This paper reports on a questionnaire survey of 16 national libraries designed to clarify how national libraries attempt to justify their web archiving activities. Results indicate they envisage that a) the benefits brought about by their initiatives are greater than the overall costs, b) the costs imposed on libraries are greater than the costs…

Students at U.S. colleges and universities are concerned about the high cost of textbooks. Expansion of library course reserves has been suggested as one solution to this problem. The authors surveyed libraries at public universities to explore the status and management of physical course reserves and the role they play vis-a-vis textbook…

This paper takes a theoretical and practical approach in defining the "problem" of homelessness in libraries. The author examines three fundamental problems on homelessness. The three fundamental questions are: (a) Who are the homeless? (b) Why are they homeless? (c) What are their information needs in libraries? These questions are important in…

First published in 1957, following a battle with nervous lawyers, "The Uses of Literacy" is recognized as one of the founding texts of cultural studies. Its critique of mass culture reverberated far beyond that discipline. It influenced the librarians of the day who were beginning to think about issues of class and consider their…

This is Part 2 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") will illustrate the evolution in…

In this article, the author features ideas and strategies for outreach that librarians can do to promote one's library media program and the good work it does. She stresses that by working together and reaching out, librarians can help foster visibility and support for school library media programs and professionals alike nationwide. Here, she…

Libraries are successful to the extent that they can bridge communities and can leverage the diversity of the quest, the research, and the discovery. By building bridges among various sectors, libraries will be able to define themselves in the next generation.

In this article, the author discusses how a librarian of a school can be a source of support for first year teachers. Not only can the library media specialist provide the new teacher with a variety of resources, but also with a unique perspective. Just as the administrative assistant and financial director help the new teacher understand the…

Conducting a literature review is a vital part of any research. Library and information science (LIS) professionals often play a central role in supporting academics in their efforts to locate relevant publications and in teaching novice researchers skills associated with literature reviews. This paper examines literature review processes with the…

This paper will address how the digital divide affects distance education. Lack of access for some students does raise concerns. Access to technology is often defined by what students don't have: what is called a digital divide. Access also is defined by the speed of Internet connections. Access in the future will be even greater as more computers…

With an annual dropout rate of roughly 1.2 million students, far too many children and youth are being left behind in schools. As a consequence of the large dropout rate, it is estimated that the United States loses almost $320 billion in potential earnings each year. It is apparent that educational reform is needed in order to identify at-risk…

This article reports the results of the third and final phase of a two-year research study on the impact of New York State's school libraries on student achievement and motivation. Results of phase I and phase II are briefly reviewed to provide the context for phase III methods and findings. Phase III comprised (1) qualitative research that…

This "Blueprint" describes the actions everyone needs to take if they are to nourish Indiana's young adolescents so that they will be able to develop their reading skills to their full potential. This document spells out the ways that everyone can make books available, provide middle grades students with the time for reading, provide…

This article investigates how psychology graduate students find information for coursework and research, who teaches them how to find it, and whether differences emerge over the course of their graduate careers. Findings indicate that these graduate students are comfortable using campus libraries, prefer electronic resources, ask supervisors when…

The advent of large-scale digital repositories, along with the need for sharing useful data world-wide, demands change to the current information structure. The merging of digital scientific data with scholarly literature has the potential to fulfill the Semantic Web design principles. This paper will identify factors leading to integration of…