This classic book is brought fully up to date as Hernon and Altman integrate the use of technology into the customer experience. They offer solid, practical ideas for developing a customer service plan that meets the library's customer-focused mission, vision, and goals, challenging librarians to think about customer service in new ways.
Major changes in public libraries throughout the world have led to an increased focus on governance issues. Forging successful futures for public libraries depends on effective governance. This book defines governance and examines its many facets in relation to public library provision internationally, differentiating governance from the policies, processes and practices of public libraries. The perspectives of leaders, practitioners, researchers, decision makers, and service users are presented, offering a variety of views from the past, the present and potential approaches in the future. Decision-making and the roles of decision makers involved in governance are explored. Prominent figures from the public library community throughout the world have contributed their knowledge and experience. Wicked problems facing the public library sector are identified and the varying approaches adopted internationally to deal with them are outlined. There are many practitioner and professional practice issues associated with provision of libraries and views on library usage and delivery vary according to user and practitioner standpoints. Globally diverse content provides directions for the future development of public libraries and for dealing with the emerging challenges facing the library world.
Beginning in the early 1980s, readers' advisory services were a widely discussed topic in North American public libraries. By 2005, almost every public library in the United States and Canada offered some form of readers' advisory service. The services offered have changed significantly, in ways perhaps disadvantageous to adult North American library patrons. This book provides a critical history of readers' advisory philosophy and offers a new perspective on the evolution of the service. The book analyzes the debate that shaped readers' advisory and discusses how the service has assumed its present form. The study follows readers' advisory through its three prominent stages of development, beginning with the period 1870 to 1916, when the service was still a subject of much crucial debate about its meaning and purpose. During the second phase (1917 to 1962), readers' advisory systematically committed itself to meaningful adult education through serious and purposeful reading. The book argues, however, that during the most recent phase of readers' advisory, from 1963 until the present, contemporary public libraries have turned their backs on the rich heritage of readers' advisory services by valorizing the reading of entertainment-oriented and commodified genre titles and bestsellers. Historical analysis, case studies and statistical charts augment the book's central argument.
A detailed reference work that documents every aspect of the American public library experience through topical entries, statistics, biographies, and profiles. The American Public Library Handbook is the first reference work to focus on all aspects of the American public library experience, providing a topical perspective through comprehensive essays and biographical information on important public librarians. Based upon the author's own notes and extensive experience, as well as library periodicals, library reference books, monographs, textbooks, Internet sources, and correspondence with individual libraries, this book comprises nearly 1,000 entries addressing all aspects of public library service. Each topical essay considers terminology of the area covered, its historical context, and current concerns and issues. Biographies highlight the philosophical perspective of the individuals covered, while entries on specific libraries present timely data and interesting facts about each facility. This unique handbook also offers up-to-date statistics, historical highlights, and information about programs and events of individual libraries.
Comparative studies in information and library science published in the past ten years have reflected a broad spectrum of backgrounds, interests, and issues, but until now services between different countries, Asian nations in particular, have never been gathered or organized into a single source. As demand from researchers, students, directors, and practitioners for pertinent literature continues to grow, there is a definite and increasing need for a focused guide to international and comparative librarianship. International and Comparative Studies in Information and Library Science: A Focus on the United States and Asian Countries consists of eighteen previously published articles divided into seven categories that address issues such as research methodologies; information policy; professional education; information organization; and school, academic, and public libraries. It also features a comprehensive bibliography of related articles, books, proceedings, and other publications in both English and Chinese and four appendixes that list curricula, journal titles, conferences, and websites relating to International and comparative librarianship available at the time of publication. With this important compilation, Yan Quan Liu and Xiaojun Cheng fill an important and previously unmet need. Book jacket.
Proceedings of the 22d-33d annual conference of the Library Association in v. 1-12; proceedings of the 34th-44th, 47th-57th annual conference issued as a supplement to v. 13-23, new ser. v. 3-ser. 4, v. 1.
This comprehensive reference work presents detailed bibliographical information about worldwide chess periodicals past to present. It contains 3,163 entries and many cross-references. Information for each entry includes year and country of publication, frequency, sponsors, publisher, editors, subject, language, alternate titles, mergers, continuations, and holdings in chess libraries. Includes an index of periodicals by country and a general index of periodical titles.
