Many organizations do not yet have a formal programme of records management, but increasingly they are recognizing the benefits of well managed records and the serious consequences of inadequate records systems. Establishing records management and maintaining an effective programme requires specialist expertise. This essential manual of practice provides a detailed guide to the concepts, skills and techniques of records management for organizational staff who have a responsibility for setting up, maintaining or restructuring a records management programme. It offers invaluable advice on the management of records in both electronic and traditional paper media, and focuses on the following areas: understanding records management analysing the context for records management classifying records and documenting their context creating and capturing records; managing appraisal, retention and disposition maintaining records and assuring their integrity providing access implementing records management. The appendices provide a wealth of additional information including a list of standards for records management, an annotated bibliography and sources of further information, and details of professional and advisory bodies. Readership : This much needed manual is an indispensable purchase for organizations wishing to introduce better practices for managing their records. The book is intended to be of value to experienced records managers as well as LIS practitioners and newcomers to the field. It should be on the desk of every manager and every information professional with responsibility for records management.

Transforming Health Sciences Library Spaces presents first-hand case studies and practical advice on transforming health sciences library spaces in the 21st century. Collected here are the experiences and thoughts of librarians on the transformation of health sciences library spaces. They provide insights into planning, budgeting, collecting, and integrating user feedback, collaborating with leadership and architects and thriving in the good times and the tight times. The book has three main sections: The Realities of Making Virtual Work Library Spaces that Work for Users Library Spaces Working with What They've Got These tackle crucial issues including: *Identifying and overhauling dated spaces that lack flexibility *Gathering information on usage behavior and user feedback in relation to our spaces. *Working with feedback to increase satisfaction, and use of the library space with little funds. *Removing a large percentage of the physical collection and deciding what to replace it with. *Maximizing relationships with stakeholders such as leadership and external departments to transform the library space. *Understanding what going 100% virtual means in practice. *Managing usage of materials not traditionally well suited to online access.

This brand new edition of Wolf's acclaimed work provides a self-contained, short course in essential library skills for patrons of college, high school and public libraries. The exercises contained herein give students hands-on experience by applying rules stated in the text to situations that approach real ?research problems.? Subjects addressed include a brief tour of the library; card catalogs and cataloging systems; filing rules; online public access catalogs; subject searching; bibliographies; book reviews and parts of a book; dictionaries; encyclopedias; handbooks; atlases; gazetteers; periodicals; newspapers; online database searching and reference sources; literature and criticism; e-books; government information and government documents; biographies; business, career and consumer information; non-print materials and special services; online computer use in libraries and schools; and hints for writing term papers.

The third campaignof the Cross-LanguageEvaluation Forum (CLEF) for Eu- pean languages was held from January to September 2002. Participation in this campaignshowedaslightriseinthenumberofparticipantswith,37groupsfrom both academia and industry and a steep rise in the number of experiments they submitted for oneor moreof the ?ve o?cialtracks. The campaignculminated in atwo-dayworkshopheldinRome, Italy,19-20September, immediatelyfollowing the Sixth European Conference on Digital Libraries (ECDL 2002), attended by nearly 70 researchersand system developers. The objective of the workshop was to bring together the groups that had participated in CLEF 2002 so that they could report on the results of their experiments. Attendance at the workshop was thus limited to participants in the campaignplus severalinvited guests with recognized expertise in the multilingual information access ?eld. This volume contains thoroughly revised and expanded versions of the preliminary papers presented at the workshop accompanied by a complete run-down and detailed analysis of the results, and it thus provides an exhaustive record of the CLEF 2002 campaign. CLEF2002 wasconducted within the frameworkof a projectof the Infor- tion Society Technologies programme of the European Commission (IST-2000- 31002). The campaign was organized in collaboration with the US National - stitute ofStandardsandTechnology(NIST)andwiththe supportoftheDELOS Network of Excellence for Digital Libraries. The support of NIST and DELOS in the running of the evaluation campaign is gratefully acknowledged. We would also like to thank the other members of the Workshop Steering Committee for their assistance in the coordination of this even

