Examines four university libraries and the unique designs they required to meet the needs of their patrons. Design features and photos are included. (GR)

Describes five steps that school librarians should follow every week to keep their computers running at top efficiency. Explains how to update virus definitions; run Windows update; run ScanDisk to repair errors on the hard drive; run a disk defragmenter; and backup all data. (LRW)

As varied as the schools and the communities they serve, so too are the Web pages for the library media programs that serve them. This article provides guidelines for effective web design and the information that might be included, including reference resources, reference asistance, curriculum support, literacy advocacy, and dynamic material. An…

Some children delight in pursuing information about a particular subject. They are excited about facts and theories, and want to know about the "how" as well as the "what" and the "who." They love the challenge of making connections and seeing the ways the pieces of any puzzle or mystery are linked together. On research projects, these young…

This column provides an updated list of thirty online lesson plan sites. Some are general, some specific, and some are geared toward one age level or another. The sites described cover topics ranging from American History to Physics to Astronomy.

The Fourth Monday in October is International School Library Day (ISLD)--an opportunity for school libraries around the world to celebrate the contribution they make to the education of the children in their care. International School Library Day was proclaimed in 1999 by Dr Blanche Woolls, president of the International Association of School…

An important tool for communication and collaboration is the library newsletter, which the library media specialist writes to the staff, teachers and library media specialist from other schools. The newsletter includes upcoming events teachers can sign up for, information on web sites to be used for projects, curriculum ideas, introduction of a…

Library programming documents can help to keep organized in the midst of ever-changing plans and can give teachers the guidance they need to fulfill their role in collaborative units. A list of programming documents that are suitable for handouts or e-mails is presented.

This article briefly discusses two librarians exploration of Linux. Andrea Baker and Amy Daniels were tired of telling their students that new technology items were not in the budget. They explored Linux, which is a program that recycles older computers, installs free operating systems and free software.

Terje Hillesund points out that "information technology and especially the Internet have profoundly changed the ways of publishing." Recently, the book publishing industry has started to catch up, making digitized texts--including multimedia texts--available for sale through online bookstores, and in some cases, available for free downloading.…

Teacher-librarians need to convey the message to students that they are willing to help them find what they need in the library. However, teacher-librarians also need to teach them how to help themselves. In this article, the author asserts that is is inappropriate for teacher-librarians to teach to students that they cannot find information for…

Sensing that their libraries are in competition with local bookstores that offer leisurely atmospheres, warm aromatic drinks, and prominently displayed books and other materials by genre, many librarians have considered "shelving" the Dewey decimal system in order to rearrange their libraries in a similar fashion. The author of this article, a…

The principal's desk is a crowded place at the end of the year. Memos from the superintendent, school board meeting minutes, parent messages, and reports on many aspects of the school and its functions make the desk appear to be the school's dumping ground. Among these reports is the librarian's annual report--a summation of the year's goals,…

When a person walks into any library media center, he or she will, no doubt, see lots of students busily working on classroom assignments. While these students may be focused and industrious, the real question is what drives their work, and are they learning? Student learning comes from active efforts to construct knowledge that requires them to…

This article talks about selection policy and provides suggestions on how library media specialists can update their selection policies to provide an atmosphere that facilitate inquiry. The selection policy is meant to ensure that the collection meets the needs of the school community as comprehensively and effectively as possible. Instead of…