Search

While medical and health science librarians' median salaries have increased over the last forty years; however, inflation-adjusted salaries are lower than in 2008. Utilizing data from the Medical Library Association's salary surveys from 1983 to 2023, this column explores median salary changes over time by discussing the median salary's performance against inflation and how the 2008 recession and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic impacted salaries. From 2017 to 2023, the median salary increased by 18%, but after adjusting for inflation, the median salary decreased by almost 6%. The findings have serious implications for recruitment and retention in medical and health sciences librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the general consensus that field experience during library school is important for applying theory to practical situations, there is a lack of understanding about what students want from, and the barriers they face to acquire, graduate employment. A survey was sent to ALA accredited Master of Library Science programs in the United States, asking students about their library employment status and to rank factors that influenced their decision to accept their positions. Patterns emerged when results were grouped by various life factors. The results of this study show what students are looking for from employment, which could help employers recruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing popularity of interdisciplinary partnerships among social workers and public libraries on a global level has resulted in the need to clarify common challenges that team members frequently encounter. Currently, many new library/social work collaborations are 'reinventing the wheel' as they design a new partnership, unaware of and unable to anticipate barriers. Based on the emerging research primarily stemming from the United States, information is presented in this article to guide public libraries and social workers across the globe to understand and navigate these common challenges. Authors of this manuscript note the benefits of cross-disciplinary partnerships and outline five prevalent obstacles both public librarians and social workers face when joining forces. Recommendations for anticipating and responding to these challenges are presented to libraries interested in social work partnerships and to branches that already collaborate with social service professionals. To prepare emerging professionals for such collaborations, guidance is also offered for modifying existing curricula to both social work and library and information sciences graduate education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the trend of library and information technology (IT) mergers in the late 1990s and early 2000s in the United States. It highlights the challenges and failures of these mergers, including the negative impact on librarians and the dissolution of merged departments after the departure of the chief information officer (CIO). The article questions the reasons behind these mergers and criticizes the negative portrayal of librarians in a 1996 article that influenced the perception of the profession. It emphasizes the advancements and contributions of librarians in managing technology, promoting diversity and inclusion, and defending intellectual freedom. The article concludes with a call to support and defend libraries and librarians in the face of current threats and challenges. [Extracted from the article]

