How do individuals in our country converse about thorny political matters? We know that these kinds of discussions can be fraught, but there are ways that the conversations can be thoughtful and civil. In this book, ways to ensure civil conversations are explored deeply. A major thrust of the book is that the library (writ large) can be the locus for informed conversations, typified by evidence and truth. We begin with a description of the library--what it is, what purposes it can serve, what contributions it can make to civil discourse. As we will see, the theme of liberty runs throughout the commentary. Another chapter explores what discourse is, how discourse theory can inform civil conversations, and what kinds of discursive practices achieve the goal of civility. This is, admittedly, a tall order, but it is absolutely necessary to fulfill the promise of the book. The chapter further presents examples of topics that are components of political conversations today, as well as substantive sources that can inform those conversations. The final chapter returns to the library. The spirit and substance of providing a venue for civil conversation are discussed at some length. The conclusion presents how the library can be the exemplar for civil conversation. The audience for the book is not limited to librarians, but extends to all who are interested in, and committed to, reasoned discussion of the political issues that divide us today. Examples of topics of conversation conclude the last chapter. The purpose is to illustrate just how the fraught topics can be discussed in a civil and considered manner. The ultimate purpose of the book is to present a realistic manner by which political conversations can take place, fostered by libraries.

President Theodore Roosevelt called himself a "book lover" and for good reason. From his boyhood days in the 1860s to the very end of his life in 1919, Roosevelt had a deep-seated passion for reading books. Wherever he went, he brought books with him. Whether he was rounding up cattle on a ranch in North Dakota, giving campaign speeches from the back of a train, governing the nation from the White House, or exploring an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River, he always made time to read books. Theodore Roosevelt and His Library at Sagamore Hill includes an overview of Roosevelt's life as a reader, a discussion of the role that reading particular books played in shaping his life and career, and a short history of his personal library. The book also provides researchers and others interested in Roosevelt's life with a complete list of Roosevelt's books that are currently located at Sagamore Hill, his home in Oyster Bay, New York. The books in his personal library reflect his love of classic works of literature, his interest in history, and his fascination with the natural sciences. Theodore Roosevelt and His Library at Sagamore Hill concludes with an essay that Roosevelt wrote near the end of his life in which he reflected on his reading habits and commented on some of his favorite books.

Open source software and applications are all around us, and it's no different in today's libraries. Knowing about the open source alternative to integrated library system and being able to make accurate comparisons can save a library tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year while more closely matching the library's functional needs. The fact is that the foundational software in place in nearly every industry is being built with open source components. Where software applications are still proprietary or closed, those systems are themselves often built upon open source applications like open source web services, database management systems, programming languages, and operating systems. It's the same story in the library world. Library software providers offering the latest and greatest software solution for many thousands of dollars a year are building these solutions with open source software. However, full-fledged open source applications built with the same underlying technologies are available to libraries at no cost for the software itself. Each of these applications have their own unique and interesting history and communities supporting them. For the reader unfamiliar with open source software or apprehensive about using these applications in their library, this guide: -introduces the history of open source; -demonstrate the global upward trend of adopting open source technologies in general and within libraries in particular; -debunk various myths about implementing and using open source technologies; -discusses several different types of library information systems including: oIntegrated Library Systems oInstitutional Repositories oDigital Asset Management Systems oOnline Public Access Catalogs oResource Sharing oElectronic Resource Management -and lastly, shares real world experiences in getting started with open source solutions, including discussing what systems and services are available and best practices for implementation and use.

In this volume, the author develops a new approach for the analysis of differing types of informations systems, called the Value-Added Model. This approach is based on the anlaysis of information-use environments and on the system responses to the needs of those environments. The model is applied to a variety of information systems. Document-based systems, academic, public, and special libraries, abstracting and indexing services, and book publishing are among those analyzed. Within decision systems, the author looks at management information systems and decision support systems within the value-added framework.

