These guidelines developed by the Genealogy Committee of the History Section of the Reference and Adult Services Division of the American Library Association are intended to assist public libraries providing beginning genealogical collections and services. They cover collection development, personnel, access, and fiscal considerations. (EA)

Discusses several economic concepts and principles important for librarianship--opportunity cost, resources, assets, and investment--and notes the difficulty of placing a monetary value on patron benefits. The law of diminishing marginal returns is applied to the relationships between library services and collection size, and between investment in…

Discusses the advantages and disadvantages of limited outsourcing in libraries, focusing on the purchase of electronic bibliographic records. Argues that any outsourcing strategy based primarily on saving money is likely to result in lower quality collections and services and lower user satisfaction. (PEN)

Discusses the development of children's reading rooms in public libraries throughout the United States. Early efforts to isolate juveniles from adult patrons are described, the gradual acknowledgement of the value and necessity of separate children's collections is explained, and efforts to encourage teachers to use these collections are…

A survey of synagogues in upstate New York was conducted to determine the success of their libraries despite minimal professional input. The areas of circulation, collection growth, staffing, hours of operation and cataloging practices were evaluated as indicators of success. Results showed that synagogue libraries are meeting the needs of their…

Suggests that librarians should include street newspapers, produced by homeless people and their advocates, in their collections. Discusses characteristics and features of these newspapers and describes different papers from cities across the United States. (AEF)

Not every library has a specific department or area to handle its gifts and exchanges. This function is a vital part of every library program. This presentation is designed to increase awareness of the valuable contribution that the gifts and exchange function makes to the overall library program. Some of the contributions of the gifts and…

Chapter 1, "Preliminary Issues," explores the historical importance of the electronic publishing revolution, some of the terminology to be used in the book, and the differences and similarities between traditional and electronic collection development. Chapter 2, "What Is an Offer? The Electronic Resources Landscape," covers…

Describes the role of the information specialist in a corporate information center and discusses the three areas that define this role--collection, access, and service. Advantages and disadvantages of being a corporate information specialist are considered. (one reference) (MES)

Noting that the purpose and intent of the Federal Depository Library Program, as administered by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), is to make government information available to the general public, this report presents the fundamental characteristics of the program as it is implemented in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Descriptions of the…

These 10 issues, representing one calendar year, including two double issues (2002) of "The Library of Congress Information Bulletin," contain information on Library of Congress new collections and program developments, lectures and readings, financial support and materials donations, budget, honors and awards, World Wide Web sites and…

This document contains brief answers to some of the most frequently raised issues related to running a small Vermont public library. Areas covered include accessibility, the American Library Association, automation, awards, binding, services for the blind and physically handicapped, the Board of Libraries, the Board of Trustees, book dealers, book…

Discusses the need for public libraries to improve their collections for and services to beginning readers. Suggests that public libraries should reconfigure their children's departments and budgets based on the three stages to reading fluency, of which level two is the learning to read years that includes beginning readers. (LRW)

Examines criteria for the coordination of the administration of government document microform collections, including discussion of bibliographic access, physical access, and collection development. Limitations to the integration of these collections and problems of public access to these less than fully integrated collections are also addressed.…

Examines commercial electronic document delivery services that are available to academic libraries. Highlights include collection development issues; criteria for selection and evaluation; remote access systems, including CARL UnCover 2, Faxon Finder and Faxon Xpress, ContentsFirst and ArticleFirst, and CitaDel; and on-site access systems,…