Libraries are becoming increasingly automated. Many libraries have already become automated, and librarians have had to confront a new set of problems in their jobs. Many other libraries are not yet automated, but will soon be acquiring new technology and new problems. This book provides detailed techniques for coping with the problems inherent in automation. While other works offer thorough coverage of the library automation process, this volume provides case studies of the personal experiences of librarians who have had to solve problems related to automation. Included are case studies from large academic libraries, special libraries, public libraries, and smaller libraries. The first section of the book includes chapters on locally developed library automation systems and how those systems have adapted to change. The second section contains chapters on selecting, buying, and installing automation systems. The third section includes chapters on the sharing of automated systems by different libraries. The fourth section, on database maintenance and conversion, contains chapters important to all librarians. The fifth section discusses the management of automated systems. The book concludes with a bibliographic essay that overviews developments in library automation technology and lists sources for further information.

The importance of records in modern society is explored by re-examining some of the historical antecedents for critical functions in the modern records professions. The motivation for writing this book comes from a conviction of the importance of records and records professionals in organizations and society, as well as the need to possess a stronger sense of the events, trends, people, debates, and controversies producing the modern records professions. Archivists and records managers have tended to discount the importance of their historical antecedents, ignoring the fact that many of the current debates and issues before the profession are not new but embedded in the historical evolution of the records professions. Re-examining some of the historical origins helps records professionals to re-examine their mission to manage records for the benefit of organizations and of all of society. Such re-evaluation also helps to remind records professionals and others that the concerns generated by new electronic recordkeeping technologies are not new at all but built deep within the fabric of traditional records creation and administration.

Guided by the editorial support of colleagues in the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA), author Tom Wilson, head of systems at University of Houston Libraries, demystifies this critical specialty. In clear nontechnical language, Wilson answers the befuddling question, What is a systems librarian? Wilson lays no claim to the one right answer. Instead, The Systems Librarian: Designing Roles, Defining Skills will lead you in formulating your own answer, which is the first step to making sound decisions.

Information Technology Planning provides librarians and electronic resource planners with innovative suggestions and strategies for creating the digital library for the twenty-first century. Full of information on technological advances and resource assessment, this book explores the best ways to make your library accessible to users and discusses user-centered decision-making techniques. With Information Technology Planning, you’ll choose the appropriate electronic resources for your library to best serve the needs of your patrons.Examining electronic resource redesigning and implementation, this book offers you examples of how other institutions, such as Carnegie Mellon University Libraries, the University of Arizona Libraries, the Central Library of Multnomah County, Oregon, and the University of Rochester Libraries, are working to supply relevant and vast amounts of information to their patrons. Information Technology Planning provides you with many methods and suggestions that will improve your institution’s electronic resource capabilities, including: understanding the basic needs of a digital library--database development, online public access catalogs (OPACs), networking, hardware and wiring, licensing, authentication, and security--and how to choose the right resources for your institution using a 13-category planning checklist that examines database selection, pricing, and funding issues for implementing shared research databases in a consortium environment combining internal reviews, heuristic reviews, usability testing, and field testing to measure the usability of a web page examining the benefits of outcome-based education (OBE) to schools and librarians, such as increased learning and designing a curriculum based on the resources of a specific institution questioning issues such as convenience, funding, information needs, licensing, and satisfaction of students/faculty when deciding upon delivery services for electronic resources applying the eight “rules of thumb” for cost effectiveness when choosing delivery options for electronic bibliographic databases acknowledging the immediate and future potential perils of computers and too much informationOffering you many proven methods and procedures, this book contains question-and-answer sections, appendices, research, and an example patron evaluation to assist you in choosing and evaluating which resources will work best for your library. From Information Technology Planning, you’ll receive the necessary groundwork for reorganizing and enhancing your library’s digital resources in order to effectively meet patron demands well into the next century.

"An index to library and information science".

The first edition of Krista Van Laan's popular The Insider's Guide to Technical Writing has guided a generation of technical writers who are either starting out or seeking to take their skills to the next level. This classic has now been updated for the technical writer of today. Today's tech writers truly are technical communicators, as they build information to be distributed in many forms. Technical communication requires multiple skills, including an understanding of technology, writing ability, and great people skills. Wherever you are in your journey as a technical communicator, The Insider's Guide to Technical Writing can help you be successful and build a satisfying career.