Describes experiences of a librarian who participated in the World Library Partnership to volunteer in a South African elementary school library during a summer. Discusses classroom teaching techniques; library technical processes; training library staff and teachers; student workers; story times; library instruction; and library policy. (LRW)

Discussion of the projected growth in ethnic and racial minority groups focuses on diversity in libraries and suggests strategies for assessing current library practices and planning for the future. Topics addressed include leadership, including goals, objectives, and policies; staff development; and program development, including outreach…

Discusses policies and attitudes prevalent in public libraries that encourage female users and discourage male users. The lack of technical books that may appeal more to men is examined, the lack of appropriate reviews is described, subconscious classism is suggested, and differences in fiction preferences are discussed. (two references) (LRW)

Argues that librarians should respond to the growing demand for medical information by expanding their role. The development of medical information reference, issues of accountability, legal responsibility, and user characteristics are discussed. Seven steps toward accountability, including in-depth reference interviewing, referral, training, and…

Addresses the issue of student access to inappropriate materials on the Internet. Topics discussed include school library policies; the role of parents; public library concerns; access to information; and a sample technical code of conduct for high schools. (seven references) (LRW)

This document contains 12 brief discussions of library-related topics with emphasis on school library media centers, which were originally published by the Iowa Department of Public Instruction (DPI) or the Iowa Department of Education (DE). These "Quick Notes" appear under the following headings: (1) "A Bill of Rights for the…

The September 11th terrorist attacks on the United States have contributed greatly to a change in the information environment around the world. The weeks following the attacks saw governments around the world rush to pass legislation designed to prevent future acts of terrorism. Much of this legislation targeted information flow, especially on the…

Discusses the national curriculum in the United Kingdom and its impact on secondary school libraries. Highlights include the national curriculum and the management of schools and the responses of librarians, including management structures, library policy, communication strategies, library facilities and equipment, library collections, and staff…

Specialized library collections and services are often not geared toward Indian nationals in Canada. Public libraries should serve ethnic minorities by providing staff with language abilities and sharing materials through interlibrary loan. Appendixes include a geographic overview of Canadian public library acts, sample initiatives for…

Discussion of intellectual freedom, access to information, and public library administration focuses on three main areas: (1) access to minors; (2) access to library services by the poor, including library card registration policies that require a permanent address; and (3) charging fines and fees. Information equality and access to Internet are…

For many years, there has been pressure on American schools to restrict or deny students access to books or periodicals deemed objectionable by some individual or group on moral, political, religious, ethnic, racial, or philosophical grounds. Censorship of library books in school media centers is present today. The library media specialist is…

This paper discusses some of the factors that lead to the success of a health information library, including: (1) the mission statement; (2) practical matters such as location, equipment, furniture, and layout; (3) considerations in writing the procedure and policy manual; (4) confidentiality; (5) staff and volunteer training; (6) sources of…

Presents the text of a question-and-answer session that addressed the Copyright Clearance Center, library compliance with copyright law, copyrights and electronic information, fair use and the World Wide Web, copyrighted images and the Web, permission procedures, scanning historical images, distance education and scanned documents, future…

Analyzes a 1993 censorship case involving public protest against the Fairfax County (Virginia) Library System's display of a gay newspaper. The case gave rise to the Family Friendly Libraries movement. The responsible librarian should select to maintain a balanced collection, know the community, educate the library board and develop consensus on…

From 1963 to 1996, Director Charlie Robinson and Deputy Director Jean-Barry Molz led the Baltimore County Public Library, a system known for customer orientation, a philosophy of collection development heavily emphasizing best sellers, centralized materials selection, interchangeable adult and children's staff, and service fees. Upon retirement,…