Neutrality in librarianship is a nonsensical concept that libraries of all kinds (e.g., public, academic, special, etc.) should not strive to embody in any shape or form. The following paper investigates the intricate relationships between neutrality and racism as they are demonstrated by tangible and intangible forms in library and information science (LIS) spaces. Ian Williams' book chapter, "More Than Half of Americans Can't Swim", from his book, Disorientation: Being Black in the World (2021), is utilized to critically reflect on Blackness as identity and some ways in which antiracist practices clash with neutrality within LIS spaces. I conclude with urgent reminders of how detrimental neutrality can be if it is not thoroughly rooted out and supplanted with antiracist practices that the LIS field is in dire need of. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 has raised concerns about the availability of health care facilities globally. Disruptive innovations in health care may impact a new system that provides a continuum of treatment tailored to each patient's specific requirements. In light of this evolution, this study aimed to visualize global research output on disruptive innovation in health care between 2001 to 2021 as indexed in the Scopus database. The dataset was extracted on January 10, 2022, and 204 records were identified for data analysis. Various bibliometric indicators were used to identify publication trends. VOSviewer visualization software was also used to analyze data. The findings revealed the increasing pattern of publication growth with slight fluctuation over time. M. Friebe was the most prolific author having contributed four publications. The Harvard Medical School was the most productive institution with eight publications and the United States was the most productive country with 84 publications on disruptive innovation in health care. Furthermore, human, health care, and disruptive innovation were the top keywords in this field. These findings are expected to be useful to academics and administrators all across the world. This study also gives readers insight into this domain and will allow them to begin their research by selecting a topic of their choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do archivists who find themselves in dual librarian/archivist positions approach library instruction and reference services? This case study examines the instructional experiences of an archivist serving in an interim role as a liaison librarian to a public affairs college at a large, public university in the United States. Utilizing action research methodology to study and inform their instruction approach and philosophy, the archivist created an instructional model which incorporates archival principles and concepts into a landscape mapping exercise. Archivists can make material contributions to library instruction through their unique knowledge, skills, and perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Library consortia are typically nonprofit entities that exist to promote the interests and concerns of their member libraries. Activities may include licensing e-resources such as databases, ejournals, ebooks, and other library tools; operating shared library platforms; providing union catalogs and regional delivery and a host of other services. Most library consortia are governed by a board of directors and have active involvement with librarians in their member institutions. Conflict of interest policies have been instituted in many library consortia to provide good governance and to make sure that the needs of the organization are the primary purpose of participants and not the personal interests of stakeholders. An examination of some of the key elements of conflict of interest policies in nonprofit organizations are examined with specific application to library consortia. The key elements in all of the policies that were examined are transparency and disclosure. Organizations vary on the level of proactive disclosure that is required with some requiring extensive disclosure statements and others providing a simple acknowledgement of a conflict of interest policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article gives the author's evaluation of the relative structural advantages and disadvantages of classroom and online education. He believes that online education is more effective in teaching concepts and individual skills because it offers the possibility of requiring all students to interact more frequently with course content and allows them to work at their own pace and to review course materials. He was not, however, willing to teach management online because the classroom experience is better at teaching, through interactive exercises, a focus on student interactions, and the use of guest lecturers, the soft skills needed for successful management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Faculty status and tenure are goals for many academic librarians in the Southeast. However, the adoption of tenure differs between institutions. In an effort to discover how much adherence there is to the ACRL Standards for Faculty Status for Academic Librarians, librarians at the University of South Alabama sent a survey to 148 public universities in this region. The results illustrated the significant areas of consensus and where consensus was lacking. The outcome suggested the standards were not fully applied, showed the need for further study, and suggested a reassessment of the ACRL Standards. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Science & Technology Libraries (S&TL) is the prestigious LIS journal, providing a platform for LIS practitioners serving in the libraries related to science and technology disciplines. S&TL has an adequate history of publications spread over four decades. The data for this retrospective study were obtained from the Scopus database. All kinds of documents, published between 1980 and 2020 were collected to evaluate the bibliometric indicators, such as periodic growth of publications, citations, average annual growth rate, authorship pattern, most productive authors, institutions, and countries. An explicit fluctuation rather decreasing trend in the number of documents was observed. The highest number of documents was published in the first decade (1980–1989), while the lowest number was found in the last decade (2011–2020). The documents published during the third decade (2000–2010) gained the maximum citation impact. The majority of documents consisted of articles and single-author pattern dominated; however, the review paper and multi-author publications received more citations. More than one-fifth of the publications were contributed by the United States, and the 18 topmost contributing institutions also belonged to the United States. The analysis of the flow of knowledge reveals that more than 60% of the citations are considered as the country's self-citation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates organizational patterns from 12,781 subject guides at 114 academic institutions, comparing practices evident on LibGuides with stated best practices from the literature of library and information science. Data from subject guide fields such as titles, tabs, and boxes were collected systematically from disciplinary guides at institutions in the United States that are described in Carnegie Classifications as "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity," and then analyzed according to two general methods. First, descriptive statistics were generated for quantitative aspects of the LibGuides data (e.g., the average number of boxes used per guide), to map both normal and atypical organizational practices. Second, word and phrase frequencies from text fields were compiled to explore differences in how fields such as guide titles and descriptions are commonly utilized. The findings suggest that the average range of guides tends to follow best practices, but that in the use of certain guide elements, especially tabs, most guides do not follow recommended guidelines. In addition, the data identify a number of guides that represent extreme outliers to typical practices: a single guide contained 144 tabs, for example, while another subject guide landing page was found to include 2,033 links. