This book, first published in 1983, presents some useful guidelines for librarians contemplating planning sci-tech library facilities, along with a number of reports on actual examples of such projects, representing a variety of sci-tech library types.

This book, first published in 1988, celebrates the development of sci-tech libraries in honour of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the first library school in the United States. The expert contributors provide a survey of the development of sci-tech libraries as well as some thoughts about their future. This comprehensive volume covers several types of sci-tech libraries, information retrieval, and library education. Library professionals will be fascinated but the journey of progress detailed in these well-written chapters.

This book, first published in 1983, examines the key role that serials play in sci-tech libraries, serials being a source of prime importance for scientists and engineers. The problems and costs associated with the selection, handling and storage of serials are closely analysed by expert library specialists.

This book, first published in 1984, examines the process of building suitable collections for sci-tech libraries. Sci-tech collections are not the easiest to develop successfully in view of the complexity of the subjects involved, the large number of choices to make, and the difficulty of even knowing about certain grey area publications, such as meetings proceedings, government documents and technical reports. Expert writers assess these difficulties and provide a guide to solutions to the problems inherent in building these collections.

This book, first published in 1986, is a practical resource to planning science and technology libraries. Librarians who have been through the process offer guidelines, an awareness of problems to anticipate, and solutions to them.

Through its discussions on planning, using space, and selecting equipment and furnishings, this book, first published in 1988, provides guidance for those who have little or no experience in designing a facility for a special library - one that serves a corporation, government agency, non-profit organization, professional society, or a special subject-oriented library located in an academic institution or public library. Its text is stimulating yet sound, and will serve not only librarians planning new facilities but also those involved in remodelling or renovating existing facilities. The appendices contain descriptions and layouts of four typical libraries, each showing the result of careful, creative planning.

This book, first published in 1992, examines the reference librarian's role as a connecting link between information seekers and the resources they need. It provides the best approaches to providing resolutions or guidance to the appropriate resources. It analyses librarians' reference skills, communication abilities, accuracy in responding to specific inquiries, and sensitivity to various groups such as paraprofessionals and non-traditional patrons. This provocative book encourages librarians to go beyond merely providing an answer or resource to helping clients better understand the physical surroundings, the social or educational context, and the ethical, political and economic climate in which the process takes place.

This book, first published in 1986, focuses on valuable information to all public library professionals who have questions about their participation in bibliographic networks. Contributors provide insights into both the benefits and the costs of networking by libraries of varying sizes and geographic locations. The actual uses of networks, their costs (including initial and ongoing expenses), and staffing needs are clearly explained.

This book, first published in 1982, is specifically devoted to the analysis of problems, innovative practices, and advances relating to the control and servicing of technical reports.

This book, first published in 1989, examines the problems and benefits of installing a ready-made computer system in a sci-tech library. These systems, usually known as turnkey systems, provide a means for obtaining the network for a lower cost than a new system designed by a consultant. These papers analyse the benefits and problems with turnkey systems in a variety of different situations.

In this book, first published in 1986, experts from the various specialties describe the weeding process in corporate, academic, and university libraries. Factors affecting the weeding of materials - lack of space, a desire to place materials in a more suitable library, changing goals of the library - are explored. Discussions concerning the choices for the disposal of items are insightful and innovative.

British university libraries face major financial, technological, and organizational challenges. Cuts in funding, the spread of new technology, and changes to the provision of university education as a whole are combining to fundamentally alter the circumstances in which university libraries operate. This book, first published in 1989, provides a thorough understanding of the major trends that have emerged during the past decade and projects them into the future to assess their likely effect over the next few years. By focusing on the most important developments in the areas of finance, staffing, collections, services, automation, and relations with other libraries, author Toby Burrows exposes the forces that threaten the very nature of the British university library. The changes affecting British universities as a whole are also analysed since these broad influences have been a major cause of change in libraries and are essential to an understanding of that change. The future of the British university library depends on its ability to clearly articulate a coherent vision of its own future; this book takes a crucial step toward this goal.