It is impossible to imagine the future of academic libraries without an extensive consideration of open access-the removal of price and permission barriers from scholarly research online. As textbook and journal subscription prices continue to rise, improvements in technology make online dissemination of scholarship less expensive, and faculty recognize the practical and philosophical appeal of making their work available to wider audiences. As a consequences, libraries have begun to consider a wide variety of open access "flavors" and business models. These new possibilities have significant impact on both library services and collection policies, and the call for new skills within library staffing. Volume 9 of the series Creating the 21st-Century Academic Library is the first of two addressing the topic of open access in academic libraries and focuses on policy and infrastructure for libraries that wish to provide leadership on their campus in the transition to more open forms of scholarship. Chapters in the book discuss how to make the case for open access on campus, as well as the political and policy implications of libraries that themselves want to become publishing entities. Infrastructure issues are also addressed including metadata standards and research management services. Also considered here is how interlibrary loan, preservation and the library's role in providing textbooks, support the concept of open access. It is hoped that this volume, and the series in general, will be a valuable and exciting addition to the discussions and planning surrounding the future directions, services, and careers in the 21st-century academic library.

Are librarians and libraries relevant in the 21st century? This is a fundamental question and one that presents differing opinions across the many diverse information sectors. If there is a continuing need for libraries and for librarians, then how do library leaders obtain strategic support when there appears to be a lack of clarity or understanding about the very purpose of libraries at a time when economically, libraries are under pressure to develop new business models and be more commercially focused? Bold Minds: Library leadership in a time of disruption brings together international leaders who frame many aspects of the current library provision and who carry responsibility for the library models of the future to consider how librarians and libraries can be a driving force in a time of disruptive economic, technological and cultural change. Each chapter critically presents a short leadership provocation regarding libraries and their purpose, encompassing strategic impact, culture change, engagement, diversity, service delivery, collections, staff skills and professional training and assessing what it means for leaders, their sectors and organisations, and how they have developed their personal leadership signature. This book will be invaluable to library and information professionals in a range of public and private sector libraries as well as policy makers in services where libraries are a component. It will also be useful for students, educational establishments, and IT professionals with an information management element to their work.

Online Searching prepares students in library and information science programs to assist information seekers at all levels, from university faculty to elementary school students. Included in the third edition are interviews with librarians and other information professionals whose words of wisdom broaden graduate students' perspectives regarding online searching in a variety of work settings serving different kinds of information seekers. The book's chapters are organized according to the steps in the search process: 1. Conducting a reference interview to determine what the seeker wants 2. Identifying sources that are likely to produce relevant information for the seeker's query 3. Determining whether the user seeks a known item or information about a subject 4. Dividing the query into main ideas and combining them logically 5. Representing the query as input to the search system 6. Conducting the search and responding strategically 7. Displaying retrievals, assessing them, and responding tactically A new chapter on web search engines builds on students' existing experience with keyword searching and relevance ranking by introducing them to more sophisticated techniques to use in the search box and on the results page. A completely revised chapter on assessing research impact discusses the widespread use of author and article iMetrics, a trend that has developed rapidly since the publication of the second edition. More than 100 figures and tables provide readers with visualizations of concepts and examples of real searches and actual results. Textboxes offer additional topical details and professional insights. New videos supplement the text by delving more deeply into topics such as database types, information organization, specialized search techniques, results filtering, and the role of browsing in the information seeking process. An updated glossary makes it easy to find definitions of terms used throughout the book. With new and updated material, this edition of Online Searching gives students knowledge and skills for success when intermediating between information seekers and the sources they need.

Public stunts and all-for-fun, utterly nonpoliticized publicity bashes can be a great way to promote a library to a community, get people to see the library in a different light and become interested and involved, and finally reach those who think that libraries are boring or stuffy places. This light-hearted but precise manual provides step-by-step instructions on how to plan, equip and train a successful book cart drill team. It includes tips for recruiting members and making the experience gratifying, finding festive opportunities to perform, costuming, decorating the carts--and especially, clear choreographic drawings for imaginative, attention-getting routines. And by the way: grocery stores, retailers, rental outfits and others could easily adapt the ideas in this book. It doesn't have to be library book carts, it can be grocery carts, baby strollers, and lawn mowers--anything you can push down the street.

The library budget, a topic of primary importance to the reference librarian, is thoroughly examined in this book, first published in 1988. Experts offer insightful suggestions for reference librarians to understand and take responsibility for budget issues, directly and indirectly. They address the ability to explain the budget - which actually entails explaining the collection, the services, and the process in place for managing the fiscal resources - a necessary skill for any reference librarian faced with looming budget cuts. Providing quality services on a limited budget is also explored. The contributors provide helpful essays on convincing the parent agency to provide adequate support, setting goals and priorities, generating revenue, and more.