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces and applies the concept of "physical-equivalent privacy" to evaluate the appropriateness of data collection about library patrons' use of library-provided e-resources. It posits that as a matter of service equity, any data collection practice that causes e-resource users to enjoy less information privacy than users of an information-equivalent print resource is to be avoided. Analysis is grounded in real-world e-resource-related phenomena: secure (HTTPS) library websites and catalogs, the Adobe Digital Editions data-leak incident of 2014, and use of web trackers on e-resource websites. Implications of physical-equivalent privacy for the SeamlessAccess single-sign-on proposal will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LibGuides platform, a content management system (CMS) from Springshare, has become an integral part of the online presence for many academic libraries. Neither Springshare nor other recent studies have provided an in-depth look at the evolving nature of LibGuides adoption, production and application across university and college categories. This study compared the prevalence and production of LibGuides to other forms of library guides at 799 academic libraries throughout the United States. LibGuides naming conventions were recorded and compared. The use of LibGuides CMS software to create library websites was also documented. This study found that there are clear differences in LibGuides adoption and production across various types of institutions. LibGuides naming conventions were fairly consistent across all types of institutions. Institutions using LibGuides software produced substantially more library guides than institutions without this software. A small but significant portion of all non-R1 libraries in this study are now utilizing LibGuides software to create the majority of their library websites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the results of an online survey of access services departments at academic libraries on the responses implemented during the initial stage of COVID-19 in March–May 2020. The 33-question survey was completed by 121 respondents. The article identifies policies and procedures adopted by access services departments during the pandemic, including staffing, return of library materials, fines, due dates, quarantine periods, interlibrary loan, reserves, and retrieval of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shares the results of a citation analysis performed on the publications of the faculty of the College of Business at a large public university in the southern United States for the years 2014–2018. The study examined articles produced by the faculty over the last five years, as well as their cited references and citing articles, in an attempt to establish a list of core journals for business and uncover potential gaps in coverage. Implications for collection development are addressed, as are the benefits for early-career librarians or those unfamiliar with the publishing behaviors of a newly assigned subject discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This presentation reports on a survey of academic librarians and their attitudes on several interrelated professional issues in the online for-profit college and university environment. Librarians from this sector offer a unique perspective on librarianship best practices for online educational delivery. They also present a clearheaded understanding on the impact of profit-based decision making on academic librarian values, responsibilities, and sense of professional duty. In addition to the survey results, this presentation discusses how academic librarianship has responded to the growing prevalence of virtual education delivery, and what roles the for-profit model might proffer for academic librarians going forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a Vision Session at the 34th annual NASIG conference, DeEtta Jones related her belief that our profession needs leaders at every level, including those who do not see themselves in that role. Leaders must be culturally competent, able to engage and encourage new voices to speak out while taking courageous action in the service of shared value. Today's leaders need more than the traditional attributes of the past; mere passion and holding fast to values are not sufficient in the present time. To demonstrate how courageous leadership could be applied, Jones organized her talk around six themes and attributes: anchored to aspiration, values driven, in the service of, emotional intelligence and cultural competence, trustworthiness, and equity oriented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores how online learning is defined at academic libraries in the U.S. and examines the current roles and challenges of online learning librarians. Findings from in-depth interviews reveal that approaches to online learning in academic libraries vary in terms of audience and instructional strategies, and that online learning librarians perform several roles within the institution and often face challenges related to those roles. These findings suggest that while academic libraries have defined their approaches to online learning, the functional role of the online learning librarian should be clearly delineated and leveraged to support sustainable online learning initiatives at the institution. Based on these findings, the authors make recommendations for librarians and library administrators to support this evolving area of librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Distance Library Services Conference was founded in 1982 by the librarians of the Off-Campus Library Services department at Central Michigan University. From its inception through its 18th conference in 2018, Central Michigan University planned and administered this conference for the benefit of librarians serving distance learners and faculty at their institutions. This article discusses the founding of the Distance Library Services Conference and its role as the library profession's preeminent forum for the exchange of ideas on the topic of distance librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent economic downturn appears to have created a "new norm." Stagnant to decreasing budgets have created an environment in which librarians find themselves struggling to meet the needs of their institutions. The consolidation of publishers has placed control of more and more scholarly content in the hands of fewer and fewer players, which in turn presents challenges. Usage has emerged as one of the dominant metrics in determining what content to acquire and retain. This article will explore some of the strategies and tactics librarians, publishers, and vendors are using to cope with this new norm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper provides an overview of the scope and progress of the initiatives of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in the U.S. It is noted that ARL has always been on the cutting edge of new developments in librarianship. Some of ARL's recent initiatives support the implementation of portals in research libraries. These include the Scholars Portal Project, a collaborative effort between several ARL member libraries and Fretwell-Downing Inc. The author concludes that the Scholars Project and similar portal initiatives in other ARL member institutions will be characterized as successful if users can discover a wide range of content; capture that content using harvesting and/or delivery tools; manipulate text using text-processing and citation management tools; distribute content by the use of contribution and publication tools; and consult by means of access to virtual reference services and electronic scholarly communities.

