Provides vision for strong school library programs, including identification of the skills and knowledge essential for students to be information literate. Includes recommended baseline staffing, access, and resources for school library services at each grade level.

THE ESSENTIAL DEPARTMENT CHAIR This second edition of the informative and influential The Essential Department Chair offers academic chairs and department heads the information they need to excel in their roles. This book is about the "how" of academic administration: for instance, how do you cultivate a potential donor for much-needed departmental resources? How do you persuade your department members to work together more harmoniously? How do you keep the people who report to you motivated and capable of seeing the big picture? Thoroughly revised, updated, and expanded, this classic resource covers a broad spectrum of timely topics and is now truly more than a guide it's a much-needed desk reference that tells you "everything you need to know to be a department chair." The Essential Department Chair contains information on topics such as essentials of creating a strategic plan, developing and overseeing a budget, key elements of fundraising, preparing for the role of chair, meeting the challenges of mentoring to increase productivity, and creating a more collegial atmosphere. The book also explores the chair's role in the search process, shows how to conduct a successful interview and what to do when it's time to let someone go. And the author includes suggestions for the best practices to adopt when doing an evaluation or assessment. The Essential Department Chair, Second Edition, contains a wealth of new, realistic case studies to equip leaders in this pivotal position to excel in departmental and institutional life.

The proliferation of online access to social science statistical and numeric data sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau's American Fact Finder, has lead to an increased interest in supporting these sources in academic libraries. Many large libraries have been able to devote staff to data services for years, and recently smaller academic libraries have recognized the need to provide numeric data services and support. This guidebook serves as a primer to developing and supporting social science statistical and numerical data sources in the academic library. It provides strategies for the establishment of data services and offers short descriptions of the essential sources of free and commercial social science statistical and numeric data. Finally, it discusses the future of numeric data services, including the integration of statistics and data into library instruction and the use of Web 2.0 tools to visualize data. - Written for a general reference audience with little knowledge of data services and sources who would like to incorporate support into their general reference practice - Combines information on establishing data services with an introduction to available statistical and numeric data sources - Provides insight into the integration of statistics and data into library instruction and the social science research process

Mastering the skills necessary for clear, effective writing can make writing tasks flow more easily. This book helps academic librarians who are new to the profession or new to a supervisory or management position, as well as those who want to be more productive and make the their writing for work go more smoothly. From progress reports to project plans, cover letters to case studies and book reviews to blogging, readers will find examples and how-tos for most of the types of writing they need to do in their academic library careers. - Discusses the importance of style and audience - Analyzes and guides the reader through the types of writing that academic librarians use in their everyday work - Includes information on presenting data: specifically, tables, graphs and charts

Learn the skills needed to update and manage a reference department that efficiently meets the needs of clients today—and tomorrow! Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects provides librarians with the knowledge and skills they need to manage an effective reference service. Full of useful and practical ideas, this book presents successful methods for recruiting and retaining capable reference department staff and management, training new employees and adapting current services to an evolving field. Expert practitioners address the changing role of the reference library worker and how longstanding traditions and practices can be re-evaluated and re-applied. The information in this book is ideal for librarians and students of library studies looking to take their skills to the next level. Reference departments continue to evolve as the number of applicants qualified to run them declines. Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects explores the dynamics of leadership and management as well as a variety of other characteristics needed in a Head of Reference. It recognizes the increasing need for visionary leaders who can deal with shrinking budgets, soaring costs, expensive electronic resources, and high user expectations and provides you with practical advice on finding, training, and keeping these individuals. In addition to the training and recruitment techniques documented in this book, you will find extensive information on: setting and achieving goals creating and maintaining a positive work environment how to deliver quality services how to improve job satisfaction for library staff problem solving strategies the importance of communication making your reference department task- and employee-centered Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects also provides an inside look at Oregon State University’s Valley Library’s new management model. The library’s information professionals detail this new model’s current function, potential hazards, and multiple advantages. The user-friendly information documented in this chapter and in the book as a whole makes Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects an essential read for any librarian or student of library studies looking to meet the demands of an increasingly technical field.