This book, first published in 1984, is an effective guide to help librarians develop a more systematic and effective approach to dealing with overdues. The editors present statistical data on overdues, as well as successful tactics employed by various libraries to combat the persistent problem of overdue materials.

This book, first published in 1992, explores the issue of library assessment methods and the impact of accountability on the delivery of reference services. It is a call for librarians to actively adopt performance measures and learn how to work with the results. It analyses a wealth of assessment methods that librarians can use to collect data and create standards that are valid, practical, and useful in accounting for reference services. Some of the methodologies described include quantitative measures, qualitative measures, patron surveys, questionnaires, interviews, case studies, peer review, unobtrusive testing, and even updating the library's policies and procedures manual as a way to evaluate services. A variety of assessment methods for reference services are applied to all types of libraries. Chapters in Assessment and Accountability in Reference Work describe how a small town library defends the relevancy of its services at a town meeting, how a special library documents the value of its services to cost-conscious management, and how academic libraries can become involved in university- and college-level assessment programs. Librarians seeking to develop their own assessment methods will benefit from practical advice on assessing diversity in the library, and helpful suggestions for improving reference services through training workshops, peer-coaching, and changes in organizational climate.

This book, first published in 1955, deals in detail with history, planning, furnishing, staffing, book stocks, patents and trade marks, administration and methods used to collect and present information to commercial houses and producing firms.

This book, first published in 1936, looks at the detailed work involved in the efficient running of a school library. Wherever possible, alternative methods are described so as to meet the needs of the different types of schools and smaller colleges.

This book, first published in 1932, is a guide to the details required of a successful children's library, not just the books and catalogue, but also the different staffing needs of a collection aimed purely at children.

This book, first published in 1937, examines the principles and practicalities of inter-library loans of books - making available to readers elsewhere otherwise idle books. Initially done on an ad-hoc basis, modern ideas and developments have led to a modern generation of librarians whose first aim is to see that their readers get the books they need.

This book, first published in 1939, deals with the elements of classification and cataloguing from the school library point of view. The Dewey, Cheltenham and Bliss schemes are fully examined and there is a chapter on the practical application of classification in the library. There are simplified rules for Author and Title catalogues, while the different kinds of subject catalogues are compared, and instructions given for their compilation. Many practical examples of cataloguing entries are shown.

Around the world, people are faced with crisis after crisis, from the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change-induced fires, floods, and storms to the ongoing horrors of mass incarceration, brutal immigration enforcement, endemic gender violence, and severe wealth inequality. As governments fail to respond to-or actively engineer-each crisis, ordinary people are finding bold and innovative ways to share resources and support vulnerable members of their communities. This survival work, when done alongside social movement demands for transformative change, is called mutual aid. This book is about mutual aid: why it is so important, what it looks like, and how to do it. It provides a grassroots theory of mutual aid, describes how mutual aid has been a part of all larger, powerful social movements, and offers concrete tools for organizing, such as how to work in groups, decision-making process, how to prevent and address conflict, and how to deal with burnout. Mutual aid isn't charity: it's a form of organizing where people get to create new systems of care and generosity so we can survive.

Public Libraries and Marxism provides a Marxist analytical framework for understanding public libraries and presents a set of proposals for transforming the capitalist libraries of today. Evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of this Marxist framework, the authors also provide a critical examination of the history, theory and practice of libraries in the Soviet Union and North Korea. Considering what a Marxist library service would look like in the Western capitalist countries of today, Pateman and Pateman synthesise the insights provided throughout the book into a set of Marxist proposals designed to promote the transformation of contemporary Western public librarianship. These proposals suggest how Western public libraries can change their organisation and practices - their strategies, structures, systems and culture - in order to best serve those with the most needs, particularly as society evolves in response to new challenges. Public Libraries and Marxism will be relevant for scholars and students of library and information science, history, politics and sociology. Outlining the rudiments of a Marxist library service that should be applicable around the world, the book will also appeal to library practitioners who want to develop libraries in a community-led and needs-based direction.

