Chronicles the evolution of the position of consultant in poetry (in 1989, officially titled Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry) at the Library of Congress from the 1930s to the present. Poets highlighted include Howard Nemerov, Alan Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Robert Hayden, Joseph Brodsky, Rita Dove, and Stanley Kunitz. A sidebar discusses…

Explains how to build World Wide Web home pages using frames-based HTML so that librarians can manage Web-based information and improve their home pages. Provides descriptions and 15 examples for writing frames-HTML code, including advanced concepts and additional techniques for home-page design. (Author/LRW)

Reviews the history of United States librarianship. Suggests that the profession has failed to analyze the meaning of library service and its significance to users. Argues that this has limited the ability to understand the present role of the U.S. library and thus affects efforts to plan for the future. Contains 131 references. (Author/LRW)

Discusses experiences of the Saint Louis University's Health Sciences Center Library in providing access to electronic journals to a dispersed constituency. Topics include IP (institutional password) filtering, how publishers and aggregators establish access control, credential-based authentication, and proxy servers. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the history of the reference reform movement that began with an article that described what was wrong with reference. Highlights include the use of technology; remote access; tiered service; appointment-based reference service; alternative staffing patterns; and providing adequate resources to enhance reference service. (LRW)

Provides summaries of the presentations at the North Carolina Library Association's Biennial Conference, "Choose Quality, Choose Libraries," (Raleigh, NC, October 8-10, 1997). Some of the topics covered include library instruction, Internet access to public documents, outsourcing technical services, copyrights and the Internet, the…

Presents examples of representations of libraries and librarians taken from modern popular culture, including popular film, television, and novels, and using Foucault's approach to discourse, asserts that such representations are made possible by, and decoded within, the structures of a discourse of fear, a practice of speech and symbols that…

Reviews changes in health sciences libraries, including the evolving role of health sciences librarians, education and training of health sciences librarians, rethinking reference services, impact on quality health care, improving the value of information, virtual libraries, National Library of Medicine initiatives, and quality initiatives. (LRW)

Presents ideas for activities geared to children ages seven and up that revolve around the Harry Potter books, based on a Harry Potter Holiday Club developed at the Beverly Hills (California) Public Library. Includes costs, craft activities, theater performances, and games. (LRW)

Discusses the evaluation of academic library reference librarians' effectiveness in providing services to patrons using electronic sources based on experiences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Topics include core technical competencies for subject specialists and reference desk service; the Internet; and methods of evaluation.…

This column, part of a series of commonly asked questions on library law, completes discussion of two previous columns on common questions about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Highlights include: procedures if a request for records is denied; appealing a denial of records; how FOIA is enforced and interpreted by the courts; personal…

Discusses values that have shaped and guided the profession of reference librarian and portrays the rigors of working at a general reference desk. Topics include information overload; demands of the information age; societal trends; new technologies; training; and role reconsideration for the librarian, including teacher, information provider, and…

Explores the variety of innovations in service models implemented over the last 25 years that health-sciences librarians have initiated to extend library services and information to remote users. Trends in health-care-management systems, education initiatives, the rise in consumerism, and expectations of new categories of users are discussed.…

Summarizes universe data on public libraries in the United States. Includes information about public libraries' administrative structure and legal basis, operating income and expenditures, staff, collections, and services. (Author/SLD)

Discusses the history of backup reference service in the state of New Jersey including the transition from regional backup service; describes the current statewide service; and considers future service possibilities in light of recent trends, including a decrease in the number of reference questions being received in libraries. (LRW)