..".Material presented here is replete with concrete new ideas not only for collaboration, but also for funding, training, personal involvement, Web-based instruction, and other concepts too numerous to mention. And the best thing about these ideas is that they are not the usual endlessly-discussed theories these are ideas that have worked and some which have failed in the real world...Despite the myriad new works available today related to library instruction in general and information literacy in particular, none is devoted solely to collaborative efforts between teaching faculty and librarians. This is where Library User Education: Powerful Learning, Powerful Partnerships shines just as in the real world, it's all about collaboration." Angela Weiler, Portal"

This title was first published in 2003. The UK branch of the International Association of Music Libraries was founded in 1953. This volume of specially commissioned essays celebrates the golden jubilee of branch's foundation and surveys the achievements of the last 50 years. With an emphasis on practical music librarianship, the essays examine the challenges that have faced the profession in recent years, as well as current developments in the field and the impact of modern advances in information technology.

This handbook is suitable for specialists and generalists in small, medium, and large public libraries, and addresses the full spectrum of library services to teens. Young adults comprise 25% of library patrons, yet nationwide only 11% of libraries have a young adult librarian. By offering services specifically for young adults, libraries will fulfill their responsibility to provide services to the entire community, rather than ignoring this fast growing segment of the population. The book focuses on topics related to young adult collections, including reader's advisory, genre fiction, non-fiction, magazines, non-print materials, trends, publishing, censorship, and restricted access to materials and services based on age. Teens' use of technology, especially the Internet, is covered as well.

Addressing the full spectrum of library services aimed at teens, this handbook is intended for use by novices as well as experts. It is suitable for specialists and generalists in small, medium, and large public libraries, and addresses the full spectrum of library services to teens. Young adults comprise 25% of library patrons, yet nationwide only 11% of libraries have a young adult librarian. By offering services specifically for young adults, libraries will fulfill their responsibility to provide services to the entire community, rather than ignoring this fast growing segment of the population.

The book focuses on topics related to young adult collections, including reader's advisory, genre fiction, non-fiction, magazines, non-print materials, trends, publishing, censorship, and restricted access to materials and services based on age. Teens' use of technology, especially the Internet, is covered as well. Other aspects include homework assistance centers, youth participation, serving underserved populations, and cooperation with other agencies. The book concludes with a comprehensive annotated bibliography of professional resources to aid readers.

Comprised of fifteen chapters written by experienced consumer health librarians, The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information is designed for library and information science graduate students as well as librarians new to health and medical librarianship, regardless of library setting. It is comprehensive in scope, covering all aspects of consumer and patient health and medical information from their humble, grassroots beginnings to the ever-evolving applications of new technology and social media. In between, the mundane aspects of health and medical librarianship, such as needs assessment, costs, budgeting and funding, and staffing are discussed. Adding richness to this discussion are the coverage of more sensitive topics such as patient-friendly technology, ethical issues in providing consumer and patient health information, meeting the needs of diverse populations, and responding to individuals from various cultural backgrounds. No comprehensive picture of consumer and patient health librarianship would be complete without addressing the critical importance of marketing and strategic partnerships; such discussions round out this invaluable guide.. Patients today must be knowledgeable enough to participate in their health and well-being. Shorter hospital stays, changing reimbursement patterns and the gradual shift towards focusing on proactively maintaining health and managing disease require patients to be informed and actively engaged. Education, information and understanding are important components of actively-engaged patients. Correspondingly, in today's e-world, there is a glut of information resources available through the Internet - from YouTube videos to Googling to blogs and Twitter feeds. What is lacking in these information-rich times is the relevance of meaning and context for those who ask, "Does this health and medical information apply to me and my unique clinical picture?" or "How do I use this information?" As knowledge navigators, information technology wizards and content experts, librarians offer focused responses to individuals' specific and highly personal health and medical information queries. In a new healthcare world order of optimizing health and minimizing hospitalizations, such a service is invaluable. Sadly, there still exists in our highly networked and technological age an information gap for those who struggle in obtaining meaningful health or medical information. These individuals may be foreign-born, non-English speaking, poor, rural, aged or semi-literate. Whatever their status, librarians must have the wherewith-all to find germane resources and also help create responsive mechanisms to bridge that health information gap for vulnerable citizens. The Medical Library Association Guide to Providing Consumer and Patient Health Information will guide you on the road to providing that response.

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.