The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) in Chicago, Illinois is a cooperative framework for building and managing resources for advanced scholarly research. More concretely, the Center is a consortium of about 200 North American research libraries, most of them academic. CRL collects and builds resources for advanced research in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences, and makes them available to scholars through member libraries. This paper stems from three studies undertaken in connection with an analysis of CRL's own cooperative model: Cooperative Collection Development, Cooperative Print Management, and Cooperative Web Archiving.

Digital age librarians have made a professional distinction between collection development and collection management and they now are moving one step further to knowledge management. This paper outlines the history of the said changes, defines knowledge management, and provides some examples of how the Ohio State University Libraries has changed in response to this shift. The author further points out the new functions of academic librarians as knowledge management developers, knowledge management integrators, knowledge management educators, and knowledge management researchers.

Focuses on the Journal Finder, an integrated Web-based software solution for providing comprehensive access to journal literature developed by the Jackson Library of the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Problems in finding journal literature; Valuable features and functionality; Changes made to the product.

Discusses the political, social and economic aspects of remote access in the context of library science. Focus on the advantages and disadvantages of access; Access as the essence of librarianship; Impact of technology on library science.

Research and writing are critical components of an undergraduate education. Partnerships between economics faculty and campus resources can improve student research and writing skills. Here, the authors describe programs at three different campuses that bridge department and campus resources: the Empirical Reasoning Lab at Barnard College, the Writing Program at Carleton College, and the Library's Data Lab at the University of California, Berkeley. The authors describe each program's mission and structure, provide examples of its impact on student learning, and discuss administrative factors (and hurdles) to consider in implementing similar programs elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embedded and sustained cultural change is a holy grail which has been pursued for many years. This article provides a framework for achieving cultural change in public libraries, which are one of the longest and most enduring public sector institutions. This framework has been developed by synthesizing the ideas of Karl Marx (“From each according to his ability and to each according to his needs”) and Abraham Maslow (The Hierarchy of Needs). This mixture of political science and psychology provides a new way of framing the challenge of cultural change in public libraries. It creates a solid conceptual and theoretical basis for the changes required to transform Traditional Libraries (which serve only 20% of the community) into libraries, which are Community Led (to reach 50%) and Needs Based (to reach 80% and beyond). This evaluation framework will enhance the understanding of public libraries; but to understand the world is not enough—we must also seek to change it. And so this article also gives practical examples of how the framework can be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Rankings of U.S. universities by the number of publications by their librarians has often been based on examining assortments of wider interest library journals. In 2011, the authors developed rankings for a top 50 U.S. universities list based on the author affiliations of an eleven year span (2000–2010), using fourteen journals representing ten major types of subject specialized librarianship: Agriculture, Archives, Art, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Business, Law, Medicine, Music, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and Science. This study has now been updated for 2016 using the same methodology and sources from 2011–2015, and a top 25 list is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarianship posits itself as a profession that strives for neutrality, particularly within customer service and information provision; however, factors such as political activity, conference programming, and disproportionate representations of specific viewpoints in the literature indicate that neutrality may be compromised. These factors may alienate librarians who do not subscribe to majority political opinions within librarianship. A phenomenological study was conducted to understand the career experiences of academic librarians who identify as socially or politically conservative. Themes linking service provision, ethics, workplace relationships, and professional engagement emerged that demonstrate the professional impact politicized activity has on practicing librarians in all specialties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Librarians can benefit from studying the history of other professions in order to learn from mistakes others have made. One place librarians need to be concerned about today is the library brand, which defines for user communities what libraries are all about and what kind of experience users will have in libraries. Recent research reports show the library brand as “books” and suggest an equally uninspiring new branding. This article examines some compelling brand examples from other professions and suggests some other options for librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article announces that Chris Bulock is the recipient of the 2014 First Step Award, Patrick Carr is the recipient of the 2014 Esther J. Piercy Award and Magda El-Sherbini is the recipient of the Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) Outstanding Publication Award for 2014.

