Sophistication and accessibility can be dangerous bedfellows, especially when it comes to information sources. One of the real challenges in undergraduate academic libraries can be connecting students in a meaningful way to the resources that will be most helpful and understandable for them. This article discusses how techniques borrowed from the…

Who can be trusted on the Web? These days, with identity theft seemingly rampant, it's more important than ever to take all possible measures to protect privacy and to shield personal information from those who might not have good intentions. Today, librarians also have to take reasonable precautions to ensure that the online services that they…

One of the most important policy documents for a school library media center is the selection policy or the collection development policy. A well-developed selection policy provides a rationale for the selection decisions made by the school library media specialist. A selection policy represents the criteria against which a challenged book is…

In the day-to-day operation of a library media center, service is the most important job. A library media specialist is employed to be of service to your students, teachers, administrators, and parents, but according to "Information Power: Building Partnerships for Learning," prepared by the American Association of School Librarians, the school…

Teacher-Librarians are rushing to the front lines to help battle the latest crisis on education. A gender gap exists in reading proficiency: boys do not read as well as girls. The challenge of enticing boys into reading has led teacher-librarians into a variety of inventive and proactive experiments. They have started "boys only" reading clubs,…

Branches in shopping malls help build community by attracting new patrons to the library. They help libraries offer exciting new venues with a retail-like approach and raise awareness of the work libraries are doing. In some cases, though not at Glendale, the library is more cost-effective owing to the smaller space used to serve patrons. These…

It is the recent emphasis on testing that has brought life to this issue once again and has spawned the "New Boys Movement," which focuses on helping boys achieve in reading and writing, Researchers have been studying what makes boys tick. What they've learned is that boys take longer to learn to read than girls; they read less than girls and are…

Thirty years ago most resource sharing took place between libraries, with a few formal organizations (library consortia) providing logistical support. Today there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of organizations around the world facilitating resource sharing. Automation has greatly accelerated the growth of resource sharing. As access to…

Federal, state, and local governments are pouring money into programs and initiatives that were mandated by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). An important additional step to take is to demonstrate to administrators, faculty, and parents that the library program and its collection is aligned with the goals of NCLB and is striving to play an active part…

Stocking the shelves of library media centers with multicultural literature is not enough, it is important that children are helped to choose the ones that would interest them as reading about various cultures is of great benefit to young readers. The importance of accurately representing to children a multicultural society is emphasized and…

The author of this article, a card-carrying member of the American Library Association (ALA), discusses her views on how difficult it is for some leaders to accept that this is the 21st century. She feels that people do not need to choose between blogs and printed text, because people can read both. She also feels that library shelves have room…

Karl Kendall knows that while comic books, computers, and daily movies will grab teens' interest, what they long for most is respect. As head of Teen Central, a 4,000 square foot space on the fourth floor of Phoenix's Burton Barr Central Library, Kendall provides teens with a place where their ideas and opinions are listened to, their talents…

Anyone who hires Loft Bell is getting two librarians: one who enthusiastically does the job, and another who develops new ideas, secures grants to fund them, and swiftly puts the ideas into action. There's nothing that makes a job more attractive to Bell than the freedom to try out new things. Jenny Levine, Internet development specialist at…

Few might think there is much of a connection between acting and librarianship, but Chance Hunt says his acting career in Los Angeles provided him with skills he uses today as a youth services librarian, from programming with kids to representing the library at citywide meetings. Hunt oversees system-wide services for children and teens at the…

Purpose: Aims to investigate the impact of the internet on reference services in public libraries in England. Design/methodology/approach: A literature review provides the policy context for UK public library services and highlights developments in digital reference. A questionnaire was administered in 2003 to a sample of the public library…