Overview of the new guidelines for school library media programs developed cooperatively by the American Association of School Librarians and the Association for Educational Communications and Technology reviews issues such as information studies curriculum, planning, media specialist roles, personnel, and information resources. (MES)

Describes difficulties experienced by librarians in trying to communicate with students for whom English is not the native language. The discussion covers strategies to improve communication, including the use of analogy, universal humor, hands on experience, and integrated programs involving English as a second language and library personnel. (10…

Discusses the information-seeking and information-using behavior of artists, particularly in the applied arts, and art historians. Topics include visual information; technological and intellectual aspects of access to visual information; physical characteristics of art works; cataloging and indexing tools; access to images; and the role of…

Discusses the changing role of the school library media specialist. Highlights include the impact of an increase in job complexity and decreases in library funding; strategies for delegating; circulation; equipment operation; and empowering teachers. A sidebar lists 11 different perspectives of the media specialist's role. (11 references) (KRN)

Presents an overview of information infrastructure development in Latvia and discusses the role of the Latvian Academic Library. Describes Latvia's telecommunications, information network, data transmission, and electronic information services and reviews the types of electronic information sources that have been created. (Author/JMV)

Describes the Health Information Project, a plan created by the Maryland State Department of Education that allows residents to obtain health information from public libraries. Examples of patron situations involving health questions illustrate the plan's main elements: collection development, staff training, networking with community agencies,…

The lead article in this section argues that the profession's current focus on technology has compromised academic librarianship's scholarly values, eroded the quality of rhetoric between librarians and patrons, and contributed to the ascendancy of information over knowledge. Renewal of the teaching function and reaffirmation of traditional values…

Discusses the role of library media specialists in education. Highlights include assessing the effect of media specialists on learning outcomes; sexism; educational change; and strategic planning for media centers and for schools, including a paradigm shift for media specialists to assume a leadership role in the educational community. (LRW)

Describes a collaborative project by Austin Community College's Child Development, Child Laboratory, and Learning Resource Services programs to improve services available for those serving the city's youth, especially those involved in child care. Highlights goals for the program's lending library activities. Supporting data on the status of child…

Compares two distinct approaches to education for medical librarianship--those of the People's Republic of China and of North America. Topics discussed include formal degree programs; certification; the relationship between educators and practitioners; the changing needs of medical librarians regarding continuing education; lifelong learning; and…

Examines the gap between developing communication technologies available to the public and the public's ability to employ them. Highlights include the federal government's policy on universal Internet access; factors that negatively affect public library involvement in Internet access; and elements involved in clarifying the role of public…

Discusses the librarian's role in bringing about an equilibrium between private and public information interests that serves both information owners and the public, and comments on copyright law, libraries as managers of copyrighted property, access versus ownership, the library advantage in document delivery, the value of copyright, and creating…

Contains reprints of four articles showing that librarians foresaw the impact of technology on libraries: (1) "Copyright and the Future of Authorship" (Barbara Ringer); (2) "Inventions and Books--What of the Future?" (Ethel M. Fair); (3) "The Changes Ahead" (Lowell A. Martin); (4) "Trial by Computer" (Basil…

Discusses the need for school library media specialists to become more vocal advocates in the community for public education and funding, and provides resources that offer relevant information regarding the achievement of national education goals as well as advocacy resources. (LRW)

Discusses the need for adequate staffing in rural public libraries to meet expanded information needs. Topics include libraries' changing roles in the community to meet future information needs, the difference between training and education, and the development of distance education programs by library schools for professional continuing…