Formerly entitled "The Handbook of Special Librarianship and Information Work", this represents the 8th edition of Aslib's "flagship" theories, practices and procedures since 1957. As in previous editions, the handbook draws on a substantial background of research and best practice to assist practitioners in developing a pragmatic approach to information management in the work place. The contributors are a mix of well-known academics, consultants, information industry commentators, as well as some new writers now coming in to the profession. This edition sees a substantial number of contributors from outside the UK (from the US, Australia and South Africa) reflecting the global nature of information management. Primarily geared to providing a comprehensive overview of all aspects of information work in "special" information environments, the handbook is also of interest to information managers in other sectors. This edition sets the scene with a lengthy chapter on the digital library and most of the book's contents reflect the importance of the new Web-based delivery mechanisms. The final chapter of the handbook questions some of the long held assumptions about the information "end

Reviews from the first edition: "Thoroughly readable...important...eloquent"--Library Journal; "all aspects...are covered"--Journal of Academic Librarianship. In this second edition to Museum Librarianship, the author offers guidance in planning and providing information services in a museum--beginning or revitalizing the library; collection development and the bibliographic process; technical services; administration; space and equipment requirements; fundamental services; extended information services; and the information partnership between museums and their libraries. The Internet and other electronic resources are fully covered. The focus of this new edition has shifted slightly from mainly dealing with the start-up aspects to an emphasis on the goals of library and information services in a museum, and the processes through which such services can be achieved. The authors underlying goal is to help enhance and enrich the encounter of the museum-goer with enduring objects, in a time when we all seem to be assailed on every side by random noise and flickering image.

Publications of international governmental organizations (IGOs) are among the most difficult documents for librarians to acquire, organize, and use. This revised work examines the documentation, publications, and computerized information services of major IGOs, such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the League of Nations, the International Development Research Center, and the G-7. Special attention is given to the consequences of recent institutional restructuring and retrenchment. The book covers institutions, resources, and processes. Chapters discuss the organizational and functional characteristics of IGOs; examine their available resources, including documents now available through electronic sources; and explore the role of the private sector and institutions outside the IGOs in providing access to IGO information. Hajnal also discusses collection development and reference and information work. This authoritative, up-to-dat

The range of metadata needed to run a digital library and preserve its collections in the long term is much more extensive and complicated than anything in its traditional counterpart. It includes the same 'descriptive' information which guides users to the resources they require but must supplement this with comprehensive 'administrative' metadata: this encompasses technical details of the files that make up its collections, the documentation of complex intellectual property rights and the extensive set needed to support its preservation in the long-term. To accommodate all of this requires the use of multiple metadata standards, all of which have to be brought together into a single integrated whole. Metadata in the Digital Library is a complete guide to building a digital library metadata strategy from scratch, using established metadata standards bound together by the markup language XML. The book introduces the reader to the theory of metadata and shows how it can be applied in practice. It lays out the basic principles that should underlie any metadata strategy, including its relation to such fundamentals as the digital curation lifecycle, and demonstrates how they should be put into effect. It introduces the XML language and the key standards for each type of metadata, including Dublin Core and MODS for descriptive metadata and PREMIS for its administrative and preservation counterpart. Finally, the book shows how these can all be integrated using the packaging standard METS. Two case studies from the Warburg Institute in London show how the strategy can be implemented in a working environment. The strategy laid out in this book will ensure that a digital library's metadata will support all of its operations, be fully interoperable with others and enable its long-term preservation. It assumes no prior knowledge of metadata, XML or any of the standards that it covers. It provides both an introduction to best practices in digital library metadata and a manual for their practical implementation.

