The book provides a detailed study of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and its interior decoration which today still remains inaccessible to the ordinary visit. Placing the history of the Vatican Library in the larger context of how erudition was administered and organized within the Early Modern Roman Curia, the book will also take into consideration how the Vaticana was used in contrast to other newly founded libraries.

Essential for collection development specialists in small and medium-sized libraries, RRB will help users quickly identify the best, most affordable, and most appropriate new reference materials in any field. Based on the highly acclaimed reviews of American Reference Books Annual, RRB features only those resources that have been recommended for purchase by small and medium-sized academic, public, or school libraries. Written by over 200 subject specialists, the 500-plus reviews will help librarians quickly identify the best, most affordable, and most appropriate new reference materials in any given field. All reviewer comments-both positive and negative-have been retained, since even recommended works may be weak in one respect or another. If your budget precludes ARBA, this tool will provide you with the necessary information needed for your collection development needs.

Society's growing dependence on information technology for survival has elevated the importance of controlling and evaluating information systems. A sound plan for auditing information systems and the technology that supports them is a necessity for organizations to improve the IS benefits and allow the organization to manage the risks associated with technology. Auditing Information Systems gives a global vision of auditing and control, exposing the major techniques and methods. It provides guidelines for auditing the crucial areas of IT--databases, security, maintenance, quality, and communications.

Rapid and intensive changes in the information landscape cause changes in social relationships and, consequently, in relations between generations. Within their social role libraries should work actively to reduce age segregation and isolation, and build cohesive society through intergenerational services and programmes. The authors speak about the intergenerational dialogue in libraries - theories, research and practice - and about reading as a link between generations, thus offering to libraries strategies for establishing social cohesion.

Over the years, new IT approaches have manifested, including digital transformation, cloud computing, and the internet of things (IoT). They have had a profound impact on the population, including libraries. Many organizations can save on their IT budget by adopting these new approaches because they provide technology in easier ways, often at lower costs and to the benefit of users. Emerging Trends and Impacts of the Internet of Things in Libraries is a critical research publication that explores advancing technologies, specifically the internet of things, and their applications within library settings. Moreover, the book will provide insights and explore case studies on smart libraries. Featuring a wide range of topics such as smart technology, automation, and robotics, this book is ideal for librarians, professionals, academicians, computer scientists, researchers, and students working in the fields of library science, information and communication sciences, and information technology.

It's no secret that the fantasy genre has undergone a tremendous renaissance since the publication of the Harry Potter books and the recent successes of the film versions of The Lord of the Rings. Fantasy is one of the hottest genres going today, appealing to readers both young and old. This new guide focuses on titles that have come out of the recent publishing explosion in the fantasy arena. The authors organize and describe approximately 2,000 titles, most new to or newly described in this edition. A revised organization reflects the growth and trends in the genre, and all titles (except individual titles within series) are annotated.

CATHERINE THE GREAT and the Expansion of Russia by GLADYS SCOTT THOMSON. A General Introduction to the Series has been undertaken in the conviction that there can be no subject of study more important than history. Great as have been the conquests of natural science in our time such that many think of ours as a scientific age par excellence it is even more urgent and necessary that advances should be made in the social sciences, if we are to gain control of the forces of nature loosed upon us. The bed out of which all the social sciences spring is history; there they find, in greater or lesser degree, subject-matter and material, verification or contradiction. There is no end to what we can learn from history, if only we would, for it is coterminous with life. Its special field is the life of man in society, and at every point we can learn vicariously from the experience of others before us in history. To take one point only the understanding of politics: how can we hope to understand the world of affairs around us if we do not know how it came to be what it is? How to understand Germany, or Soviet Russia, or the United States or ourselves, without knowing something of their history ? There is no subject that is more useful, or indeed indispensable. Some evidence of the growing awareness of this may be seen in the immense increase in the interest of the reading public in history, and the much larger place the subject has come to take in education in our time. This series has been planned to meet the needs and demands of a very wide public and of educa tion they are indeed the same. I am convinced that the most congenial, as well as the most con crete and practical, approach to historyis the biographical, through the lives of the great men whose actions have been so much part of history, and whose careers in turn have been so moulded and formed by events. The key-idea of this series, and what dis tinguishes it from any other that has appeared, is the intention by way of a biography of a great man to open up a significant historical theme; for example, Cromwell and the Puritan Revo lution, or Lenin and the Russian Revolution. My hope is, in the end, as the series fills out and completes itself, by a sufficient number of biographies to cover whole periods and subjects in that way. To give you the history of the United States, for example, or the British Empire or France, via a number of biographies of their leading historical figures. That should be something new, as well as convenient and practical, in education. I need hardly say that I am a strong believer in people with good academic standards writing once more for the general reading public, and of the public being given the best that the univer sities can provide. From this point of view this series is intended to bring the university into the homes of the people. A. L. ROWSE. Contents include: CHAPTER FACE GENERAL INTRODUCTION ... V INTRODUCTORY NOTE ... X I. PROLOGUE I H. THE GRAND-DUCHESS ... 25 III. THE EMPRESS CONSORT 60 IV. THE EMPRESS .... 83 V. RUSSIA AND POLAND . . . IOQ VI. RUSSIA AND TURKEY . . .128 VH. PUGACHEV ..... 149 Vm. POTEMKIN THE CRIMEA TURKEY . 1 70 DC. TURKEY AND POLAND AGAIN . r 94 X. ST. PETERSBURG AND ITS PEOPLE . 215 XI. THE ARTS AND THE SCIENCES . 248 XII. THE LAST YEARS .... 269 FOR FURTHER READING . . . 284 INDEX ...... 287.