This book, first published in 1986, provides a comprehensive and detailed look at online biomedical database searching by end users. Experts fully assess the numerous implications of end user searching and synthesize a wide variety of views and successful practices. By examining the types of users, institutional settings, products used, and applications, this important volume probes the specific variations among programs and provides a solid overview of end user searching in the health science field. The volume includes informative chapters on determining content and structure of online educational materials, training the end user, the issues in implementing end user search systems, and much more.

This book, first published in 1991, explores the changing roles of reference services and offers advice and practical ideas to guide librarians through the increasingly tangled maze of duties being thrust upon the reference staff. Although the everyday work of the reference librarian is often taken for granted, these insightful chapters illuminate the essential service performed by the reference librarians as they facilitate access to information for a wide variety of users. Furthermore, this book helps reference librarians face the future by examining the technological and service developments that will challenge their profession. It addresses unique reference problems such as making use of the telephone as an information gathering tool, selecting reference material for the interdisciplinary field of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER), and helping non-law students with legal research. Topics related to information systems are examined such as the limitations of end-user online services, and an evaluation of the Library of Congress Information system. Authoritative contributors make recommendations on how to design services to coordinate with the new technology and how to change librarians' roles so they can assist people in using these systems.

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 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.

This book, first published in 1988, discusses the use and handling of newspapers in libraries and information centres. Although newspapers are recognized as an important source of information about current history and local events, they have been largely ignored by information specialists. Individuals who work with newspapers on a daily basis - as tools in research or as an ingredient in a larger process - have contributed valuable chapters on bibliographical and physical control of newspapers, working with newspapers in a variety of settings, and international, educational, and technical aspects of using and handling newspapers.

This book, first published in 1986, discusses reference personnel concerns and problems and offers suggestions to administration and management for improving reference personnel performance and staff development.

This book, first published in 1988, looks at the relationship between public policy and information and reports ways in which libraries respond to the need for public policy information. Chapters provide perspectives from a variety of library settings with different user groups who, in turn, have different information needs. This volume will stimulate you to examine the adequacy of your own reference services and to a greater appreciation of the dynamic relationship between public policy and information services.

This book, first published in 1987, provides important information on reference publishing, including valuable guidelines on evaluating publications and sources. The articles contained here are all written by leading experts in the field.

This book, first published in 1984, analyses the various ways in which sci-tech libraries are meeting the needs of end-users in an era of fast-growing technical literature and increasingly complex tools and products used for the retrieval of information.

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.

In this comprehensive volume on the reference process in archives, first published in 1986, experts offer a wealth of ideas on making both the reference archivist's and the user's tasks more exciting and enjoyable.

Maps, charts and related items present special problems to libraries, for example a less organised bibliographic control mechanism, more difficult means of acquisitions, and problems of storage and preservation. This book, first published in 1985, deals with these problems and presents practical solutions for maps in library collections.

This book, first published in 1990, addresses the concerns of librarians that they must be informed and educated in order to excel in their work. It focuses on specific types of training for librarians. Authorities explain pioneering programs in California and Maryland which deal with teaching basic reference tools to beginning librarians and paraprofessionals. They also discuss the role of multitype networks in continuing education as the most cost and time efficient means available today, and the use of self-directed contract learning as a method that requires long-term planning and rewards in contrast to the immediate results of a short-term plan of education. The management perspective of continuing education is also included. Working library directors offer their observations on sound, inspirational approaches to continuing education. They also examine the critical role department heads play as mentor to beginning reference librarians.

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 1982, offers an examination of the special nature of biochemistry collections. It focuses on the production, control, and use of the literature - diverse in nature, and analysed here by specialist contributors.

The contradictory yet complementary relationship between libraries and information brokers is examined in this volume, first published in 1988. Since its escalation in the 1960s, information brokering has challenged the role of the library in society. Librarians discuss their concerns about information brokers - the impact of brokers on reference services, the competence of brokers, abuse of library services by brokers, and whether libraries should provide competing fee-based services. Brokers share their own view as 'entrepreneurs', providing background, offering advice, and explaining the risks involved in their business. This lively, often controversial discussion offers suggestions for improving relations between libraries and information brokers, while continuing to serve the public well.