This handbook sets a new research agenda in community development. The contributors redefine existing areas within the context of interdisciplinary research, highlight emerging areas for community development related research, and provide researchers and post-graduate students with ideas and encouragement for future research activity. To do this, the editors have deliberately chosen to frame this book not through a traditional sociological lens of class, race and gender, but through a "Wicked Problems" framework. Drawing upon the work of 37 international authors, in diverse settings such as West Papua, Peru, the USA and Australia; and with methodologies equally as diverse, from case studies and interviews to the use of music and story-telling, this handbook focuses upon five Wicked Problems: forced displacement; family, gender and child related violence; indigenous marginalisation; climate change and food security; and human survival in the context of disaster and recovery work. By drawing together leading scholars from community development, social work and social policy, this handbook provides an up to the minute snapshot of current scholarship as well as signposting several fruitful avenues for future research. This book is both an invaluable resource for both scholars and practitioners and an indispensable teaching tool for use in the classroom and in the field.

Literacy and Reading Programmes for Children and Young People: Case Studies from Around the Globe presents interviews with over 40 librarians from around the world who tell of their library programs. The volumes are arranged geographically with Volume 1 offering interviews from library professionals from the USA and Europe, and with Volume 2 sharing programs from Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Middle East. The volumes highlight the diversity of the types of programs catering to the varying needs of children and young adults throughout the world. Case studies featured in this book outline the details of programs, events, and activities provided by over 40 organizations in the context of social capital and social inclusion. Each interview chapter discusses the contributions made to literacy development and community building of children and teens. With the many variations and examples of best practice, librarians and educators can glean new ideas for their own programs. The interviews reveal the challenges and issues faced and the work being achieved in vastly different environments, in many geographic areas, and in diverse economic, social, and cultural contexts. The programs include those of national and state libraries, public libraries, and mobile libraries carried out by public libraries, NGOs, and commercial organizations in both developed and developing countries. They also feature programs of multicultural libraries, libraries for indigenous people, and libraries for refugees. This publication complements the range of initiatives and activities carried out by IFLA's Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section that supports library services and reading promotion initiatives catering to children and young adults around the world. These volumes are rich in variety and will provide much food for thought for creating unique and successful library programs.

What sets Mary Shelley's Frankenstein apart from so many other famous works of fiction? What special combination of creativity and vision made possible the drafting of Magna Carta? When describing exceptional accomplishments like these - and the men and women behind them - we use the word 'genius'. And while genius is difficult to define, we all recognize that elusive, special quality when we encounter it. Marks of Genius pays tribute to some of the most remarkable testaments to genius throughout human history, from ancient texts on papyrus and the extraordinary medieval manuscript The Douce Apocalypse to the renowned children's work The Wind in the Willows. Bringing together some of the most impressive treasures from the collections of the Bodleian Libraries, it tells the story of the creation of each work and its afterlife, offering insight into the breadth and depth of its influence as well as its power to fascinate. Illustrating works from Euclid, Dante and Handel to Einstein, Austen and Gandhi, Marks of Genius showcases over 100 books and manuscripts that constitute the pinnacle of human creativity and which we continue to revere and revisit.

The second edition of this popular handbook has been thoroughly updated by the original team of experts and some new contributors, to provide current best practice guidance on the key legal information issues for every type of service. Each of the chapters is updated to reflect general changes in law libraries and their users in the past seven years. In particular, the handbook covers new information technologies, including social networking and communication. New chapters also focus on the key topics of outsourcing, and the impact of the 2007 Legal Services Act. The second edition of this valuable handbook continues to be an important professional reference tool for managers and staff of all types of legal information services, and will help them with the challenges they face in their work every day.