This paper investigates aspects of the management of independent secondary school libraries in England and Wales. It is based on a survey of 150 independent school library managers, with a response rate of 68.7 percent, which was carried out as part of an ongoing PhD research project. The paper considers a range of issues important to school…

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…

This article highlights various literature covering a broad range of topics that are of interest to public services librarians, from collections and user services to one's own research and professional development. Although addressing many topics, these authors have all used or advocate for solid research methods and data analysis in their works,…

Discussion of the concept of service and its significance for library reference work focuses on attitudes and qualities important to good service. The changing nature of reference resulting from technological developments and the appropriateness of these values for modern day reference work are then addressed. (13 references) (MES)

Based on a study trip to Denmark which included visits to a large central public library, branch libraries, the Royal Library, a special library, several university libraries, and the library school, this article offers personal observations on library education since the passage of the Royal School of Librarianship Act in 1985. (Three references)…

Presents Lorenzo Gurreri's narrative of his long and distinguished library career, which began in 1962 when he took an MSLS degree from Syracuse University. The ensuing years found him in cataloging and reference positions while the library profession began to feel the effects of the new Information Age. (VWC)

Focuses on how Effie Lee Morris continues the tradition of librarian-activist. Notes that her activism emerged during her youth when, as a high school student, she desegregated public bathhouses and pools in Cleveland, Ohio. Considers how today she remains actively involved in the American Library Association, the Children's Defense Fund and other…

Censorship of school library collections has risen significantly in the last few decades, and such attacks are increasing. American courts have ruled that students in schools have First Amendment rights and some degree of freedom of speech. Courts also have ruled that students have the right to information and to learn and discuss issues of…

Doug Johnson considers himself to be a secretly subversive library media specialist as he promoted measures for remodeling the library with new carpeting and air conditioning for making the library more enjoyable rather than protecting the books and computers. Some things that library media specialists often do to gain acceptance in their…

Librarians' unfortunate fixation on image as a defining generational characteristic also makes them just as guilty of promoting misconceptions as nonlibrarians. Can the profession stand another article in the general press that trumpets the amazing new discovery that librarians can be young, trendy, stylish? The level of our colleagues'…

School library media center scheduling, particularly the fixed versus flexible scheduling controversy, continues to be debated in spite of decades of advocacy for flexible scheduling. According to van Deusen (1999), flexible scheduling is "a plan wherein classes meet for instruction in the library resource center when they have a specific need…

This article examines staff training from a different perspective, as a means of transmitting organizational culture to student employees through a closer communication between career and student part-time employees. Results of a qualitative survey suggest communication supports multigenerational relationships and administrators who invest in…

This paper explores how Scottish public library services have responded to providing a service to a virtually invisible minority group, i.e. lesbians who enjoy reading lesbian fiction. The evidence that provides the foundation for the results discussed in this paper was drawn from the following sources: a study of the 32 public library services in…

This research paper examines the portrayal of 35 librarians depicted in 24 adult mystery novels copyrighted between 1980 and 1990. Its main objective is to gauge how closely the portrayals of the librarians resemble or differ from the stereotype denounced in professional writings. In general, the librarians in these stories are fairly young and…

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…