This book offers insights into changes brought about by the enormous growth of the internet. There are new ways to share cultural heritage materials through online finding aids, exhibits, and other initiatives. What has been accomplished across libraries, archives, and museums? The authors consider that question by using case studies to explore activities in 14 libraries, archives, museums, and other heritage organizations. They consider what we can learn from current collaborations within and across libraries, archives, and museums and why some collaborations are successful while others cannot be sustained. Their findings are based on observations and interviews at institutions and organizations in the United States, Australia, and the U.K. These organizations have worked to make their collections accessible. Some have simply digitized their collections, while others have enhanced their collection management systems. Others have incorporated digital asset management systems to organize and retrieve media, and to manage digital rights and permissions. Most of these institutions and organizations have succeeded through strategic partnerships, strategic planning, and insightful leadership. However, the book also contains examples of institutions that have undergone transitions: one of the museums closed, and another closed its library. Taken together, the fourteen institutions shed light on professional practices today.

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.

Digital Curation Projects Made Easy: A Step-By-Step Guide for Libraries, Archives, and Museums outlines simple steps for accomplishing practical digitization and digital preservation projects for those with little experience, time, and/or resources. Following a general introduction, instructions for completing these commonplace digital curation projects are covered: *Photograph collections *Newspaper collection *Rare books *Art Collections *Oral Histories Digital curation does not need to be reserved for big budgets or world-famous collections. In fact, a large part of digitization and digital preservation consists of practical projects that are done every day without much fanfare in libraries and archives around the world.

This edited book helps demystify how to incorporate ACRL's Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education into information literacy instruction in higher education as well as how to teach the new Framework to pre-service librarians as part of their professional preparation. This single volume demonstrates professional practice by bringing together current case studies from librarians in higher education who are implementing the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education as well as cases from educators in library and information science, who are working to prepare their pre-service students to practice in the new instructional environment. Instructional librarians, administrators, and educators will benefit from the experiences the people on the ground who are actively working to make the transition to the Framework in their professional practice.

First published in 1992, the purpose of this book is to identify and describe the most important factors that must be considered in making decisions about the optimal ways to provide access to information - in short the best way to use the humans, the machines, and the intangible resources known as information, particularly at the organizational level. In recent years executives have begun to outsource computing and telecommunications functions primarily to control costs. Traditional libraries and information centres have been disbanded in favour of service contracts or outright leasing of staff. Both the private and public sector are examining their information service operations from the point of view of cost effectiveness. Decisions about owning versus leasing of information are being made daily. Decision makers are finding that they must deal differently with funding and budgeting of information systems and libraries than they have in the past. New paradigms for these service functions already exist. Not only have corporations and governments begun to contract out entire information service operations, but libraries themselves have begun to consider the costs, effectiveness, and implications of outsourcing some of their operations and services. This book provides a framework for decision-makers to view and review information services within their organizations. Entire units, components of libraries and information centres are defined and untangled so that the widest variety of organizations can analyse their own environments. Although there is a minimal use of library and computing jargon, a short glossary at the end explains terms for which there is no simple English language substitute. Each chapter is accompanied by comments from a broad range of experts in the information field.

Makerspaces, sometimes also referred to as hackerspaces, hackspaces, and fablabs are creative, DIY spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn. In libraries they often have 3D printers, software, electronics, craft and hardware supplies and tools, and more. Makerspaces are becoming increasingly popular in both public and academic libraries as a new way to engage patrons and add value to traditional library services. Discover how you can create a makerspace within your own library though this step-by-step guidebook. From planning your innovation center to hosting hack-a-thons, guest lectures, and social events in your new lab, Makerspaces in Libraries provides detailed guidance and best practices for creating an enduring, community driven space for all to enjoy and from which both staff and patrons will benefit. This well researched, in-depth guide will serve libraries of all sizes seeking to implement the latest technologies and bring fresh life and engaging programming to their libraries. Highlights and best practices include: *budgeting and business planning for a librarymakerspace, *creating operational documents, *tools and resources overviews, *national and international case studies, *becoming familiar with 3D printers through practical printing projects (seed bombs), *how to get started with Arduino (illuminate your library with a LED ambient mood light), *how to host a FIRST Robotics Team at the library, *how to develop hands-on engagement for senior makers (Squishy Circuits), and *how to host a Hackathon and build a coding community.

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.

Introduces and defines the documentation and decision making processes in collection development, explores organizational models for collection development in health sciences libraries, and describes the rationales and methodologies for assessing health sciences library collections. It also explores the relationship of collection development and assessment to other library functions and services, and addresses the budgeting process. This work is intended for librarians in all types of health sciences libraries, but the principles and topics covered will have application in science libraries as well. The volume will be useful in library school classes in medical librarianship or in collection development.