In a survey of Business and Government, Law and Information Sciences students carried out at the University of Canberra, results showed that in-curricula information literacy skills training had a greater impact on students' satisfaction with access to high demand material than the purchase of additional copies of books. This paper will discuss…

What is a ready reference collection? A stack of reference books selected according to personal interests? Each institution is unique in its needs and so are the collections that each library carries. The curricula and programs determine the collection development policies and the student population justifies the needs for their implementation. Is…

In this fully updated revision, expert instructor and librarian Peggy Johnson addresses the art in controlling and updating your library's collection. Each chapter offers complete coverage of one aspect of collection development, including suggestions for further reading and a narrative case study exploring the issue. Johnson also integrates…

This article talks about selection policy and provides suggestions on how library media specialists can update their selection policies to provide an atmosphere that facilitate inquiry. The selection policy is meant to ensure that the collection meets the needs of the school community as comprehensively and effectively as possible. Instead of…

Libraries are making diverse contributions to the development of many types of digital repositories, particularly those housing locally created digital content, including new digital objects or digitized versions of locally held works. In some instances, libraries are managing a repository and its related services entirely on their own, but often…

This article discusses some of the premigration tasks at Minnesota State Mankato in preparation for migration to a new integrated library system, ALEPH. The authors describe the review of circulation policies to make sure that only relevant, current data and practices were carried over. There is emphasis on the need for ongoing review of policies…

For as long as libraries have charged fines for books returned after their due dates, this familiar practice has excited comment and controversy. Fines are thought by many to deter patrons from keeping materials too long. However, others believe there is little persuasive evidence that fines are more effective at minimizing overdues than are…

When a challenge gets difficult, it's hard to believe that people challenge instructional materials because they care. It's even harder to remember that educators want the general public, legislators, taxpayers, and parents to care about education. Library media specialists and administrators have the same lens of stress that all adults have,…

Twenty-three scholarly papers and twelve abstracts comprise the content of the eleventh annual Brick and Click Libraries Symposium, held at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The peer-reviewed proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the symposium, portray the contemporary and future face of…

This paper summarizes the history of privacy as it relates to library records. It commences with a discussion of how the concept of privacy first originated through case law and follows the concept of privacy as it has affected library records through current day and the "USA PATRIOT Act."

Approval plans are used by many libraries as an adjunct to title-by-title selection, and sometimes as a substitute for it. The author examines this approach to purchasing library materials, considering positive and negative effects approval plans may have on collection balance as well as on acquisitions budgets and workflow. The article also…

This essay explores some of the conflicts faced by the author, a liaison with book-selection responsibilities to a university English Department. These conflicts include: trying to fill gaps missed by profiles set up with our book vendor; trying to achieve a reasonable balance between canonical and non-canonical texts; between primary texts and…

Examines shelving policies for CD-ROMs that accompany books, based on experiences at Texas A&M University. After studying circulation data, loss rates, and the availability of replacements, it is recommended that the CD-ROMS be shelved with the books on the shelves instead of in a special separate location. (LRW)

The problem of food and drink in libraries and the potential damage to library materials that may occur have always been troublesome issues. Most attempts to totally eliminate food and drink have produced mixed results at best and libraries have expended precious staff time trying to enforce such rules. The food and drink issue is particularly…

Argues that current library policy and practice of insuring interlibrary loan transactions are inconsistent and confusing. Responsibility for loss in various situations is defined, methods of valuation for loaned materials are discussed, and the need for insuring theses and dissertations is questioned. (Author/JL)