This paper outlines the case studies of two librarians who work closely with graduate students in fine arts programs. Realizing that graduate students can often experience a unique form of research anxiety, both librarians collaborated with faculty to embed themselves into the research methods courses of their programs. Both librarians found that…

This paper discusses the advantages of a film library as compared with other possible methods of providing films to academic programs and individual viewers, and provides information about creating, maintaining, and evaluating such a collection. Many recurrent problems and their solutions are briefly described.

Toys don't belong in the library. That's probably what some people still think. But the author's library outside Philadelphia was having such a hard time attracting boys who had outgrown storytime that he and his colleagues decided to try something new. So his school started a Lego club. Since their June 2008 kickoff, they've been amazed by how…

The "Nonbook Materials Core Collection" is one of H. W. Wilson's new subscription-based electronic core collection development databases. It is a new addition to the five-volume core collection series formerly known as the "Standard Catalog Series." Other titles in this series have long been staples of collection development resources for both…

Throughout the history of library automation, the author has seen a steady advancement toward more open systems. In the early days of library automation, when proprietary systems dominated, the need for standards was paramount since other means of inter-operability and data exchange weren't possible. Today's focus on Application Programming…

The Notable Children's Videos, Recordings, and Great Interactive Software for Kids lists are compiled annually by committees of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). This article presents the lists for 2009 that were released in January during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in…

Girls today have never known a time of athletic inequality. That is why it is so important to build a strong collection for this particular patron base so the voices of the past can encourage the goals of present and future athletes. The young girls of today have grown up with a wide range of athletic opportunities and most do not know of the…

Whether a school library program is the picture of good health in a state that mandates a professionally staffed library media center in every building or is suffering in a low-wealth district that is facing drastic cuts, the recently launched toolkits by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) are stocked with useful strategies and…

The new "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner IN ACTION", presented like a colorful flowchart, was previewed without fanfare at the annual Midwinter meeting of the American Library Association in Denver, Colorado, in January (American Library Association 2009). This new publication does a good job in further defining the student…

After one year of providing virtual reference service through an instant messaging (IM) service, Binghamton University (BU) Libraries, under the purview of its Digital Reference Committee (DRC), undertook a study of collected session transcripts. The goals of this work were to determine who was using the IM service and why; if staffing for the…

Going green is now a national issue, and patrons expect their library to respond in the same way many corporations have. Libraries are going green with logos on their Web sites, programs for the public, and a host of other initiatives. This is the first book to focus strictly on the library's role in going green, helping you with: (1) Collection…

Ten Australian TAFE institutions are currently able to offer higher education degree qualifications--diplomas, advanced diplomas and degrees, catering to 2,000 students. Although this number of students is small, it continues to expand in alignment with the federal government's strategy to reach its target of 40% of young adult Australians having…

Many educational theorists who study child development concur that the importance of play related materials in schools, homes and libraries is vital to the concept of play and learning. As academic librarians responsible for information literacy, and as the education liaison for the management and collection development of the instructional…

Libraries continue to shift budgets toward obtaining more electronic resources. Electronic resources can develop problems at any time when a library offers access. Staff collaboration is vital in ensuring availability to those resources. Partnering with areas in the library that work most closely with patrons can help share the load of the…

An automated retrieval system, adapted from a commercial warehouse application, has been installed at Georgia Southern University and has been well accepted by patrons and library personnel due to its reliability, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and responsiveness. (Contains 1 figure.)