, to provide "storage" for up to 800,000 items. Over the past 10 years our policies and procedures have…

Academic libraries are turning to automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) as a long-term cost effective means of gaining additional space in their open stacks areas by removing lesser used books and other materials for storage and placement into ASRS bins. The new library building under construction at the University of Nevada-Reno will…

This article describes the opportunities out of the 2007 turmoil precipitated by the dramatic shifts that redefined the industry in 2006. The turmoil made companies that avoided major business transitions more attractive and sparked explosive interest in open source alternatives. Some companies held a steady course and benefited from the fallout.…

Current literature on libraries is abundant with articles about the uses and the potential of new interactive communication technology, including Web 2.0 tools. Recently, the advent and use of virtual worlds have received top billing in these works. Many library institutions are exploring these virtual environments; this exploration and the…

The Digital Initiatives department at Miami University, like most digital initiatives and special collections departments, has a large number of rich digital image collections, stored primarily in a third-party database. Typically, these databases are not findable to the average Web user. From a desire to expose these collections to the wider Web…

Libraries today face an increasing challenge: to provide relevant information to diverse populations with differing needs while competing with Web search engines like Google. In 2009, a large group of libraries, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, joined with Innovative Interfaces as development partners to design a new type of…

In a year where the general economy presented enormous challenges, libraries continued to make investments in automation, especially in products that help improve what and how they deliver to their end users. Access to electronic content remains a key driver. In response to anticipated needs for new approaches to library automation, many companies…

Electronic communication technologies continue to change the landscape of reference services. For many users, virtual communication is the preferred means of conversing. Synchronous virtual reference, similar to other synchronous means of communication, is an important method for reaching students and for providing teaching and learning…

During spring quarter 2008, the Western Washington University (WWU) Libraries established an interactive bloglike environment called "14 Days to Have Your Say" with the intention of gathering new ideas and feedback about the libraries from the university community. The environment was developed as a fairly simple Drupal site. The project…