Richard Huffine has devoted the past fifteen years to working in a variety of roles in the federal government, often with cartographic resources and geospatial information. His federal service includes serving first as National Library Coordinator and later as Library Director for the U.S. Geological Survey. Hallie Pritchett, head of the Map and Government Information Library at the University of Georgia, recently asked Richard to discuss his work with the U.S. Geological Survey Libraries Program, the impact and implications of last fall's government shutdown, and his thoughts on emerging trends in libraries or librarianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private companies and government agencies are now creating and tapping into vastly more data than ever before. These data flows include enormous amounts of personal information and raise questions about privacy and intellectual policy that could have profound impacts on our lives. While data collection and creation are nearly ubiquitous, the instruments of collection and analysis are often hidden in order to track more natural behavior. Recent revelations of massive governmental data collection offer the country, and librarians in particular, an opportunity to discuss and question the societal implications of “Big Data,” and the policies that govern them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Public libraries have been called the “first responders” to the specialized health information needs of the general public. The challenges inherent in consumer health information (CHI) service are centered around thePatron, theLibrarian, theInformation Resources, and theLibrary itself. The pilot study involved interviews with nine individual library workers in eight public libraries in four library systems: the District of Columbia, Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland, and Fairfax County in Virginia. Library workers were asked about common consumer health information requests, the nature of their collections, and the role of public libraries in meeting these information needs. The subjects were also presented with a hypothetical scenario, and their responses suggest knowledge gaps. The findings point to the increasing necessity and importance of training and support for public librarians, as well as the importance of understanding where the medical knowledge gaps exist. Public librarians need to commit to formal evaluation of their skill sets and knowledge gaps, in order to identify areas to which libraries can devote limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright compliance is a major issue in higher education, and academic librarians are being approached more frequently by students and instructors with questions as to how copyrighted works can be legally used for teaching and research. This article provides a brief orientation to U.S. Copyright Law and introduces print and online resources librarians can refer patrons to in order to make informed decisions regarding the use of copyrighted works. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mid-size academic libraries face limited funding and space but are expected to provide the tools their students and faculty need to compete in research. A resulting concern is whether to weed potentially useful paper finding aids of the pre-online era. One example is the National Union Catalog Pre-1956 Imprints (NUC). Has the content and current use of the NUC justified its retention? The authors provide historical background of the NUC and the results of a survey of librarians from mid-size academic institutions that explores their perspectives on the tool's continued utility and their institutions’ ultimate decisions on its fate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the nature and scope of archival reference and access education within a select number of Library and Information Science programs with specializations in archives and preservation that are accredited by the American Library Association. To do so, syllabi for archival courses offered in the 2009–2010 academic year were examined to produce a profile of the important topics, readings, and assignments in the area of archival reference and access. Implications of the findings for the archival profession and for master's level graduate archival education are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Student employees are a vital part of library operations and deserve an effective training program. Students in library and information science programs working in libraries have an excellent opportunity to learn more than just practical information. Through a training program that provides experiential learning, mentoring, critical evaluation and constructive improvement, job preparation, and personal support, these budding librarians can be more prepared for their first positions. As practicing librarians, we owe it to these students to develop and mentor them when we have the opportunity. This article uses a literature review and practical experience to provide a set of best practices for libraries that have library and infomration science students as part of their team. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article considers the changes in librarianship due to the digital age. It makes reference to the article "Changing the Way We Look at Ourselves," Christina Neigel in the December 2010 issue of the "APLA Bulletin" of the Atlantic Provinces Library Association (APLA). It discusses trends that would impact on the profession and use of libraries. The author reflects on possibilities, such as bookless libraries, the digital text and use of streaming video rather than active reading, on next-generation users of information.

