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This article tests ALIA's statement that ‘library print and ebook collections will establish a 50:50 equilibrium by 2020’ against the experience and likely trajectory of Curtin University Library. It identifies features of the higher education landscape that have led to the development of epreferred strategies, outlines current collection principles, and describes the current state of the Library's holdings. Looking ahead, the article charts the likely impact of the current collection development framework over the next six years, considering questions relating to budget, use of space, client experience and treatment of the legacy print collection. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The increasing availability and prominence of e-books has led to a perception in some quarters that the requirement for physical books is decreasing, as most, or all scholarly material is openly available in digital form. Some academic administrators and librarians have suggested that it may be possible or desirable to have a solely, or predominantly electronic academic library. This study tests that assumption by randomly selecting a sample of titles from a mid-size Australian academic library and searching for suitable electronic copies. The conclusion of the paper is that a maximum of 33% of titles held by the case study library are available as e-books, and on a practical basis about 26% of titles held by the case study library could be readily obtained as e-books. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the contemporary challenges for clinical libraries is to understand and engage with a continuously changing variety of content packaging. The environment is rapidly changing from one where the availability of the content dictated the mode of access, to one in which clients can choose their preferred mode of access and expect that the content they need will be available to fit it. In an effort to adapt to this change the Toowoomba Clinical Library Service observed the ubiquity of iPods and MP3 players was accompanied by a steady increase in the production and availability of audio presentations suitable for practising clinicians. At the same time, suitable indexing and aggregation of podcasts was rare, meaning much of this potentially highly useful content was difficult to discover and was little used. This issue was addressed by establishing a project whereby podcasts were collected and access provided. This project identified (through extensive searching) suitable podcasts and pre-loaded them, as topical collections, onto iPods which were made available for loan. In addition, a database was developed to generate descriptive lists of available podcasts and to facilitate the tracking of podcast allocation to individual iPods. Over time, feedback helped the authors realise the collection, indexing and multimodal distribution of the podcasts was more important than simply the provision of iPods. Subsequent enhancements have been made to encompass these larger goals. This project has been well worthwhile. Use among local clinicians has steadily grown, while hospital libraries in Brisbane and Adelaide are now collaborating with the project. Formal and informal evaluation indicates it is clearly meeting a need by extending the provision of high quality and relevant information in a format which is flexible and appropriate for clinicians thinly stretched for time and intellectual energy. Enhancing the project will involve working on better ways to evaluate the outcomes achieved from this service and the impacts on practitioner behaviour and patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers suggestions for libraries seeking to develop a foreign language fiction collection with limited funds. Particular focus is given to the efforts of the Tasmanian Polytechnic Launceston Campus Library developed such a collection through grants and donations. Reasons for developing foreign language fiction collections, the population of Tasmanian Polytechnic for whom English is not their first language, and the process of requesting donations are examined. Benefits of the project are also discussed.

Since 2005 the State Library of New South Wales has provided staff with an opportunity to research aspects of the Library's services and collections through the State Librarian's Staff Fellowship Program, In January 2008, Maggie Patton commenced a project to rediscover and document the development of the rare printed collections at the State Library. This article provides an introduction to these collections, their provenance, and the challenges the acquisition and management of such collections present to their custodians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultural heritage of library collections and individual items is of importance and interest outside the profession of librarianship, This paper gives an introduction to the concept of 'movable heritage' from the heritage professional's perspective and provides suggestions as to how this concept can be applied to libraries. Identifying what is of cultural heritage significance and how a collection/item is significant is the key to making management decisions which balance the conservation of a library's heritage items with other pressures in library management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enhance the effectiveness of public libraries in pursuing their mission, library executives and library champions must ensure that they keep libraries on the agenda of their communities and funding bodies. This calls for a multi-faceted approach involving professional education and training, the right mix of services, well-structured advocacy, cultivating partnerships with government and private sector bodies, and innovative and forward-looking programs. The right image and appropriate environments for users - the right 'platforms' - are also critical to delivering outcomes of substance, value and relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article features the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL) at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee (UWM). Details of the society's establishment are presented. The activities and partnerships of the library throughout the years, including its study on the American West funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, are given. It identifies individuals and organizations that gave funds to the AGSL, including Helen Best and geography Professor Emeritus Robert McColl.

Focuses on the problems of caring for digital information archives and materials in libraries. Lack of understanding about digital information's degree of permanence; Issue over the standards for digital archival copies; Effective cooperative mechanisms among libraries.

It is informed that the U.S. entered the industrial age during the nineteenth century. By mid-century, American commerce had encircled the globe. The frontier was rapidly expanding; the railroad, canal systems, and steamboat had all been introduced. Intensive industrialization and commercial expansion characterized the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Yet the merchant class, the very class which could most benefit from these new commercial opportunities, was untrained to take advantage of them. Mercantile libraries were conceived as not unlike the many societal, subscription libraries that had existed in the U.S. since colonial times. They represented a response, however, to a specific need and developed as part of the general education movement in the U.S. during the second quarter of the century. They were open to all young men of the mercantile class, known as merchants, clerks, though many libraries later permitted any citizen of the community to enroll, upon payment of the modest dues of one or two dollars annually.