Describes "Mission Possible," a summer reading game with an espionage theme developed by young adult readers and the Boulder (Colorado) Public Library. Highlights include instructions for playing the game, sample activity sheets, beginning and culminating activities, daily record keeping, prizes, player evaluations of the game, and…

Provides an overview of "Read on the Wild Side," a summer reading program for young adults established by the Webster (New York) Public Library, and "Read Hard, Play Later," a young adult summer reading program of the Pioneer Library System (New York). Highlights include reading logs, T-shirts, publicity, program evaluation,…

Describes how the Orange County (Florida) Library System separated walk-in and phone-in reference services. Discusses telephone reference services, the Quest Line database, staffing and resources, results, and keys to success. Includes the Quest Line work flow chart. (PEN)

Discusses the need to keep union lists of serials holdings updated and describes efforts by the University of Notre Dame library to update holdings on the Indiana Union List so that fill rates for interlibrary loan requests are improved. Results are reported that indicate an improvement in fill rates. (LRW)

Provides percentages of children ages 3 to 5 who were read to, told a story, or taken to the library by a parent or other family member. (Author/SLD)

Provides 10 guidelines to help librarians meet young adults' needs based on experiences at the Berkeley (California) Public Library. Highlights include providing bibliographies on popular topics, advertising techniques, teen advisory councils, anticipating needs from homework assignments, setting aside space for teens, and encouraging teens to…

Discusses four competing public images of the public library and its relation to information technology, as identified in recent research: the traditional library, the resisting library, the adapting library, and the co-opted library. Suggests that the public perceives the management of public information as a complex problem requiring a variety…

Includes three articles that discuss: (1) the creation of a persistent digital archive email collection, including technical issues; (2) a project at Cornell University that provides library users with personalized electronic library services; and (3) the digitization of a photographic collection in the United Kingdom for preservation purposes.…

Describes the development of a new television show on PBS called "Between the Lions" that is aimed at developing literacy of primary school children. Set in a library, the show's producers met with librarians for advice and will have libraries participating in local outreach programs to help promote the show. (LRW)

The first of two parts, this article discusses concepts of value and establishes a theory of use-oriented value for information and information services. Examines the notion of value in philosophy, economics, and library and information services; explores the connection between value and relevance; and develops models of information use and…

The previous head of the Central Library of Riverside City and County Public Library (RCCPL) (California) examines the economic failure of the system and the effects of the move to total outsourcing to a private commercial firm, Library Systems & Services (LSSI). Concludes that RCCPL had problems long before it was outsourced to LSSI. (AEF)

Describes how the Seattle (Washington) Public Library celebrated National Poetry Month in 1997 with readings, workshops, lectures, and poem-a-day display boards in libraries and community centers. Suggests ways libraries can organize programs, activities, exhibits, and displays for National Poetry Month (April) at minimal cost and staff effort.…

Describes facilities, collections, and services of the Greater Cairo Library, Mubarak Public Library, Heliopolis Public Library, and El Mustaqbal Library and Egyptian efforts to promote literacy and reading. (PEN)

Discusses Internet access in public libraries, filters, censorship issues, First Amendment rights, and intellectual freedom. Suggests that the Internet is a resource, and that the level of library service is dependent on what it can afford to provide, consistent with its mandate to serve the community's information needs. (Author/LRW)

Examines the design characteristics of ready-reference and email reference pages on the Web sites of 110 academic libraries in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). Characteristics examined included the wording of page titles and links, organization schemes, timeliness, and additional means of communication available between patron and…