Latinos comprise the fastest-growing population in the U.S., and that means more Latino readers at the library. In addition, works written by Latinos, whether written in or translated into English, have become a vibrant and growing body of literature that is of great interest to all readers as well as literary scholars. Yet, there are few tools to guide readers and the professionals who work with them through this expanding terrain.

The primary purpose of this guide is to help readers and those who advise them find enjoyable leisure reading material. Focusing on popular works by Latino authors, i.e. U.S. authors of Latino heritage; and authors from Latin American countries or Spain, the book organizes and describes approximately 750 titles by genre, subgenre and theme, providing readers with lists of like reads.

Complete bibliographic information is provided for each title, along with a concise plot summary, a subject list, award information, a brief quote from the book, and a list of similar reads.

Other features of the guide include an introduction to Latino literature, a discussion of RA services in a multicultural society, trends in Latino publishing, and a discussion of pertinent ethnic terminology. In addition, you'll find guidelines for selection of Latino Literature, information sources, publishers, and organizations and societies. Further access is provided by indexes to authors, titles, subjects, character names, and settings .

As more associations struggle with limited professional development funding, the opportunities for library and information experts to advance their skills are being examined in a more effective and cost-efficient manner. Revolutionizing the Development of Library and Information Professionals: Planning for the Future examines the future of library professional development by investigating the aspects that make these development events worthwhile. This book is essential for library association personnel, educational institutions, and management personnel in large library systems to aid in determining future trends in professional development opportunities for their staff.

With the expanding use of the World Wide Web in society, American libraries have undergone massive changes. This new information tool has provided both opportunities and challenges to libraries of all kinds. To have a better understanding of the World Wide Web, the roles libraries and librarians have played in its development and use, and the interactions between the library and the Web cannot be overlooked. How do American librarians define their roles in the changing environment, and how do they understand and appropriate the Web in their profession and work place? Previous studies have shown that the knowledge, perceptions, and expectations people have about a technology may influence the ways they react and use the technology. This study examines how librarians have perceived the World Wide Web from its early implementation to 2003, how the Web is appropriated and used in libraries, and provides a deeper understanding of Web use in libraries, and yields new insights into the future development of both libraries and Web technologies. Policy makers evaluating and planning information policies at different levels and system developers designing technology applications for use in libraries will find this book to be a valuable guide.

Translated by Nikolai I. Yashugin Mikhail A. Prokofiev Marcus A. Sherwood-Jenkins

"Libraries in Russia," the author, Valerii Leonov, pursues the history of the first national library of that country, the Library of the Russian Academy of Science (Bibliotheca Akademii Nauk, short: BAN), from the beginning of the 18th century to the present. The library was founded by Peter the Great in 1714 and served as a model for the foundation of further libraries during the 18th century.

This historical description is based on extensive historical and bibliographic material, including unique archive material, which is edited here for the first time. The title will be of interest to all in the humanities and everyone interested in Russian history and culture.