This article describes and discusses some of the chief resources in the study of post-World War II mainstream popular music. In addition to indicating major areas of research, it can serve as a guide to collection development in the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Connecticut Library Consortium's (CLC's) fifth annual Trendspotting symposium titled "E-books: Collections at the Crossroads," that was held in April 2011. She says that the topics discussed focused on libraries and e-books. She also mentions that the keynote speakers include Eli Neiburger, Sue Polanka, and the HarperCollins Publishers.

In this article, the author discusses the internship program of the Slavic and East European Collection at Yale University Library, which provides semester-long fellowships to library professionals from Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. The program began in 1993 and is ongoing. The author details its history, including how it has been funded, and discusses what the program includes and the logistics of running it. Participants are listed, along with excerpts from some of their final reports and selected post-fellowship activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the process undertaken in the US during 2009/10 in developing a major report on the value of academic libraries. A summary of the key findings and recommendations from the report are also provided. While very much focused on the US situation, the author feels the findings may well have resonance elsewhere, including Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survivals of U.S. and Australian early nineteenth-century sheet music share many generic and stylistic similarities. The library sectors in America and Australia are likewise similar, in having made this material available online early in their digitization programs. The freer access occasioned is now leading to a reconsideration of this previously misunderstood music, evidence of a partly shared music culture still largely unaffected by nineteenth-century canons. Positively dating the many undated prints has hitherto hampered scholars, students, and librarians. But now the National Library of Australia's new free online search service, Trove (http://www.trove.nla.gov.au), allows definitive dating of much early Australian printed music from articles and advertisements in electronic newspaper archives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers a personal view of the development of the field of American Slavic librarianship during the Cold War. Intentionally limiting his remarks to the Russian Republic within the former Soviet Union, the author reminisces about the Russian bibliographic scene in the pre-computer era that preceded his own entry into the field. This era was dominated by the descriptive printed bibliographies of his distinguished predecessors, Karol Maichel and Paul L. Horecky, whose works served as a model for the author's own efforts in this field. Although the retired Slavic curator at Stanford University declines to comment on his own work, he does share his thoughts about the future of Slavic librarianship and bibliography in the age of the Internet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reprints excerpts from Aaron Trehub's piece about the relationship between Slavic studies and Slavic librarianship in the United States in the immediate aftermath of the end of the Cold War. The author, who at the time was Slavic librarian and bibliographer (and former Soviet affairs analyst), notes that through a curious quirk of history, the collapse of communism coincided with the birth of a powerful new communications medium (the World Wide Web). Together, these geopolitical and technological developments have fundamentally changed librarianship in general and Slavic librarianship in particular. Trehub's discussion of the various day-to-day difficulties experienced by Slavic librarians in the post-Cold War period pays special attention to the challenges that new information technologies create for patrons, as well as the instructional burden that this places on librarians. He suggests that excessive reliance on the Web may erode the capacity to reason critically, but admits that the long-term effects of digitization on education and research are unclear. In effect, Trehub's essay provides the historical background for re-evaluating what competencies constitute Slavic information literacy in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arthur Beardsley was one of the early giants of academic law librarianship. He developed one of the great law libraries in the country and began the process that would develop the University of Washington law library into the cradle of law library directors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents letters sent to the Annoyed Librarian blog focusing on issues related to librarianship. A circulation clerk in a library asks for advice on going to library school. Several letters indicate that librarians are in high demand. Another letter discusses American Library Association (ALA)-accredited library schools in the U.S.

An essay is presented about the involvement of the American Library Association (ALA) in political matters in the U.S. The author criticizes the ALA Council for passing resolutions on issues not related to librarianship. She asserts that the ALA should not take political stands on nonlibrary issues since it has nothing relevant to say.