Librarianship has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. In addition to subject area knowledge and interpersonal ability, librarians must now possess considerable technical skill. This collection of 50 essays, all written by librarians working in college, university, and public libraries, elucidates the many facets of modern librarianship, as well as the personal and professional characteristics and skills expected of today's librarians. Topics include: DEGREESL DEGREESDBL Required knowledge and attitudes DEGREESL DEGREESDBL Interviewing techniques DEGREESL DEGREESDBL The role of technology DEGREESL DEGREESDBL Interpersonal relationships DEGREESL DEGREESDBL The need for business and management skills DEGREESL DEGREESDBL And more

These short essays are written mostly in an informal style that combines library philosophy and practical advice. The collection will be a useful for discussion and class assignments in introductory library science courses. DEGREESL The Greenwood Library Management Collection of professional handbooks provides librarians with operations and management strategies for all types of libraries: public, academic, school, and specialized. Gerard B. McCabe, Director of Libraries at Clarion University of Pennsylvania, serves as Series Editor. Books in this series cover such topics as second generation automated systems, automated retrieval in libraries, circulation department procedures, the consultant-library relationship, strategic management of academic libraries, multic

From Elizabeth Stoddard's The Morgesons and Anzia Yzierska's The Bread Givers to Laurie Colwin's Shine On, Bright and Dangerous Object and Chet Raymo's The Dork of Cork, here are some of the forgotten gems of American literature. Bridges has compiled a diverse list of 100 American novels published between 1797 and 1997 and worthy of the title great. Although the idea is to bring light to the obscure, these titles are physically accessible to readers-either in print, or represented in library collections and available through library loan. For each title, he provides a brief quotation from the book, a plot summary and review commentary, a biographical sketch of the author, a list of the author's other publications, and resources to consult for further information. Intended as a ready reference, this guide will be of particular interest to readers' advisors, and faculty and students of American literature.

Authored by an experienced librarian, digital resource manager, and professor in the field of library science, this book explores the wide-reaching impact of second-generation web technologies on library organization and services-and how library staff must respond. Most librarians are infinitely familiar with the Internet due to their daily use of this essential resource. However, having practical expertise with today's digital resources does not guarantee the ability to speak intelligently and convincingly about their less-obvious benefits to funding authorities-an important skill to have. Beyond the Browser: Web 2.0 and Librarianship overviews the history of libraries and the Internet to provide necessary perspective and then examines current and future trends in libraries. In Part I, the author traces the notion of connectivity from its roots in the 19th century through the rise of digital technology in the second half of the 20th, concluding with a discussion of its influence on the role expectations and performance of today's information professional. Part II investigates the evolutionary impact of open access, scholarly inquiry, and second-generation web technologies on library organization and services. A bibliography of helpful resources is also included.

This essential guide to customer-based/patron-driven collection development will allow librarians to navigate the rapid changes in what users expect of libraries. The traditional "top down" approach to collection development definitely has its drawbacks: even after spending a good deal of time, energy, and resources, librarians are sometimes frustrated to find that their library's collection is not being used as they anticipated. But there's another strategy that's gaining momentum. This book gathers together the best practitioners in the emerging field of customer-based collection development to find out what library users need and want and provide strategies to allow librarians to manage collections accordingly. Drawing on the experiences of professionals from a variety of academic and public libraries, Customer-based Collection Development: Offers strategies for planning and implementing a customer-based collection program Summarizes its potential impact on a library's budget Discusses cataloguing implications, and other day-to-day operational issues Presents guidelines for evaluating and marketing. Customer-based Collection Development is one way for libraries to navigate the rapid changes in what users expect of libraries, and this new anthology is an important guide to this approach.