Digital collections enable university students and faculty to share academic scholarship across their campuses and beyond. Based on interviews, the authors present cases of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates to illustrate some factors that seem to determine why they do or do not use digital collections in their research, teaching, and…

In this article, the author discusses collection development. Collection development is the one professional activity that allows librarians to define the coin of their realms: the content and kinds of materials they can offer the patrons they serve. Collection development begins with a collection development plan that underscores the mission of…

Ten years ago, in 1996, poet and children's book author, Pat Mora began celebrating "book joy" by founding a children's book and reading day, El Dia de los Ninos/El Dia de los Libros or Children's Day/Book Day. Dia is modeled on National Children's Day Celebrations in Mexico held since 1925 when it was launched in conjunction with a…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to describe the practical experience of managing e-books in an academic library. Design/methodology/approach: An overview of the three main e-book collections used (netLibrary, Taylor & Francis, and Ebook Library via Dawson) is provided, along with details such as the acquisition, cataloguing and…

Recycling good ideas is one of the most important skills school librarians can develop. Effective time management is significant to a successful library program; thus adapting, improving upon, and locating resources to enhance an existing idea or model result in time well spent. Developing a comprehensive library curriculum with a detailed…

This article talks about the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) conference in Reno, Nevada, which provides an opportunity for all school librarians to learn more about the new technologies that are revolutionizing the information landscape, and decide which digital tools will work to support their students and teachers. The…

School librarians work with people of all ages, abilities, and personalities; those people are the puzzle pieces that make advocacy for libraries effective. School librarians contribute to and use the resources of their state and national organizations' advocacy efforts. The completed picture of the puzzle is an excellent program with…

In this article, the author describes his path to library advocacy. It resulted from several youthful experiences, favorable professional associations, and an unexpected invitation shortly after he left K-12 education for the university. The author believes that it is a good idea to get more librarians to consider going into administration.…

In this article, the author provides a job description of teacher-librarians. In this information age, teacher-librarians make sure that children grow up and thrive in a world that requires not just knowledge, but the ability to tap into vast collections of information. Teacher-librarians also teach what is called information literacy. This…

While a positive attitude for librarians helps, there is a knowledge base and a research base in the field, a structured set of protocols, and a range of skills that have to be taught and practiced at the preservice level. In this article, the author discusses the importance for librarians to exude more enthusiasm about their work. She offers…

In this article, the author shares how she follows the policy developed by the Library Advisory Council (LAC) when she acquires new books for her school library. LAC is a group of fifty or so teaching librarians from all five New York City boroughs. They meet four times a year to help the Office of School Library Services focus on issues important…

Librarians face two very pressing charges: make voluminous numbers of electronic resources as visible as possible in a landscape with multiple access points, and simultaneously manage all the technology, tasks, and data necessary to facilitate such ubiquitous access. In the past ten years, solutions have emerged and become commonplace in many…

Readers' advisory (RA) librarians use appeal to translate between readers and books, to make connections between readers and myriad other title possibilities based on the effects of the story. Appeal addresses the elements of books that readers respond to, the features that "draw a reader into a book" and help shape a particular reading…

With the pileup of responsibilities that range from programming to outreach to web management, more and more librarians are finding vendor-based book selection enticing. Most librarians see vendor-based selection as an option to relieve the pressure and still provide good collections to their patrons. However, using vendors to help facilitate…

In the summer of 2006, the New York City-based Spanish-language newspaper "La Prensa" ran a series of articles on the surprisingly stressful life of the young Latina in America. The series brought to light grim statistics uncovered in the academic community that had largely escaped the mainstream. Namely, young Latinas--ages 12-17--are more likely…