Discussion of teacher-librarians in Canadian schools focuses on "Partners in Action," a document of the Ontario Ministry of Education that addresses the role of the school library media program. School funding is discussed, and results of a survey of school libraries in Ontario are described. (LRW)

Presents an interim report on a study that is investigating the potential application and effectiveness of selected output measurement techniques for use in the evaluation of school library media programs. Reference services and in-house use will be evaluated in the study. (LRW)

The Center for the Book established in 1977 began reading promotion campaigns in 1987 to raise national awareness and create new partnerships for the Library of Congress. The "Building a Nation of Readers" campaign, which culminates in 2000, the year of the Library of Congress's bicentennial, emphasizes the importance of reading to…

Reports on Bill and Melinda Gates's tour of Alabama, the first state to be wired to the Internet by the nonprofit Gates Library Foundation, and the model for connecting 1000 more libraries this year. Mutual appreciation between Alabama librarians and the Gateses resulted. An interview with Bill Gates focuses on challenges libraries face in…

Describes recent changes in the District of Columbia Public Library. Highlights include the search and appointment of a new director; financial problems; past managerial problems; needed technology updates; the impact of municipal government problems; and a sidebar with a biography of the new director, Molly Raphael. (LRW)

Describes Empire State College, a four-year Arts and Science institution in New York that provides distance education for mainly adult students who need an alternative to traditional higher education. Topics include mentors, student needs, access to libraries, the use of technology, and social services. (LRW)

Changes in library services due to advancing information technology constitute a revolution comparable to invention of the printing press. Democratization of access to knowledge is a positive development, but it should not be confused with democratization of knowledge. This is where any system of information networking may be misleading; in…

Discusses virtual libraries in corporate settings from the viewpoint of five special librarians. Highlights include competitive advantage, space and related collection issues, the use of technology, corporate culture, information overload, library vulnerability and downsizing, and the importance of service over format. (LRW)

Describes the framework in which the research library at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) reengineered its technical services operations. Focuses on the activities of the "Before Team" in evaluating, measuring, and redesigning the work processes that occur before the library receives an item. Discusses the results. (Author/AEF)

An American delegation assesses how children are faring as libraries in China adapt to the contradictions of a socialist market economy. Discussion includes examples of public-, academic-, and school-library programs, librarian attitudes, technology, and future changes. (AEF)

The purpose of this research was to identify the service factors that influence judgments of customer satisfaction in the academic library/media center. The study, conducted at Florida State University examined the relative importance of these determinants of service quality and compared these results to earlier studies conducted with customers of…

Describes the Scoville Learning Center at Adirondack Community College (Queensbury, New York). Discusses the layout and functions of the building's three floors and learning-resources services, including staff, library instruction seminars, the online catalog, outreach, equipment, computer labs, and future plans. (AEF)

Describes the use of questionnaires and interviews for a study on the use of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Library (Nigeria) by international students. Problems faced by students are highlighted, including the language barrier, new services, and unfamiliar library terminology. (Author/LRW)

Describes a correlation method for calculating reference statistics using weekly door counts that was tested at the University of South Carolina while studying a sampling technique for collecting reference statistics. Results indicate this method may offer libraries an accurate and less time-consuming procedure for keeping reference statistics.…

Describes the experiences at the Williamsburg (Virginia) Regional Library when the children's department closed for two months for renovations and temporary quarters were created in a bookmobile in a nearby parking lot. Discusses technology challenges involved in hooking up computers, selecting an appropriate collection that would fit, and…