The University of Texas at Arlington's Library began using an online chat reference in 2002. The service, called Collaborative Digital Reference Service, later became "Ask a Librarian." Slightly over one year later, the library joined the University of Texas System's "Ask a Librarian" service. Both services are powered by…

As most librarians have probably realized by the paucity of articles in the library literature concerning the "Anglo-American Cataloging Rules, Second Edition, 1988 Revision" (Chicago: American Library Association, 1988), no revolutionary changes have been introduced in the 1988 revision in direct contrast to the situation with the…

Teachers, school library media specialists (SLMSs), and principals in six elementary schools were interviewed to explore the ways in which schools have successfully implemented flexible scheduling in their libraries. Overall findings and conclusions of the study are linked with Rogers' diffusion of innovation theory and compared with Shannon's…

Library webmasters in medium-sized academic libraries were surveyed about their educational backgrounds, job responsibilities, and training and experience levels in Web development. The article summarizes the findings of the survey with recommendations for libraries and library and information science programs. (Contains 7 tables, 5 figures,and 5…

This is a detailed review of an in-depth action research training model and an investigation of how that model, supported through virtual and personal guidance from an academic researcher, served to impact the instructional practice of a small sample of school library media specialists (SLMSs). The researcher operates in the third dimension,…

This report is the result of a task force's examination of factors that promote or discourage access to public libraries, i.e., economic, educational, social, attitudinal, physical, and geographical factors. It begins by identifying the seven issues that the study focused on: (1) what makes a person feel welcome and comfortable in a public…

This guide presents a series of articles which give pointers, hints, and examples of day-to-day development activities school librarians can use to hone their professionalism. The first of five sections describes ways in which librarians can provide professional service and lists some markers of professionalism. The second section presents one…

The book "Double Fold" is an investigation into what its author Nicholas Baker, a novelist and essayist, terms as a deception of research libraries and their maintenance of books and newspapers, their paper collections. This book is a response to Baker's writings, based on the author's perspective as an archivist. The first chapter introduces…

It has been observed that one historical role of the public library is serving the nation's youth. Current economic and social conditions have created the phenomenon of the "latchkey child"--the school-aged child who has no parent or guardian at home after school hours and has no alternative care arrangement. In light of this, this…

This article presents an overview of a research project that was designed as a way to understand the role of Australian academic librarians in internationalising library, university, and higher education practice. In an attempt to discover what it is that librarians actually do, a survey of university librarians was undertaken to find how they…

This notebook presents ideas for and readings about producing a well-organized and efficient school library program. The notebook is divided into 15 major sections, each of which begins with an overview of the topic, continues with practical discussions of different aspects of the topic, and is followed by background readings consisting of new…

This paper discusses the results of a project designed to gather data that the Library Media Coordinators of DeKalb County (Georgia) Schools can use to evaluate several aspects of online searching in the county's secondary schools. The project, involving responses from library media specialists (LMSs) from 24 DeKalb secondary schools (5 junior…

Discussion of professional ethics for school library media specialists highlights issues involving copyright. Ethics and the school curriculum is discussed, the librarian's code of ethics is reviewed, educating teachers as well as students about copyright law is suggested, and resources dealing with copyright issues are listed. (18 references)…

This study examines the views of students and teachers in a United Kingdom high school on the students' use of information literacy skills. The students were provided with a scaffold in the form of the PLUS information literacy model. The study demonstrates that there exists a range of understanding amongst students about the value of information…

Emphasizing the "people" context of the work of librarians in off-campus libraries, this paper argues that intelligent use of technology ought to drive librarians toward a more sophisticated approach to the existing strengths, learning goals, and living and learning style preferences of distance learners as they cope with the stresses of their…