The paper presents findings from 560 interviews with undergraduates on 10 campuses distributed across the US, as part of Project Information Literacy (PIL). Overall, the findings suggest that students use a "less is more" approach to manage and control all of the IT devices and information systems available to them while they are in the…

Deciding whether to go with a particular open source product is an exercise in risk management: understanding the risks of one's possible actions and choices, calculating when a certain level of risk is appropriate to reach a desired outcome, and planning for how to handle negative outcomes. To be sure, opting to go with a particular proprietary…

This report presents tabulations for the 2008 Academic Libraries Survey (ALS) conducted by the United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences. This First Look summarizes services, staff, collections, and expenditures of academic libraries in 2- and 4-year,…

This report presents tabulations for the 2006 Academic Libraries Survey (ALS) conducted by the United States Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute of Education Sciences. An academic library is defined as an entity in a postsecondary institution that provides all of the following: An…

Contains pictures

Discussion of the drawbacks of remote storage and microforms as solutions to library storage and retrieval problems covers the advantages and disadvantages of moveable compact shelving, i.e., electrically-powered shelving which eliminates all but one aisle in any set of ranges of shelving. This system is recommended as the answer to storage…

Examines options for buying microcomputers (the manufacturer or his/her representative, computer stores, general retail stores, mail order, system integrators, traditional vendors, second-hand). Three major factors are considered: support before sale; price/cost; and support after sale. Advantages and disadvantages of each option and…

The vice president of Gaylord Information Systems, a vendor of library products, reminisces about several items of library equipment and their evolution, including the card catalog, circulation products, and bookbinder's supplies. The common purpose of library products of the past and present--to help librarians help people find and use…

A DISCUSSION OF MICROFICHE, INCLUDING DEFINITION OF THE TERM, CONSIDERATION OF ITS CHARACTERISTICS AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN IT AND OTHER MICROFORMS, PUBLICATION IN THE FORM, AND STANDARDIZATION OF ITS SIZE AND FORMAT IS FOLLOWED BY AN EXPLANATION OF THE SURVEY OF MICROFICHE READERS AND READER-PRINTERS. THE SURVEY ITSELF GIVES THE FOLLOWING…

Furniture and equipment for library facilities are dealt with in terms of--(1) furniture selection, (2) book stack selection, (3) specification writing and bidding procedures, (4) equipment and methods in catalog card reproduction, (5) equipment and methods in photocopying with special emphasis on copying from bound volumes, and (6) equipment and…

Deals with certain of the more persistent and alluring artifices in the micrographic field over the past two decades. (Author)

Pictures and brief descriptions make up this nontechnical guide to microforms and microform technology. (SJ)

Compact book storage and the economies and costs of compact book shelving are considered. (NH)

A short history of mechanization. (Author)