In the past, it took the library staff of the University of Bath in United Kingdom around two weeks each autumn to produce cards for the main intake of its undergraduates. In this article, the author describes how he transformed the school's traditional library card production into a low-cost self-service system. He also describes how the new…

Asmall library's essential technical problem is that it has to chart a course through the technology shoals without a navigator on board. Small libraries in small towns often have a very low level of technical skill on staff. Furthermore, obtaining skilled technical support can frequently be pretty expensive. Even when one is available, a clever…

A library media specialist describes the way in which she and her assistant re-evaluated the library media center program so that they could help students in finding books of their choice, easily. Library media center orientation includes remainders for students that there are often variations in library arrangements and formal and informal…

This article discusses the current status of teens in society. The article reports that half of all teens have been affected by the divorce of their parents; one in five lives in poverty; and approximately one in six suffers from depression. Thirty-five percent of teenage girls get pregnant at least once before age 20. This article discusses ways…

When Mary Ellen Icaza became Electronic Services Librarian at Montgomery County Public Libraries, she noticed that the readers' services information on the library web site was invisible, even to librarians. "And if staff can't find it," she says, "customers can't." She set out to help people find that material-and to turn a…

The New Americans Program at Queens Borough Public Library (QBPL) is well known for the innovative collections and programs it provides to one of the nation's most diverse communities. What is less known is the rigorous analysis of demographic data that provides direction to the program. Wai Sze (Lacey) Chan uses demographics to create as complete…

Troy Johnson was a devoted reader and library user even as a teen living in Alaska. His experiences with librarians there and at the University of Nebraska College of Law made law librarianship an appealing career choice when he received his law degree and realized he had no idea what he wanted to do with it. Now, as Electronic Services and…

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…

In 2003, Penn State Libraries implemented payroll deduction and collection agency programs to gain better control of accounts receivable. The author reports on the implementation processes and first year outcomes of the programs. She recommends careful consideration of several questions before implementing such measures.

Academic libraries increasingly rely on Interlibrary Loan (ILL) departments to obtain research materials. This adds to the workload of ILL at a time when many libraries are experiencing budget cuts and dwindling staff. Collaboration between ILL and Reference can assist ILL by providing searching expertise. Collaboration is facilitated by the…

Teacher-librarians and teachers said that testing is driving everything that they do. One elementary teacher said that her entire grade level had not been to the library all year because they did not have time because the testing is all consuming and dictating all they do in the classroom. The teacher-librarian at that school added there was…

At the Hewlett-Packard (HP) Labs Research Library, the metadata of HP Labs technical reports (research papers, reports, and articles) is managed through their customized library catalog system. RSS is used to make newly published technical reports from the ILS available externally as RSS feeds on the HP Labs Technical Reports Web site and…

This article analyzes the concept of the Invisible Web and its implication for academic librarianship. It offers a guide to tools that can be used to mine the Invisible Web and discusses the benefits of using the Invisible Web to promote interest in library services. In addition, the article includes an expanded definition, a literature review,…

When a university acquires the library of a national institute and the institute's active and worldwide membership expects continued and uninterrupted access to services from the collection, shockwaves can reverberate throughout the university's main library and among its staff. This was especially true for the Reference Department of the…

The increasingly famous "Long Tail" is essentially a modernized version of the 80/20 rule, something with which most have at least a passing familiarity. The rule (credited to Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th-century philosopher) hypothesized, for example, that 80 percent of the property in Italy was owned by 20 percent of its citizens. That rule is now…