The technology of the 21st century has had no shortage of challenges for libraries, but it has also brought opportunities. Operating systems, databases, and application environments that can use cheap off-the-shelf hardware to scale and handle hundreds of millions of transactions were not developed for libraries. However, libraries have taken…

The Southeast Florida Library and Information Network (SEFLIN) has presented the Sun Seeker Leadership Institute biennially since 1997. SEFLIN, a multitype library consortium headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, was one of the first groups to sponsor a library leadership institute held as a monthly series of events over the period of a year. One…

Although the current focus of library consortia has been their role as buying clubs, technology has opened up other important roles as well. One of these is a radical reassessment of physical resource sharing--increasing the ease, speed, popularity, and cost efficiency of the traditional interlibrary loan function. A case study of patron-initiated…

Discussion of role of school library media centers (SLMCs) in multitype library networks notes five basic factors that contribute to their exclusion from library networks: psychological, political and legal, funding, communication, and planning. Examples of programs attempting to reduce barriers to school participation in library networks are…

As interlibrary cooperation has proliferated in the last several decades, multitype library organizations and systems have emerged as important forces in librarianship. The need for thoughtful and organized strategic planning is an important cornerstone for the success of organizations of all sizes. Part of a project by the Interlibrary…

Broward Community College South and North Campus Libraries have successfully become partners with the Broward County Library System. Commencing in the early 1980s, the joint-use facilities were pioneers and are now models for other institutions across the state and nation that are planning similar projects. The fear of leaders involved with the…

Sharing a local automated library system will generally reduce the costs of automation for each participating library and will facilitate the sharing of resources. To set up a consortium, libraries must first identify and agree on governance issues and methods for dealing with these issues. Issues range from ownership, management, and location of…

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library participated in the statewide conversion to a new integrated library system in the summer of 2002. Prior to the system's implementation, various local and statewide committees coordinated efforts to train their staffs so as to ensure a seamless transition. This case study analyzes, in…

Discusses the rationale, methodology, capabilities and problems of a local area network created for the Library Consortium of Health Institutions in Buffalo, using a multi-user microcomputer. The rationale and design of a new network, designed to better meet information and compatibility requirements, are described and suggestions to network…