"Embracing the chaos" is an ongoing challenge for librarians. Embracing the chaos means librarians must have a plan for responding to the flood of new products, widgets, web tools, and gizmos that students use daily. In this article, the author argues that library instruction and access services have been grappling with that chaos with…

Eighteen scholarly papers and fifteen abstracts comprise the content of the seventeenth annual Brick and Click Libraries Conference, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of librarianship.…

Information literacy instruction is provided in five formats: reference, one-shot sessions, credit courses, library Web sites, and embedded librarians. Each method offers distinct merits as well as limitations. Much can be gained by considering the swirl or interplay of all five and how working with one approach informs the others and results in a…

Technology may not be a magic wand, but innovative technology programming can genuinely help children become adept at navigating our increasingly wired world while also helping them develop deductive reasoning, math, and other vital literacy skills. One of the simplest and most powerful tools for technology-based public library programming is…

Understanding how to better engage young students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is essential. The constraints of U.S. K-12 schools (e.g. insufficient institutional supports, lack of technology access, testing pressures, etc.) often make it difficult to create truly engaging STEM curricula with which students can deeply…

The librarians at Northern Kentucky University's W. Frank Steely Library have successfully added a new embedded librarianship program to their established reference and instruction services, without the support of increased staffing. In fact, this program was established and has matured during a period of staff reductions. The decisions made in…

While there is no guarantee that competence in reading or writing results in competence in the other, the skills are related and research suggests that instruction in both reinforces the other. Recommendations strongly support the integration of teaching these skills. Indeed, the integration of all the language arts including speaking, listening,…

Screencasts are videos that record the actions that take place on the computer screen, most often including a narrative audio track, in order to demonstrate various computer-related tasks, such as how to use a software program or navigate a certain Web site. All that is needed is a standard microphone and screen recording software, which can be…

The Future Voices in Public Services column is a forum for students in graduate library and information science programs to discuss key issues they see in academic library public services, to envision what they feel librarians in public service have to offer to academia, to tell us of their visions for the profession, or to tell us of research…

At the 2008 ALA Annual Conference, a wonderful Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) preconference was presented entitled "Library Instruction 2.0: Building Your Online Instruction Toolkit". The presentation was enlightening and provided numerous and valuable recommendations for Web 2.0 sites that can facilitate and enliven library…

This article is Part 3 of a three part summary of selected articles from the journals of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) over a period of thirty-five years from 1972 to 2007. This three-part series in the April, May, and June (2009) issues of "School Library Media Activities Monthly" ("SLMAM") illustrate the evolution in…

The 20th century information explosion provided widespread technological innovation and ease of access to information, and due to the 21st century emphasis on digital collections and electronic resources, libraries around the world are facing an uncertain future. This naturally causes librarians to re-evaluate their professional role, but perhaps…

Creating online options for students has become more of a focus with the growth of distance-education programs. It has also become necessary with the growth of online databases, electronic journals, and electronic books. Teaching classes is one of the few areas where libraries have not all switched to online access. Reference librarians still tend…

Inspired by a new generation of librarians and children, Walter reconsiders the legacy passed on by the matriarchs of children's services and examines more recent trends and challenges growing out of changes in educational philosophy and information technology. This thoroughly researched book includes the current issues and trends of: (1)…

A reference/instruction librarian used targeted outreach to furnish library services to faculty and students while assigned to work in the College of Education during a library renovation project. Due to the success of this temporary assignment, the author has subsequently maintained regular office hours in the College to provide research…